Humanities
The TZHS Humanities Program (English and Social Studies) is designed to emphasize creative thinking, understanding of self and others, global awareness, and expression of ideas through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Through a wide variety of course offerings and interesting electives, various teaching and learning methodologies are incorporated into classroom instruction and hands-on learning activities for all students, including field trips, clubs, and guest speakers. Students will become critical thinkers who can apply their learning to real-world problems as they prepare to move on to college and/or their careers.
English Electives
Creative Writing (10, 11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
Creative Writing is a seminar intended for students who wish to explore writing creatively. Students will complete assignments in poetry, non-fiction, and fiction. Various literary readings will be discussed in class in an effort to acquaint the writer with recent creative and artistic trends. Students will be required to submit their work to TONES, the high school literary magazine. Class participation = 25% of the student’s grade. This course can be taken multiple times.
Journalism (9, 10, 11, 12)
Full Year, cycled 1/2 credit
This elective is designed for students who have an interest in journalism. Each aspect of putting a newspaper together will be covered from coming up with ideas for articles to layout and publication. The course will involve writing a variety of articles and assisting in the publication of Tapress on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Students will learn how to write editorials, features, news stories, sports articles, reviews, and conduct interviews. Other topics will include advertising, the ethical duties and responsibilities of a journalist, the difference between a high school newspaper and a privately owned commercial newspaper or magazine, and whether a journalist actually has the right to keep his/her sources confidential. Class participation will be worth a minimum of 20% of the student’s grade. This course can be taken multiple times.
Law and Literature (10, 11, 12)
Full Year, 1 credit
Taught jointly by an English and a Social Studies teacher, this course will teach students how to argue effectively both orally and in writing by examining legal issues through Supreme Court decisions, classic opening/closing arguments from landmark trials, plays, novels, short stories and actual case files (with the names omitted) that have been reproduced for use in this class. Students will learn how to analyze complex legal issues and prepare extensive legal arguments while considering audience, subject matter, and tone. These skills will be put to the test during mock trials throughout the year. Students who successfully complete the course will receive 1/2 credit for English and 1/2 credit for Social Studies. Students must register for this course under both English and Social Studies.
Public Speaking (10, 11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
The goal of Public Speaking is to make the student an effective speaker anytime, anywhere. It will teach the student how to deliver speeches that inform and persuade, and how to deliver speeches of introduction and welcome. Stage fright and nervousness will be addressed. Other areas that will be emphasized are: understanding the audience, using the voice effectively, studying non-verbal communication, and using visual aids. Students will be expected to use presentation tools.
The following semester courses are also available through Virtual High School (VHS):
Blogs, Wikis and Web Tools
Contemporary Irish Literature
Cultural Identity Through Literature
Folklore & Literature of Myth, Magic & Ritual
Honor, Mystery and Science Fiction Literature
Literacy Skills for the 21st Century
Mythology: Stories from Around the World
Shakespeare in Films
Twentieth Century Women Authors
Writing and Telecommunications
social studies ELECTIVES
Citizen Leadership: Character in Action (11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
The purpose of this course is to promote character driven respectful and responsible student leaders in school and the community. It will identify and explore attitudes and personal qualities that build a foundation for success in life and work. The character traits are embedded throughout the curriculum and focus daily on the development of active citizenship and student leadership skills.The focus of the course will be three fold: creating an understanding of fundamental positive character traits; raising awareness of inequality and injustice in the world; and applying the role of civic participation to bring awareness to action. Ultimately, this will culminate with students completing service projects.The course aligns with the SOCSD goals of delivering overt, systemic instruction related to character education and New York state grade 12 standards for Participation in Government and Civics particularly in the areas of basic civic values of American constitutional democracy and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation. Successful completion of the course will result in fulfillment of the New York state Participation in Government requirement.
