Syllabus

American History to 1865

Syllabus 2020 – 2021

Mr. Higgins


Contact Information:

mhiggins@alleghany.k12.va.us

(540) 863-1726


INTRODUCTION

Hello, and welcome to the 6th grade American History. My name is Michael Higgins and I will be your Social Studies teacher for the 2020-2021 school year. I believe that Social Studies is the most useful single discipline for the citizens of a free republic, such as the United States. From history we can learn about national, political, and individual freedom, the good and bad reasons to enter into war, and how the social upheavals of the last centuries have changed our attitudes towards many issues. Students can also learn from the leaders of the past, both good and bad, for moral instruction, character development, and life skills. My philosophy for teaching Social Studies is that students should learn the lessons of the past so we can make educated decisions in the present, and plan for the future.


In this class we will link every event to understanding the 3 types of freedoms: national, political, and individual. We will discover that they were hard won, and that, if we are not careful, we can lose them again. We will also discover that it is individual men and women that change history for the good, or the bad. We will also learn the moral principles of: courage, wisdom, justice, and self-control and see them applied through history.


CLASS TIMELINE: (each topic is covered for approximately 4-5 weeks):

  1. Geography (SOL US1.2)

  2. American Indians (SOL US1.3; primarily prior to 1492; SOLs only focus on tribes in the current 50 States)

  3. European Explorers with African Link (SOL US1.4)

  4. Colonial America (SOL US1.5)

  5. The American Revolutionary War (SOL US1.6)

  6. New Nation and the Constitution (SOL US1.7)

  7. Westward Expansion (SOL US1.8)

  8. The American Civil War (SOL US1.9)


In addition to SOLs, I hope to tie in critical thinking, reading, primary sources, citizenship, and strong character traits of American History’s greatest people into all lessons.


GRADING SCALE:

A: 90-100

B: 80-89

C: 70-79

D: 60-69

F: 0-59

HONOR CODE: “I will not lie, cheat, or steal nor tolerate those who do. Above all I vow to be honest with myself.”


TYPES OF ASSIGNMENTS:

  1. Quizzes – are an assessment of a section of a unit, I usually give quizzes at the end of every week. Quizzes can be multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, or short answer. Most quizzes are 10-20 questions long.


  1. Tests – are an assessment of an entire unit (which means we will only have 8 in a year). They will count as 2 quizzes. Most tests are 25-40 questions long.


  1. Projects – can be individual or group and are an assessment of the student’s ability to apply knowledge learned in class visually and through communication both verbally and written. Nearly all projects will be presented to the class by the student. Examples of projects would be drawing maps, making biographies, etc. AN INDIVIDUAL PROJECT WILL REPLACE THE WRITTEN SOL TEST IN 6TH GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES!


  1. Journals – About once a week or every other week the student will be given a prompt and write a set amount of words on the subject. Examples of prompts would be “what was life like on the Mayflower?,” or “would you join George Washington to fight the British in the Revolutionary War, why or why not?” These are not research essays and should be done with the material already given to the student. These questions are about processing, contextualizing, and reinforcing information already learned. Journals will start with a minimum of 100 words and will be increased as the year continues.


  1. Worksheets – are a wide range of assignments to reinforce lessons and concepts that will be on quizzes and tests.


  1. Notes Checks – are done after each unit is completed. If the student has all notes for that particular unit it is an easy 100 points. For each set of notes not completed or lost the student will lose points. No student will receive less than a 50 on the notes check unless they made no attempt at all throughout the entire unit and then they would receive a zero.


  1. Classroom Participation – will be a combination of the student’s behavior, classroom discussion, guided reading questions, critical thinking questions, review games, and preparedness. Students will lose points for disrupting class, disrespect, confrontation with another student, bad attitude, inappropriate language, sleeping in class, being tardy, skipping, and any repeated offense at the teacher’s discretion.


CLASSROOM RULES

I am a pretty easy going teacher as long as you follow the expectations, but I do have 3 hard rules. Breaking these rules will result in some form of disciplinary action.

