7th Grade Social Studies Schedule 1st Quarter
IMPORTANT: THIS IS A TENTATIVE SCHEDULE AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
WELCOME TO 7th GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES!
This year we will be focusing on the big picture. The timeframe that we will be learning about starts with the first civilization Mesopotamia (3500 B.C.), and ends with Columbus’s discovery of the new world (1492). That comes out to roughly 5,000 years of history studied over one school year. Fear not young historians, for you will learn much about the past while improving your reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. The pace will be brisk but manageable. A study guide will be provided to you the day a unit begins. Due dates for some assignments will be tentatively listed below. Additional assignmentsmay be added. If you have any questions or concerns feel free contact me.
School email-r
School phone-(610) 473-3945
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Recommended Materials: you will needplenty of pencils and one 1 inch three ring binder with lined paper. Everything I hand out to you will be hole-punched. This will allow you to keep your papers organized. You must keep your papers in a binder! Papers will go missing in things like folders. I strongly discourage getting one all inclusive binder (Trapper Keepers) for all your classes unless you are very organized. Staying organized is extremely important in 7th grade, especially in regards to your grades. We will discuss some strategies you will use to stay organized in class. Buy plenty of pencils and use them!
Classroom Procedures: We will use these procedures in class every day unless otherwise specified. By listing the everyday classroom procedures you will know exactly what I expect. We will go over the procedures in class many times over the first few weeks.
- Enter the classroom quietly, sit down,and get started immediately (even if the bell has not sounded).
- Remove all books that are not social studies related from the top of your desk.
- Write down your homework into your assignment book. The homework will always be on the left hand side of the white board.
- Then write down the bellringer of the day. The bellringer will almost always be on the smart board. Usually the bellringer is a question that you will be responsible for answering. You will keep your bellringers in the front of your binder. To earn full credit on collected bellringers you must include the bellringer date, number, question, and answer. Bellringers are collected and graded periodically throughout the year. We will discuss this further in class.
Grading Procedures:
Students are graded by using a wide variety of assessments. These assessments include quizzes, tests, summative assessment (quarters 1-3), projects (usually but not always completed in class), performance assessments (in class), collected homework, classroom preparation grade (see below for further details), and one cumulative examination at the end of the year.
Final Grade:
The final grade will be calculated by averaging the four quarterly grades, each counting as 25% of the final grade. A final exam will be held in a separate session but will count as one test score in the fourth marking period.
Workmanship (Preparation Grade):each student will start the quarter with 25 classroom preparation points. If a student always comes to class prepared they will retain all 25 points at the end of the quarter. A point will be deducted from a student’s classroom preparation grade if a student forgets a pencil, textbook, spot checked homework assignments, and or notebook. Other ways students can lose points is by coming to class late (with the exception of the first 2 weeks of school). As the year progresses so will the consequences for not coming to class prepared.
1st quarter infractions- a deduction of 1 point per infraction
2nd quarter infractions- a deduction of 2 points per infraction
3rd quarter infractions- a deduction of 3 points per infraction
4th quarter infractions- a deduction of 4 points per infraction
Homework Procedures: If a spot checked homework assignment is incomplete point(s) will be deducted from the student’s preparation grade. If homework questions are not handed in using complete sentences no credit will be given for that assignment. Students who have an incomplete collected homework assignment will have the opportunity to hand in a late assignment any time after the due date for half credit. The deadline for those late assignments will be no later than the last day of each quarter. Homework assignments will count for no more than 15% of the students’ quarterly grade.
Plagiarism: What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is the copying of another student’s/author’s work (classwork, homework, research projects, quizzes, tests, essays, etc.) and passing it off as your own. Plagiarism is cheating. It can’t and won’t be tolerated. Throughout the year we will touch upon this subject to make sure you are absolutely clear on the definition of plagiarism so that you can avoid the pitfalls of making mistakes on research based projects, homework, literature circles, etc.
Consequences for Plagiarism:
1. Plagiarized spot checked homework- If your paper is taken away in study hall, homeroom, etc., for copying another’s homework both students will receive a zero for that day’s assignment. You will receive a deduction of 1-4 points from your preparation grade for the quarter depending on what quarter it is in the school year. If this happens multiple times the parent or guardian of the student will be notified by home access or email
2. Plagiarized collected homework assignments- If your paper is taken away in study hall, homeroom, etc., for copying another’s homework both students will receive a zero for that day’s assignment as long the assignment is worth no more than 15 points. If the assignment is worth more than 15 points the grade will be reduced by 20%. The parents will be notified by home access, email, or by phone.
