Mr.

Matheny
Course Syllabus
mathecor@wcps.k12.md.us
2015-2016
Humanities (Boys Academy 9)

www.mathenybhs.weebly.com
email:
twitter: @mathenybhs

Course Overview
Depending on ones view, the Boys Academy 9 has been placed in either a very fortunate or unfortunate
position. Given the opportunities made possible by this years schedule, their English 9 and American
History instruction will be consolidated into one comprehensive and rigorous course Humanities 9.
It must be noted that this distinction exists only within the confines of our classroom. As far as the school,
the county, and college administrators are concerned English 9 and American History will remain separate
courses. However, I cannot resist the opportunity we have been provided. During the 2015-16 school year
we will simultaneously learn American literature within the context American history, and American history
through the widows provided via different works of American literature.
Below, I have provided our different units of study. Within each unit is the thesis through which we will
explore that unit, the anchor text in which we will ground our study, the supplemental texts that will
broaden our study, the academic skills student will learn and utilize during their study, and the end-ofmarking period projects and tests through which students will showcase the development of those skills.
Also, I have included an extensive explanation of my grading procedures. Beginning in 2015 I transitioned
all of my courses to standards based-grading out of the belief that traditional grading structures are some
combination of inaccurate, inefficient, and unproductive. Standards based-grading is used to measure
students mastery of skills and objectives deemed important by the instructor, Washington County, the
state of Maryland, and the US Department of Education.
Course Work
Unit I Content
Thesis
Anchor Text
RL 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,
9.5, 9.6, 9.10
Supplemental Texts
RI 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,
9.5, 9.6, 9.10

Immigration, Industry, W. Expansion,

Progressivism, Imperialism
Identity is primarily determined by education
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1. Learning to Read and
Write by Frederick Douglas
2. Understanding and
Working with Children and
Adults from Poverty by
Ruby Payne
3. The Hierarchy of Needs
by Abraham Maslow
4. Theory of Moral
Development by Erik
Erikson
5. Life on the Miss. by
Mark Twain
6. Shooting an Elephant
by George Orwell

1. Dubliners by James
Joyce
2. The Jungle by Upton
Sinclair
3. The Signifigance of the
Frontier in American
History by Frederick
Jackson Turner
4. In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat
Chief Joseph
5. How the Other Half
Lives by Jacob Riis
6. The Souls of Blackfolk
by W.E.B. Dubois
7. On the Blessings of
Civilization by Mark Twain
8. White Mans Burden by
Rudyard Kipling

Research Project
SL 9.2, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6;
W9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9
Test (Cold read)

Walking (QR) Tour of Boonsboro

Unit II Content

WWI, Roaring 20s, Great Depression, WWII

Thesis
Anchor Text

Unit I Writing, Lang. & Analysis

Skills
Define, identify, and practice active
reading techniques i.e. annotation RI1; RL1
Define and/or characterize beauty as it
applies to English prose W9.4; L9.3
Define, identify, and use different sentence
types effectively W9.4; L9.3
Define, identify, and manipulate phrases
and clauses for specific effect L9.1B; L9.3
Define, identify, and use language
appropriate for informative writing W9.2C,
9.2D, 9.2E; L9.3
Define and identify organization
appropriate for informative writing W9.2A,
9.2B, 9.2C, 9.2F
Define, identify, and analyze the 7 aspects
of human culture His.1.9-12
Define, identify, and evaluate how
historical events are shaped by unique
circumstances His.1.9-12
Define, identify and analyze change and
continuity within and across historical eras
His.2. 9-12

Law of Life by Jack London

Gender identity is determined by environment

To Kill a Mockingbird

Unit II Writing, Lang. & Analysis

Skills
Define, identify and use commas, semicolons and colons effectively L9.2A
Define, identify and combine sentences to

RL 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,

9.5, 9.6, 9.10
Supplemental Texts
RI 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,
9.5, 9.6, 9.10

Project
W9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9
Test (Cold read)

1. The Second Coming by

Yeats
2. Soldiers Home by
Ernest Hemingway
3. Being a Man by Paul
Theroux
4. I Want a Wife by Judy
Brady
5. Babylon Revisited by F.
Scott Fitzgerald
6. September 1, 1939 by
W.H. Auden

1. Declaration of War by
Woodrow Wilson
2. Doughboys Letter by
Anonymous
3. Jazz by Geoff Dyer
4. Collected Poetry of the
Harlem Renaissance edited
by Langston Hughes
5. Every man a King Huey
Long
6. The New Deal by FDR
7. Anti-New Deal by H.
Hoover
8. Collected Letters Home
9. Bombing of Hiroshima
10. I lived to Tell the
Horrors of Treblinka

Literary Analysis
Perfect Day for a Bananafish by J.D. Salinger

create effective prose given authors

audience and purpose L9.3; W9.4, 9.5
Define, identify and use different syntax
patterns effectively W9.4, L9.3
Define and create thesis statements
W9.1A, 9.1B
Define, identify, and use language
appropriate for persuasive writing W9.1C,
9.1D
Define and identify organization
appropriate for persuasive writing W9.1C,
9.1D
Identify, and analyze cultural factors that
influence perspective during different
historical eras Hist. 4.9-12, 5.9-12
Identify and analyze how perspectives
shape and continue to shape historical
undstd. Hist 6.9-12
Define, identify, and analyze how modern
perspectives shape and limite our
understanding of the past Hist 7.9-12, 8.912

*Preposition use and redundant description addressed during unit if necessary

Unit III Content

Thesis
Anchor Text
RL 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,
9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.10
Supplemental Texts
RI 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,
9.5, 9.6, 9.8, 9.9,
9.10

Project
W9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9
Test (Cold read)
Unit IV Content
Thesis
Anchor Text
RL 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,
9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.10
Supplemental Texts
RI 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4,
9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.10

