English

Castle Learning Online's English includes questions covering reading skills, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and literature. The Critical Reading/Essays unit contains reading passages with related questions, testing a student's comprehension skills. Associated with each reading passage is a related essay that students can work with offline.

Passages vary in length and are categorized into the following main genres: General Prose, Informational Prose, Poetry, Speech, and Information and Chart. Each passage is also assigned a difficulty level (Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced), relative to reading levels appropriate for students at the high school level. In addition to asking questions of a factual nature, the Critical Reading/Essays unit tests students’ ability to make an inference, draw a conclusion, use contextual clues to identify vocabulary, and interpret negatives.

Units: (click to view Sections)

1. Critical Reading/Essays
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Poetry
   2. Informational Prose
   3. General Prose
   4. Prose and Poetry
   5. Speech
   6. Information and Chart
2. Grammar: Sentence Structure
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Compound, Complex and Conditional Sentences
   2. Sentence Modifiers
   3. Parallel Construction
   4. Clarity in Writing
3. Grammar: Punctuation
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Commas
   2. Apostrophes
   3. Other Punctuation
4. Grammar: Usage
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Subject-Verb Agreement
   2. Verb Tense and Usage
   3. Pronouns
   4. Adjectives and Adverbs
   5. Confusing Words
5. Vocabulary
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Synonyms - Group A
   2. Synonyms - Group B
   3. Synonyms - Group C
   4. Synonyms - Group D
   5. Synonyms - Group E
   6. Synonyms - Group F
   7. Vocabulary in Context - Nouns
   8. Vocabulary in Context - Verbs
   9. Vocabulary in Context - Adjectives and Adverbs
6. Spelling
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Spelling Words - Group A
   2. Spelling Words - Group B
   3. Spelling Words - Group C
   4. Spelling Words - Group D
7. Introduction to Literature
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Literary Forms and Techniques
   2. Figurative Language
   3. Poetry
   4. Analyzing Critical Lens Quotations
8. Literature: The Great Gatsby
9. Literature: Macbeth
10. Literature: Lord of the Flies
    
11. Literature: The Crucible
    
12. Literature: The Catcher in the Rye
    
13. Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird
    
14. Literature: Romeo and Juliet
    
15. Literature: The Outsiders
    
16. Literature: Fahrenheit 451
    
17. Literature: The Glass Menagerie
    
18. Literature: Night
    
19. Literature: The Scarlet Letter
    
20. Literature: The Sun Also Rises
    
21. Literature: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    
22. Literature: Speak
    
23. Literature: Death of a Salesman
    
24. Literature: Streetcar Named Desire
    
25. Literature: The Pearl
    

Themes:

1. Identifying Factual Information
2. Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions
3. Understanding Vocabulary Usage Based on Context
4. Identifying Main Idea or Theme
5. Identifying Mood, Tone and Style
6. Identifying Multiple Levels of Meaning
7. Literary Terms and Devices
8. Grammar
9. Spelling
10. Vocabulary