Humanities (English and Social Studies)

Humanities (English and Social Studies) at Delta
I. Introduction – Nature of the Discipline
The humanities program of study provides a vehicle for understanding and
appreciating the complexity of human endeavor. Humanities at Delta High School
is a course designed to engage students in an integrated study of social studies,
literature, language and communication, philosophy, and the arts. As a way to
nurture imagination and creative thinking, a humanities approach provides
students with an understanding of the connectedness of all content areas.
Emphasis is placed on rights and responsibilities of the individual in society. Both,
through reading about events in a historical context, and in various literary genres,
students will explore aspects of human nature, human roles and behavior, and
human ideals. Teaching the disciplines together allows each subject to make the
others more meaningful for students. The interdisciplinary approach demonstrates
for students the interconnectedness of all their subjects. Thus, history supports
their literary analyses, and literature supports their historical investigations.
II. Overarching Goals and Purposes
As students in humanities explore aspects of human nature, human roles and
behavior, and human ideals, the following overarching goals emerge:
• Students will use critical reasoning skills to analyze and evaluate varying
perspectives
• Students will gather information, not as an end in itself, but to support the
processes of science and research as applied in humanities
• Students will acquire oral and written communication skills to articulate
their own ideas in a variety of modes and for a variety of purposes
• Students will read to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate literature
• Students will develop an appreciation for the literary and fine arts
• Students will create cross-curricular STEM-based products that support a
thesis and communicate the product in an appropriate manner to their
audiences.
III. Course Sequence
The humanities curriculum at Delta is designed to engage, motivate, and challenge
students to be inquisitive, analytical, creative, and energetic thinkers, readers,
writers, and speakers. Throughout their four-year humanities experience, while
working to improve their writing and editing skills, students will engage in inquiry
and project-based learning as they examine the development of civilizations in order

to understand the diversity of the human experience and various types of societies.
They will have the opportunity to write both creative and expository pieces with a
priority placed on writing comprehensive analytical essays expressing their own
ideas through clear prose. At times, literature drives the focus; at other times,
history does. Always, however, the focus is on interconnectedness. Units are
planned by creating essential questions designed to provoke the students’ thinking
and to help them make sense of the world.
Humanities 1- Exploring the Nature of Human Endeavor (2 Credits: 1
English, 1 Social Studies)
This introductory humanities course, a survey of social studies and language arts,
explores the nature of human endeavor through a study of history, economics,
civics, geography, and social studies skills. Through literature students will explore
individuals’ attempts or refusal to become the best they could be. In the process,
students will connect reading with writing and thinking skills for communication.
Thus, they will develop a foundation for more specialized study in their subsequent
three years at the school.
Humanities 2-World Civilizations (2 Credits: 1 English, 1 Social Studies)
Building upon the foundation of the introductory humanities course, Delta students
will be guided to seek to understand their role in their community, nation, and
world. Their future success will depend on their understanding that the world
operates on a global scale. Humanities 2 includes world history, world geography,
and world literature, ultimately stimulating students’ understanding of their roles
and responsibilities in the world as they learn how all human beings are intricately
and globally connected.
Humanities 3-American Studies (2 Credits: 1 English, 1 Social Studies)
Humanities 3 provides students the opportunity to explore the literature, history,
and government of the United States. It is important for students to connect
knowledge, skills, and values to civic action as they engage in social inquiry.
American Studies will include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals,
principles, and practices of citizenship in democratic societies. Students will engage
in a wide range of experiences to understand the diverse roles, behaviors, and ideals
of America’s national character. American literature, art, and media will serve as
focal points for learning and inquiry.
Humanities 4 - Senior Seminar (2 Credits: 1 English, 1 Social Studies)
The Humanities 4 experience will provide students with opportunities to explore a
global perspective and to study literary artistry and criticism. As students engage in
thoughtful reflection about history and progress as well as the trade-offs between
self-interests and societal obligations, they will broaden and enhance their own
abilities to think critically about a variety of issues, both historical and modern.

IV. Big Ideas
At Delta, big ideas will serve as focal points for teaching and learning. These
transferable, underlying concepts, principles, and theories will help students to
connect discrete knowledge and skills throughout the learning process. Throughout
the humanities curriculum, students will engage in learning experiences designed
around potential big ideas that connect to other STEM disciplines: human nature,
human roles and behavior, and human ideals both through reading about events in
a historical context and in various literary genres.
V. Cross-Curricular Applications
Cross-curricular applications will be designed around big ideas that could be
transferable to other STEM content areas: human nature, human roles and
behavior, and human ideals. Concepts such as communication, interactions and
interdependence, connections, diverse cultures, change, conflict, and character will
support and inform the cross-curricular applications in the STEM disciplines.
Humanities teachers will collaborate with teachers in other content areas, providing
students opportunities to write in modes specific to learning objectives and intended
for targeted audiences in a variety of formats, such as lab reports, grant proposals,
and environmental impact studies.
A potential cross-curricular application will be developed around the concept of
interdependence of life. In humanities, students will engage in the analysis of
demographics, economic forecasts of undeveloped, developing, developed, and wartorn
countries. In mathematics, students will critique various methods of statistical
experimental design, data collection, and data presentation. Meanwhile in science
classes, students will describe the living and non-living factors that limit the size
and affect the health of a population. Students will also explore the role of
technology and its impact on standards of living.
VI. Cornerstone to Capstone Experiences
All seniors will complete a capstone project as part of their fourth year Humanities
Senior Seminar. This meaningful project will be designed to provide students the
opportunity to interact within their community, and, as students of humanities, to
demonstrate understandings and self-awareness of who they are. The experience
will be a chance for students to apply what they will have learned to a topic that
they will truly care about and to illustrate the result to a wide audience. Students
may develop a core question that impacts their community. Students might ask,
“How can Delta students impact human roles and behavior to improve their

community?”
Presentation and reflection would accompany any humanities capstone project.
Students may work independently or with a team engaging community partners as
part of the process to explore their projects’ core questions. Students will submit
proposals, conduct research, prepare their findings/recommendations, and give oral
presentations as part of their capstone experiences. Thus, with the help of their
community, students will engage in reflections about their learning.