American Studies
American Studies was the first humanities class I took as a ninth grader. It was also my school's first foray into Project-Based Learning.
During this unit, we read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, selections from Walden by Henry David Thoreau and Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde.
Linked below are the units we completed during this class.
The American Dream
This first unit of study in our first year of high school, was to examine the idea of The American Dream. We did art pieces and conducted interviews that explored our own experiences and the experiences of others with the idea of the American Dream.
The Crucible
This unit, we studied classic literature: the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible. We used it as an opportunity to learn how to write point-of-view pieces—the assignments were to write two "internal monologues" from the perspective of two different characters in the book.
Walden
During this unit, we studied Henry David Thoreau's work Walden, and what writing about a specific place could do for us. We wrote our own works about a meaningful place, and also examined Thoreau's philosophies critically in an extended essay.
The Harlem Renaissance
The last big project we undertook as first years in high school was an intensive study on the Harlem Renaissance. We spent a semester doing research on the movement as a whole, and then eventually picked a person or phenomenon to study more in-depth as an individual project.
During this unit, we read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, selections from Walden by Henry David Thoreau and Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde.
Linked below are the units we completed during this class.
The American Dream
This first unit of study in our first year of high school, was to examine the idea of The American Dream. We did art pieces and conducted interviews that explored our own experiences and the experiences of others with the idea of the American Dream.
The Crucible
This unit, we studied classic literature: the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible. We used it as an opportunity to learn how to write point-of-view pieces—the assignments were to write two "internal monologues" from the perspective of two different characters in the book.
Walden
During this unit, we studied Henry David Thoreau's work Walden, and what writing about a specific place could do for us. We wrote our own works about a meaningful place, and also examined Thoreau's philosophies critically in an extended essay.
The Harlem Renaissance
The last big project we undertook as first years in high school was an intensive study on the Harlem Renaissance. We spent a semester doing research on the movement as a whole, and then eventually picked a person or phenomenon to study more in-depth as an individual project.