What to Teach in Grade 9
A full school year across every subject, week by week — thirty-six weeks, laid out so you can see what Monday looks like before September starts.
The year at a glance
Thirty-six weeks, five days a week. Three subjects are planned here in detail — English 9: Experience, Perspective & Inquiry, Earth & Space Science, Global History & Geography I: Early Societies to c. 1750 — and each is a complete year's course with its own lessons, practice and exams. For mathematics at this grade most families use Algebra I · Grade 9 or accelerated Grade 8, though placement depends on the track a child is on rather than on their age.
You do not have to follow the weeks in order or at this pace. The plan exists so that there is always an answer to “what now”, not so that falling behind means anything.
The thirty-six weeks
| Week | English | Science | Social Studies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reading evidence and establishing a portfolio | Investigating Earth — launch and foundations | 1.1 Global History: Evidence, Maps & Historical Time |
| 2 | Theme, symbols and qualified claims | Investigating Earth — connect and apply | 1.2 Early Humans: Migration, Foraging & Adaptation |
| 3 | Character, perspective and dialogue | Investigating Earth — investigate, assess and revise | 1.4 Mesopotamia: Cities, Writing & Unequal Law |
| 4 | Structure, diction and first literary essay | Earth’s Interior & Plate Tectonics — launch and foundations | Chapter 1 workshop |
| 5 | The Time Machine: framing a journey | Earth’s Interior & Plate Tectonics — connect and apply | 2.1 Indus Cities: Planning, Trade & Unanswered Questions |
| 6 | The Time Machine: first explanations and contradictions | Earth’s Interior & Plate Tectonics — connect and apply | 2.2 Early China: Shang, Zhou, Qin & Han |
| 7 | The Time Machine: competing social explanations | Earth’s Interior & Plate Tectonics — investigate, assess and revise | 2.4 Rome: Republic, Empire & Unequal Citizenship |
| 8 | The Time Machine: artifacts, action and consequence | Rocks, Landscapes & Water — launch and foundations | Chapter 2 workshop |
| 9 | The Time Machine: ending, uncertainty and meaning | Rocks, Landscapes & Water — connect and apply | 3.1 Studying Belief Systems Without Stereotypes |
| 10 | Comparing forms and completing the book portfolio | Rocks, Landscapes & Water — connect and apply | 3.2 Hindu, Buddhist & Jain Traditions in South Asia |
| 11 | Historical nonfiction and dramatic openings | Rocks, Landscapes & Water — investigate, assess and revise | 3.4 Islam: Origins, Caliphates & Varied Communities |
| 12 | Text organization, analogy and figurative language | Earth’s History — launch and foundations | Chapter 3 workshop |
| 13 | Testimony, credibility and mediated messages | Earth’s History — connect and apply | 4.1 Byzantium: Roman Continuity, Christianity & Exchange |
| 14 | Information synthesis and a tragic turning point | Earth’s History — connect and apply | 4.2 Medieval Europe: Land, Towns, Churches & Power |
| 15 | Claims, reasons and consequential advice | Earth’s History — investigate, assess and revise | 4.4 East & Southern Africa: Cities, States & Local Agency |
| 16 | Rhetorical appeals, audience and dramatic irony | Atmosphere & Weather — launch and foundations | Chapter 4 workshop |
| 17 | Counterclaims, causation and the end of the play | Atmosphere & Weather — connect and apply | Midterm |
| 18 | Argument, performance and quarter-two portfolio | Atmosphere & Weather — connect and apply | Flexible session 2 |
| 19 | Midterm, corrections and a new inquiry | Atmosphere & Weather — investigate, assess and revise | 5.1 Silk Roads: Intermediaries, Ideas & Institutions |
| 20 | Research questions and the epic’s opening | Oceans, Carbon & Climate — launch and foundations | 5.2 Indian Ocean: Monsoons, Ports & Maritime Communities |
| 21 | Source credibility and accounts of the past | Oceans, Carbon & Climate — connect and apply | 5.4 The Black Death: Evidence, Responses & Uneven Effects |
| 22 | Citation, paraphrase and strategic speech | Oceans, Carbon & Climate — connect and apply | Chapter 5 workshop |
| 23 | Synthesis and research drafting | Oceans, Carbon & Climate — investigate, assess and revise | 6.1 Indigenous Americas: Maya, Mexica, Andes & Wider Societies |
| 24 | Narrative choices, cunning and consequence | Earth, Moon & Solar System — launch and foundations | 6.2 Renaissance: Humanism, Patronage & Continuing Traditions |
| 25 | Dialogue, sensory detail and warnings | Earth, Moon & Solar System — connect and apply | 6.4 Atlantic Voyages & the Columbian Exchange |
| 26 | Structure, disguise and ethical memoir | Earth, Moon & Solar System — connect and apply | Chapter 6 workshop |
| 27 | Narrative portfolio and developing protagonists | Earth, Moon & Solar System — investigate, assess and revise | 7.1 Early Modern States: Comparing Power Around 1500–1750 |
| 28 | Syntax, emphasis and the disguised visitor | Stars & the Universe — launch and foundations | 7.2 Ottoman & Safavid Worlds: Rule, Religion & Rivalry |
| 29 | Punctuation, parallelism and uneven knowledge | Stars & the Universe — connect and apply | 7.4 Ming & Qing China: Governance, Maritime Links & Change |
| 30 | Diction, register and judgment in the epic | Stars & the Universe — connect and apply | Chapter 7 workshop |
| 31 | Vocabulary, recognition and year-long editing portfolio | Stars & the Universe — investigate, assess and revise | 8.1 Scientific Change: Observation, Models & Global Knowledge |
| 32 | Preparing a text-based seminar | Resources & Human Decisions — launch and foundations | 8.2 Enlightenment Debates: Rights, Power & Exclusions |
| 33 | Presentation, sources and visual integrity | Resources & Human Decisions — connect and apply | 8.4 The World Around 1750: Silver, Production & Unequal Connections |
| 34 | Final presentation and cumulative writing portfolio | Resources & Human Decisions — connect and apply | Chapter 8 workshop |
| 35 | Sample exam and targeted re-teaching | Resources & Human Decisions — investigate, assess and revise | Final |
| 36 | Final exam and year-end conference | Cumulative final and course portfolio | Flexible session 2 |
Each cell names what that subject covers that week. Open the course for the lesson itself, the practice and the printable version.
How much time this is
Each course plans about five sessions a week for thirty-six weeks — roughly 180 sessions a year. Three subjects at that rate is about fifteen sessions a week, plus mathematics. At forty-five minutes a session that is somewhere near four hours a day, which in practice is less than it sounds: a session is not a school period, and most families find the work takes considerably less time at home than the same material takes in a classroom.
What this does not cover
Health, physical education, art, music and world languages are not taught here. Several states require some or all of them, so it is worth checking what yours asks for — the requirements for all fifty states and DC — and planning them separately. Families commonly meet them through sports, lessons, clubs and documented family activity.