US History I

Course Essential Question: How do citizens, both individually and collectively, fight for and preserve natural rights?

Purpose: The Westfield Social Studies eighth grade curriculum provides students with opportunities to acquire knowledge about United States history by engaging students in activities that increase their capacities to think reflectively and to identify, interpret, assess, evaluate, and draw conclusions regarding the continuing issues and problems that confront the United States

Aim: The goal of the Westfield Social Studies Program is to prepare students for their future roles as intelligent, informed, reflective, responsible, and active citizens in our democratic society. This goal includes preparing students to become independent, informed thinkers who can identify, understand, and cooperatively solve the problems that face our increasingly diverse nation.

Rationale: The eighth-grade curriculum is inquiry-driven, with students formulating their own guided by essential questions provided for each unit. Throughout the year, students analyze social studies from multiple perspectives by consulting numerous primary and secondary sources, while assessing their validity and contextualization. As a result of their thorough research, students are encouraged to draw informed conclusions and provide evidence to support their discoveries. United States History starts with an introduction of personal rights and freedoms.

Unit 1: The American Revolution

Essential Question: How do people react when they feel their rights are not protected.

Unit 2: The Constitution

Essential Question: Does the Constitution protect the rights of American citizens?

Unit 3: American Expansion

Essential Question: As the country expands, how do policies and cultural identities affect the rights of all people living in America?

Unit 4: The Civil War and Reconstruction

Essential Question: How does sectionalism threaten the federal government's ability to protect state and individual rights?

Unit 5: Spirit of Social Reform

Essential Question: How do citizens and the government work together to promote social reform? '

Unit 6: The Civil Rights Movement

Essential Question: What are our responsibilities as citizens in protecting civil rights?


Grading:

60% Assessments

  • Tests/Quizzes

  • DBQs

  • Projects

40% Homework/Classwork

  • Writing Tasks

  • Study Skills

  • Reading Comprehension

  • Thesis Practice