Bremen CHSD 228 staff present proposed EL materials and AP literature texts including Dry, Parable of the Sower and The Handmaid's Tale

At a meeting of Bremen CHSD 228, district staff presented proposed instructional materials for the English Learner (EL) program and recommended three novels for introductory and AP English courses. The chair described a primary EL textbook that will cover Year 1 in an initial five‑minute module and Year 2 in subsequent chapters, plus a series of short individual readers that span topics from sports to science and include assessments and additional supports.

The chair said teachers and certified support staff piloted the materials with students and reported that students “are starting to migrate back to paper and workbooks,” which influenced the committee’s recommendation. Staff framed the EL series as supports to help students transition into general‑education English Language Arts classes.

For the English department, presenters proposed adopting Dry by Neil Shusterman for Introduction to English and recommended Parable of the Sower and The Handmaid's Tale for AP English Literature and Composition. The chair described the AP selections as dystopian texts that explore human behavior under extreme circumstances and noted that both have appeared on the AP exam.

The presentation emphasized alignment with course themes and assessment needs; the transcript records the committee’s recommendation and pilot testing but does not show a formal vote on textbook adoption in the provided segments. Next steps mentioned by staff included committee and building follow‑up through the textbook adoption process.