Middle School Electives
The digital world seems to change every day, and touch more of our lives. We use technology to communicate with friends and family, find never end in entertainment options, follow our favorite sports teams and fashion trends, and do our schoolwork. In Learning in a digital world, you will get the tools to navigate this exciting and always-changing world. Learn about real-world issues and how to solve real-world problems through interactive and hands-on assignments. Discover what it means to be a responsible digital citizen, expand your digital literacy, and become a successful online student. Consider the best ways to find, create, and share information, learn to maximize information and communication technologies, and explore digital content creation, from emails and blogs to social media, videos, and podcasts.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Close your eyes and imagine you’re standing in an art studio the smell of paint, the heat of the kiln, and the infinite creative possibilities that linger in the air. This is where art is born, and in 2D Studio Art, you’ll learn how to bring your artistic visions to life. Whatever medium you prefer—painting, drawing, photography—this course will teach you the design elements and principles needed to create a work of art, explore your artistic inspirations, travel back in time to look at art in different cultures, and gain insight into the art of critiquing. If you’ve ever dreamed about making a living as an artist, this course will give you the tools and background that you need to turn those dreams into a reality!
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester
How do you pick a career path when you’re not sure of whatever is out there? This course allows you to begin exploring options in fields such as teaching, business, government, hospitality, health science, IT, and more! You’ll align your interests, wants, and needs to career possibilities, including the required education for each. Let’s find a pathway that works for you.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Imagine that it’s 20 years from now. What career do you see yourself in? What do you imagine that you’ll be doing? Will you be fighting forest fires or engineering the next rocket into space? With all the careers available, it can be difficult to narrow them down. In Middle School Career Exploration 2 we’ll explore more careers and see what it takes to succeed. You’ll learn more about what steps are needed to prepare for your career and how to compare the pros and cons of different career choices. Finally, you’ll get the chance to try out parts of different careers to see if you’re a perfect fit!
Note: This course has 8units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Do you find yourself wondering how your favorite apps, websites, and games were made? Maybe you want to try building your own. Well, now you can! In Middle School Coding1a, you will get an introduction to the basics of computer science, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python. You’ll leave the course with a portfolio of work you can show off.
Note: This course has 6 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Let’s take the coding skills you learned in the previous course to the next level! You’ll expand your knowledge with AdvancedPython, HTML, and JavaScript.You’ll further build out your portfolio and start thinking about a career in the fast-growing IT field.
Note: This course has 6 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
There are so many different types of art in this world—fine art, classical art, visual art but the impact of digital art and design is all around us, often in ways that you probably aren’t even aware of! After taking Digital Art and Design, you’ll enjoy a deeper understanding and appreciation for all things digital as you explore this special genre of art found in everything from advertising to animation to photography and beyond. In this course, you’ll learn about the evolution of art, the basic principles of art and design, and the role of art in politics and society. Additionally, you will create your own digital art and make it come alive. Give your creative side a boost with this Digital Art and Design course!
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Are you interested in business, leading people, or making decisions to help a business be successful? While there are many different career choices in the field of business, in this course, you’ll discover options such as management, human resources, business operations, information management, and accounting. Explore the skills you’ll need, common tasks, the technology used, and character is tics of various business careers.
Note: This course has 6 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Where do health care workers spend their days? What do they really do? From cruise ships to sports aren as, you can find health care workers in many places that you might not expect. Explore this field, including what it would be like to work in a medical lab. Learn what it takes to keep you and your patients safe and begin to learn about the human body and basic first-aid.
Note: This course has 6 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Are you interested in creating a website or app, or managing various technology solutions, but not sure where to start? If so, then it’s time to explore the different career options available to you in IT and learn the foundations of IT to get you started. Examine various IT pathways of web and digital communications, information and support services, network systems, and programming and software development. Let’s investigate which career pathway is right for you!
