Berea Middle School Mission: Berea Middle School will provide an environment that balances love, support and accountability, so that students are empowered to reach their fullest potential.
Course Description: This course is aligned with the 2020 South Carolina Social Studies College and Career Ready Standards for the history of South Carolina and the United States, Grade 8. Instruction utilizes the historical thinking skills developed for grade eight. 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.
General Learning Objectives:
Describe, analyze, evaluate, and construct models of history into discrete periods as defined by turning points in history.
Analyze changes and continuities in South Carolina and United States history from 1500 to the 1970s.
Determine the context of historical events in South Carolina and America’s development by exploring multiple historical viewpoints
Investigate history through the exploration and interpretation of primary and secondary texts.
Identify, analyze, and evaluate the relationships among multiple historical causes and effects distinguishing between long term and short term effects.
Compare and contrast South Carolina’s reactions to national events through exploring the broader reactions in the United States.
Berea Middle School Late Work and Retake Policies:
Make Up Work
In order to receive full credit for make-up work, 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. After the five-day deadline, work will be considered late. Please refer to the Late Work Policy below. • 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. • Ideally, 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. Arrangements should be made with the teacher to complete this in a timely manner. • Students are expected to check teacher websites and Google Classrooms for assignments during any absence.
Make Up Work Deadlines
Assignments must be turned in on or before the following dates:
1st Quarter: October 6
2nd Quarter: TBA
3rd Quarter: TBA
4th Quarter: TBA
Any work assigned during the last week of the quarter will be accepted through the end of the quarter.
Late Work Policy
Greenville County Schools and Berea Middle School is committed to Building a Better Graduate by creating college and career ready students. As such, students must develop character traits that align with workplace expectations. Some examples of these include responsibility, strong work ethic, and self-direction. Students are expected to give their best effort when completing assignments and should strive to complete them by the due date. Students are expected to turn in ALL assignments and should never have a Not Handed In (NHI) recorded in the grade book. Extra opportunities are available for students to make up work through after or before school tutoring, OnTrack Time, and at other times designated by the teacher. Late work will be accepted during the unit of study or within 5 days of the completion of the unit of study. Points will not be deducted for late work.
Retake Policy
Since the goal is for students to master content and skills, students will be allowed to retake/redo major tests only; however, students must commit to doing their part in preparing for the re-test. Students must initiate the request to retake/redo a test within 5 days of receiving the grade on the test. Students are allowed to retake/redo a major test one time. The student must submit a formal email request to the teacher explaining the rationale for the request. The student can cc the parent and grade level administrator as a part of the formal email request, if they choose. Following a re-test, the higher grade will be recorded in the grade book.
Classroom guidelines and Expectations:
Success in the classroom is greatly affected by the conduct of those in the classroom. The following four rules have been developed to help our students be successful.
Only behavior that does not interfere with other students’ right to learn is permitted.
Be respectful to your classmates and teachers.
Be seated with materials and ready to work when class begins.
Food, gum, and drinks (except water) are not allowed in the classrooms or hallways
In addition, all students should follow all district and school guidelines as specified in the student handbook.
Materials: Notebook, Pen/Pencils, (Charged) Laptop, Highlighter
Grades: Tests & Major Projects = 50% Quizzes, minor Projects, and Assignments =50%
Homework: May be periodically assigned
Grading Scale: 90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
Planned projects: 4 Quarterly projects
Course Outline
1st Quarter
Unit Topic: Settlement, Development, Revolution
Week 1-4 Settlement
Week 5-7 Development
Week 8-11 Revolution
2nd Quarter
Unit Topic: Revolution, Foundation and Compromise
Week 10-11 Revolution
Week 12-14 Foundation
Week 15-18 Compromise
3rd Quarter
Unit Topic: Conflict, Reconstruction, Progressivism
Week 19-21 Conflict
Week 22-24 Reconstruction
Week 25-27 Progressivism
4th Quarter
Unit Topic: Economics and Global Politics, and Progress
Weeks 28-32 Economics and Global Politics
Weeks 33-36 Progress