Programming

The Alternative Learning Program offers a wide verity of learning opportunities for students at Ames High School. Depending on which program a student is in will depend on the courses the student may take through out their high school career. Scroll down for ESL

--The content is focused on development of the following areas: personal/social, study skills/ organization, career/ vocational, and life skills. Reading and writing enhancement are also ongoing areas of focus throughout each semester. ||
 * = **Alternative Learning Program (ALP)** ||
 * < Student Advisory 9, 10, 11
 * < __English Classes:__

Composition --Composition focuses on the mechanical aspect of writing, especially grammar and rhetoric. Students will write several papers throughout the semester of different genres, such as description, compare/contrast, and personal narrative. Students can expect daily writing and frequent grammar assignments.

English 9 --English 9 provides students with communication experiences to enhance their lives. The course consists of one semester of literature and one semester of a writing, speech, and media literacy workshop. The literature component includes a variety of literary works that share a common focus on the hero’s quest and emphasize effective thinking skills, critical reading, and an introduction to literary analysis. The writing, speech, and media workshop semester focuses on improving each individual’s process of composing, revising, and presenting significant materials to an audience.

English 10 --English 10 is two semesters of integrated language arts where students discover six core works through formal speaking and writing situations. One semester focuses on the teenage theme while the other concentrates on the family theme. Students read works by Harper Lee, Elie Wiesel, Lorraine Hansberry, John Steinbeck, and George Bernard Shaw. Each semester students read an additional book based on their semester's theme.

Perspectives in Literature --Perspectives in Literature is a one-semester alternative to American Literature that does NOT meet the graduation writing requirement. In it, students use literature as a means of exploring personal journeys and change. Core works include John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Jack Gantos’ Hole in my Life, and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Students will develop a foundation for their own personal reading styles and engage in formal, critical writing as well as informal, creative writing. Students will write daily in class and can expect regular short reading assignments. (Students in Perspectives in Literature must take a writing elective course: Composition, Creative Writing, Advanced Composition, or Introduction to Journalism.)


 * All the above English courses are also offer as Independent Study courses. The English course below are only offered as an Independent study course.

Individualized Reading --Individualized Reading is designed to improve students' reading skills as well as give students time every day in class to read books that they choose (which will be approved by the instructor). For each of their books, the students write responses and participate in oral conferences with the instructor. ||
 * < __Health Class:__

Health --Units of study in health class include: 1. Health and Wellness, 2. Exercise and Fitness, 3. Nutrition, 4. Mental Health, 5. Addictive Behavior, 6. Relationships, and 7. Disease Prevention. Students benefit from a variety of community experts. All students will set a personal wellness goal and will be guided to achieve their goal. Students in health class benefit from a curriculum that is rigorous, relevant to real life, and helps form relationships with community health experts.


 * The above course is only offered to ALP students who have not been successful in the regular education setting. These students taking health through ALP are doing so through an Independent Study class. ||
 * < __Mathematics:__

Algebra 1 --Algebra 1 is an introduction to higher mathematics and provides the language for all mathematics above the level of arithmetic. The topics covered include the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of real numbers and variables; the solution of first and second degree equations; and the use of radicals.

Geometry (Must have taken Algebra 1) --Topics studied in Geometry are points, lines, planes, polygons, circles, transformations, area, volume and right triangle trigonometry. Emphasis is placed on applications as well as proofs. The student-centered classroom often allows students to discover many of the geometric relationships studied in this course. Inductive and deductive reasoning work hand in hand as conclusions are made and tested. Geometry is valuable for its content, structure, and organization.The properties of the relationships between and the measures for various sets of points, such as lines, planes, polygons, polyhedrons, circles, and spheres are studied. Other topics are logic, graphs, probability and statistics.

Algebra 2 (Must have take Algebra 1, suggested to have taken Geometry) --Algebra 2 reviews and extends concepts of Algebra 1, while introducing new topics such as quadratic functions, fractional powers, roots, logarithms, and matrices. Special emphasis is placed upon reasoning rather than upon mechanical procedures leading to the solution of problems.


 * All the above course are offered as an independent study courses, but can only be taken as a credit recovery option.

Pre-Algerba --Pre-Algebra is designed for students who are not ready for the regular Algebra 1 class. Is only offered through our on-line classroom.

