U.S. History & Government Syllabus
Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy
99 Terrace View Avenue
Bronx, NY 10463
School Year: 2014-2015
Instructor: Mr. Urrico
Email:
Website: MrUrricoHistory.com
BETA Phone Number: 718-563-6678
General Information
Course Description
This course examines the major turning points in American history beginning with the origins of the 13 Colonies, the American Revolution, the origins of The U.S. Constitution, reform movements, Manifest Destiny & Westward Expansion, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the changing nature of business and government, U.S. Imperialism, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the growth of the United States as a world power, the Cold War and the struggle to achieve class, ethnic, racial, and gender equality. The course extends to the modern day. Contemporary world issues such as globalization, economic interdependence, terrorism and world cultures will also factor into our analysis of international conflict and cooperation.
Expectations and Goals
You will get as much out of this course as you put into it. Give it your best!
Students are expected to:
●Come to class on time and prepared
●Respect themselves, others, and school property
●Try everything—even if it’s challenging! That’s often when the best learning takes place.
●Work cooperatively with classmates
●Help create and maintain a positive classroom environment
By the end of this course, students will be able to…
●Read, write, think, and speak “like a historian”
●Critically analyze evidence
●Make informed conclusions and write argumentative claims
●Support claims with facts and evidence
●Draw from a broad foundation of historical knowledge
●Become informed citizens of the Unites States, who are capable of electing competent leaders and contributing positively to the community of this nation.
Behavioral Policies
●According to state dress code the following items are not permitted to be worn in school: headgear (such as hats, hoodies, etc), sagging clothing, leggings, spandex, nylon tights, leotards, jeans / pants with rips, sleepwear, slippers, wind shorts, bicycle shorts, or any apparel that may be considered offensive or risqué.
●There is a zero tolerance policy for all bullying, cyber-bullying, fighting, or harassment of any kind.
●Students are expected to be respectful of all culture, languages, religion, race, ethnicity, disability, gender, and sexual orientation.
Food Policy
●All trash must be placed in the garbage
●Food is permitted in the class but students must clean up after themselves.
●If a student is found littering or throwing garbage in the desks, his or her in-class food privileges will be revoked for 1 month. After the second offense, the student’s in-class food privileges will be revoked for the entire school year.
Cell Phone Policy
●Cell phones may occasionally be used for class activities but should not be out unless permission is obtained from the teacher.
●If a teacher asks a student to put their cell phone away the student is expected to do so immediately.
●If a student’s cell phone becomes a continuous distraction, his or her cell phone rights will be revoked which means he or she will be flagged at scanning and no longer able to enter the building with a cellphone.
●Students may listen to music on their headphones during certain individual activities but must obtain permission from the teacher. When the teacher asks a student to turn his or her music off and/or take off their headphones, the student is expected to do so immediately. Abuse of music can also lead to a revocation of cellphone rights.
●Teachers and staff members are not responsible for cellphones that are left or lost in classrooms or on school grounds. Be responsible and take care of your own belongings.
Discussion Policies
●When in debate and discussion, students are expected to attack ideas but never people.
●All group discussions must be relevant and on task.
●When in small group discussions, students are expected to communicate with their group members only and should never shout across to another group.
●When in whole-class discussions, there should only be one speaker at a time and hands should be raised or an item will be passed around in order to decide who will speak next.
●Blog posts must be relevant to the task, appropriate, and respectful of all participants.
Attendance Policies
●Student attendance is directly connected to the student’s grade in a class and more importantly, the student’s ability to learn from that class.
●Students are expected to be in class EVERY DAY and should miss class only for extreme family or health related reasons.
●ABSENCES: Students are responsible for obtaining missed work when absent. Assignments can be found on our course website: MrUrricoHistory.com.
●An absence can only be excused with a note from a parent, guardian, or doctor.
●Students are still responsible for making up missing work regardless of any notes given to excuse their absence.
●After two consecutive absences, a note from a parent, guardian, or doctor explaining the reason for absence is required.
●LATENESS: Students are expected to come to class on time. Students are responsible for any work that is missed due to lateness.
●Chronic absence or lateness will result in phone calls home and ultimately an in-school meeting with the student, parents/guardians of the student, teacher, dean of discipline, and an administrator (Principal or Assistant Principal).
HOMEWORK:
●Homework will be an important part of this course, as time in the classroom is limited and skills must be constantly practiced in order to master them.
●Homework will take various forms including but not limited to vocabulary work, reading comprehension, essay writing, studying for quizzes/ exams, and blogging.
●Students will often be encouraged to submit homework via email or blog post, but homework may be handed in on paper in certain situations.
●Chronic failure to hand in homework will result in phone calls home and ultimately an in-school meeting with the teacher.
❖Special Note to Parents: You will always be able to check and see what is due for homework and when it is due on MrUrricoHistory.com, so if you don’t believe your child when he or she says “I don’t have anything for homework” you can always go on the website and check under the U.S. History & Government tab.
Course Materials
Please bring the following materials to every class.
