2.++Selecting+Courses

The Program of Studies is an essential tool when considering the Social Studies courses you might take in your high school years. We hope that the information in this document gives you a richer picture of the courses offered in our department and the general expectations associated with the levels of the course. We encourage you to review Dr. Keough's message to you in the beginning of the resource and are confident that following his exhortation to "take a chance" will lead you to our wondrous elective program.

For our incoming freshmen, we have a collection of resources that will help you better understand the types of work you will be doing next year. In the 'nightly work' pdf, you'll see a typical assignment from early in the year for each leveled offering of the World History course. Try the readings out - to what extent are you able to manage the expectations when "alone with the work in a space - [both] physical and intellectual - [valuing] challenge, discovery, and growth"? (excerpted from WHS Homework Philosophy). Working with these materials should give you a sense of the reading and thinking expectations associated with homework. In the 'Charlemagne' pdf, you'll find support materials for a typical first-semester 9th grade writing assignment - reflect honestly on the amounts of independence or support you'd need to write effectively on this prompt.

We've also included the writing guidebook for 9th graders on this page as well, as your ability to manage a resource you'll be working with next year is another factor to consider when choosing courses.

So to recap, when thinking about what level to take next year, consider how well you can // -comprehend informational text // // -articulate and support arguments when writing // // -interpret material rather than solely memorize it // // -work with their peers // // -find credible and relevant information //

These are important considerations about important Social Studies skills. More broadly, // -what are the degrees of independence and support needed to do these things well? // //-to what extent do you believe in your capacity to grow in these areas?// These questions are how we counsel students when choosing courses once at WHS, for the levels of independence expected increases from CP to Honors classes, and the amounts of support increases from H to CP classes.