COURSES AND CURRICULUM OUTLINE 2021 - 2022 


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Purpose
 
The courses offered for the 2021- 2022 school year will be conducted live online over Zoom and will be run like a regular class for the full academic year.  Each class will be a two-hour block of time from Monday to Friday.  
 
The purpose of this section is to explain the courses by outlining the overall topic of study, the major units in the humanities, and the additional aspects of the program in language arts and social studies.  I also will note the major books and texts we will use. 
 
This section focuses on explaining the subject matter content.  For a more detailed discussion of the skills that will be developed, see the website pages that explain my approach to teaching learning, critical thinking, and the core skills of reading, writing, and discussion.  [Teaching] 

 
Introduction: A Grade 7-8 Class and a Grade 9-12 Class
 For the 2021 - 2022 school year a Grade 7-8 and a Grade 9-12 class are offered.  The course of study for both levels is entitled: The Evolution of Societies: The Hunter-Gatherer and Horticultural Eras.  For many years I have used this course to introduce students in grades 7-8 to my learning program that focuses on the development of the key skills of learning and critical thinking.  It is designed to introduce students to my learning methods in a step-by-step sequence.  All students new to my program need to go through this sequence of instruction, whether they are at both the 7-8 or 9-12 grade levels.
 
Both grade level courses will be reading the same major books, as they are all appropriate and challenging for students from grades 7 to 12, and some of these books also are commonly used at the college level as well.  The seventh and eighth graders do not need to fear that they are reading the same books that the high school students are reading; I have used these books at the 7-8 grade level for many years with great success.  The high school students do not need to fear that they are reading books that are also being read by the grade 7-8 class; the books will challenge them as well, no doubt, as they also engage students at the college level.  For example, the book The Forest People is scored at the eighth grade reading level but has commonly been used in colleges in introductory level classes in Anthropology.  Likewise, the novel Things Fall Apart is scored at a reading level that is easily accessible to grade 7-8 students but is also read by college classes because it is highly regarded as an outstanding work of world literature.
 
While the core humanities reading books will be the same, the two different grade level classes will be using additional books designed for their appropriate grade levels for grammar, vocabulary, literature, and geography.  See below for details on the specific books for the two grade level classes.  I may make some adjustments to the reading lineup over the summer but will inform you of any changes in advance.

Why A Class Combining Grades 9-12?

It may sound unusual to offer a class that spans grades 9-12.  However, the main focus of my Critical Thinking Humanities Program is to introduce students to the power tools for learning.  These tools are appropriate for all learners in grades 9-12, and the instruction provided will be readily accessible to the 9th grader while also challenging the 12th grade students.  Since the focus is on learning and wielding skills, I will be introducing new skills to all, but can set the bar for each student’s work individually.  I am able to assess the level and challenges of the students, help them solidify the skills that need work, and push them toward the next level of refinement.  If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me to discuss your child’s situation in more detail. 
 
Course Elements Shared by Both the Grade 7-8 Class and Grade 9-12 Class

1. Introduction to Learning, Student Learning Profile, and Goals for the Year
  • We will begin the year with an introduction to learning, using a wide range of short reading excerpts and resources to develop students understanding of key issues about the learning process. 
  • Students will explore the concepts of intelligence, the theory of multiple intelligences, and the learning curve.  They will take a brief multiple intelligences test to help determine their learning preferences and gain insight into their learning. 
  • They will complete a “Student Learning Profile” project that helps them to reflect on their learning strengths and weaknesses on a wide range of educational topics. 
  • In addition, the students will complete a “Goals for the Year” document for each subject area.  Students will review the document with their parents and give them the opportunity to add their thoughts or comments to the document as well.  In this way, the document begins a conversation between the students, parents, and teacher that will continue over the course of the year.  Students will reflect upon and write about their progress at the end of each semester.
 
2. Introduction to Critical Thinking
  • We will spend several weeks introducing the core tools of critical thinking that will be put to use in everything we do throughout the rest of the school year.  We will use resources created by John Trapasso as well as by Dr. Richard Paul, Dr. Linda Elder, and the Foundation and Center for Critical Thinking in Dillon Beach, California.
  • Students will learn about the intellectual virtues, the elements of reason, the standards of reason, and other key critical thinking concepts. 
  • We will learn different ways to think through an issue using the elements of reason including constructing a house of questions as well as building a house of thought.

3. A Short Story Writing Project
  • Students will begin a short story project in the fall that we will work on slowly, working on several drafts to create a polished final draft in the spring. 
  • We will spend a few weeks in the fall getting the project started and working on planning the plot, characters, and themes.  Then, the project will be worked on in the background with periodic checks and due dates.  Students will give each other feedback and write critiques of the early drafts of other students.

