Humanities is a yearlong course that combines Language Arts and Social Science. Your student’s Humanities teacher will see your student every day for all four terms. This class is comparable to a homeroom and most questions can be directed to your student’s humanities teacher.

The curriculum for the Humanities course follows Common Core Standards for both Language Arts and Social Science. It is an integrated 7-12 coherent program of instruction and assessment for reading, writing, listening and speaking. The writing portion will expect students to write full process pieces of narrative, explanatory/informational, argumentative and research papers. Students will develop these papers through a course of writing workshops that will range from two weeks to four weeks. All final works for writing papers are expected to be word processed, which fulfills the EGUSD/Common Core standard for computer literacy.

Holt World History textbooks will be used for the Social Science portion of humanities. 7th grade has a focus on Chinese and Japanese history, Northern and Western African history, the development and spread of Islam and the effects these cultures had on European history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Enlightenment. When 7th grade focuses on the Age of Exploration, students will look at the Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilizations.

Supplemental novels have been chosen to expand the scope of some of these historical topics. The novel Sign of the Chrysanthemum by Katherine Paterson looks at medieval Japanese culture and Beowulf, translation by Robert Nye, examines medieval European culture. Both of these novels provide a deeper and holistic understanding these historical time periods by integrating the language arts with history through assigned work.

Students should expect homework two to three nights per week, with occasional weekends. Long term projects, like the writing assignments mentioned above, will be assigned in advance with notice of a due date. Homework is used for students to practice what is learned in the classroom, to prepare for classroom lessons and tests, to complete assignments already given and to extend their knowledge beyond class discussions.

Due to the nature of humanities there is a recommended list of supplies. It is required that all textbooks are covered, brown paper bags seem to be the most effective. Students should bring a binder dedicated to Humanities, a three prong folder with pockets, clean binder paper, blue and/or black pens, pencils with erasers, colored pencils, three different colored highlighters, and a pencil sharpener with shavings cap. With these supplies in tow, your student will be well prepared and ready to learn!

7th Grade	Ext	RM	Tm
Linda Celey-Butlin	31982	MJ7	Timber
Jennifer Hammond	31949	MG6	Tundra
Emmanuel Kempner	31977	MG6	Arctic
Kathryn Loveridge	31978	MJ3	Arctic
Theresa Rodriguez	31950	MG3	Timber

8th Grade	Ext.	RM	Team
Haley Burgos	31939	MF6	Red
Nicole Duarte	31940	MF7	Red
Jennifer Hammond	31949	MG6	Tundra
Annette Luke	31935	MF2	Gray
Lolly Jones	31936	MF3	Gray