Criminal Justice (10, 11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
Criminal Justice is a social studies elective for grades 10, 11, and 12. This course is designed to enable students to develop concepts and attitudes which will give them a better understanding of our criminal justice system. This course integrates many social studies disciplines such as history, political science, sociology, psychology, and economics. It is also designed to give students an awareness of career possibilities in the criminal justice field. Police officers, attorneys, and other practitioners in the field bring their expertise to the classroom. In addition, field trips, case studies, audio-visual material, simulations, debates and reports are employed in the course. Concepts and theories are taught, but classroom meetings emphasize the
practical, applicable and day-to-day experiences of persons in the criminal justice field. Current
criminal justice news stories and issues are also emphasized in the course. Class participation = 25% of the student’s grade. This course can be taken for college credit through St. Thomas Aquinas College.
Law and Literature (10, 11, 12)
Full year, 1 credit
This course is designed to help the student understand the government process as it relates primarily to the legal system. Students in the course will explore legal issues through a variety of methods. For example: plays, novels, short stories, mock trials, Supreme Court cases and controversial issues will all be examined. The course will last one year. A Social Studies and an English teacher will teach this course jointly. Students who successfully complete the course will receive 1/2 credit for English and 1/2 credit for Social Studies. Students must register for this course under both Social Studies and English. Successful completion of the course will result in fulfillment of the New York State Participation in Government requirement.
Senior Colloquium: Mastering the College-level Research Paper (11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
This course provides basic training in research and presentational skills, as well as familiarizing students with the problems encountered in using and interpreting source material of various kinds. Students will be introduced to the range of bibliographical, archival and other research resources available. They will also receive training in methods of gathering, processing and presenting historical data, to aid them in writing and presentations research papers. Students will learn that writing history is about making decisions. As historians they will choose from a broad range of subjects, selecting those they think are most important. They will choose source materials carefully, assessing evidence that may support or contradict their arguments. And they will choose ways to write, balancing respect for their subjects with the needs of their audience. This course is open to juniors and seniors only.
Interpretations of American/Global History through Film (11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
This class will broaden student’s ability to think critically about popular movies – or to do what scholars call “reading” films. This class will be an exercise in media literacy. This class is not designed to teach just Global Studies or American history using film. Instead, our goal is to get students to think critically and analytically about history and about films through an analysis of Hollywood movies. While we will not focus directly on the history of Hollywood, we will examine the Hollywood production process and its history as a way to inform ourselves about the movies we examine. Student evaluations will include tests, quizzes, reading and writing assignments.
Introduction to Psychology (11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
Students will draw upon their knowledge of history and the social sciences to analyze, synthesize and apply the principles of psychology. Students will have the opportunity to pursue independent research interests and learn to use the methods that psychologists employ to test and evaluate their hypotheses. This course will focus on the importance of authentic assessment while still addressing the challenging academic nature inherent in the field of psychology.
American Voices: A Multicultural History of the United States (10, 11, 12)
One Semester, 1/2 credit
American Voices is a social studies elective for grades 10, 11, and 12. Students will examine American History from the perspective of nondominant cultures. The class will focus on individual stories to help provide a broad comparative analysis of American History. This course will focus not only on the tragedy, but the triumphs of groups that have often been marginalized in traditional survey history courses. By exposing more students to these voices, the goal would be to help broaden students understanding of the important and often underrepresented impact that underrepresented cultures have played in American History. Students taking this class would focus on a study of, but not limited to, African American, Pan-Asian, Indigenous and Latin American societies’ role in American History.
The following semester courses are also available through Virtual High School (VHS):
American Foreign Policy
American Multiculturalism
AP Government and Politics: United States
Arts and Ideas: The Best of Western Culture
Community Service – Learning
Constitutional Law
Eastern & Western Thought
Gods of CNN: The Power of Modern Media
Great Inventions and Scientific Discoveries
Lewis and Clark’s Expedition
Maritime History: Riders on the Storm
Peacemaking
Personal Finance (Prerequisite-Algebra 2)
Pearl Harbor to the Atomic Bomb
Philosophy I
Practical Law
Sociology
Sports and American Society
The Glory of Ancient Rome
The Golden Age of Classical Greece
The Holocaust
The Vietnam War
Who Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?
