History 9A- Human Geography
How does the effective use of geographic tools and cultural awareness inform and deepen our understanding of places in the world?
Human Geography is designed to explore how human culture developed, how the natural world impeded or
encouraged that development, and the challenges and promise of the current push toward an inclusive
globalized world. Using different primary and secondary texts, students will conduct research, relate current events to cultural and geographic ideas, and learn to think critically and emphatically about how our local community is connected to the wider world.
History 9B- Global Issues
How do the democratic principles upon which the United States was founded continue to affect and inspire policy, practice and what is possible in the 21st century?
Students will learn build on the basis of understanding for our current world by a study of current issues, news sources and themes, as well as assessing the validity and credibility of sources. Students will examine the origins, influences upon, and development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its impact, or lack thereof, on the world today.
Students will examine the origins, influences upon, and development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its impact, or lack thereof, on the world today. Students will use analysis of current events each week, using reliable sources, as well as class discussions, to inform their understanding of the world and their country’s place in it. The Global Issues midterm is an argumentative, in class essay that requires students to take a stand relating to a current issue impacting the United States. The final project is a Public Service Announcement, which requires students to identify and investigate an area in the world where human rights are currently violated and develop a proposal that seeks to solve the problems they identify.
English 10B-
How does the literature of the 20th century reflect changes in American Culture?
This course focuses on effective use of text to support student writing, close reading of period texts, discussion of themes presented in those texts, MLA citation skills, grammar program and daily free writing practice. The course is designed to compliment History 10B in both scope and sequence.
The focus of English 10B will be on the literature from the 20th Century and how it fits within that historical period. Student will work to strengthen writing, speaking, and thinking skills through papers, projects, and discussion. Writing will be in response to those readings with an eye on the historic implications of the time period when the literature was created.
Grammar, self-editing, and a focus on writing conventions will also be part of this course throughout the trimester.
War and Literature
Conflict is an enduring characteristic of human culture. War literature is a natural result from human beings experiencing combat and reconciling their experience. Through writing and discussion this course explores war literature from Ancient Greece to the modern world and realizes that the experiences of human beings in war are a constant.
Conflict is an enduring human characteristic. War literature is a natural result of human beings going through combat and reconciling their experience. This course will explore various pieces of war literature from Ancient Greece to the modern world with the goal of understanding the impact that war and conflict has on human beings.
PDX History
For a state on the Pacific Coast, separated from the original United States by vast distances, Oregon has a long history. From its American discovery through the Lewis and Clark Expedition, rapid expansion via the Oregon Trail, the suffragette movement, and the rapid economic expansion during the Second World War, much of that history is centered around the city and history of Portland. Through this course we will explore the development of Oregon through the lens of its most populous city.
The Constitution - Yesterday and Today
Is Washington gridlock a result of our modern political systems or the intent of the Framers of our Constitution? This course explores the creation of the US Constitution, its flaws and drawbacks, the defined and assumed roles of the branches of government. As we look into our 230 year old government framework, we will keep in mind that “democracy is the worst form of Government, except for all those other forms”.
This course is an exploration of the reasons which drove the development of our modern Constitution. The reasons for abandoning the Articles of Confederation, the arguments presented at the Constitutional Convention, the actual powers granted to the federal government under the Constitution. Most importantly this course explores the way that the government functions today compared to the government of the 1790s.