White County Middle School

Class Syllabus

Social Studies Syllabus

Sixth grade is the first year of a two year World Area Studies course. Sixth grade students study Europe, Latin America, Canada, and Australia. The goal of this two year course is to acquaint middle school students with the world in which they live. The geography domain includes both physical and human geography. The intent of the geography domain is for students to begin to grasp the importance geography plays in their everyday lives. The government/civics domain focuses on selected types of government found in various areas in order to help students begin to understand the variety of governments in the world. The economics domain builds on the K-5 economics; however, the focus shifts from the United States to how other countries answer the basic questions of economics. The history domain focuses primarily on significant events in each region from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Class Topics

1^st 9 weeks Social Studies Themes / Europe

2^nd 9 weeks Europe / Latin America

3^rd 9 weeks Latin America / Canada

4^th 9 weeks Australia / Personal Finance

Grading Procedures

Grades will be determined from the following:

Daily Grades/Quizzes/Homework/Activities 35%

Tests and Projects 55%

Semester Exam 10%

All assignments are expected to be turned in on the assigned due date. If absent, work should be made up within an allotted time period. See the student agenda for further information regarding make-up work.

Student Behavior

Every student has the right to learn in a positive environment free from disruptive behavior. To create this environment, all policies in the WCMS Handbook should be followed, as well as classroom rules. Minor classroom disruptions (Level I) will be handled using the “step plan” for students and major disturbances (Level II) will be referred to the office.