World Conflict, A United Nations Introduction
World Religions
AP Courses
Grade 12 Advanced Placement: English Literature and Composition
Full Year, 1 credit
Candidates for this course must have demonstrated high ability in both literature interpretation and essay writing skills. This course is of college-level difficulty. Students engage in intensive analytical study of many classic works of drama, fiction, and poetry, with frequent writing assignments. Research projects and presentations are also required.
Works are selected from among:
Drama: Enemy of the People
Novels: Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness, Crime and Punishment, Catch-22, and The Things They Carried
The regularly assigned papers, both timed and untimed, will involve questions similar to those required on the Advanced Placement Exam. Additional emphasis will be placed on more extensive persuasive, research-based papers. Students enrolled in AP English Literature and Composition also have the option of registering to earn college credit through SUNY New Paltz. Active class participation (20% of the course grade) is essential.
Eligibility: Students who intend to take AP English Literature should meet the following criteria: current average of at least 90 from English 11 Honors and/or recommendation from current English teacher.
Advanced Placement World History Modern
Full Year, 1 credit
The purpose of the AP World History Modern course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts, in interaction with different types of human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in international frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge deployed in conjunction with leading interpretive issues and types of historical evidence. Focused primarily on the past eight hundred years of the global experience, the course builds an understanding of cultural, institutional, and technological precedents that, along with geography, set the human stage prior to 1200 C.E. Periodization forms the organizing principle for dealing with change and continuity from that point to the present. Specific themes provide further organization to the course, along with the consistent attention to contacts among societies that form the core of world history as a field of study. Students are expected to take the AP World History Modern examination in May for possible college credit.
Advanced Placement U.S. History (11,12)
Full Year, 1 credit
This course, which emphasizes the analytical skill of the social scientist, examines major interpretations of American History. For example, the students seek to determine whether the New Deal was evolutionary or revolutionary. The course prepares the pupil for the College Entrance Examination Board final; a satisfactory grade on this test could enable the student to earn credit, from 3 to 6 points, at one of the more than 1,000 participating universities in our nation. Students must be willing to complete extensive college-level reading.
Advanced Placement Psychology (12)
Full Year, 1 credit
This course introduces students to the systemic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major sub fields within psychology, and they also learn about the methods psychologists use in their science and practice. The aim of this course is to provide the student with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most college introductory psychology courses. Topics covered include the following: biological bases of behavior; sensation and perception; states of consciousness; learning; cognition, motivation and emotion; developmental psychology; personality; testing and individual differences; abnormal psychology; treatment of psychological disorders; and social psychology. Each student is expected to take the AP Psychology exam in May. Class participation = 20% of the student’s grade.
Advanced Placement Economics
Full Year, 1 Credit
Includes enrollment in Issues in American Society
The purpose of an AP course in Economics is to give students a thorough understanding of the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual decision makers, both consumers and producers, within the larger economic system. It places primary emphasis on the nature and functions of product markets, and includes the study of factor markets and of the role of government in promoting greater efficiency and equity in the economy. The part II questions on the exams require students to apply mathematical concepts to economic theory and so a strong background in math is needed in order for students to successfully complete this class. Students are expected to take the AP Microeconomics exam in May for possible college credit.
The Participation in Government requirement can be met by any of the following courses: Issues in American Society, Law and Literature or Participation in Government III – Senior Seminar.
Advanced Placement European History (11,12)
Full Year, 1 credit
This course will provide juniors and seniors with an opportunity to examine European History in greater depth, while working on skills that are critical for success at the college level. By examining European history in greater detail, while specifically focusing on 1450 to the present, students will gain a greater contextual background contributing to their understanding of contemporary issues. The importance of European History during the modern era cannot be discounted when understanding key ideas, whether specific to the history of the Western World, or the European influence on the developing nations of our world today. Additionally, the AP format will continue to encourage students to sharpen their writing skills as they prepare for college.