Note: This course has 6 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘music’? Do you think about your favorite and or artist? Do you think about instruments and scales and chords? The word ‘music’ means something different to everyone. This is why in Exploring Music there is a little bit of something for everyone! You will learn about how we hear music and how music affects our lives. You will explore important elements of music like rhythm, pitch, and harmony, as well as different musical genres. You will discover more about your singing voice and musical instruments and composition while taking in the history and culture of music over the years. Tune up your understanding and appreciation for all things music by signing up for this course!
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Are you physically fit? What does being fit mean to you? Physical fitness is a lot more than just a number on a scale, and that’s exactly what you’ll learn in this course! Middle School Fitness helps you understand the basics of being physically fit and allows for a deeper understanding of your body’s functions. You will learn about the complex science behind exercise and determine how you can test your current level of fitness. Explore what it means to be mindful and discover what inspires you. Improving your physical fitness is a smart choice to make at any age, and by signing up for this course, you will be taking the first step on your exciting journey to understanding and improving your physical fitness.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
We love to play videogames, but have you ever wanted to build your own? If you are interested in a career in technology but also want a creative outlet, Game Design might be the field for you. Learn how to build a game from the ground up in this interactive and hands-on course that will teach you all the ins and outs of making your own game.
Note: This course has 6 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
It’s time to take your Game Design knowledge up a level! You built your game design skills and Scratch techniques in the first part of this course. By the end, you wrote your game design document. Now you are ready to start developing that game! You’ll create details and add component pieces in a game while learning to prototype, trouble shoot, and test.
Note: This course has 6 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester
Are you someone who likes to get the story straight? Do you always want to know more? Who? What? When? Where? How? These are the details that make for a great story. Knowing how to find these key facts and then write the moping away that makes it easy for others to read about it is the skill of a true journalist. In Middle School Journalism: Tell Your Story, you’ll learn how ask the right questions, look for the details, and find the story in any situation. You’ll learn how to gather information effectively, organize ideas, form at stories for media production, and it you particles. Get ready to break that news!
Note: This course has 10 units and is recommended to be taught over 2 semesters, but can be accelerated to be completed with in a single semester if desired
Photographs are all around us, and each help stately story. Now it’s time for you to create your story through photos you learn how to take in this course. Learn the basics of using a camera, lighting, and how to choose great subjects to create magazine – worthy photos and amaze your friends and family with your skills.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Do you have vacation photos or pics of your pet that need a little editing? How about getting ready to add that new selfie you took to your social media platform? Taking photo sis an art, and editing photo sis as kill that many photographers seek to master. Explore how to manipulate angles and lighting, the purpose for different types of photo files, how to use different software to edit photos, and safe places you can store them.You’ll be well on your way to being an editing guru when you’re done with this course.
High School Electives
As in other areas of life, success in academics results from learning and practicing positive habits. This one-semester elective provides practical, hands – on guidance on developing and improving study habits and skills, regardless of a student’s level of accomplishment. Academic Success includes five lessons and two course activities in a flexible structure that is adaptable to the needs and circumstances of individual students. The course can also be used for college-level developmental education.
How have African Americans shaped the culture of the United States throughout history? Tracing the accomplishments and obstacles of African Americans from the slave trade through emancipation, and to the modern African diasporas, you will learn about the political, economic, social, religious, and cultural factors that have influenced African American life. In African American History, you’ll come face to face with individuals who changed the course of history and learn more about slavery, racism, and the Civil Rights Movement. You will also explore how the history of African Americans influences current events today.
Note: This course has 10 units and is recommended to be taught over 2 semesters, but can be accelerated to be completed with in a single semester if desired.
What makes us human? Is it our ability to use language? Is it our abstract thinking skills or our use of tools and technology? In Anthropology 1: Uncovering Human Mysteries you will trace the history of homosapiens and explore our evolutionary trail. This course offers an anthropologic lens to observe our movement from caved Weller to modern humans. Its heeds lighten how we forged our way and developed all of the things that make us human, such as our cultures, languages, and religions. We, as humans in the 21stcentury,are highly intelligent, innovative people with astounding technological ability – how did we get this way?
