English

Humanities (English)

Philosophy: Hawken Middle School Humanities students are twenty-first century critical thinkers, analytical writers, engaged readers, confident public speakers, and compassionate listeners who problem solve independently and collaboratively through rigorous, student-centered curricula designed to foster curiosity, growth, and overall improvement for lifelong benefit and enjoyment.

Humanities 6
  • Identifies theme, plot, point of view and literary devices in reading.
  • Hones critical reading skills to glean key concepts and make inferences.  
  • Develops grammar skills and analytical writing skills using varied sentence structure and length, fluent writing, and peer editing.
  • Practices different types of writing, including journaling, narrative, analytical, persuasive and poetry.
  • Investigates foundation of colonial societies in America with emphasis on historical thinking and cultivating historical empathy.
  • Focuses on collaboration through cohort projects and elements of active listening.
  • Develops creative presentation and public speaking skills using digital literacy and multimedia components.

Humanities 7
  • Explores the history, culture, and literature of America from the Antebellum Era through the Civil Rights movement.
  • Integrates primary sources including speeches, journals, letters, art, photographs, and music in addition to documentary footage, historical fiction literature, and film to capture a wide range of voices and perspectives of the times.
  • Utilizes graphic organizers, various note-taking strategies, and annotations for critical reading.
  • Follows the writing process to address thesis based ideas, concepts and information through the analytical selection, organization and examination of relevant content.
  • Focuses on creative writing skills, including literary devices and dialogue.
  • Develops public speaking skills through community based experiences and Mock Trial simulation.

Humanities 8
  • Establishes a foundation of cultural, geographic and historical knowledge through the exploration of the Apartheid and the Holocaust.
  • Examines various global and case studies on identity and how individual and group identity impact culture and society.
  • Builds core essential literary skills including critical reading, persuasive writing, thesis development and support, and editing.
  • Researches, writes, and presents a ten-minute speech on a topic driven by students’ interests, values, and passions and supported by scholarly research.
  • Composes and performs spoken word poetry while cultivating creativity, self-confidence and empathy.

Middle School HUMANITIES Electives: 

Grade 6
Playwriting: From Page to Stage 
Explore the elements involved in writing your own play. How is a play different from narration? We will “play” around with character creation, conflict development, and plot structure to find the answer.  We will choose final plays to act out, and some may choose to submit their plays for consideration in a local playwriting festival.

Poems, Poets, and Performers 
In this creative course, students will explore a variety of poetry styles. Students will read and interpret poems, discovering the techniques that make each style unique. Students will also generate original poems with illustrations and perform or share poems in a variety of ways. Hand lettering and drawing will be key components in this course, which will be artistically displayed in personal journals.

Grade 7
Historical Investigations: Silent Voices of Marginalized Groups in America  
You will explore how people in America have been silenced or ostracized by either society, government, or people. We will identify, understand, and research types of unfair treatment and its impact on these people throughout American history. We will respond creatively and analytically to first-person narratives, film, music, and art. Students will develop a sense of critical awareness and social justice by the end of the course.

Playwriting: From Page to Stage
Explore the elements involved in writing your own play. How is a play different from narration? We will “play” around with character creation, conflict development, and plot structure to find the answer.  We will choose final plays to act out, and some may choose to submit their plays for consideration in a local playwriting festival.

Grade 8
Digital Storytelling
Stories can be more captivating when they are supported by sound, images, and video. Digital Storytelling is the art of telling stories through media production that usually includes music, video, photographs, voiceover, and special effects. In this course we will learn how to manipulate images, sound and video to tell personal stories. We will also re-tell some of our favorite short stories using these techniques. Some of the tools we will use include: Corel Video Studio, Adobe Spark, Adobe Photoshop, Sony Catalyst, and Audacity. We will learn how to shape audio and video and combine them into compelling experiences.
 
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An independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school, toddler through grade 12

Early Childhood, Lower, and Middle Schools, 5000 Clubside Rd, Lyndhurst, OH 44124
Birchwood School of Hawken, 4400 West 140th Street, Cleveland, OH 44135 
Upper School, PO Box 8002 (12465 County Line Rd), Gates Mills, OH 44040
Mastery School of Hawken, 11025 Magnolia Dr, Cleveland, OH 44106
Gries Center, 10823 Magnolia Dr, Cleveland, OH 44106

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