U.S. History - Perspectives and Analysis
Course Overview
This 6th-8th Grade Humanities course focuses on the stories and peoples of the post-Civil War era. Students start with Reconstruction and chronologically work their way toward modern times, focusing on both times of war and peace. In this class, there is a specific focus on analyzing a variety of primary and secondary sources, by looking at multiple perspectives of a given situation; they also watch a variety of videos to help create visual connections. Writing tasks range from opinion pieces, to analytical pieces, to creative pieces, among others. Strong emphasis is put on evaluating sources for bias and trustworthiness, as well as using evidence to support an argument. Both individual and class projects are developed, which ask students to apply knowledge from class to form an assortment of products, such as videos, board and computer games, physical artifacts, journals, etc. Individualized grammar tasks are also practiced to help students communicate efficiently and thoughtfully.
Examples of Driving Questions:
Source: This course uses Stanford University’s Reading Like a Historian as its foundation.
This 6th-8th Grade Humanities course focuses on the stories and peoples of the post-Civil War era. Students start with Reconstruction and chronologically work their way toward modern times, focusing on both times of war and peace. In this class, there is a specific focus on analyzing a variety of primary and secondary sources, by looking at multiple perspectives of a given situation; they also watch a variety of videos to help create visual connections. Writing tasks range from opinion pieces, to analytical pieces, to creative pieces, among others. Strong emphasis is put on evaluating sources for bias and trustworthiness, as well as using evidence to support an argument. Both individual and class projects are developed, which ask students to apply knowledge from class to form an assortment of products, such as videos, board and computer games, physical artifacts, journals, etc. Individualized grammar tasks are also practiced to help students communicate efficiently and thoughtfully.
Examples of Driving Questions:
- Why learn history?
- How does our own bias affect how we interpret an event?
- What details might have been left out from this event?
- What evidence do you find most convincing?
- How has conflict within and outside the U.S. changed our society?
- How have individuals worked to change society throughout history?
Source: This course uses Stanford University’s Reading Like a Historian as its foundation.
