Innovation Academy Charter School

American Studies I

Semester 1 Syllabus

 

 

Ms. Arida: karida@innovationcharter.org         

Extra Help Hour: Tuesdays 3:00-4:00 or by appointment

 

Course Overview

What does it mean to be American?  How has the past shaped our current community and society?  This course will introduce students to the early history of the United States.  We will study the origins of American values like liberty, equality, individual freedom, and social justice, how they sometimes came into conflict with each other, and how those tensions shaped the American character.  Through various primary and secondary source readings and engaging classroom activities, students will gain a framework to understand and analyze American politics and culture.

 

Year Long Essential Questions:

• What does it mean to be an American?
• What role does the Constitution play in the lives of Americans? 
• Do Americans honor the Constitution?
• Do Americans learn from History?

 

Semester I: Origins & Foundations

            We will begin the year focusing on the origins and foundations of US government and society.  Topics covered span from pre-Columbian societies in North America and European colonization to an in-depth study of the US Constitution. 

 

Overview of Topics & Major Assignments

*Dates and time spent on each project are subject to change

 

9/2-10/1	Beginnings, Cultural Clashes, and Adventures:  Bias, Pre-Columbian American Cultures, Colonization    Project:   Colonial Journals
10/5-11/20	Tyranny!  The American Revolution   Project Ideas: ·        Create political cartoons illustrating both the Declaration of Independence and a current issue ·        Select an inanimate object that “witnessed” a Revolutionary event and write the story of the event from the perspective of the object.
11/23-1/22	Making Sense of Revolution: United States Constitution        Project Ideas: ·        Founders Facebook Pages ·        We the People Culminating Panels

 

 

Assessment

Students’ work will help us to assess their learning in a variety of areas, or strands.

 

1. Enduring Understanding/Essential Knowledge: Students will identify key political, economic, religious, cultural, and technological events in US history from 1400s-1877. 

Weight: 30%

 

1. Research: Students will build upon knowledge learned in the classroom by looking further into key areas of study.  They will find information from many sources including: books, articles, newspapers, the Internet, magazines, and documentaries. Students will give appropriate credit to their sources, and will articulate new and deeper understanding by using evidence to draw and guide their decisions.

Weight: 30%

 

1. Effective Communication: Students will write with a clear focus and coherent organization paying close attention to historical accuracy.  They will express their ideas and historical knowledge orally, in formal and informal discussions, debates, and presentations.  They will pose questions and listen to the ideas of others.  Additionally, they will present ideas through a variety of media including film, radio, podcasts, and multimedia productions.

Weight: 20%

 

1. Work Habits: Student seeks support from teacher and peers through research and writing conferences. Students will complete assignments, fulfilling all project components.  They will take feedback both from their teacher and peers to make significant changes from rough draft to a final draft. Students will turn assignments in on time and use class time effectively to complete their work. 

Weight: 20%   

 

 

Current Events Journals

In addition to our American studies, students will be required to keep a current events journal.  Each student should have a composition notebook where he/she will cut and paste articles from the news and relate them to the topics and themes being studied.  Students are responsible for finding one article and providing a reflection on the article every two weeks.  Journals will be collected every Monday and returned by Thursday.  If a student does not turn in a journal on Monday, the student cannot make up the assignment.

Late and Missing Work

If a student does not turn in an assignment on time they have three days to make up the missing work.  For each day an assignment is late, a students’ grade on that assignment will drop a letter grade per day.  Work passed in after three days may or may not be accepted.  If it is accepted, it will not receive a passing grade but it will not receive a 0 either.  This DOES NOT apply to the biweekly current event journals – if a student misses a biweekly submission he/she cannot make it up.  Work turned in consistently late will result in a lower Work Habits grade. 

 

If a student is absent, he or she is responsible for obtaining handouts and assignments that he/she missed as well as for turning in missed work upon return to school. A student will be granted an extension of one day for work missed while absent.  See me if you know you will be missing class for an extended period of time. It is also the responsibility of the student to check with other class members to get missing notes.