Trigonometry --Is a one semester course for students who want to take a math course after Algebra 2. Is only offered through our on-line classroom. ||
 * < __Physical Education:__

Physical Education --This course is designed to meet the high school physical eduction requirements in a less stressful and structured setting. ||
 * < __Social Studies:__

World Studies --World Studies 9 is a comprehensive course emphasizing a historical, economic, and cultural approach to the following units of study: China, Japan and Korea, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Modern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The contributions of other national cultures and the growing importance of the interdependency of nations are stressed. The program also emphasizes the contributions of science, the arts, philosophy, and religion to the course of human events. Course activities include debates, dramatizations, primary source readings, community resource interviews, and research papers.

United States History --America in the 20th Century focuses on change and continuity in twentieth century American life. From a first quarter review of pre-twentieth century America, with an emphasis upon the Constitutional period, the course moves into a chronological study of the U.S. since 1898. Dimensions of the course are political, economic, international, and social and are studied as they interrelate through historical developments. Diversity, conformity, and creativity in the United States are viewed from a multicultural, non-sexist frame of reference. Students are encouraged to anticipate the future as citizens who have studied the past in terms of their present lives.

Government --United States Government is a required one semester course for all seniors. The course meets the standards established by the Iowa Department of Education and will include the study of national, state and local government. Students explore the origins of our democratic political system, examine the major characteristics of our political system, study the election process, develop an understanding of the three major branches of U. S. government, investigate state governments in our federal system (using Iowa as a model government for study) and study each of the four primary forms of local government (using local area governments as models for study). A student must do a service learning project consisting of 8 hours of volunteer service. Note: This course must be taken during the senior year. It may be necessary to divide students equally by semester to accommodate staffing.


 * All the above Social Studies courses are also offer as Independent Study courses. The Social Studies course below are only offered as an Independent study course.

Sociology --Sociology is a study of society, social institutions, group interactions and the social process. The primary focus of the course is on the ways in which human groups are structured, the impact that these groups have on the individual, and the ways in which groups function. Typical areas that are covered include group interaction, cultural variation, personality development, racial and ethnic relations, social institutions, deviant behavior, social change and trends, and futuristics. Psychology is emphasized in the areas of personality, mental and emotional health, stress and tension, intelligence and thinking, family, courtship and marriage. || --This course is designed for students with little or no literacy in their native language. The goal of the course is to teach awareness of the sounds in the English language, sound and letter correspondence, sight words, and basic reading skills. Students who successfully complete this class will take ESL Beginners.
 * = **English as a Second Language (ESL)** ||
 * < ESL Literacy
 * < ESL Literacy

ESL Beginners (Must have taken ESL Literacy or score of Limited on IPT placement test) --This course is designed for students with limited English language proficiency. The focus of this class is listening, speaking, and English vocabulary. Practical, student-centered activities focus on various themes such as school, family, food, travel, and clothing. Students are expected to actively participate in order to practice good communication and increase their English proficiency. Students who successfully complete this class will advance to ESL Intermediate.

ESL Intermediate (Has taken ESL Beginners or score of Limited or higher on English proficiency test) --This course is for students who have a combination of limited or competent scores on the IPT placement test or the English Language Development Assessment (ELDA). This class focuses more on listening and speaking skills. Students who successfully complete this class will advance to English Language Development.

English Language Development (ELD) (Has taken ESL Intermediate or score of competent in 2 areas of the English proficiency test) --This course is for students who are approaching language proficiency. ELD will focus more on writing and reading literature in alignment with the regular English 9/10 curriculum. In addition to writing essays, students will also make presentations to the class. Academic vocabulary development focusing on the Academic Word List (AWL) is another important topic.

ESL Reading --This class focuses exclusively on English reading skills. Students will work with supervision on the [|Read] [| Naturally] program which concentrates on reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.

Sheltered United States History (Offered every other year - 2011-2012) --United States History: America in the 20th Century focuses on change and continuity in twentieth century American life. From a first quarter review of pre-twentieth century America, with an emphasis upon the Constitutional period, the course moves into a chronological study of the U.S. since 1898. Dimensions of the course are political, economic, international, and social and are studied as they interrelate through historical developments. Diversity, conformity, and creativity in the United States are viewed from a multicultural, non-sexist frame of reference. Students are encouraged to anticipate the future as citizens who have studied the past in terms of their present lives.

Sheltered World Studies (2010-2011 - Offered every other year) --World Studies is a comprehensive course emphasizing a historical, economic, and cultural approach to the following units of study: China, Japan and Korea, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Modern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The contributions of other national cultures and the growing importance of the interdependency of nations are stressed. The program also emphasizes the contributions of science, the arts, philosophy, and religion to the course of human events. Course activities include debates, dramatizations, primary source readings, community resource interviews, and research. ||