Textbook: Discovering Our Past: A History of the United States, McGraw Hill, 2013 Textbooks are available for checkout through the library on a limited basis. These textbooks are checked out and returned to the library. As soon as the textbook is no longer needed, it should be returned to the library. Unreturned textbooks will result in fines to the student account. Price to replace textbook: $68.99. Course description: This one year course is a study of Nevada from statehood to present day and American history from the time of the American Revolutions through World War II. Students explore and evaluate challenges facing the new nation and make connections between the rise of industrialization and contemporary social and economic conditions. The history of Nevada is integrated throughout the year. This course is distinguished from US/Nevada History 7 by instructional pacing and delivery of advanced content. Instructional practices incorporate integration of diversity awareness including appreciation of all cultures and their important contributions to our society. The appropriate use of technology is an integral part of this course. This is a required course for all seventh grade students. 1. Course Goals: lessons will be designed to not only include Nevada State/US History standards, but also the Nevada Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in order to improve reading, reading comprehension and writing skills. a. Understand significant social, cultural, economic and political changes. b. Appreciate the contributions made by diverse cultures in the US. c. Examine the concepts of tolerance and respect. d. Understand the development of the state of Nevada and its unique features. e. To become familiar with technology advances and their impact. f. To recognize the value of responsible citizenship. g. To develop skills necessary to use informational tools. h. To identify causes and effects of major conflicts. i. To explore career opportunities in the field of history. 2. Course content and time schedule (sequential) a. First Quarter: US Geography, the world in 1500, European Exploration of the Americas, the European Colonies develop, Beginnings of an American Identity, The Road to Revolution, The AMerican Revolution b. Second Quarter: Confederation and Constitution, Launching a New Republic, The Jeffersonian Era, National and Regional Growth, The Age of Jackson, Manifest Destiny, A New Spirit of Change, The Nation Breaking Apart, The Civil War Begins, The Tide of War Turns and Reconstruction c. Third Quarter: Growth of the West, An Industrial Society, Changes in American Life, The Progressive Era, Becoming a World Power, and World War I d. The Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression and the New Deal, The Rise of DIctators and World War II e. ******This is just a guide of when topics are covered. As the year progresses we could be ahead or behind this schedule. 3. Course activities
a. Quizzes/Tests: i. Chapter quizzes and semester exams 1. In class scantron test. 2. In class short answer test. 3. In class essay test. 4. Take home essay test. ii. No talking or other distractions will be allowed during testing periods. This will result in a zero on the quiz/test/exam and cannot be retaken for a grade. All devices will be collected for end of the semester exams. b. Assignments: i. Warm-up and closure activities ii. Class work iii. America the Story of US video series iv. Review concepts v. Preparing projects vi. Studying for tests/quizzes (specific study guides are only provided for the semester exams, for tests and quizzes students are expected to read over the reading guides, as well as their notes and assignments). 4. Curricular Program a. Each quarter students well be exposed the the DBQ Project. The DBQ Project is a set of primary source documents about a particular topic that concludes with an essay about the topic using the primary sources as evidence to support a claim. Each quarter the requirements are altered so the final DBQ Project will be completed by the student on their own. b. Students will be creating their own atlas of US History. This atlas will be completed throughout the year. This atlas helps with the study of US history during the course of seventh grade, prepare them for geography in eighth grade and if kept until 11th grade, can be a resource for use in the second installment of US history. c. For each chapter of the textbook there are notes that students will need to complete outside of class. Students will have at least five days to complete the notes. Notes are vocabulary words and questions based off the reading guides that are posted in Google Classroom. Notes will be checked on the day of the quiz and returned to the student the following day. Notes WILL NOT be accepted late. If a student is absent it is their responsibility to turn in the notes when they return. If all notes are turned in on time during the semester, the student will receive 5 points of extra credit on the semester exam. a. Students will also be working on a President Project throughout the year. Each quarter there will be a presentation and a short paper about the presidents. Students only need to do the presentation ONCE but when depends on what president is chosen. All presentations will be during the last two weeks of the quarter. Presidents can only be chosen once, so when a student picks a president to research, no one else can present on the same president. There is a possibility that of changing the president but students must wait until after