4. The Main Study: The Evolution of Societies: The Hunter-Gatherer and Horticultural Eras.
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The main topic for this year’s Critical Thinking Humanities class is the evolution of societies through history.  This is a course I have taught for many years and have used very successfully both to develop students’ core learning skills and provide them with foundational ideas about the broad course of history. 
 
The key question we will explore is: What types of societies have existed and how did they evolve through history?  We will explore how there have been only four major types of societies and that the general path of history was an evolution from simple hunting and gathering societies, to small-scale, horticultural farming societies, to larger-scale, agricultural societies, and finally to industrial societies.  One major goal is to provide students with a broad framework for history by understanding its major eras and types of societies.  Understanding this broad pattern helps students to better comprehend and organize all historical topics they will study in their future years of education.
A second major goal is to explore the logic of a society and understand its major components, including its subsistence technology, economic and trade system, division of labor, social structure, system of leadership and government, and its important ideas such as social norms, religious and philosophical beliefs, and art forms.  Learning the basic logic and components found in all societies provides students’ with a sturdy foundation for understanding any society and the development of history.  It provides a firm grounding is the key topics needed to understand how any society functions and provides an important way to compare and contrast their ways of life.  For example, knowing the types of social structures found and how they evolved over time is a powerful way to understand history, to make comparisons between societies, and more firmly grasp the trajectory of the human experience. 
 
We use the Ecological-Evolutionary Theory of Social Development as the theoretical base for our studies.  This theory states that societies are adaptive mechanisms that help people to live in an environmental niche using a particular subsistence technology, the way the society gets its food.  The theory also teaches that it is the society’s subsistence technology that has the greatest impact on determining the basic structure of the society.  Societies that hunt and gather for their food share many common characteristics and the basic components of their societies are largely the same.  For example, hunter and gatherer societies are generally nomadic, have a social structure of equality, and little division of labor.  Most of the hunter and gatherer societies have shared these same features, no matter in which environment they lived or in what period of history.  The same is true for the other three major types of subsistence technologies.  Societies that use horticulture, agriculture, or industrialization to get their food have the same basic structure all over the world in all time periods.  Understanding how societies with the same subsistence technology share basic structures helps the students to see the general pattern of history and how the structure of societies evolved.   It provides the students with a simplified outline for how history moved through four successful stages, from the hunting and gathering era, to the horticultural era, the agricultural era, and the industrial era.  I believe that understanding the Ecological-Evolutionary Theory of Social Development provides the students with a powerful theory for understanding the general patterns and broad course of history that is invaluable for their future studies.  
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One of the fundamental principles of my teaching program is that student learning benefits greatly from studying a few topics in considerable depth.  To accomplish this, the year will focus on studying two of the main society types, hunting and gathering and small-scale horticultural societies.  However, we will continually compare and contrast these societies with large-scale agricultural and industrial societies, thereby providing students with insight into all four of the major types of societies.  I choose to focus our studies on hunting and horticultural societies because these are the types that are least studied in schools.  Since the students have typically studied in prior grades large-scale agricultural societies, we focus on developing a deep understanding of hunter-gatherer and horticultural society types and compare these to present-day industrial societies.  I think it is especially important for students to learn about hunter-gatherer and horticultural societies because their way of life is the most different from our own and the least studied.  Understanding these early society’s lifeways, values, and beliefs provides students with important perspective on other ways in which humankind has lived successfully during our long history and gives breadth to their base of knowledge.
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Books Used by Both the Grade 7-8 Class and Grade 9-12 Class
 
Next, I will outline the major books and resources used for the two grade level courses.  This section gives the books used by both grade level classes.  Beneath this are sections outlining additional books used by the 7-8 and 9-12 classes.  
 
1. Books and Resources on Critical Thinking
  • “Introduction to Critical Thinking, an adaptation of the work of Dr. Richard Paul,” by John Trapasso
    • This is a 25 page guide I wrote for my students to give them an overview of critical thinking as taught by Dr. Richard Paul.  I will provide this for all students.
  • The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools, Eighth Edition, RICHARD PAUL AND LINDA ELDER
    • https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538134948/The-Miniature-Guide-to-Critical-Thinking-Concepts-and-Tools-Eighth-Edition
    • This is a brief overview of the key critical thinking concepts from Dr. Paul and Dr. Elder; it is a useful reference for all students.

2. Books on the Theoretical Framework of the Course on the Evolution of Societies
  • The following books provide the core ideas that undergird our study.  These are college texts and adult level books; we will not read any of them in class, but will read brief summaries of some core ideas that I wrote for the students.  We also will use some excellent charts and diagrams from the books to teach key concepts.  I note the books here for parents to understand the theoretical approach of the class.
 
  • Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology, Patrick Nolan and Gerhard Lenski
  • Ecological-Evolutionary Theory, Gerhard Lenski
  • Social Transformations: A General Theory of Historical Development, Stephen K. Sanderson
 
3. The Main Humanities Books, Combining Language Arts and Social Studies
  • These are the main books for the year that we will either read excerpts from or in full.
 
  • The Old Way: A Story of the First People, Elizabeth Marshal Thomas
    • Discusses early humans and their adaptations to the environment and survival strategies; we will read excerpts.
  • Reindeer Moon, Elizabeth Marshal Thomas
    • A novel about early human society in Siberia. We may read this; I will consider its use this summer.
  • The Forest People, Colin Turnbull
    • This is one of our major books; we will read it carefully and do study questions on the key chapters to develop reading and writing skills and a deep understanding of the subject matter.
    • A classic Anthropological study of the BaMbuti pygmies of the Congo region.  It is an outstanding introduction to the logic of hunting and gathering societies.  Also, it will be used to introduce the key components of all societies and to make comparisons to the other major types of societies, horticulture, agriculture, and industrial societies.  
    • The book reads like a novel and is beautifully written, providing great opportunity to work on reading comprehension and finding subtle meanings in the text.
  • The Ohlone Way, Malcolm Margolin
    • A thoughtful study of the hunter-gatherers of the San Francisco Bay Area; we will read excerpts for comparative purposes to other hunter-gatherers and the other types of societies.
  • Fools Crow, James Welch
    • An outstanding novel written by an acclaimed Native American author.  It is a portrait of the life of the Blackfeet Indians of Montana; it shows their way of life both before and after the American settlers and army disrupted it. 
    • It provides deep insights into the culture, thinking, values, and way of life of the Blackfeet, and highlights concerns facing all people in all cultures. 
    • It has a complex plot and challenges the students’ reading comprehension.   
  • Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
    • A highly acclaimed novel by one of the great African authors writing in English.  The writing is straightforward, not complex, but challenges the students’ reading comprehension and their ability to understand complex characters. 
    • It is a portrait of the author’s culture, the Ibo people of present-day Nigeria, set both before and after the British disrupted it. 
    • It provides an example of a small-scale horticultural society, a type that is seldom portrayed in literature, and helps us to investigate the crucial changes that occur in societies that first settle down into a farming way of life.  The society is small and still enjoys a large degree of freedom, unlike the massive agricultural societies that dominate most studies of history such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, and Medieval Europe.  It allows for intriguing comparisons to the society of Colonial America and the early United States.
  • Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
    • We will read excerpts and watch a documentary of the book. 
    • The book is famous for turning upside down historians’ ideas about the development of societies through history.  It provides intriguing food for thought as we wrap up the year’s study of the development of societies and poses interesting questions about where humanity is heading in the future. 
4. Language Arts: Additional Parts of the Course and Books    
  • Outside Reading Book Program: books chosen by students for pleasure reading
    • To develop reading skills, the students will be required to read books other than the main texts we read together as a class.  I call this the “outside reading book program,” as in outside of our normal class readers. 
    • Students will choose the books they want to read for pleasure, but will have the book approved by me so that I can keep track of the level of reading challenges they are undertaking and give advice at times to steer them in new directions.  Students may read fiction or non-fiction; whatever they like, so long as it is either at or a bit above their reading level.  
    • They will read a new outside reading book every five weeks or so and keep a list of the books they complete for the year.  They generally will not be asked to write book reports on these books, but may be asked to write a short journal entry.  There is no graded work for this program. 
    • The goal is simply to encourage the students to read, and I will not closely monitor or evaluate their pleasure reading.  This is also a part of the program that I can manage with flexibility based on the needs of individual students and the goal of giving them a reasonable workload.   
 
  • Optional Literature Book
    • If families so desire, I can recommend a standard school text for literature that provides a wealth of short stories, poetry, and other readings that may engage your child and be a good option for their outside reading development.  This is not a required book for the course.
    • Grade 7-8: Elements of Literature: Student Edition Grade 8, Second Course 2007, 1st Edition, by RINEHART AND WINSTON HOLT
    • Grade 9-12: Holt Elements of Literature: Student Edition Grade 9, Third Course 2009, 1st Edition, by RINEHART AND WINSTON HOLT​​

5. Social Studies: Additional Parts of the Course and Books
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  • Geography
    • I am hunting for a simple workbook to teach geography skills and world geography, but have not yet found one I like.  I will continue my search.
  • Current Events
    •  We will periodically discuss current events around the world and do short critical thinking based exercises to encourage students to follow world events and reflect upon them.  We also will frequently make connections between the topics under investigation in class to current events and world issues; in this way, I will model how good learners tie together their present studies with other topics in the world of human knowledge.
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