United States HistoryCourse Syllabus and Expectations
COURSE DESCRIPTIONWelcome to Hist/SocSci 8! Students in grade eight study the major turning points in American history from the framing of the Constitution through the conclusion of the Civil War. By the end of the course students are expected to understand and be able to explain: the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the development of American constitutional democracy; the political principles underlying the U.S. Constitution and compare the enumerated and implied powers of the federal government; the foundation of the American political system and the ways in which citizens participate in it; U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic; the divergent paths of the American people in the Northeast, South, and West from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced;the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence; andthe multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War. In addition to historical content, emphasis will be placed on the Common Core Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies as well as Stanford University’s design thinking methodology to develop academic and technological skills that will be essential for success in high school and beyond. These skills include, but are not limited to, analysis of primary sources and texts, written composition skills, critical conversation, collaborative problem solving, project-based learning, and the daily use of Chromebooks and Google for Education, especially Google Classroom. Lastly, in line with the district’s ongoing initiative to promote equity and inclusion, there will be social emotional learning lessons and activities to help foster a learning environment in which ALL students feel safe, respected, and valued, as well to help students better understand the various groups of Americans we’ll be studying this year.
TEXTBOOKOur textbook is McGraw-Hill School Education - Impact: California Social Studies (2019). The textbook is, however, merely a starting point and I will supplement the textbook whenever possible with scholarly primary sources and related news articles in line with the Common Core standards. REQUIRED DAILY MATERIALSStudents will need to bring the following materials to EVERY class meeting: A fully-charged chromebook managed by LCUSD (no PC or Mac laptops allowed) Wired headphones or earbuds. Bluetooth and wireless earbuds/headphones are not allowed. A binder for storing notes and handouts A pen or pencil A water bottle with a lid is encouraged. Occasionally, students will be asked to bring in: Basic art supplies (markers or colored pencils, ruler, scissors, and glue stick)
ATTENDANCE/EXPECTED BEHAVIORStudents are expected to be respectful, responsible, and ready to learn and abide by the conduct guidelines set forth in the Registration Handbook, the District Technology Use Agreement, and the School Honor Code. Violations of the School Honor Code will result in a U in citizenship for that grading period and an F for the assignment. Students should arrive to the classroom on time, with all of the required materials, and ready to work for the ENTIRE class period. Do not expect time to start homework in class.Students who arrive late after the daily attendance has been recorded should check in with me at the end of the period and remind me to correct the attendance record from Absent to Tardy.Students are expected to have all personal electronic devices (except chromebooks) safely stored out of sight and silenced to avoid distractions. As stated previously, bluetooth and wireless earbuds/headphones are not allowed.Gum is not allowed at any time.Intellectual honesty is vital to an academic community and for my fair evaluation of your work. All work submitted in this course must be your own, completed in accordance with this school’s academic regulations. You may not engage in unauthorized collaboration or use ChatGPT or other AI composition software so I can properly assess your learning needs. Using generative AI for written assignments prevents an accurate assessment of your work. Using these tools puts your academic integrity at risk. You will receive a U in citizenship for that grading period and an F for the assignment should you choose to use Artificial Intelligence and turn in the work as your own. I ask that you schedule time with me for help before turning to AI. Once we develop a common baseline, we may be able to explore how these tools can assist you as a learner through various use cases.* (* means we might be able to figure out when and how to use AI during the school year). IMPORTANT: be sure to show your work in Google Docs. If your version history shows a chunk of work was copy and pasted into the doc, I will assume it was not your work. Failure to abide by the expected behaviors may result in: a verbal warning, a change of seating or timeout (if applicable), an email home to parents, and, if the situation persists, a referral to our principal, Dr. Gold.
GRADING POLICYCOURSE GRADEThe course grade is based on the accumulated percentage of all the points earned. All students will be graded using the following point scale, with scores rounded up to the nearest whole percentage point on the report card. In keeping with the school district’s Challenge Success initiative to reduce student competition and stress, there will be no plus or minus grades.
