Syllabus

A basic outline of class and what we are going to do and what your grade will be based on.

World Geography

Mr. Scriffiny

This syllabus is intended to give you a brief outline of the objectives of this course, expectations for student work and learning, and methods used for evaluation by instructor. World geography is a class that is required for all freshmen, and is required for graduation at Montrose High School. This means that in order to graduate from high school you must pass this course. As freshman, it is important for you to be successful in all classes in order to earn credits towards graduation and to establish a grade point average that allows you to pursue your goals after high school; this process starts now.

World geography is a study of the cultural and physical characteristics of people and places around the world. First semester will consist of an introduction and mapping unit, a North America Unit, a South America unit, a Europe unit, and an Eastern Europe and Russia unit. Second semester will include units on Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

Student responsibilities:

Tests and quizzes – Students will be evaluated throughout this class on knowledge acquired.

Paragraph and essay writing – During first semester students will write paragraphs and transition into essay writing second semester.

Projects – At different points during the year students will be expected to do a project to demonstrate understanding.

Final Exam – At the conclusion of each semester students will take a final exam that will count as twenty percent of their total grade.

Students will be expected to consistently bring a notebook to class that they can use to take notes with and participate in a variety of class activities. The social sciences, unlike many subjects in school, have information but not necessarily answers. As such students will be expected to answer questions and participate in discussions as they use understanding of ideas to form conclusions and logical arguments.

All assessments in this class will be graded using a standards based rubric and system. Students will be expected to know the geography standards at a ninth grade level in order to be successful in this class. All assessments will be graded based on proficiency levels. A score of either unsatisfactory (25%) or partially proficient (50%) indicate that a student does not yet know all parts of standard and needs to reassess. Students can redo any assessment in this class in order to gain knowledge and raise their grade. A score of proficient (85%) indicates a student knows what they need to know as a ninth grader in high school. A score of advanced (100%) indicates a level of either knowledge or understanding at a deeper or higher level than the standard. The only way to receive an A in geography is to score advanced on at least one third of the assessments.

All writing, tests, and projects will have the same value because they are evaluating standards. If an assessment is evaluating multiple standards then it will count as multiple assessments. The grade book will just have an assessment category and have a description that explains the type of assessment and the skill or standard being assessed.

Late work can be submitted up to the point when assessments are returned, for full credit, at that point the type of assessment and\or amount of work involved in the assessment may change but student can still complete the assessment for credit. The idea is that students show they understand and know the different aspects of geography.

If students or parents have questions or concerns during the year they should contact me for help and/or clarification by phone or e-mail.

Phone 275-5691

E-mail Kurt.Scriffiny@mcsd.org