1. The Long Path of Understanding

2. What is this thing called Humanities
Delivery of Curriculum in a way that is
authentic and in context
Sharing the responsibility of grammar,
writing, and reading through interdisciplinary
practices
Proven best practice for schools similar to
Pudong in size

3. What we are doing with our time.
Humanities does not simply combine two
classes to make one. Conversely, more time
does not mean double the instruction
Offer more Exploratory classes to students
during the school days
Provide students with choices in their work
Integrate Reading, writing and grammar in Cores,
Specials and Electives
Student Led Conferencing and EAGLES
Reflections

4. Humanities
2007-2008
Education is not filling a bucket
but lighting a fire
William B. Yeats

5. What is Humanities?
history comparative religion
literature the history, theory, and
philosophy and ethics criticism of the arts
different cultures aspects of the social
linguistics sciences (anthropology,
sociology, psychology,
law political science,
archaeology government, and
economics)
Definition used by the U.S. Congress when the National
Endowment for the Humanities was established in 1964

6. Why is it important?
It encourages students to discuss, explore
and reflect upon the following in an inter-
disciplinary manner:
1. The nature of basic values
2. Issues that confront us as citizens and as
human beings in life and in society

7. Why is it important?
3. The various policies and practices that are
proposed to address these issues
4. The experiences and perceptions of others,
5. The ways in which time, place and culture
affect attitudes and perceptions

8. It is the core of human
values and experiences
Without it we have no context for
understanding our past, present or future,
as individuals or as nations

9. Why combine SS and LA?
The needs of a new generation of students
and thinkers
The new requirements of the ever changing
globalized workforce
Subject integration is a key component of
life long learning

10. The creation of Humanities will
develop and reinforce all 3 of these
key elements

11. What will Humanities at SAS
Pudong look like?

12. Overview of Grade 6 Curriculum
Five themes linked together
Reflect the learning process, a cycle of
exploration, development, and growth.
Final challenge - students see themselves
not just in their specific time and place, but
in a broader global context.

13. Grade 6 Humnities Curriculum
Overview
Theme 1:
Where Are We From/
Where Are We Now?
Theme 5:
This is Who We Are/
Here We Are Now
Theme 4:
Establishing Values, Beliefs Theme 2:
and Traditions Stages of Development/
Rites of Passage
Theme 3:
Foundations and Formations

14. Overview of Grade 7 Curriculum
THEMES
The Development of Identity
The influence of religion on the development
of cultures and society
Trade and its impact on human
development
The connection between community and
conflict and the role institutions play

15. 7th Grade Texts
“Literature and Integrated Studies” by Scott
Foresman
Dragon Keeper, Carole Wilkinson (novel
study)
Catherine Called Birdy, (novel study)
The Merchant of Venice (film as text)
Cry freedom (film as text)
The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton (novel study)

16. Grade 8 Humanities
Quarterly Breakdown

17. Quarter 1
Theme 1: What is Evidence
Enduring Understandings:
Problem-solving requires a systematic
approach
Information exists in a variety of forms
All evidence has limitations
Argument requires evidence

18. Students will be introduced and exposed
to:
the definition, categories and limitations of
evidence.
a variety of written and visual forms of
evidence.
They will engage with evidence through:
a historical case study on The Lost Colony
of Roanoke
a field trip investigation of the Shanghai
streetscape.

19. 8th Grade Retreat

20. Theme 2: Journeys
Enduring Understandings:
There are many types of journeys
Everything we do has an impact on
ourselves and on our environment
Our past shapes our present
Humans continually seek knowledge

21. Literature Study:
Short Stories from Language Arts Textbook
Students will
investigate the concepts of journeys,
exploration, challenges and courage
discuss the structural elements of plot and
the use of literary devices
be introduced to basic economic concepts
and systems through the study of
imperialism between 1500 - 1900

22. 8th Grade Recycling Program

23. Quarter 2
Theme 3: The Environment and Society
Enduring Understandings:
Everything we do has an impact on ourselves
and on our environment
Systems within an environment are
interdependent
Change is continual
Human needs depend upon available
resources

24. A multi-disciplinary Unit
Students will
explore the concepts of global issues
consolidate research and writing skills
develop areas of speech and debate
be involved in real life connections between
science, math, language arts and social
studies.