  1. DO NOT cheat, talk, or horseplay during quizzes & tests.

  2. DO NOT play video games on your Chromebook in this class.

  3. DO NOT talk while I am speaking with another teacher or while I am on the phone.

PLAGIARISM:

Plagiarism is defined as: “the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.” In other words it is lying, stealing, and cheating. This included all forms of coping from the internet. Alleghany County has a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism, and I use a plagiarism detector for all online submissions. If I discover that an assignment has been plagiarized you will receive a zero on the assignment, you will be referred to the office, and your parents will be notified.


DISCIPLINE:

Should the student break a classroom rule, or repeatedly disregard the classroom expectations disciplinary action will be taken. These will include, but are not limited to (in order of severity):

  1. Reduced participation points (down to zero)

  2. Isolation/removal from other students or the classroom

  3. Silent lunch

  4. Phone call home

  5. Office Referral


CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS:

  1. Be Respectful of the teachers, class, oneself, peers, and school property.


  1. Be Prepared for class. This means coming to class with your Chromebook, pencils, notebook, and whatever else you need.


  1. Be on time.


  1. Pay attention and interact in class.


  1. Turn in all assignments on time. All assignments should be labeled with First and Last name, Class Period, and Date. Any late and or incorrectly labeled assignment will be penalized at the teacher’s discretion. One letter grade will be subtracted per day the assignment is late. No assignment over a week late will be accepted.


  1. Self-control is expected of all school policies and class directions. Each student will be held accountable for their actions. Act with a level of maturity and responsibility of a middle school student. You are no longer an elementary student, don’t act like one.


  1. Be Ready and Willing to Learn.


VIRTUAL EXPECTATIONS:

  1. Log in to Google Classroom daily.


  1. Be on time: log in a few minutes before class.


  1. Be in a quiet place: ensure your surroundings are free from distractions. This includes being away from pets/animals.

  2. Be prepared: computer is charged, camera is on, use headphones as needed.


  1. Wear appropriate clothing (I DO NOT want to see you in pajamas).


  1. Participation: be focused, be attentive, be an active participant. Even if you are a virtual only student I am still going to grade your participation.


  1. Speaking responsibility: raise your hand to speak and wait to be called upon or type your question in the chat box. Be respectful and do not speak while others are speaking. Speak loud enough and clear enough for the microphone to pick up, look up and at the camera when speaking, and stay on topic.


  1. Assignments are expected to be submitted at the same time regardless of whether you are here 2 days, 4 days, or are virtual only.


  1. The equipment is the property of Alleghany County Public Schools at all times and is lent to the student for educational purposes. Acceptance of the Chromebook and AC adapter (“the equipment”) indicates the student’s and the parent’s acceptance of the responsibility to care for the equipment, ensure that it is kept secure and functional, and to use the Chromebook in accordance with the Chromebook Student Handbook and school division policies IIBEA/GAB, IIBEA-R/GAB-R, and KBE pertaining to Acceptable Computer System Use, Technology Use Guidelines, and Internet Privacy.


  1. The equipment must not be defaced, damaged, or destroyed. Any damage must be reported to the school administration/TTRT as soon as possible. Non-functioning Chromebooks must be taken to the TTRT for repair. Outside repairs are not permitted.


  1. School division Asset Tags are located on the equipment and should not be tampered with or removed.


  1. The equipment is for the student’s use only. Family and friends should not use the equipment. An official Alleghany County Public Schools email address is needed to log into the equipment.


  1. Personal mobile devices are not to be used on the Alleghany County Public Schools’ Wi-Fi network. The student/parent agrees to comply with the Standards of Student Conduct and school division policies IIBEA/GAB, IIBEA-R/GAB-R, and KBE (Acceptable Computer System Use, Technology Use Guidelines, and Internet Privacy) regardless of whether the student uses their own data plan.






*This syllabus is subject to change at the teacher’s discretion.