Humanities

Humanities Experience is dedicated to interdisciplinary, grade level, mini-units taught by the Humanities faculty teams. The units are grounded in our school’s core values and the themes for each grade. The students engage in hands-on, affective exploration of relevant topics. 

Humanities 6

Throughout the year, students will utilize the extended class blocks for collaborative and independent project work in various units. The opening unit will explore “What is Humanities?” to engage students in cross-curricular thinking and will introduce literacy and analytical skills that will be developed and practiced throughout the year. Once students have begun work in foundational skills, they will study creation myths from ancient and indigenous cultures around the world. Students will explore commonalities in stories that transcends time and begin studying how we examine the past, utilizing historical thinking skills such as analyzing primary and secondary sources. Studying Ancient Greece, students will learn about the complexities of forming a community identity and social structure through the development of governmental systems, philosophical traditions, technological advancements, and literary legacies. Students will study the archetype of the hero’s quest and develop skills in the writing process to craft a personal hero’s quest. The student community will then study native encounters with Europeans here in North America to seek windows into the lives and experience of others. They will continue to explore this in Literature Circles, as they form small reading groups to support each other in reading, annotating and public speaking. The final unit of the year centers on personal responsibilities and obligations in reading Red Scarf Girl and developing their personal TED Talks. This final project will be a culminating and scaffolded process that will showcase the analytical, creative and public speaking skills of the students.