8th Grade Social Studies

Textbook: United States History: Beginnings to 1877 by Holt McDougal
http://my.hrw.com
Deverell, William, and Deborah G. White. United States History: Beginnings to 1877. Holt McDougal, 2012.

Classroom Rules/Procedures

This year in U.S. History 8, we will be studying American history from the First Global Age through Reconstruction. A goal of this course is to introduce the concepts, materials, and tools employed in the discipline of history. Throughout this course, we will learn to assess the reliability and importance of sources, events, and people. We will also focus on critical reading, writing, and note-taking strategies. I am looking forward to a fun, educational, and productive year.

Course Content

Online Text Access: http://my.hrw.com

Topics for Discussion:

Tools of the historian/ Why study history?
Native Americans
European Exploration of the Americas

The English Colonies
The Road to Revolution
The American Revolution
Forming a new Government
The United States Government (Civics in Action)
Presidents Washington- Adams
The Jeffersonian Era ( Presidents Jefferson- Madison)
An Era of Good Feelings (Monroe- J.Q. Adams)
The Age of Jackson (Jackson- Tyler)
Manifest Destiny/ Expansionism (Polk)
Sectionalism -- PowerPoint Project
Reform Era
The Road to Civil War (Taylor- Buchanan)
The Civil War (Lincoln)
Reconstruction (Johnson-Hayes)

Writing Assignments

Writing is an important part of studying history. Successful history essays contain original arguments that are supported by sources (primary and secondary). Effective essays are not composed of facts alone!!

Successful formal writing assignments must:

have a central argument
contain original ideas and research
be typed
be formatted using the MLA manual of style (Formatting rules will be handed out at a later date.)
have proper citations for all sources used (CITE EVERYTHING)
be free of blatant spelling and grammatical errors
follow all guidelines laid out in the assignment rubric