everyone has chosen their president (BUT students must pick an available president in the same quarter as their first choice). Presentation can be in any form that students choose. It will be presented in class but how is up to the student. Final grades will go on the fourth quarter grade report. The teacher will keep track of all grades and will input grades as soon as fourth quarter opens. Should any part of the report be directly copied from another source the student will receive a zero and parents/guardians will be contacted. Students will get one chance to earn back some points on the project (up to a 70%). 5. Evaluation: a. Criteria for arriving at student grades: i. Participation: 5% ii. Notebook Checks: 10% iii. Homework: 10% iv. Classwork: 25% v. Test/quizzes: 50% b. Semester exams will be worth 20% of the SEMESTER grade i. Semester exams will not be administered early. Students who are absent may make-up their exams on the district approved make-up days. c. Explanation of student grades i. A 100-90% ii. B 89%-80% iii. C 79%-70% iv. D 69%-60% v. E 59% and below d. How and when students will be advised of grades i. Parents and students are urged to check the Infinite Campus Portal for grades regularly ii. Grades are not posted in the classroom and students may not ask during instruction time what their current grade is. iii. IC printouts will be provided multiple times per quarter. These will need to be signed and returned by a given date. e. Citizenship/behavior expectations i. Citizenship is taken very seriously here at Leavitt Middle School.Teachers expect the very best from their students every day. Students are expected to bring supplies to class, pay attention, stay on task, talk when appropriate, be respectful to everyone, avoid nuisance items (cell phones, toys, or any other distraction in the classroom) and not eating or chewing gum in class. Students who cannot work within these expectations will have points deducted from their citizenship grade. Other actions which disrupt the learning environment of the classroom or other students will also be documented and points will be lost. ii. Below is the scale for citizenship. All reports of misconduct will be documented in the teacher's grade book. This way, both students and parents will be able to check IC to see what his or her current citizenship
grade is, and why points have been lost. Points are deducted for poor behavior, not following directions, being rude or disrespectful to the teacher or others in the classroom, leaving a mess behind when dismissed and for other actions not becoming of a student in seventh grade. 1. 100-85 Outstanding 2. 84-70 satisfactory 3. 60-69 Needs Improvement 4. 59 and less Unsatisfactory f. Late Work Policy i. Optimal student learning happens only if work is done in a timely fashion. Work not turned in on time will be marked as missing M in IC. ii. Late work is subject to a 10% penalty if not turned in on time. iii. Notes that are not completed on time will be automatically 50% off and not eligible for the extra credit on the semester exam. iv. Projects (including the DBQ Project essays) are due on the assigned due date as ample time has been provided and will be 25% off if late. g. Test retake policy i. If a 70% or below is earned on a test/quiz students will have the opportunity will be provided to retake the test/quiz within one week of receiving the scores. The retake score will be a maximum of 70%. ii. Students can sign up to retake the test during their lunch or before school. Three days will be available. Passes will be provided for students taking tests during lunch.can sign up to retake the test during their lunch. Three days will be available. Passes will be provided for students. 6. Supplies needed for class a. A binder with the following sections: i. Classwork ii. Homework iii. Notes b. Pencils and pens c. Possible classroom donations: i. Tissues ii. Hand sanitizer iii. Coloring supplies (colored pencils or markers) iv. Glue sticks v. Paper (construction, loose leaf, printed or colored paper) vi. Index cards vii. Post it notes viii. ******please note, these supplies are used by students for various assignments in class. Additional supplies as the year progresses are always a wonderful surprise. Any supplies donated will be used in the
classroom, and are greatly appreciated, but points will not be awarded in the grade book. 7. Utilizing technology to learn-this year at Leavitt we want to encourage the daily use to technology in and out of the classroom to further enhance the educational experience. As such, Leavitt will provide individual devices to all students that complete the necessary paperwork. Students will also be provided a Google email account to correspond with others on campus. Students can also choose to use their own personal devices for educational purposes. Please be reminded that Leavitt Middle School and the teacher ARE NOT responsible for the safety of your child s personal device. Your student is responsible for the safety of their own electronic device. 8. Teacher s hours of availability a. I am available from 8:30-9:00am Monday through Friday (Wednesday mornings are the exception due to weekly meetings). You may also contact me through email at afenn@interact.ccsd.net. Please allow 24 hours for a response.