Note: This course has 10 units and is recommended to be taught over 2 semesters, but can be accelerated to be completed with in a single semester if desired.
How does your culture influence you? Find out how different locations shape various cultures and, in turn, how these cultures shape people’s lives around the world – from the jungles of the Amazon to the islands of Indonesia. Anthropology II: More Human Mysteries Uncovered provides a fascinating look at this puzzle of culture. Many of our ancient cultures and languages were shaped by the geographical locations of our an cestors, and in this course, you will begin to visualize new ideas about how ancient cultures flourished through examining their views on life, death, art, and survival. In looking back and learning about cultures through the ages, we are better equipped to understand the world around us today.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
The famous Spanish philosopher and writer George Santa Ana once said, “Those who cannot remember the pasta reconvened to repeat it.”We know from studying history how true this statement is, and the age-old file do far choreology helps us to better understand, through disco very and analysis, how ancient civilization shave shaped the modern world. This fascinating course, Archaeology: Detectives of the Past, explores the various techniques, methods, and the orgies of this field and illustrates how archaeologists conduct their studies. What is it like to uncover precious art facts? How are they located and preserved? Find the answer to these questions and more easy our learn how ancient discoveries canon lock the secrets of a long and colorful past.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
This course explores the main concepts of art, expression, and creativity as it helps students answer questions such as what is art; what is creativity; and how and why people respond to art. It converses essential design principles such as emphasis, balance, and unity. Units include: Art, History, and Culture; Western and World Art Appreciation; and Art and the Modern World.
Who do you think is the great start is to fall time? Maybe Leonardo a Vinci? Michelangelo? Maybe a more modern artist likes Claude Monetor Pablo Picasso? Orisit possible that the great start is to fall time is actually someone whose name has been lost to history? In Art in World Cultures, you’ll learn about some of the greater statists in the world while creating your own art, both on paper and digitally. This course explores basic principles and elements of art and teaches you how to critique different art works art. And along the way, you will get to discover some traditional art forms from various regions of the world including the Americas, Africa, and Oceania.
Note: This course has 12 units and is recommended to be taught over 2semesters, but can be accelerated to be completed with in asingle semester if desired.
Literature is an important form of art that allows us to give voice to our emotions, create imaginary worlds, express ideas, and escape the confines of reality. Explore the writing process and find inspiration to build a story of your own, and learn literary techniques to create hybrid forms of poetry and prose. Let’s turn your creative thoughts and ideas into pieces of creative writing.
Writing can change the world. Think about he Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s 2nd In Augural Address.How have these writings shape do ur country and the future? While you learn how to unleash the core of your imagination to develop our own creative writing, you’ll also explore creative writing through foundation a literary works from the 18th to 20th century of Colonialism to American Gothic to Modernism, and everything in between, while evaluating original writings and the irinter predations.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
It was a dark and stormy night, and the vampires, ghouls, and undead were on the prowl… Gothic Literature is riddled with the spooky, but did you know that this genre is so much more than a scary form of entertainment? In Gothic Literature, you’ll learn about how some of the world’s greatest authors from the 19th century through today used Gothic elements to tackle issues that needed serious attention: the class system, gender norms, racism, social injustice, and more! Grab your monster gear and explore why Gothic literature has retained its appeal even with today’s audiences. Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed.”Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, wrote these words about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. History of the Holocaust will take you through the harrowing details of anti-Semitism, the power of the Nazi party, the persecution of European Jews and other groups, and the tremendous us after math for everyone involved in World War II. You’ll explore the causes of the Holocaust, the experiences of Jews and other individuals during this time, and what has been done to combat genocide since WWII.“For the dead and the living, we must be a witness.”
Note: This course has 10units and is recommended to be taught over 2 semesters, but can be accelerated to be completed within a single semester if desired.
