Mountlake Terrace High School
2007-2008

The Innovation School
Humanities
Humanities English Social Studies
Humanities 9
Humanities 10
Humanities 11
Humanities 12

Creative Writing
European Literature
World Mythology
World Mythology

 

     
  AP Classes

 

  

Humanities 9  WASL Prep
(HUM101/102)

Prerequisite: None

Length: 2 period block class for 1 semester; 1 period class for 1 semester.
Credits:  English 9 1.0 credits and World History 9 .5 credits

Humanities is the idea that History and English have natural connection and should be taught together. In this course, you will experience an introduction to the historical themes of Global Expansion and Encounter as well as the Literature of the 15th-18th centuries. Included will be geography, civics, trade, interconnections, and innovations. You will develop your expressive skills through composition, media, public speaking, exposition, persuasion, and poetry. Honors credit options will be available through the instructor. Successful completion of this year-long course will satisfy 1.0 credit of English and .5 credit of social studies. It is a prerequisite course for Humanities 10.

In this course, we will explore the definitive question: what is culture? We will read and discuss in class the following texts along the way: Lord of the Flies, Fahrenheit 451, and Romeo and Juliet.Learning will be assessed in a variety of ways: comparisons to scoring rubrics and models, traditional tests, demonstrations of ability to apply knowledge, projects, teacher observations/evaluations, peer evaluation, and journals.  Essay writing will also be emphasized, beginning with paragraph construction, thesis development and use of evidence. Socratic Seminars and other performance based assessments will also be used to demonstrate learning.

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Humanities 10  World Literature
(HUM 201/202)

Prerequisite: Humanities 9 

Length:  2 period block class.
2 semesters/year long.

Credits: English 10 1.0 credit and World History 1.0 credit

In this course, you will integrate the study of historic world events, related literature, and writing. Highlights include the effects of western contact and colonization, while reflecting social and cultural voices through literature. Writing continues with WASL preparation and practicing a variety of formats such as analysis, persuasion, research, and poetry. Honors credit options will be available.

Combining the work of academic historians and literary scholars, world history will be explored through societies and culture, economics, conflicts, trade, politics, and government. Understanding the building blocks of civilization and how those have developed in Europe and Africa, from the Middle Ages to World War II, frames our course. Learning is assessed through traditional testing as well as expository, poetic, and research writing. Students also demonstrate learning through presentations, journals, and discussions.

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Humanities 11 American Literature (HUM 301/302)

Prerequisite: Humanities 10 

Length:  2 period block class.
2 semesters/year long.

Credits: English 11 1.0 credit and US History 1.0 credit

Humanities 11 is a year-long integrated study of English Composition, American History and American Literature. Students will develop scholarly writing skills and the ability to engage in intellectual discussions while studying American Literature in the context of historical periods or cultural movements. Honors credit options will be available.\

Written essays are the primary way students demonstrate learning in this class. Furthermore, students engage in seminars, graded discussions, traditional tests, oral presentations and through the use of journals.

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Humanities 12 College Prep
(HUM 401/402)

Prerequisite: Humanities 11

Length:  2 period block class.
2 semesters/year long.

Credits:  English 12 1.0 credit and Senior Social Studies 1.0 credit

Humanities 12 is the culmination of the Innovation School's  historical and literary experience. The focus will be on themes of civics, contemporary world issues, economics, world geography, and formal writing practice for either the college bound or the career bound.  Senior project completion will be anchored within this class.

Learning will be assessed in a variety of methods: comparisons to scoring rubrics and models, traditional tests, demonstrations of ability to apply knowledge, projects, teacher observations/evaluations, peer evaluations, journals, writing seminars, research papers, and Socratic literature seminars.

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English


Creative Writing (ENG 570)

Prerequisite: Humanities 10

Length: 1 semester
Credits: .5 
Students in creative writing learn to express themselves through various literary forms. The course focuses on developing a sense of form and style, stimulating imagination and powers of observation, and refining expression through peer coaching and evaluation. Take the last two years of writing instruction and turn it loose with imagination and paradigm shifting. This class provides a brief introduction to the crafts of poetry, short fiction, and short drama with a focus on some of the major elements of successful fiction in these crafts. Students will read published pieces and classmates' works-in-progress and discuss in a writers' workshop setting. Read and listen to the masters of language; be inspired to create your own masterpiece!  

Students will produce several original pieces of writing for critique in the workshop setting, participate in workshops, revise writing, and turn in a portfolio of work at the end of the term.

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European Literature (XXX000)

Prerequisite: Humanities 10

Length: 1 semester
Credits: .5 

Students will learn to recognize the discourse of literature genres through the ages of Renaissance, Romanticism, Enlightenment and Realism, etc. They will become familiar with the work of poets, writers, painters and philosophers. Some of the authors that will be required reading for the class include Cervantes, Balzac, Dickens, Sartre, Kafka, and Chekhov, etc. The semester will be a journey through time and forms of art and literature.

The class will discuss the evolution of literature forms like poems, short stories, and epic, etc. as well as trends like Romanticism in France, Britain and Italy. Students will learn to discover differences and commonalities among writers and painters from the same trend but different countries..

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World Mythology (IEN000)

Prerequisite: English and History 9 and 10

Length:  1 semester

Credit:   .5 English or Social Studies credit 

Was the world created in seven days or was it hatched from an egg? Who saw? These questions and more were answered by what we know today as myth. World Mythology digs into history, climate, geography, and people appreciating commonalities and differences, recognizing universal themes in the questions and answers of people from past and present.

Credit will be awarded through the demonstration of learning in a variety of formats. Traditional written tests, narratives, and expository writing will be demonstrations, along with skill development in communication and research.

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Social Studies


World Mythology (IEN000)

Prerequisite: English and History 9 and 10

Length:  1 semester

Credit:   .5 English or Social Studies credit 

Was the world created in seven days or was it hatched from an egg? Who saw? These questions and more were answered by what we know today as myth. World Mythology digs into history, climate, geography, and people appreciating commonalities and differences, recognizing universal themes in the questions and answers of people from past and present.

Credit will be awarded through the demonstration of learning in a variety of formats. Traditional written tests, narratives, and expository writing will be demonstrations, along with skill development in communication and research.

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