 

Academic Integrity

Academic honesty and integrity are essential to our school and classroom culture. All students are expected to complete and hand in their own work.  Cheating and plagiarism (presenting another person’s ideas or words as your own) will not be tolerated. Consequences include receiving a zero for the assignment and/or a failing grade for the course. Please see the Student Handbook for more information.  Do not cheat.  It insults your intelligence and gets you into a lot of trouble. 

 

One major way to avoid plagiarism is to properly cite other people’s work.  The Humanities Department at IACS uses the MLA (Modern Language Association) format for citation.  If you’d like to have an easy resource on how to properly used MLA, consider purchasing The MLA Pocket Handbook: Rules for Format and Documentation (paperback) by Jill Rossiter from Amazon.

 

Classroom Basics:

·                 Headphones are appropriate, with teacher permission, during independent work.  Obviously, classroom instruction and group work are not appropriate times to be plugged into your music/podcasts/etc.

·                 No food or drink except bottled water.  Not even coffee or tea.

·                 Please don’t go to the bathroom during direct instruction.  If you need to go, write your name on the board and put a check mark when you return.  Once a name has been checked as returned, someone else may go if it’s appropriate to do so.  One at a time please.

·                 Come to class prepared and on time.  Lateness to class will result in being marked tardy. If you forget something and need to go to your locker, you will also be marked tardy to class.   Consistent tardiness will result in disciplinary measures. 

 

Honors Credit

Students who take American Studies II for honors will be required to do the following:

·        consistently meet stated expectations for class assignments

·        demonstrate integrity and a commitment to quality in all aspects of daily performance

·        complete additional extension work for each unit that addresses the essential questions of the course

·        attend honors meetings during 30 minute Academic Enrichment periods bi-weekly

·        students may opt out of 1 project extension throughout the semester (will result in the student being excused from the assignment without penalty)

 

Expectations for Bi-Weekly Honors Meetings:

 

·        Students will be asked to read an article for each honors meeting.  Each article will be handed out with an essential question to provide focus to the reading.

·        During the meeting, students will participate in discussion with their peers that summarizes, reflects, and draws connections between the article’s content, class, and contemporary America.

·        In addition, students will be asked to write a 2 page reflection on each article that includes all of the following: (1) answer the essential question, (2) integrate at least 1-2 quotes from the text as evidence to support their argument, (3) include citations for quotes, and(4) make at least one connection to your own life and/or experiences.

·        Students must be prepared to talk at least 5 times during each discussion to receive a B.  Going above and beyond expectations will allow students to obtain an A.  If a student chooses not to share their relevant thoughts during discussion, this will result in a 0 for the discussion. 

 

 

 

10^th Grade American Studies I

 

Dear Families,

 

Welcome to 10^th grade!  I hope you had an enjoyable summer and are ready for a new year at Innovation Academy Charter School.  I am excited to be a member of the History department and am really looking forward to working with the students here. 

 

Attached you will find the syllabus containing an overview and requirements for the first semester of 10^th grade American Studies I course.  Please note that some of the curriculum is subject to change slightly.  We have gone over the information as a class but I think it would be beneficial for you to read and review it with your child as well.  Also, please take a minute or two to complete the bottom of this sheet and have your child return it to me in class.

 

Thanks in advance for your time and support.  If you have any questions, concerns, or just want to say hello, feel free to e-mail me at karida@innovationcharter.org.

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

Katia Arida

 

 

What is the best e-mail to reach you at? ______________________________________

 

What is the best phone number to reach you? _________________________________

 

Is there any information I should know about your child?  (i.e. learning styles, interests, etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have read and reviewed the course overview and requirements with my child and understand the expectations for 10^th grade American Studies.

 

Parent Signature: _____________________________ Printed Name: ______________________

 

Student Signature: ____________________________ Printed Name: ______________________