Have you ever heard a piece of music that made you want to get up and dance? Cry your heart out? Sing at the top of your lungs? Whether pop, classical, or anything in between, music provides a powerful way for people to celebrate their humanity and connect with something larger than themselves. Music Appreciation: The Enjoy mentor Listening not only will provide a historical perspective on music from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, but it will also teach you the essentials of how to listen and really hear (with a knowledge able ear) the different music that’s all around you. Learning how to truly appreciate sound and melody is the best way to ensure a continued love of this delightful art form.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Since the beginning of time, people have gathered round fire stotel stories of angry gods, harrowing journeys, cunning animals, horrible beasts, and the mighty heroes who vanquished them. My theology and folk lore have provided away for these colorful stories to spring to life for thousands of years and helped humans make sense of the world. Explore how these compelling tales continue to shape society even today.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Goon an exciting adventure covering over 2,500years of history! Along the way, you’ll run into some very strange characters, like the dirty bare foot man who hangout on street corners pestering every one with questions, or that eccentric fellow who climbed inside as to ve to think about whether he existed. Despite their odd behavior, these and other philosophers of the Western world are among the world’s most brilliant and influential thinkers and originated the fundamental ideas of Western civilization. Introduction to Philosophy: The Big Picture asks some of the same questions these great thinkers pondered, so by the time you’ve“ closed the book “on this course, you will better understand yourself and the world around you–from atoms to outer space and everything in between.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
This course introduce useful, real – world information by having students learn to read legal, insurance, employment, and vehicle related documents. Furthermore, students will explore media bias, trends in journalism, word structures, and research strategies. To entrench real-world applications, students will learn how to critically read, identify good sources of information, and create an outline, making this course anas set-to building life and study skills.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
This semester-long course focuses on building good sentences. Students will learn how to put words, phrases, and clauses together and how to punctuate correctly. They will start using sentences in short compositions.Asan extra bonus, students will add some new words to their vocabulary, and they will practice spelling difficult words. Near the end of the course, students are to submit a book report. Early in the course, encourage students to start looking for the books they want to read for the book report. They mightily so preview the introduction to that lesson so they know what will be expected.
Hobbits, Orcs, wizards, dashing knights, and powerful elves are all part of the magic created in J.R.R. Tolkien’s famously epic tale, The Lord of the Rings. For years, the vivid characters within this beloved story could exist only in there aders’minds—untilit was adapted into a movie that allowed fans to finally see, through the eyes of Hollywood magic and brilliant technology, the manifestation of these character son screen. What does it take to transport these well-known images like Gollum and the Shire from dusty pages to the giant screen? In The Lord of the Rings: An Exploration of the Films and Its Literary Influences, you will see first-hand how classic literature can become modern film and bring the fantasy alive for a whole new generation of believers.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Maybe you grew up watching movies with female characters like Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, or Ariel. Maybe you’ve wondered why there are stereotypes about women being bad drivers or ignorant about sports. Maybe you want to know about feminism and the women’s movement. Women’s Studies: A Personal Journey through Film can help you answer these questions. Though it focuses on the experience of women, it’s appropriate for anyone who wants to learn to critically examine films while learning about the history of the women’s movement and how gender, race, and social class influence us. Women have earned their right to stand up and be recognized as equal partners and reap the benefits of their hard work. As the anonymous quote goes, “History is Her story too.”
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
From Taoism, to Islam, to Christianity, religion in evitable affects usually someway. On one level, religion can help us commune with and honor our spiritual natures, but it can also divide people and create great strife in the world. World Religions: Exploring Diversity will explore the various characteristics of faith and introduce the fundamentals of the major religions, including Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Shinto’s, and Taoism. You’ll trace how these powerful faiths have influenced cultures overt hour and SOF years and helped to shape the face of humanity. After this course, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how religion continues to affect the larger world.
Note: This course has 10 units and is recommended to be taught over 2 semesters, but can be accelerated to be completed within a single semester if desired.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
Note: This course has 8 units and is recommended to be taught over a single semester.
