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Global Studies Syllabus

9th Grade Global Studies
IACS
2008 – 2009

Instructor
Ms. Arel; sarel@innovationcharter.org
Ms. Nyden; enyden@innovationcharter.org
Extra-Help Time: Tuesdays 3:00-4:00 or by appointment


Course Overview
Who has power? How is power gained?  What allows power dynamics to endure over time?  What roles do ethnicity, gender, economics and religion play in establishing an individual, or group, identity and power?  This course will introduce students to a variety of worldwide social, cultural and historical happenings from 1800 to the present.   Through a variety of classroom activities and rich primary and secondary sources, students will acquire a foundation to understand the complexities of global conflicts and to analyze how events, ideas, and structures of the past continue to shape our world today.  The topics of study often coincide with those explored in the 9th grade English course. 

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 world history from 1800-present through a thematic approach to history.  They will demonstrate essential understanding of imperialism, revolution, genocide, war and gender in world history and in the present day.

2.     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, possibly 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.

3.     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, podcast and multimedia productions.

4.      Work Habits: Students seek support from peers and teachers through research and writing conferences. Students will complete assignments, fulfilling all project components.  They will take feedback both from their peers and from teachers 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.

Assignments will be weighted depending on the amount of class and homework time spent on them.  Grades in each strand will be based on the following:

  • Long-Term Projects and Major Essays
  • Short-Term Projects and Writing
  • Class Participation and Nightly Assignments
  • Weekly Current Event Journals

Current Events Journals
In addition to our global 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 until the end of the unit to turn in any late work.  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.  See me if you know you will be missing class for an extended period of time.

If students are absent from class, they must check their folder in the classroom to see if they missed any handouts, passed back assignments, etc. Additionally, if a student is absent, he or she is responsible for turning in missed work upon return to school. It is also the responsibility of the student to check with other class members to get missing notes.

Honors Credit

Students who take Global Studies for honors will be required to do the following per trimester:
  • consistently meet stated expectations for class assignments
  • demonstrate integrity and a commitment to quality in all aspects of daily performance
  • complete a guided study or independent study project that addresses the essential questions of the course and is substantial in scope (project proposals must be approved before students begin working on the project)
  • attend honors meetings during lunch or after school to report on progress a few times each trimester
  • read one book that is related to a topic covered in class

       
Overview of Topics & Major Assignments
*dates and time spent on each project are subject to change

Trimester # 1

9/3 – 9/5        Course Introduction
                            Class Goals & Expectations
9/8 – 10/3        Revolution and Propaganda
                            Revolution Newspaper Due 10/3
10/6 – 10/17    Introduction to Latin America
10/20 – 10/29  The 2008 Election: Views from Around the World
                            Global News Report Due 10/28
                            Global News Report Presentations 10/28 and 10/29
10/30 – 11/14    Latin America (Migration Patterns)
                            Latin America Research Paper  Due 11/14
11/17 – 11/26    Gender
                             Gender Advocacy Brochure  Due trimester 2

Attachments (1)

  • trimester 1 syllabus.doc - on Sep 8, 2008 4:04 PM by Shannon Arel (version 1)
    54k Download