Cold War, American Dream, Civil Rights

Individual identity is less important than the
needs of society
Animal Farm
1. Telling Stories by Joan
Didion
2. 10 Tips on Writing by
David Ogilvy
5. The Leviathan by
Thomas Hobbes
6. Two Treatises of
Government by John Locke
6. Harvard Graduation
Speech by A. Solzhenitsyn

1. Official Glorification of
Stalin on his 70th Birthday
by N. Khrushchev
2. Sex, Drugs, and
Soybeans by Jim Windolf
3. For the Common
Defense by George
Marshall
4. Bureaucrats by Joan
Didion
5. Letter from a
Birmingham Jail by Dr. King
6. Chickens Come Home to
Roost by Malcolm X
7. New Feminism

Rhetorical Analysis
The Swimmer by John Cheever
Vietnam, Silent Majority, Globalization,
Terrorism
Globalization is a threat to individual dignity
The Cellist of Sarajevo
1. Illness as Metaphor by
Susan Sontag
2. On Labor Pope John
Paul II
3. Kitty, 40 Years Later
4. The Things they Carried
by Tim OBrien
5. The Audacity of Talking
about Race by Love and
Radio
6. The Audacity of Talking
about Race by Conor

1. War Powers Act Lyndon

Johnson
3. Letter to the Draft
Board by Bill Clinton
4. Resignation Speech by
Richard Nixon
5. Minority Report on IranContra by Dick Cheney
6. Address to the National
Association of Christian
Evangelicals by Ronald
Reagan

Unit III Writing, Lang. & Analysis

Skills
Define and identify rhetoric in media and
literature RI 9.6, 9.8
Define and identify rhetorical mode in
media and literature RI 9.6, 9.8
Define and identify rhetorical appeal in
media and literature RI 9.6, 9.8
Define, identify, and create a thesis
statement W9.1A, 9.1B
Define, identify, and use language
appropriate for persuasive writing W9.1C,
9.1D
Define and identify organization
appropriate for persuasive writing W9.1C,
9.1D
Define and identify historical evidence Hist
9.9-12
Define and analyze the relationship
between historical sources and sec.
sources Hist 9.9-12
Identify and critique the use of historical
sources in the writing of sec. sources Hist
11.9-12, 12.9-12
Characterize the limitations of various
kinds of historical sources Hist10.9-12

Unit IV Writing, Lang. & Analysis

Skills
Define, identify, and use elevated word
choice W9.3D
Define, identify, and use parallel sentence
structure L9.1A
Define, identify, and use language
appropriate for narrative writing W9.3D
Define and identify organization
appropriate for narrative writing W9.3A,
9.3B, 9.3C
Analyze multiple and complex causes and
effects of events Hist 14. 9-12
Distinguish between long term causes and
triggering events Hist 15.9-12
Critique the central arguments in
secondary sources Hist 17. 9-12

Friedersdorf

Project
SL 9.2, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6;
W9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9
Test (Cold read)

7. A New World Order by

George W. Bush
8. Al Qaeda Declares Jihad
by Osama Bin Laden

Podcast
Cathedral by Raymond Carver

*Journal Explodes and Artifact Analyses (W9.4,9.5,9.10) are not listed above as they are considered class/homework and thus are not
a concern regarding the outline of the course

Materials
1. Students are expected to purchase a notebook. Given the rigors of the class, it is best to purchase a
durable five-subject notebook. (We will use a lot of paper!) Everyday students will begin their work on the
next available notebook page. Students will record the date, the days objective, complete their journal or
artifact inquiry, complete their skill based-work, and then record or complete any content based-work
assigned.
2. Begin your library! Students are strongly encouraged to purchase every anchor text assigned. If not,
students will not be able to annotate the text. Claim your books as your own write in the margins and on
the cover!
Behavior and Other Considerations
Given my grading procedures, I do not have set behavior and/or attendance rules. Students are expected
to abide all WCPS and BHS rules as stated in the WCPS and BHS handbooks.

Grading Procedure-Overview
Increasingly, the traditional grading structures used by school systems are inadequate to measure the
expectations of those systems, its parents, and teachers. The most rigorous curriculums available mirror
modern life and work. That is, they no longer expect students to memorize dates, places, or plot lines, (as
each are readily available on Google) but expect students to learn the necessary reading, analysis, and
presentation skills used when engaging any written, visual, or oral work.
Thus, it no longer makes sense to ask when did Reconstruction end? rather we should ask how has the
American south changed since Reconstruction? Or, how does the organization of Huck Finn contribute to
its critique of 19th century race relations? The former question regards content, the latter questions
regard skill.
Further, if our highest goal is the crafting of necessary reading, analysis, and presentation skills as I
believe it is then it no longer makes sense to place an artificial time restriction on when those skills are
learned. Rather, if students are able to demonstrate mastery of a skill then their previous grade or grades
will be changed.
Students mastery of a given skill will be demonstrated through four separate but intertwined assignments
Journal Explode, Artifact Analysis, Research Project, Test. Students Journal and/or Artifact Inquiries will
be used as the basis for their weekly Journal Explode and/or Artifact Analysis. These assignments will most
consistently contribute to the grade book.
The four research projects students complete are the third assignment-type through which students may
demonstrate mastery. They are also the conduits through which another feature of the class is manifested.
According to WCPS, each ELA Unit-of-Study should be organized around a determined essential question;
however, I find that an essential thesis is more rigorous. When completing each research project
students will either defend, challenge, or qualify the thesis offered using the different sources presented.
Grading Procedures Samples and Associated Forms
1. Grade Book Sample and Explanation
2. Skill Mastery-Rubric
3. Mastery Score Conversion-Chart
4. Narrative Feedback Form