American History Syllibus

American History

Course Description

This year long class will study American history from 1865 to the present. Areas of special interest include:

Culture and art
America’s growth as a world economic power
Elections and political change
The civil rights movement
War and it’s effect on American History
Science and technology and it’s impact on American life

The class is intended to challenge your student. Parents and students are urged to carefully consider the amount of weekly work required to complete this class.

Course Objectives
Students will be given a pretest to establish a baseline score, For 70% of students scoring a C (70%) or less on the baseline assessment, expected student growth is an improvement of at least 10% points on the matching spring post test. For students scoring above the cutoff percentage (70%) expected student growth is 5%

Assessment Methods
The students grade will depend upon 5 types of tasks

Unit chapter multiple choice & essay tests
Document based questions
Outside reading essay responses
Frequent homework assignments
A 5 page Term Paper

Task Descriptions
1. Unit tests: Students will be given weekly reading assignments. At the conclusion of the Unit students will take a test over the chapter(s). Tests will consist of a combination of multiple choice, map or diagram and essay questions.
2. Document Based Questions. These complex essay tasks require the student to use excerpts from primary documents to answer detailed questions in a five paragraph format.
3. Outside Readings: To better understand the ideas and ideologies that shaped American history students will be asked to read primary documents and essays by historians on topics in American history, then answer in essay format questions drawn from the readings.
4. Worksheets: Worksheets will be used to reinforce in class instruction in such topics as Thesis design, 5 paragraph format, Cornell Notes, map usage, and the use of note cards
5. Term Paper: successful completion of this task will require the use of research skills, primary & secondary documents, note cards, MLA style, rough draft and revision tasks.

Grading Conventions
The students grade in the class is based on the total number of points earned out of the total points possible for all tasks. The resulting percentage is compared to the following scale.

90-100 = A
80 - 89 = B
70 - 79 = C
60 - 79 = D
59 or less=F

Each task is assigned a point value. The relative importance of a task can be determined by the number of points the task is worth.

Writing Conventions
All essays will be graded in accordance with my Test & Homework Essay Rubric. All Document Based Question will be graded in accordance with the DBQ Essay Grading Standards. The final term paper will be graded in accordance with my Term Paper Rubric. In addition for the final term paper all MLA style guide conventions will be used.

Late Work Policy
Work submitted after the assigned due date will be penalized one grade point per week or portion of a week late. No work will be accepted more than 3 weeks late and no late work will be accepted one week prior to semester finals week.

Required Supplies
Students must purchase a notebook (spiral or three ring), pencil or pen, 5” by 8” lined index cards, index card storage box and any reading or project materials assigned by the teacher. Notebook paper should be suitable for the Cornell note system. The notebook should have pockets for document storage.

Online Resources
All homework assignments and other class information will be promptly posted to the school web page. Parents concerned about current work should check my at page.

For Further Information
Feel free to contact me at Mark_Hughes@DPSK12.org, or call me at (720) 424-1793. My office hours are Monday through Thursday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM.

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