Riverside Middle School

Mrs. Dorothy Jackson 

Sixth Grade Social Studies Syllabus 2025-2026

864-355-7983 mail to: dcjackso@greenville.k12.sc.us

Course Description and General Overview:  

Students will complete a study of world civilizations to uncover trends from prehistory to present day. An emphasis will be placed on historical thinking as students navigate through people, places, governments, geography and economics over time. Students will use a variety of processing skills including inquiry, chronological thinking, organizing, explaining information, analyzing, interpreting data, research and communicating orally, graphically and in writing. 

Course Levels: 6th grade Social Studies classes are grouped heterogeneously with no specific levels. 

Course Textbook: Savvas Middle Grade World History, Savvas Learning Company, United States of America, 2019.

Learning Objectives and Developmental Goals/State Standards: This course is aligned with the 2020 South Carolina Social Studies College and Career Ready Standards for World Civilizations. Students will study world civilizations to uncover trends from prehistory to present day. Instruction utilizes the historical thinking skills developed for grade six. These historical thinking skills are aligned with the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate that focuses on world-class knowledge, world-class skills, and life and career characteristics. Students will acquire content knowledge through reading and analyzing multiple primary and secondary sources, group discussions, and whole class instruction. They will apply the historical thinking skills to the acquired knowledge, and then design and communicate their interpretation of the past. This process as a whole is known as inquiry. Rather than focusing on the memorization of facts with one correct answer, inquiry differs because students are evaluated on their ability to make a claim and support it with reliable evidence from research. 

Course Outline, Instructional Units, and Sequencing:

1-The Beginning of Early Civilization

2- The Expansion of Early Civilizations: India and China

3-Classical Civilizations: Greece and Rome

4-Medieval Europe and the Crusades

5-The Islamic World

6-Medieval China and Japan

7-Mesoamerica and the West African Kingdoms

8-New Ideas Promote Change: Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment

9-Atlantic World: Age of Exploration, Columbian Exchange, Colonialism

10-Political Revolutions and Nationalism

11-Industrial Revolution

12-Global Conflicts: Imperialism and World War I

13-The Great Depression and World War II

14-The Fight for Human Rights

15-Cold War and Impact of Technology

Materials and Resources for All Classes:

• Charged Chromebook daily

• Earphones/wired earbuds (no wireless earbuds)

• Writing utensil (pen or pencil) 

• Crayons, colored pencils (either one or both)

• Agenda/Planner (optional)

• Highlighter

• Glue stick

• Scissors 

• Social Studies: 1, 3 pronged pocket folder

Assessing, Evaluating, and Recording Student Progress:

Each unit will include major and minor assessments. Major assessments include tests, projects, and written assignments. Included in each unit will be minor assessments such as: quizzes and daily class work to assess the student’s progress. 

Late work/Make-Up Work Policy Riverside Middle School 2025-2026:

Late Work Policy

In order to continue to foster high expectations for our students, while focusing on learning outcomes, teachers have collaborated to address the issue of assignments not handed in.  In addition to providing extra help before and after school, as well as time during Flex in addition to class time to ensure that students have an opportunity to receive the necessary support to complete their assignments successfully, we believe an update to our Late Work Policy is needed.  Please note that this policy update neither changes nor negates the existing make-up work policy.  It is meant to address instances in which students are present in class and did not turn in their work. 

Schools will accept late work with no penalty to the student up to 7 days after the original due date or the end of the grading period, whichever comes first. A teacher may extend the late work acceptance deadline but may not reduce the time. The work, although submitted late, will not receive a point reduction. Assessments must be about mastery of content and if graded, the goal is to assess mastery, not behaviors. Work can be accepted late across grading periods by special exception and approval of the teacher and/or administrator. 

Make-up Work Policy

In order to receive full credit for make-up work due to an absence, all work must be submitted within five school days, immediately following the absence. In cases of prolonged illness beyond five days, special consideration will be given.  It is the responsibility of the students, not the teachers, to arrange for make-up work.

• Work assigned before the absence or field trip will be due the day the student returns.

• Tests assigned before the absence will be taken on the scheduled test date or date arranged with the teacher.

• If a student misses a test or quiz while absent, on the first day back, arrangements should be made with the teacher to make up the assessment within five days.

• In general, work is made up before or after school in order not to miss more class time. Arrangements may also be made with the teacher to make-up assignments during support times such as Flex Time, tutoring times, and/or Extra Help lab.  Arrangements should be made with the teacher to complete this in a timely manner.

Redo/Retake/Revision Procedures:

• In pursuit of giving students the opportunity to demonstrate mastery in accordance with a growth mindset, Riverside Middle School has set forth the following redo/retake policy:

• Students or their guardians may request one opportunity to redo each major grade. Students/parents must submit their request for a redo/retake within one school week of the graded assessment being returned. Before an assessment is redone/retaken, students must complete a re-learning opportunity as determined by the teacher and agreed upon through a documented discussion between the teacher, student, and/or guardian. The retake score will replace the original score whether or not it is higher than the original score.

• Students may not request a redo/retake on work handed in late.

• Re-learning opportunities may include independent learning tasks, review activities, before or after school tutoring with a teacher, Flex time remediation, or other activities deemed appropriate by the teacher.

• Minor assessments may be redone/retaken at the discretion of the teacher, in order to support learning. 

Grading Policy:

Greenville County School District Policy:

Grading Scale:

100-90      A

89-80        B

79-70        C

69-60        D

59-50        F

* Major Assessments: 50% tests and projects 

* Minor Assessments: 50% quizzes and daily assignments.

Rules and Daily Procedures:

Each day will consist of a Question of the Day (answered in the Google Classroom and discussed in class), a daily lesson, a review of previous content when applicable, and daily assignments. Homework is always written on the board for all students to copy in their agendas weekly and is always posted in the google classroom. Homework typically consists of completing classwork that was not finished or reviewing notes, and/or studying for tests. 

*Attendance is taken at the beginning of each class. Students need to be on time to class.

*In case of fire drill, earthquake drill, tornado drill, or bomb threat, students will leave the classroom in an

  orderly manner and follow appropriate procedures.

*Tests will be given when assigned work has been completed. Tests are announced 4-5 days in advance.

*Projects are periodically assigned and count as a major assessment.

Classroom Behavior Expectations: 

1. Be prompt.

2. Be prepared.

3. Be polite.

Discipline Consequences:

 Each consequence is based on the situation and is at my discretion. Consequences will generally follow the order of the following: 1.verbal warning, 2. new seating assignment/ parent contact, 3.request parent conference/ lunch detention, and 4.office referral.

Conferences: At any time, if you would like to schedule a conference, please call the school office to set up an appointment through the guidance office by calling 864-355-7900. 

E-mail: Parents and students are welcome to email me at: dcjackso@greenville.k12.sc.us

I will contact parents via email or telephone within twenty-four hours of receiving communications from parents.

Extra Help: I can be available Monday-Thursdays from 7:30-8:00 AM if a student or parent makes arrangements in advance with me.