3. Cheating on quizzes-both students will receive a zero for that day’s assignment as long the assignment is worth no more than 15 points. If the assignment is worth more than 15 points the grade will be reduced by 20%. The parents or guardian will be notified by phone or email.
4. Plagiarized Major Assignments- if you are caught cheating or plagiarizing a major assignment the grade will be reduced by 20 points. The student could also receive a disciplinary referral. The parents or guardian will be notified by phone. Major assignments would be tests, research projects, essays, etc.
Projects: Most projects for this class will be completed in class. Written explanations and rubrics will be provided before each project is started.
Extra Credit: Extra credit may be earned in order to raise your quarterly percentage grade. Extra credit assignments are at the discretion of the teacher. Do not depend on extra credit to save your grade. If there is an extra credit assignment it will be offered early on in the grading quarter. Extra credit is rare.
Final Exam and Grade: The final grade will be calculated by averaging the four quarterly grades, each counting as 25% of the final grade. A final exam will be held in a separate session, but will count as one test score in the fourth marking period. This exam will include the entire year’s curriculum. A study guide for this exam will be provided to every student at some point during the 4th quarter.
Making up work after absence: Normally, a student will be allottedthe same numberof days as the absence to make up missed work. For example if a student is absent from school for two days, all missed work should be made up during the first two days back.
Schedule for the 1st quarter of the 2013-2014 school year
WEEK ONE
August 26th and 27th-Staff Development –No School
August 27th- 7th Grade Orientation Night starting @ 7PM
August 28th- First Day of School / Getting to know you part I
August 29th- Getting to know you part II
August 30th- Labor Day Holiday –No School
WEEK TWO
September 2nd- No School – Labor Day Holiday
September 3rd- Classroom expectations and procedures
September 4th-Online textbook instructions / finish all opening activities
September 5th-6th Tools of a Historian / Measurement of Time Activity
HW-finish timelines activity if not completed in class (pages 2 and 3 of the Tools of a Historian packet).
WEEK THREE
September 9th- History and Geography (5 themes of geography)
Assessment- Time and MeasurementSeptember17th worth 28 points (study tip: use the study guide in the back of your packet)
September 10th- Oral Traditions and Written Records
September 11th- Continents and Oceans (outside dress appropriately)
September 12th- Oral Tradition: Cave Story
7th Grade Fun / Parent Survival Night 6:30 PM
September 13th- Start primary and secondary sources
WEEK FOUR
September 16th-Archaeological Detection
September 17th-Assessment- Time and Archaeology
September 18th- Historical Detection
September 19th- Flex Day
September 20th - Archaeological/historical detection group performance assessment.
WEEK FIVE
September 23rd-Archaeological/ historical detection group performance assessment.
September 24th-Archaeological/ historical detection group performance assessment
September 25th-7th Grade Team Building Day
September 26th-Start Mesopotamia
September 27th-Map of the Ancient Middle East
WEEK SIX
September 30th- Mesopotamia Start studying for the Mesopotamia assessment October8th
October 1st-Whose civilization is it anyway? (Sumerian Daily Life)
October 2nd- Mesopotamia sections 5-8
October 3rd-Sargon and Hammurabi / Back to School Night 7:00 PM
October 4th-Crime and Punishment Hammurabi style / Review for Test
WEEK SEVEN
October 7th- Flex Day
October 8th- Assessment on Mesopotamia / Sargon I / Hammurabi41 points
October 9th-10th-Phoenicians jigsaw puzzle activity
October 11th-Start Hebrews
WEEK EIGHT
October 14th-Finish Hebrews / Review for quiz on October 15th
October 15th-Quiz on Phoenicians and Hebrews / Military Empires
HW-Complete your Military Empires packet
October 16th-17th-Military Empires Performance Assessment (creating the Ultimate Military Empire)
October 18th-Flex Day
WEEK NINE
October 21st- Introduction to Egypt / Geography of Egypt
October 22nd-Introduction to Egypt continued
October 23rd-25th- Egyptian Newspaper Performance Assessment Project
WEEK TEN
October 28th-October 31st-Egyptian Newspaper Performance Assessment Project
October 31st- Egyptian Newspaper Performance Assessment Project due 66.5 points
FIRST QUARTER ENDSNovember 1st-Flex Day
WEEK ELEVEN
November 4th-First Quarter Assessment Essays
November 5th- First Quarter Assessment (this will count towards your 2nd quarter grade)