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Board approves new English and history materials, life‑skills curriculum and films for upcoming year
Summary
The governing board approved several curricular materials and supplemental resources including Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air for advanced English courses, a life‑skills early intervention curriculum, Kurt Vonnegut’s "Harrison Bergeron," an OpenStax U.S. History textbook and a films unit for a new history course.
The Kingman Unified School District Governing Board on July 8 approved multiple curriculum items and supplemental materials for high school and other grade levels after the required 60‑day public display period.
The board approved the nonfiction memoir When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi for use in Cambridge AS/dual‑credit English courses and senior English StudySync placements. High‑school English department chairs told the curriculum committee the book supports argumentation, cross‑disciplinary discussion and student reflection. District staff said no public comments were received during the 60‑day display period.
The board also approved an education life‑skills early intervention curriculum that had been piloted over the prior year for students referred for discipline infractions; staff described the course as focused on helping students address behaviors that led to referrals. No public comments were reported during the display period.
Additional approvals included Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron” for 10th‑grade instruction, the OpenStax United States History open‑education resource as supplemental material at the high‑school level, and a set of online films to support a new course, “Films of the Twenties through World War II.” Teachers described plans to pair each film with a historical unit and classroom discussion. Administrators said the curriculum committee vetted each item on April 29 and recommended board approval after the 60‑day posting.
Board members asked about classroom activities and how teachers would use the books and films; English and social‑studies teachers present described Socratic seminars, reflective writing and project‑based activities aligned to course standards. The materials were approved by voice vote with no roll‑call tallies provided at the meeting.