25. Middle School Play

26. Quarter 3
Theme 4: Culture
Enduring Understandings:
Cultural Misconceptions are part of our past and
present
Cultural values and beliefs affect relations among
individuals, groups, institutions, and political states.
Cultural identity is determined by many factors

27. Literature Study:
Rabbit Proof Fence (Film as text)
House on Mango Street
Students will
analyze the impact of contact on indigenous
civilizations
investigate the themes of family, personal identity,
cultural identity and displacement
compare and contrast the effects of major
colonizing movements across time
experience the reality of the ‘melting pot’ and
investigate the meaning of E Pluribus Unum (Out
of the Many, One).

28. Model United Nations

29. Quarter 4
Theme 5: Human Rights
Enduring Understandings:
Change is continual
Democracy is a process
Democracy is not inherent

30. Literature Circles:
The Giver
To Kill A Mockingbird
Diary of Anne Frank
Students will
understand the rights of individuals
compare and contrast the power of
government vs the responsibility of the
individual
Analyze responsibility versus indifference
and the impact of discrimination
engage in a a journey of self discovery

31. Why integrate?
Integration allows a theme based curriculum
•Encourages connections
•Allows for more authentic learning
•Can be designed to specifically meet the
needs of our students, at this school, in this
country

32. Connections
Fast connections:
– the mark of the ‘thinking’ learner
– Allow the learner to adapt and evolve
within an every-changing environment

33. “Increasing proper connections among
the brain’s neurons results in a better
functioning brain…Without such
connections, bits of information are
isolated from the prior knowledge and
are forgotten.”
Lowery, L. F., (2001)The biological basis for thinking. In
Costa, A. L. (ed.) (2001). Developing Minds: A Resource
Book for Thinking. Virginia: ASCD. (p. 179)

34. Connections: A new focus on
creative thinking
Learning approaches need to focus on
developing activities that focus on
creative thinking in order to improve the
efficiency of that network
Increased connections = a more efficient
learner

35. Authentic learning
The students of today need to be:
responsible global citizens
skilled in decision making,
able to anticipate and find solutions for problems
adaptable in a continuously changing environment
compassionate,
mindful of ethical considerations and service to the
community, and
self-directing.

36. Authentic learning: How can we
create a learning community?
Primary motivators:
curiosity
excitement of discovery
ownership

37. The SAS Humanities design:
Connecting to authentic learning
“The challenge for educators is to link what
we want to teach to what really matters to
students”
Caine, G., Caine, R. N., & McClintic, C. (2002). Guiding the innate constructivist. Educational
Leadership. September, (p.73).
“Nobody works harder at learning than a
curious kid”
Friedman, T. L. (2006). The world is flat: The globalized world in the twenty-first
century. London: Penguin (p.304).

38. The SAS Humanities design:
tailored to meet student needs
Relevant curriculum allows:
students to pursue answers to questions they
have about themselves, content, and the world.
recognition of the holistic nature of all knowledge
through the connections between subjects
National Middle School Association. (2003). This we believe: Successful schools for young
adolescents. Westerville, Ohio: NMSA (p. 20)

39. Building a Community

40. The Big Question
Will my child have less of a foundation in SS and
LA because of the integration of these
disciplines?
Reading lists – an example of an ancillary
reading list
Writing across the curriculum
Reading across the curriculum
Literacy block

41. Reading List
(an example from Theme 1)
The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins
The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe
The Game of Sunken Places, M.T. Anderson
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, Dorothy Hoobler
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I Know What You Did Last Summer, Lois Duncan
Paint by Magic: A time travel mystery, Kathryn Reiss
A Murder is Announced, Agatha Christie
Search for the Shadowman, Joan Lowery Nixon
The Square Root of Murder, Paul Zindel
A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes), Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle

42. Writing across the curriculum
The writing process
Common rubrics
based on the 6+1
Traits
Reflections
Research papers
Essays

43. Reading across the curriculum
Exposure to:
Literature across the
globe
Journals
Print media
(newspapers,
magazines)
Critical analysis
Reading methods
(scanning, skimming)

44. Literacy block (Advisory Program)
1 day out of the 3 in the Advisory rotation
schedule:
The D.E.A.R (drop everything and read)
program
The Individual Project (grade 8)
Written reflections
Reading Logs/Blogs

45. The great aim of education
is not knowledge, but
action.
Herbert Spencer

47. Classrooms Without Walls
The humanities
philosophy supports
student choice in
activity
The modern middle
must escape the
“disciplinary straight
jackets” of teaching
fragment curriculum
(Paul George)