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Advice on course descriptions?


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Dear wise ones,

 

DS11 is only going into 6th but I have started lurking on this board in anticipation of high school (it all goes by so fast - weren't we doing FIAR a moment ago?)

 

I would like to practice now writing clear course descriptions so I can do it well when it counts. Would anyone be willing to share a couple that they have written?

 

Thanks so much,

Linders

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What I did was borrow descriptions from our local high schools and community college. The course descriptions are usually open to the public. Sometimes they are hard to locate but they are usually on the website somewhere.

 

Even if you end up writing your own, you get a feel for what kind of information is usually included in a course description.

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I just started creating course descriptions for my rising 10th grader. Here are two of them:

 

English 1 Honors:

This course incorporated literature, grammar, vocabulary and composition. It was a companion to World History I Honors (Ancient-Medieval History), as it introduced the student to some of the Great Books of Ancient-Medieval literature and Western culture, as well as to the study of genres and literary forms, while placing the literature in historical context. From learning to annotate literature to writing essays, the student explored literary analysis techniques to better understand literature and authors’ intentions. Topics such as theme, irony, allusions, characterization, plot, conflict, point of view, imagery, tone, and more were discussed. The student also explored the essay model and practiced writing descriptive and persuasive essays. He learned to write strong thesis statements, develop various paragraph styles, and create diverse types of introductions and conclusions. Additional writing assignments included expository writing, a research paper, personal narratives and creative writing.

 

World History I Honors:

This course surveyed world history, with special emphasis on Western Civilization, from the beginnings of human civilization in the Near East to the Middle Ages. The student was introduced to the political, economic, social, and cultural foundations of Western Civilization and learned about leading figures, events and ideas and their enduring influence. The student used critical reasoning skills, including analysis and synthesis, as he evaluated and communicated on topics including migration, trade, war, technology and disease. The student used primary source documents, maps, graphs and artwork to better interpret various cultural perspectives and to aid his examination of history. The student read extensively, including a variety of relevant nonfiction and ancient classical literature (concurrently via English I Honors course) that corresponds to the time period under study. The student also viewed and discussed dozens of documentaries (by National Geographic, History Channel, PBS, & others) and historical films, including Guns, Germs and Steel, Egypt: Secrets of the Pharoahs, Hidden Treasures of the Ancients, The Ten Commandments, Ancient Inventions, Spartacus, What the Ancients Knew, Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, The True Story of Alexander the Great, Going Medieval, etc.

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