RSS Feed

Welcome to Humanities 5!

In Humanities 5, students will demonstrate skills for solving problems, understanding communities, processing different points-of-view, learning from mistakes, and communicating through listening, speaking and writing. Themes in Language Arts and Social Studies focus on how and why students engage their communities and how and why communities engage each other. While the course is called Humanities, it frequently integrates fine arts (particularly drama), social sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences to support these goals.

LANGUAGE ARTS

The Language Arts program asks students to consider themselves in relation to their communities—family, friends, and the people at schol. Essential questions include, "How does making choices affect me?" and "What responsibilities do I have to my communities?" At the heart of the Language Arts program are Literature Circles and Writing Workshops.

SOCIAL STUDIES

The Social Studies program asks students to consider the concept of human community from multiple angles. We look at the idea, design, and organization of cities in North and South America. We study the Seattle metropolitan area, as well as "case studies" from Mayan and Aztec cities in Central America and modern cities in the United States, Cuba, Peru and Brazil. Students study the the physical and political geography of Washington state, North America, South America and the Caribbean.