CADY STAFF HWANG

Staff Humanities Syllabus 2015 (printable Google Document)
 

 

High Tech Middle Chula Vista

8th Grade Humanities

Instructor: Ms. Staff

e-mail: cstaff@hightechhigh.org

 

“With great power comes great responsibility.” – Winston Churchill

 

As an important member of the 8th grade Staff/Holmes team, you must first accept the responsibility inherent in your role as an 8th grade role model at High Tech Middle Chula Vista. As 8th graders, you set the standard for our school.

 

I hereby accept the responsibility inherent in the powerful and exciting position of 8th grade Founding Member and Role Model at HTMCV. I understand Spiderman's Uncle Ben and Winston Churchill when they warned that "with great power comes great responsibility".  I am up to the challenge of taking on this power and responsibility and will do so to the best of my ability.

 

X ________________________________       Date: ____________

          (Student/ Role Model’s Signature)

 

COURSE OVERVIEW

U.S. History/ Social Science

- Tolerance

- Resilience

- Chronological Thinking

- War and Peace

- Causation vs. Correlation

- Racial Identity/ Cultural Diversity

- Revolutions - The American Revolution

- The Declaration of Independence

- The Constitution/ The Bill of Rights

- The Civil War/ Reconstruction

- The Civil Rights Movement

- Current Events

- Model United Nations

- Empathy and Perspective

​

English/ Literature

- To Kill a Mockingbird

- Animal Farm

- Physics of the Future

- Lit Circle Choice Novels

- A Variety of Speeches, News Articles, Poetry, Short Stories, Podcasts, and Essays…

-Mastery and Application of Literary Terms

-Research, Evidence, and Perspective

-Historical and Literary Interpretation and Analysis

-Reading and Writing Skills (Workshop)

- Service Learning

- Evidence-based Writing and Debate

- Poetry and Spoken Word

- Formal Essay Writing

 

 

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

Together we will be exploring and analyzing literature (plays, short stories, novels, historical documents, news media, articles, etc.), as well as uncovering and analyzing the impact and significance of U.S. history from the events preceding the founding of our nation to the current events that challenge and interest us today.  We will be writing constantly, interacting cooperatively, presenting, reading and discussing.  The sky is no limit (since you’ll know how to build rockets) to the amount of creativity and brilliance you put into each project and class activity!

 

Improvement Science

As we develop our reading and writing skills, we will use the framework of improvement science to identify challenges, come up with change ideas to face our challenges and use data and evidence to show our growth as readers and writers. We will share what we have learned through improvement science in our student led conferences and presentations of learning.

 

Socratic Seminar

Your voice will be heard in our class: loudly, clearly, respectfully, and often.  You will participate in a series of Socratic Seminars, which require you to use independent judgment, listen to and understand others, stand by your words, accept criticism, and actively respect yourself and others.  We will be discussing challenging texts and controversial historical events and documents.

 

Multiple Intelligences

We are all brilliant in our own way, and it is important to recognize the strengths in ourselves and our classmates. As we work and learn together, we will be honoring and challenging different forms of intelligence. We will tap into Gardner’s seven intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, body-kinesthetic, musical-rhythmic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences.

 

Reading and Writing Workshop (Writing Apprenticeship)

I am passionate about writing and I want to help you all further develop your voice and love for writing! We will have focused writing and reading workshops that will help you improve your own writing through the reading and discussion of great pieces of writing (your own as well as the works of famous authors).  You will record your writing process and showcase your polished pieces of writing in a multi-genre online writing portfolio (part of your digital portfolio).  Remember, reading makes us better writers and communicators!  Let’s go read a book!

 

Weekly Reading Logs

You will be keeping weekly reading logs. Many nights, you will have assigned reading for one of your classes, but regardless of assigned homework, you will be required to read at least one half hour each night (ideally, more than that). You will need to record what you read and get your reading logs signed off by an adult when you discuss the readings from the week, together. Great readers become great writers, and great conversationalists. As Harry S. Truman said (the 33rd President of the United States), “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

 

Projects

You will be participating in projects (both big and small) throughout the year.  One of the best ways to learn is to get your hands all over the material in order to play with it and work with it.  Each project is meant to challenge you to exceed expectations and push yourself beyond the learning goals set forth.  The prompts are meant to serve as a springboard for your creativity and exploration of complex ideas and your expression through media.

