M/J Advanced World Cultures   (#2105030)

General Notes

M/J World Cultures - The social studies curriculum for this course consists of the following content area strands: World History, Geography, and Economics. The primary content for this course pertains to the study of the significant contributions of world cultural groups. Students will use social studies concepts, tools, and skills to draw conclusions regarding the varied characteristics of cultural groups. Content should include, but not be limited to the characteristics of a cultural group, the development of cultural societies, the impact of geography on cultural development, the evaluation of the interdependence between humans and the environment, and the complexity of global issues. Students will study methods of historical inquiry and primary and secondary historical documents.

Honors/Advanced courses offer scaffolded learning opportunities for students to develop the critical skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in a more rigorous and reflective academic setting. Students are empowered to perform at higher levels as they engage in the following: analyzing historical documents and supplementary readings, working in the context of thematically categorized information, becoming proficient in note-taking, participating in Socratic seminars/discussions, emphasizing free-response and document-based writing, contrasting opposing viewpoints, solving problems, etc. Students will develop and demonstrate their skills through participation in a capstone and/or extended research-based paper/project (e.g., history fair, participatory citizenship project, mock congressional hearing, projects for competitive evaluation, investment portfolio contests, or other teacher-directed projects).

Mathematics Benchmark Guidance – Social Studies instruction should include opportunities for students to interpret and create representations of historical events and concepts using mathematical tables, charts, and graphs.

Instructional Practices
Teaching from well-written, grade-level instructional materials enhances students' content area knowledge and also strengthens their ability to comprehend longer, complex reading passages on any topic for any reason. Using the following instructional practices also helps student learning:

1. Reading assignments from longer text passages as well as shorter ones when text is extremely complex.
2. Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
3. Asking high-level, text-specific questions and requiring high-level, complex tasks and assignments.
4. Requiring students to support answers with evidence from the text.
5. Providing extensive text-based research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).