(HS600008, SCED 04103) 1 credit

Full Year

This course combines American History and American Literature to deepen the student’s understanding of America. Through interdisciplinary readings, varied writing assignments and presentations, students will enhance their skills in analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing literary and information texts. Students will develop their written and oral communication skills and demonstrate use of a wide range of elaboration strategies and interactive listening. The course will be co-taught by an English and History teacher. Students will receive an English and Social Studies grade and will receive credit for both American Literature and United States History. Enrollment will be limited to 50 students. This course will be equivalent to completing both English 11 and U.S. History II.

Note: Students successfully this course will earn 2 credits (1 English and 1 Social Studies)

(HS600004, SCED 04102) 1 credit

Full Year

This course provides an in-depth study of the founding of the American republic emphasizing the origin and development of our government and political system. The class will trace the development of the United States from its colonial beginnings through its involvement in World War I. Special emphasis will be given to the critical analysis of texts, maps, documents and other important historical sources of evidence.

(HS600004, SCED 04102) 1 credit

Full Year

This course provides an in-depth study of the founding of the American republic emphasizing the origin and development of our government and political system. The class will trace the development of the United States from its colonial beginnings through its involvement in World War I. Special emphasis will be given to the critical analysis of texts, maps, documents and other important historical sources of evidence.

Note: We believe the distinguished academic standing in World History II or masterful completion of World History Honors to be an essential foundation for those electing this course.

(HS600007, SCED 04103) 1 credit

Full Year

This course provides an in-depth study of American History from the development of the Industrial United States through the present. Special emphasis will be given to the critical analysis of texts, maps, documents and other important historical sources of evidence.

Note: We believe the satisfactory completion of US History I to be an essential foundation for those electing this course.

(HS600001, SCED 04051) 1 credit

Full Year

The purpose of the World History course is to develop greater understanding of evolution of global processes and contacts in different types of human societies. The course highlights the nature of changes in global frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as among major societies. The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge and builds on an understanding of culture and geography and their impacts on the human experience.

Note: We believe that this course provides the foundation for the successful completion of the Social Studies component of the Middletown High School graduation requirements.

(HS600000, SCED 04051) 1 credit

Full Year

The purpose of this course is to develop greater understanding of evolution of global processes and contacts in different types of human societies. The course highlights the nature of changes in global frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as among major societies. The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge and builds on an understanding of cultural, institutional geography and their impacts on the human experience.

Note: This course involves a deep and rigorous study of history and will require skills reflective of those established by the CCSS in reading and writing. This class utilizes texts, documents and a rigorous pace that correlate to the standards and expectations established by the College Board for future Honors and Advanced Placement study in this discipline.

(HS600005, SCED 04104) 📚1 credit

Full Year

In this course students learn to assess the relevance, reliability and importance of historical materials, and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. Students in Advanced Placement will develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. Students admitted to the AP History are expected to meet academic demands that are equivalent to those made by a full-year introductory college course. AP US History is a challenging course designed by the College Board. Note: This class will involve a deep and rigorous study of history. It will require skills reflective of those established by the state ELA assessment in reading and writing. This class utilizes texts, documents and a rigorous pace that correlate to the standards and expectations established by the College Board for Advanced Placement study in this discipline. A direct goal of this course is to help ensure success in the U.S. History Advanced Placement Exam in May. Students are strongly encouraged to take this exam as it may lead to college credit.

Note: The AP exam is given in May. A fee is required to take the AP exam.

(HS600010, SCED 04057) 📚1 credit

Full Year

This course provides a greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts in 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 global frameworks and their cases and consequences, as well as comparison among major societies. It emphasizes relevant factual knowledge, leading interpretive issues, and skills in analyzing types of historical evidence. Periodization, explicitly discussed, forms an organizing principle to address change and continuity throughout the course. Specific themes provide further organization to the course, along with consistent attention to contacts among societies that form the core of world history as a field of study.

Note: This class involves a deep and rigorous study of history. It will require skills reflective of those established by the state ELA assessment in reading and writing. This class utilizes texts, documents and a rigorous pace that correlate to the standards and expectations established by the College Board for Advanced Placement study in this discipline. A direct goal of this course is to help ensure success in the World History Advanced Placement Exam in May. Students are strongly encouraged to take this exam as it may lead to college credit. Note: The AP exam is given in May. A fee is required to take the AP exam.

(HS600011, SCED 04004) 📚1 credit

Full Year

Geography is both a Physical and a Social Science, which can be approached regionally and/or topically. As physical or natural science, for example, it may focus on climate, soil, topography, landforms, and the biosphere. As human or social science its focus is on cultural features, such as language, economics, religion, population, immigration, disease, polities, and urban/rural development. It combines economic and cultural geography to explain relationships among humans and their environments. This course will involve a deep and rigorous study of human geography. It will require skills reflective of those established by the Common Core State Standards in reading and writing. This class utilizes texts, documents and a rigorous pace that correlates to the standards and expectations established by the College Board for Advanced Placement study in this discipline. A direct goal of this course is to help ensure success in the Human Geography Advanced Placement Exam given in May. Students are strongly encouraged to take this exam as it may lead to college credit. Note: AP Human Geography provides an introduction to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of the Earth's surface. It will include the employment of spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences. It will also include a study of the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice. It is the academic equivalent and experience of a college introductory human geography course.

Note: The AP exam is given in May. A fee is required to take the AP exam.