 

History Framework

We will be studying U.S. history as it is framed by both major themes and major events from our past.  We will be role-playing, participating in History Alive! activities, researching and analyzing major events from history within projects.  We will focus on the themes of war and peace, resilience, innovation, revolution and entrepreneurship in American society.

 

Friday Celebrations of Knowledge

Every Friday, we will have a “Celebration of Knowledge!” (formerly known as tests). We will use these celebrations to develop our vocabulary and promote positivity and confidence when it comes to test-taking. Although we do not “teach to the test” at HTMCV, we do want to work on test taking skills so that every one of you can do your best on the SAT and get into your dream college or university. You will be studying every Thursday night and celebrating your knowledge on Fridays.

 

Critique and Beautiful Work

We will be working consistently on developing high expectations for our work. Every final product we create will be the product of multiple drafts and kind, helpful and specific critique. No matter what profession you choose to pursue in the future, your dedication to creating beautiful work and taking constructive feedback will pay off in the future! 

 

Finding Your Voice (in writing and spoken word)

One of the main reasons I love teaching Humanities is because it is a class where we get to focus on voice – both through writing and spoken word. I want you to find and develop your voice as a writer, a speaker, an active citizen and an agent of meaningful change. This means stating your claims clearly with evidence to back up your stance. This also means writing multiple drafts and polishing your speeches and writing so that your work says exactly what you want it to say. Finding your true voice and expressing it means being brave and speaking up in class, through writing and in the world beyond.

 

Developing Perspective and Empathy

Throughout the year, we will be looking at different perspectives on history, social issues, problems and throughout literature. We will constantly challenge ourselves to understand differing perspectives (sometimes to change our minds, other times to strengthen our arguments, but always to understand more fully). By taking time to understand different perspectives, we will develop empathy for others. As Atticus Finch said: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

 

GRADES
Assessment is an interactive, reflective and important part of the learning process.  You will always receive points for your completed work, but more importantly, we will reflect on your challenges and successes together to constantly raise expectations that will push you to grow as a life-long learner.  Throughout this course, you will receive feedback and detailed assessment from Ms. Staff, your classmates, community experts and from yourself.  For larger projects, we will construct rubrics and establish expectations together.  All projects will have a reflection component. You will formally reflect and present on what you have learned during your Student Led Conference and Presentations of Learning. Grades and comments will be available on Powerschool.

 

DPs (Digital Portfolios)

My DP contains information about current, upcoming and past projects, links to relevant resources online, videos, and handouts (i.e. this syllabus) - http://dp.hightechhigh.org/~cstaff/.  You will also subscribe to our Google Classroom - http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/ where you will receive most of your assignments and be able to submit your homework and writing pieces. There is a link created from my DP to all of our team members’ DPs.  The Digital Portfolio is meant to reflect who you are and what you have accomplished.  Your DP should showcase the beautiful work you have created throughout middle school with a focus on your growth.  Finished projects in Humanities will be required to be posted on your DP.  All projects will have a DP component.  When you go to high school, you will already have a digital portfolio of great work to build from, and eventually use to help you get into college, or to be hired for an internship or job.

 

HABITS OF MIND: Before We Begin, Put on Your S.P.E.C.S.!

Significance: Why is this important?  Why should you care?

Perspective: Who says?  How do the author’s experiences influence the ideas presented?  What prior knowledge am I bringing to the problem?

Evidence: What argument is being made? What facts are used to support the argument? How do you know they are facts versus opinions?

Connections: How does this work connect to the real world? How has it been influenced by the past? How could it affect the future?

Supposition: How would life be different if this wasn’t true or never happened?  What would happen if you changed part of the problem?

 

Future Projects: IT'S hOUR TIME!, BACK TO THE FUTURE, JUST VOICES (Resilience Cafe), MODEL UNITED NATIONS, My LEGACY/DESTINY and so much more!

Let’s get things started…