Additionally, grades will be weighted in the following categories:Quizzes 15%Classwork 30%Tests/Performance Tasks 30%Common Core Writing 15%Semester Exam/Culminating Project 10%Quizzes (15%)There will beNO WRITTEN HOMEWORK this year, except classwork that was not completed during the course of the regular class sessions or meetings and/or ongoing projects. Instead, students will be assigned a weekly textbook reading assignment. Reading completion/comprehension will be assessed occasionally via a multiple choice quiz. All quizzes will be taken online using either Illuminate or Quizizz and students will receive feedback including notification of which questions were answered incorrectly. We will review the most commonly missed questions from each quiz before moving on to new content and if the quiz was on Illuminate, students may retake any quiz ONE TIME. Note: The retake will be an alternate version of the quiz.
Classwork (30%)Students can view assignments on their Google Classroom. Parents may view the daily assignments via the Google Calendar linked to my LCHS teacher http://park-smith.weebly.com The following are the most common types of assignments:Lecture NotesStudents will take written notes 1-2 times per week that they may use during quizzes. There is no required format for taking notes, so students are encouraged to develop and consistently use a format that best fits their learning style. I do occasionally check to see if students are taking notes. Class Discussions/ActivitiesStudents are expected to participate actively in class discussions and activities, as well as complete certain assignments within the class period. NO CORRECTIONS will be accepted for classwork assignments that are completed collaboratively and/or where the answers were shared with the class prior to submission. EdPuzzle VideosAt least once a week, students will watch a short online video with a built-in listening comprehension quiz. Because students control the pace at which they watch the video and may rewind as often as necessary prior to answering each question, NO RETAKES will be allowed for EdPuzzle video assignments unless there are technical issues.
Unit Tests/Performance Tasks (30%)There will be a test at the end of each thematic unit. Unit tests consist of a combination of multiple-choice questions and document-based short response questions. Unit tests are NOT open-note, but students will receive a study guide at least one week prior to each test that may be annotated and used during the test. All unit tests will be taken online using the Illuminate testing portal and students will receive feedback including notification of which questions were answered incorrectly. The test booklet with answer key will be published in Google Classroom once all class members have completed the test. We will always review the most commonly missed questions from each unit test before moving on to new content and students may retake any unit test ONE TIME. In addition to unit tests, we will be completing several performance tasks each semester, including a major project during the Spring semester, to assess mastery of the content standards. Occasionally, a performance task will be assigned in place of a traditional unit test. Some performance tasks will be individual tasks and some will be collaborative. Performance tasks are NEVER accepted late and NO CORRECTIONS will be accepted for these assignments.
Common Core Writing (15%)Significant emphasis will be placed on the Common Core Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies to help students develop academic and technological research and communication skills that will be essential for success in high school and beyond. At least once per semester, students will be asked to address an essential question writing prompt. These are highly-structured formal writing assignments which require students to develop hypotheses, preview claims, and support claims with evidence synthesized from textbook readings, class discussions, and various activities. Essential question writing assignments will be graded on a four point scale using the following Common Core rubric: docs.google.com/document/d/1p-dIbcyIfUivv6rOMAKKzs9N8hsVYFbrUAJBZyWt6eA/edit?usp=sharing
StandardStandard Not Met (2) Approaching Standard (3) Standard Met or Exceeded (4)
Essential question writing assignments will be returned in a timely manner with meaningful constructive feedback, including suggestions for corrections. Due to the rigorous nature of the essential questions and the Common Core writing standards, it is very rare for students to receive full credit in the early months of the school year. Therefore, students are strongly encouraged to make the suggested corrections and resubmit to ensure comprehension, as well as recover lost points. However, students may only resubmit a particular written assignment ONE TIME.
