Essential
to understanding, preserving, and extending the vision of democracy, liberty
and equality is an active and informed citizenry. The purpose of social studies
curriculum should is to cultivate knowledge and skills in future democratic
participants. We must teach our children to cherish freedom and to accept
responsibility for preserving and extending it, confident that they will find
their own best ways of doing so, on the basis of free, un-coerced thoughts. To
accomplish this goal, a strong interdisciplinary approach to social studies
education is needed. Social studies education in the high school—that is a four
year program including: World History, United States History, an elective, and
a focus on major historical themes—is central to capturing young adults at the
time when they have finally gained the intellectual and social capacity to move
beyond egoism, to develop perspective, and to participate in democratic
society. While helping students develop solid factual basis for understanding
the world, a social studies curriculum must also foster a shift from dependence
and self-interest towards a compassionate strength resulting from independence
and concern for others. A social studies program with these goals in mind must
actively engage students in inquiry, research,
deliberation, and evaluation while helping them construct knowledge, learn
practical skills, and gain the experience necessary to meet the need for active
and informed citizenship. This approach to teaching and learning social studies
will ensure that students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to
understand and respond to contemporary issues facing the
GOALS:
1
Foster an active and informed citizenry.
2
Cultivate knowledge, understanding, and skills.
3
Encourage higher level thinking grounded in a solid
base of factual knowledge.
4
Inspire students to become integrated and informed
thinkers.
5
Ensure students have the opportunity to meet the MLRs.
WORLD HISTORY I 9 World History I is a one year course
intended for first year high school students. In this class students will
develop regional understandings of world history within the chronological
boundaries from Early Civilization through the Enlightenment Period. In
addition, while students are working towards a factual base for understanding the
world they will practice inquiry by exploring seven major themes in history:
Culture; Time Continuity and Change; People, Places, and Environments;
Individuals, Groups and Institutions; Power, Authority, and Governance;
Production, Distribution, and Consumption; Science, Technology, and Society;
Global Connections; and Civic Ideals and Practices. These themes will serve as
unifying threads tying together societies, regions, and periods. The result
will be an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the world that
cultivates knowledge understanding and skill; fosters informed and active world
citizens; encourages higher level thinking, inspires integrated and informed
thinkers, and provides the opportunity for students to meet the Maine Learning
Results.
WORLD HISTORY II 10 (2007 – 2008 school year) World History II is
a one year course intended for second year high school students. In this class
students will develop regional understandings of world history within the
chronological boundaries from the emergence of the Nation State through the
Present. In addition, while students are working towards a factual base for
understanding the world they will practice inquiry by exploring seven major
themes in history: Culture; Time Continuity and Change; People, Places, and
Environments; Individuals, Groups and Institutions; Power, Authority, and
Governance; Production, Distribution, and Consumption; Science, Technology, and
Society; Global Connections; and Civic Ideals and Practices. These themes will
serve as unifying threads tying together societies, regions, and periods. The
result will be an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the world that
cultivates knowledge understanding and skill; fosters informed and active world
citizens; encourages higher level thinking, inspires integrated and informed
thinkers, and provides the opportunity for students to meet the Maine Learning
Results.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES 11, 12 Contemporary
Issues is a one year course that will provide a culminating experience in the
social studies for FFMHS students. Prerequisites are World History I & II
and enrollment in US History. Contemporary Issues is devoted to studying the
historical origins and development of political and social problems that
confront contemporary humanity. The goal of this class is for students to
come to their own understanding of the following four essential questions: How
can students learn to understand and adopt the role of an internationally
informed participant in public affairs? What skills are valuable for a student
to participate as an effective involved citizen in a complex society? How do we
influence and how are we influenced by international affairs? What current
issues are crucial in the world and what nation/regional characteristics are important
to understanding them? The Students and the instructor will collaborate on
topics of inquiry and deliberation which may include but are not limited to:
The Media, The Developing World, US Trade Policy, The
US Role in the World, Global Environmental Problems, Foreign Aid, Human Rights,
and Responding to Terrorism. Students will be expected to keep current on
local, state, national, and international events/issues. The course encourages
the development of a variety of skills. Practice in negotiation, compromise,
working in teams, and problem solving is combined with listening, public
speaking, thinking and reading critically, formal (thesis) writing, and
informal (reaction) writing. In addition, efficient time-management and
the ability to work independently are expected from all students.
Research plays an important role in this course; traditional and electronic
sources, as well as interviewing and solicitation of materials from
international, national, and non-governmental sources are all used to gather
information. There will be a required “Culminating Project” of the
students’ design facilitated and advised by the instructor.
ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropology is a ˝
year (1 semester) course that will introduce students to the field of
Anthropology. Prerequisites are World History I & II and enrollment or
completion of US History. Anthropology
is the study of humankind from prehistoric to modern society. Topics covered in
the course include: the nature of archaeological evidence, research and methods
in anthropology, the origins and development of humans, the nature of culture
and the process of cultural change, and linguistics. Other topics will apply
the skills learned to investigate and appreciate the differences and
similarities of human cultures.
ANCIENT HISTORY AND CULTURE Ancient History is a 1 year course in
which students will develop regional understandings of Ancient History and
Ancient Cultures. Prerequisites are World History I & II and enrollment or
completion of US History. The course will work within the chronological
boundaries from the beginnings of human society to Medieval Europe and the rise
of Western Civilization (Prehistory-1500). In addition, while students are
working towards a factual base for understanding the world they will practice
inquiry by exploring seven major themes in history: Culture; Time Continuity
and Change; People, Places, and Environments; Individuals, Groups and
Institutions; Power, Authority, and Governance; Production, Distribution, and
Consumption; Science, Technology, and Society; Global Connections; and Civic
Ideals and Practices. These themes will serve as unifying threads tying
together societies, regions, and periods. The result will be an
interdisciplinary approach to understanding the world that cultivates knowledge
understanding and skill; fosters informed and active world citizens; encourages
higher level thinking, inspires integrated and informed thinkers, and provides
the opportunity for students to meet the Maine Learning Results.
18TH & 19TH CENTURY U. S. HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT 10
This chronological course provides an in-depth
examination of key events, people, and issues in
20TH CENTURY U. S. HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT 11 This chronological course provides a continuing in-depth
examination of key events, people and issues in United States History from the
Civil War Reconstruction period to the
PSYCHOLOGY 11, 12 We will
study basic psychology as a body of knowledge as well as a way of approaching
and analyzing the world around us.
Topics include: - Behavior, Body
Rhythms and the Brain, - Learning, Thinking and Intelligence, - Memory, Emotion
and Personality, - Child Development, Stress and Disorders. The approach used in this course will be based
on critical thinking; the ability to resist leaping to conclusions on the basis
of personal experience alone.