The A+LS™ Humanities II course explores the influential subject areas of language, philosophy, ethics, literature, and religion. Humanities, along with the social sciences and natural sciences, represent the knowledge that humans have created throughout history. Focusing on the philosophical, spiritual, and artistic aspects of life, Humanities explore the artistic and cultural accomplishments of individuals in the following academic areas: literature, religion, painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, art history, music, theater, film, dance, cultural studies of civilizations, philosophy, languages, ethics, and the Classics of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Objectives from elective courses are not tested on national or state achievement tests. As a result, there are no course and adaptive assessments developed for our elective course titles.

1080L

Curriculum Planning Manual (CPM) –
Contains Teachers’ Guide and Scope and Sequence

 


   

 



• Humanities II is presented as a semester-long high school elective course.

• Most of the thirty lessons contain a study guide, a practice and mastery test, and an essay or constructed response.

• Lessons include a variety of essay types such as descriptive, narrative, persuasive, compare and contrast, and letter writing. Additional activities include journals, short reports, summaries, and creating a collage, brochure, or graph. Directions for essays and rubrics for grading are provided for each of the writing assignments. Students will also complete a self-evaluation form to assess their performance.

• This title is certified by MetaMetrics® with a Lexile® score.

• A+ PowerPack customers receive access to Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition® (EB) workspaces which contain learning materials. Learning materials may contain articles, games, images, maps, and/or videos. Clearvue (CV) video clips may be included as well.

 



• The content in this course is based on standards developed by the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations. The full set of arts standards can be found at the following website: artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/standards.cfm.

• Humanities II provides a comprehensive overview of the development of Western civilization in the areas of religion, philosophy, and literature.

• Lessons are designed to give the students a myriad of perspectives in regard to the study of world cultures both past and present.

 


• The Humanities II course requires students to read resources that are linked to the lessons. The majority of these documents are provided as Portable Document Files (PDFs). As a result, students will need Adobe Acrobat® Reader® available on their workstations. Available at: www.adobe.com, select the Get Adobe Reader button.

• Due to the interactive nature of the A+ PowerPack, there are a few specific software requirements:

  • EB requires a web browser, the following are recommended:
    • Microsoft Internet Explorer® versions 6.0 or higher
    • Safari® versions 2.0 or higher

    Note: EB requires cookies enabled.

  • EB interactive activities require a web browser equipped with the Adobe® Flash® and Shockwave plug-ins. Available at: www.adobe.com (select Get ADOBE FLASH PLAYER and Get Shockwave Player).

  • EB video clips are offered in Windows Media® and MPEG-4 formats. You’ll need to have a media player installed that will support these formats:

• Links to the Internet are provided as resources for further exploration. Also, numerous links to the Internet are provided in the A+ PowerPack. An Internet connection is not required for completion of this course, but it is required to utilize the EB components of the A+ PowerPack.

• Students are required to complete the essay section for lesson mastery. This setting must be enabled on the “Settings for Assignment of A+LS Lesson” dialog box. The default setting does not require the completion of the essay for assignment mastery. The circled item shows the proper setting.

 

There are four distinct categories of lessons in this course including the humanities, history of philosophy, world literature, and world religions.

Humanities
The overview lesson compares and contrasts the content of the humanities and the natural and social sciences. The language lesson summarizes the elements of languages and linguistics and discusses the major language families of the world.

Overview of Humanities
Languages

History of Philosophy
The history of philosophy from the ancient world to the present and the five branches of philosophy including aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics are discussed in these lessons.

Branches of Philosophy 1
Branches of Philosophy 2
Ancient Period
Medieval Period
Renaissance
The Enlightenment
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Philosophy
Social Movements and Institutions
Nineteenth Century Philosophy
Twentieth Century Philosophy

History of World Literature
Literature is a reflection of the religious and philosophical beliefs of historical and modern civilizations. These lessons present an overview of the literature and languages of various countries that contributed to the development of Western civilization.

Ancient Greek Literature
Ancient Latin Literature
British Literature
French Literature
German Literature
Italian Literature
Nordic Literature
Spanish Literature
Russian Literature

History of World Religions
These lessons examine the history, beliefs, ceremonies, and organization of the major religions in the world.

Overview of Religion
Hinduism
Buddhism
Taoism
Confucianism
Islam
Shinto
Judaism
Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism)

A+ PowerPack
The A+ PowerPack includes the Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition, which has teacher resources and student learning materials. The materials include a wide range of interactive lessons, research projects, animations, and worksheets that support the humanities courses.

  • Humanities II contains EB workspaces.
  • Each workspace may contain an article, diagram, study guide, video, or interactive media.

More information on this course can be found in the CPM, which contains the Teachers’ Guide and Scope and Sequence. Links to this PDFs can be found near the top of this page.