Semester Exams/Culminating Projects (10%)A cumulative exam OR culminating project will be given at the end of each semester. Like the unit tests, semester exams will consist of a combination of multiple-choice questions and document based questions and students will receive a study guide at least one week prior to each exam that may be annotated and used as a “cheat sheet.” NO RETAKES will be allowed for semester exams and NO CORRECTIONS will be accepted for culminating projects. Culminating projects require students to produce a product demonstrating mastery of the content standards for that particular semester. Culminating projects may be either individual or collaborative depending on the nature of the task.
CITIZENSHIPIn addition to the academic course grade, each quarter students will receive a grade for classroom citizenship based on the following district-approved rubric which emphasizes attendance, respect, inclusivity, integrity, and adherence to classroom and campus rules and norms. Please click on the link to view the Citizenship Rubric. docs.google.com/document/d/1JMycV9uPgGU7TDcoLu6L-pl4BDcTwKqKLWfOSF7unA0/edit?usp=sharing
In order to earn a citizenship grade of “O,” students must meet 4 of the 6 criteria. If not, the teacher will move to the Satisfactory level. In order to earn an “S,” students must meet at least 4 of the 6 criteria for that level, and so on. Students MUST maintain a 2.5 in Citizenship to NOT be placed on the No-Go list for school activities. Additionally, the teacher reserves the right to give a “U” for one a specific egregious act. If this were to occur the teacher will contact the parent directly. Note: Absences and tardies may have discretion per the teacher for the first period of the day.
LATE/MISSING WORK POLICYAll late work will be accepted up until one week prior to the end of the current grading period for up to full credit. No late work will be accepted from previous grading periods. Students submitting late work to Google Classroom should also send me an email letting me know that an assignment has been submitted late and is ready to grade. Instead of receiving a zero for missing assignments, students receive a score of approximately 50.3%. Because 50.3% is still an F and will significantly affect the overall course grade, students are strongly encouraged to make up missing work as soon as possible. If you see a score of .3 at the end of it, that was a missing assignment. If a quiz or test is missed due to an absence, the student must contact the teacher IMMEDIATELY (via email or through a private message in Google Classroom) upon his/her returnto schedule a makeup appointment.
TECHNICAL SUPPORTFor technical support, please go to help.lcusd.net to submit a help ticket or you can call the district tech support line at 818-952-4283 from 7:30 AM-4:00 PM, Monday-Friday.
Office Hours:I am often available before or after school unless there is a meeting for me to attend but am consistently available after school for at least 15 minutes after school for any questions, help, or assessment makeups that students need to see me for.
Sample Assessment Questions:This class will consist of many different types of assessments including traditional and non-traditional multiple choice questions, short answer/essay questions and document analysis questions. Below are some examples of each type of question as they may appear in this class: Traditional Multiple Choice:What is federalism? A.sharing of power between nation and state B.sharing of power between states C.sharing of land between landowners and the government D.the federal government overruling the state and local governments
Non-Traditional Multiple Choice:At the Constitutional Convention, what was part of the Connecticut Plan? Check all that apply. A. states have as many votes apportioned by population B. two votes per state C. equal representation for every state D. one vote per state (This question would be scored by awarding a point for every correct selection and deducting a point for every incorrect selection)
Document Analysis Question:President James Madison sends a war message to Congress June 1, 1812"British cruisers have been in the continued practice of violating the American flag on the great highway of nations, and of seizing and carrying off persons sailing under it... British jurisdiction is thus extended to neutral vessels in a situation where no laws can operate but the law of nations and the laws of the country to which the vessels belong...British cruisers (ships) have been in the practice of violating the rights and the peace of our coasts…Our commerce has been plundered (taken) in every sea, the great staples of our country have been cut off from our legitimate markets and a destructive blow aimed at our agricultural and maritime interest and now we behold…on the side of Great Britain a state of war against the United States. In reviewing the conduct of Great Britain toward the United States our attention is necessarily drawn to the warfare just renewed by the savages on one of our extensive frontiers...It is difficult to account for the activity and combinations which have for some time been developing themselves among tribes in constant intercourse with British traders and garrisons... without connecting their hostility with that influence...of that Government." Question: Why did the United States declare war on Great Britain in 1812?