(HS600010, SCED 04056)

📚1 credit

Full Year

The study of European history since 1450 introduces students to social, political, economic and cultural developments that played a fundamental role in shaping the world which we live. Without this knowledge we would lack the context for understanding the development of contemporary institutions, the role of continuity and change, in present-day societies and politics, and the evolution of current forms of artistic expression and intellectual discourse. It provides the opportunity to improve analytical and critical reading skills, and to develop facility in writing history essays and research papers. Note: This class will involve a deep and rigorous study of history. It will require skills reflective of those established by the state ELA assessment in reading and writing. This class utilizes texts, documents and a rigorous pace that correlate to the standards and expectations established by the College Board for future Honors and Advanced Placement study in this discipline. A direct goal of this course is to help ensure success in the European Advanced Placement Exam given in May. Students are strongly encouraged to take this exam as it may lead to college credit.

Note: The AP exam is given in May. A fee is required to take the AP exam

(HS600006, 04157) 1 credit

Full Year

AP U.S. Government and Politics is an introductory college-level course in U.S. government and politics. Students cultivate their understanding of U.S. government and politics through analysis of data and text-based sources as they explore topics like constitutionalism, liberty and order, civic participation in a representative democracy, competing policy-making interests, and methods of political analysis.

(HS600017, 04161) 1 credit

Full Year

A democratic society rests with the capacity and commitments of its members to actively engage in democratic processes. This course will educate students about democracy and encourage all students with opportunities to engage in democratic processes. In addition, students will have a better understanding of present day politics and citizenship through the study of basic principles of United States law and the Constitution. Students will leave this class with a greater understanding of the workings of the United States Government and how it affects the lives of its citizens.

(HS600012, SCED 04156) 0.5 credit

Semester

Enhancing student understanding of current world issues is critical as the world’s nations become increasingly economically, militarily, culturally, and socially interdependent. Additionally, the ability to apply a critical eye to national occurrences is vital to empowering students to make informed choices. This course will explore major challenges and breakthroughs in our world today: ethnic and religious conflicts, technological advances, high impact diseases, globalization and economic equality, human rights, and the environment. Discussions, and supporting study/analysis, will be grounded in understanding the geography and contextualizing history of pivotal current events. Furthermore, this course will rely upon a variety of school and community resources including the Pell Center, the Naval War College, online websites, journals, newspapers, and magazines.

(HS600013, SCED 04201) 0.5 credit

Semester

This course is designed to give both a theoretical and practical understanding of fundamental economic concepts. Topics include scarcity, and opportunity costs, markets and prices, law of supply and demand, productivity, competition, unemployment, the business cycle, inflation, fiscal and monetary policies, and globalization. A variety of individual and group simulations are used to reinforce economic concepts and demonstrate the roles and interactions of business, labor and government have on economic systems.

Note: Satisfactory completion of U.S. History is required for those electing this course.

(HS600009, SCED 04254) 1 credit

Full Year

Psychology is a year-long course that examines the behavior of the human species. A multidisciplinary approach with psychology as its core is used. This course provides an introduction to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Other course criteria include exposure to the psychological facts, principals, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields within psychology. The following areas will be studied; Methods, Approaches, History, Biological Bases of Behavior, States of Consciousness, Motivation and Emotion, Developmental Psychology, Personality, Testing and Individual Differences, Abnormal Psychology, Treatment of Psychological Disorders, and Social Psychology.

Note: Due to the nature and content of this course we believe that this should be taken only by juniors and seniors.

(HS600019, 04149) 0.5 credit

Semester

This course will seek to highlight the historical, cultural and economic development of Aquidneck Island and the State of Rhode Island. Topics will include settlement, industrialization, immigration, political history, geography, local history and Narragansett Bay. The course will move chronologically through the major periods and events in United States history tracking the development of the state and community from its origins through the American Revolution, Industrialization, Immigration, Gilded Age, Great Depression and into the modern world.

(HS600013, SCED 04258) 1 credit

Full Year

Sociology is a social science which studies human society and social interactions. The main focus of the course is on people in groups and their relationships with other members of society and their social environment. This course of study will employ independent and group projects designed to provide exposure to the terms and definitions most commonly employed in the study of sociology, as well as the situations caused by societal change facing our society today and in the future. It will attempt to broaden our global perspective of who we are and what we do. Evaluation will be based on tests, quizzes, class discussions, oral and written research projects.

Note: Due to the nature and content of this course we believe that this should be taken only by juniors and seniors.

(HS600015, SCED 04109) 0.5 credit

Semester

Students (juniors and seniors) will explore historical topics and periods using films as the primary text, supplemented by outside readings (primary and secondary sources), lectures, and class discussions. Students will work individually and in groups to determine the validity of films as historical sources while improving their research, writing, and analytical skills. The topics of Political Division and Economic Crises are examined through historical events such as the Civil War, Watergate, The Great Depression, and the Great Recession. This course treats films as texts deserving the same skills of critical thinking and analysis as any other sources used within a history course. Due to the nature of this course, the class will emphasize thoughtful individual critiques of the films and readings. The class is designed to reveal that some films are valid historical sources, offering a glimpse into the social, political, and cultural historical moment in which it was created.

(HS600016, SCED 04109) 0.5 credit

Semester

Students (juniors and seniors) will explore historical topics and periods using films as the primary text, supplemented by outside readings (primary and secondary sources), lectures, and class discussions. Students will work individually and in groups to determine the validity of films as historical sources while improving their research, writing, and analytical skills. The topics of Military Conflict and Social Decisions are examined through historical events such as the World Wars I and II, Vietnam, the Cold War; as the Civil Rights movement and living in the Era of Terrorism. This course treats films as texts deserving the same skills of critical thinking and analysis as any other sources used within a history course. Due to the nature of this course, the class will emphasize thoughtful individual critiques of the films and readings. The class is designed to reveal that some films are valid historical sources, offering a glimpse into the social, political, and cultural historical moment in which it was created.