Month 1 of 10 · Weeks 1–4
September: Welcome / Foundations of Government
September builds the routines that carry senior year: a reading journal, a vocabulary notebook, a math warm-up and a writing portfolio. We read Beowulf and the medieval poems that followed it, review functions with an eye on money, think in systems about the environment, and study why Americans built the government they did.
Goals this month
Reading & writing
Read Beowulf, two Old English elegies and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; write claim, evidence and commentary paragraphs with MLA citations; write and revise a literary analysis essay and a comparative timed write
RL.11-12.1, RL.11-12.2, RL.11-12.3, RL.11-12.4, W.11-12.1, W.11-12.2, W.11-12.5, W.11-12.8, L.11-12.4b
Math
Use function notation, domain and range and average rate of change; transform parent functions; evaluate and graph piecewise functions including tax brackets; compose and invert functions
HSF-IF.A.1, HSF-IF.A.2, HSF-IF.B.6, HSF-IF.C.7b, HSF-BF.B.3, HSF-BF.A.1c, HSF-BF.B.4a
Science
Design a fair investigation, model Earth systems with stocks, flows and feedback loops, describe ecosystems and biomes, and estimate populations with quadrat sampling
HS-ESS2-2, HS-ESS2-5, HS-ESS3-1, HS-LS2-2, HS-LS2-6
Social studies
Compare forms of government and social contract theory; trace the path from the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution; explain its compromises and principles
C3 D2.Civ.3.9-12, D2.Civ.4.9-12, D2.Civ.8.9-12, D2.His.1.9-12
Weeks
- Week1Heroes and Hard QuestionsOld English words and kennings · Beowulf begins · Functions and notation · Experimental design · Why government? · 5 day plans
- Week2The Hall, the Mere and the DragonGreek roots of government · Beowulf to the end · Transformations · Systems and feedback · Declaration and Articles · 5 day plans
- Week3Elegies and the ConventionLatin roots of law · The Seafarer and The Wanderer · Piecewise functions · Ecosystems and biomes · Constitutional Convention · 5 day plans
- Week4The Green Knight and the Balance of PowerFrench words after 1066 · Sir Gawain and the Green Knight · Composition and inverses · Field sampling · Principles of the Constitution · 5 day plans
Student games this month
Kenning Forge Function Check Feedback Loops Why Government? Rule Roots Shift and Stretch Ecosystem Explorer Constitution Builders Piece by Piece Cite It Right