- Pens and pencils (at least two of each)
- Loose leaf paper
- 3-ring binder with paper or Composition notebook and folder
Project-Based Class Format
Each major unit will be project based and use the following steps:
●Step 1 Information gathering: Students will be introduced to new topics by becoming historians themselves and investigating the subject of each unit through the analysis of primary source documents, webquests, vocabulary lists, videos, PowerPoints, and other various forms of assigned readings. The students will be asked to gather information in graphic organizers, notes, and guided reading questions.
●Step 2 Evaluation & Synthesis: Students will use the information they have gathered to complete projects that will take various forms. The projects include but are not limited to student created PowerPoints, newspaper articles, persuasive speeches, debates, historical simulation writing, Regents Document Based/ or Thematic Essays, etc.
●Step 3 Peer Grading: Students will grade the writing and/or projects of their peers using New York state Regents rubrics when applicable.
●Step 4 Student Sample Essay Grading: After students have graded the work of one another, they will continue to wear their teaching hats by grading and evaluating sample essays from the New York State Regents website. Students will pretend to be teachers and grade the sample essays in the same fashion that teachers do during New York State Regents grading sessions, meaning they will discuss each essay and evaluate them on a scale of 0-5 based on the New York State Regents grading rubric.
●Step 5 Revision & Resubmission: Using the feedback from their peers and their teachers, as well as the experience of grading the essays of others, students will have the opportunity to edit and resubmit their work for a higher grade.
Assessments (Exams & Quizzes)
A major goal of this course is to prepare students for the U.S. History Regents exam. Therefore all exams and quizzes are geared to help you reach and gauge your progress towards this goal.
Forms of Assessment:
●Regents Multiple Choice (Do- Now Quizzes)
●Regents Document Analysis questions or short answer quiz questions (Do-Now Quizzes)
●Regents Thematic Essays
●Regents Document Based Essays
●Midterms and Final Exams (a combination of Regents multiple choice and Regents Essays)
●In-class projects
Procedures for Quizzes:
●Short quizzes (Regents multiple choice or short answer) will be given on a daily basis and serve as the class “Do-Now”.
●All quiz grades will be averaged together and count for a major exam grade (therefore quizzes are a significant part of a student’s grade)
●The quizzes will be based on assignments, content covered in class, notes, and PowerPoint presentations provided on the class website MrUrricoHistory.com under the U.S. History and Government tab.
●Students will be expected to read and study the information presented in the notes and PowerPoints on their own time in addition to the time used in class.
❖Note: This is a crucial aspect of the class and will result in significantly higher class grades and Regents grades.
❖Note: This is a good way for a student to catch up on what he or she missed from class while being absent.
❖Note: Studying old PowerPoint presentations & notes is an excellent way to prepare for the U.S. History Regents. All PowerPoint presentations are constructed to focus solely on the most important content and vocabulary that the students need to know for the Regents.
Procedures for Exams:
●Most units will end in an in-class Regents essay exam (Document Based or Thematic)
●All in-class essay exams must be handwritten.
●Students will be allowed to use small note sheets and graphic organizers towards the beginning of the year but these options will be taken away as the year moves on and the Regents Exam gets closer.
●Essay exams are the most heavily weighted portion of each student’s grade, so missing essay exams will severely impact a student’s ability to pass the class.
Schoolwide Grading Policy
This class will follow the schoolwide grading policy. Report card grades will be calculated using the following percentages:
- 25%Classroom participation
- Presentations, class discussions, working with other students, etc
- 25% Homework assignments
- Assigned readings, vocabulary flash cards, etc
- 25%Notebook
- Notes, graphic organizer, assignments, projects, etc
- 25% Examinations
- Do Now Quizzes, essay exams, midterm/final exam.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns. I look forward to working together with you to have a successful and enjoyable school year!
Students: Please have your parent/guardian sign the form below for your first homework grade.
Signature Form:
To the Parent/ Guardian of (Print Student Name)______
By signing this form you indicate that you have read the U.S. History & Government Syllabus and agree to do all you can to ensure that your child adheres to its guidelines and requirements.
______
(Print Name)
______
(Signature)
Name______Period______
U.S. History & GovDate______
U.S. History Syllabus Scavenger Hunt
- Identify at least two major goals of this class.
- What are the expectations of students regarding food in the classroom?
- What are the repercussions of violating the food policy?
- What are the expectations of students regarding cell phones in the classroom?
- What are the repercussions of violating the cell phone policy?
- What should students avoid when in discussion?
- What are the only reasons for why a student should be absent from class?
- What should a student do if he or she needs to make up missing work?
- What sort of homework is given for this class?
- What will happen to students who are chronically late or absent?
- Explain how the project based format will work for this class?
- What is given at the beginning of every class as a “do now”?
- Describe the exams given in this class?
- How will you be graded in this class?
- Is there anything you have read on this syllabus that you find unfair or unreasonable (please explain why)?
- What changes would you make to this syllabus in order to make the class better (please explain why)?