High School for Math Science, and Engineering CCNY
High School for Math Science, and Engineering @ CCNY
History Department
World History 9th-10th Grade Mr. Zara
Class Overview
Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to HSMSE (If you are a new freshmen or new tenth grade student) and World History. Please review the following information pertaining to class content, grading, and classroom procedure. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at any time. E-MAIL:
This class will prepare you to succeed on the A.P. World history examination and also to become an efficient reader, writer, speaker and thinker. The freshmen year covers roughly from around 10,000 B.C.E. to circa 1500 C.E. The sophomore year continues on until the present day.
AP World History employs five themes to organize the vast amount of material included in this college-level survey course and to help students make connections between one period and the next. Recurrent allusions to these themes make it easier for students to compare societies, political structures, religious beliefs, technologies, or other criteria across long spans of time. The five AP World History themes are as follows:
1. Interaction between humans and the environment
• Demography and disease
• Migration
• Patterns of settlement
• Technology
2. Development and interaction of cultures
• Religions
• Belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies
• Science and technology
• The arts and architecture
3. State-building, expansion, and conflict
• Political structures and forms of governance
• Empires
• Nations and nationalism
• Revolts and revolutions
• Regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations
4. Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems
• Agricultural and pastoral production
• Trade and commerce
• Labor systems
• Industrialization
• Capitalism and socialism
5. Development and transformation of social structures
• Gender roles and relations
• Family and kinship
• Racial and ethnic constructions
• Social and economic classes
Over the next semesters we will constantly be addressing these themes and training to master all of the different aspects of the A.P. examination.
Materials: Students must be prepared with a notebook/binder/packet and pen/pencil everyday: No exceptions
Course Reading Materials: Our general reading textbook will beTraditions and Encounters, by Jerry Bentley and Herbert Ziegler. Other books we will be reading will be Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius (9th grade), All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque (10th grade) and Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning (10th grade). In addition, students will be given course packets throughout the year.
-Grades-
- 40% Tests and Projects: Tests will be given at the end of each unit or when deemed necessary. You will have approximately 1-3 tests or projects per marking period. If you are absent on an exam day please contact me immediately.If you miss more than one exam in a semester due to absence you must schedule a meeting with your legal guardian and the instructor.
- 50%Homework/Quiz/Classwork: Everyday in my class you will have homework. Homework will always include reading and may include either questions or a quiz the following class. Quiz questions will always be given out in advance so that you may prepare. Assignments must always be handed in even if the assignment deadline has passed. Arriving late for a quiz results in a 0.
- 10% Class Participation: Participation includes all of your behavior during the class period, including preparedness. Arriving for class on time, being prepared (includes having notebook, pen, and paper); being attentive and adding to class discussion will all result in a positive score for the day. Lateness, disruption, or being inattentive will result in points off your participation score for the day.
Technology: Laptops/Tablets are not allowed in the class unless you have been mandated by the guidance office to use one. All phones/music devices etc should be turned off during class (nobody wants to hear your theme song anyway).
Academic Integrity:
- DO NOT PLAGIARIZE; any student caught plagiarizing will result in the loss of credit for that assignment and disciplinary consequences.
- DO YOUR OWN WORK, any student(s) caught cheating or sharing work will then face academic and disciplinary consequences, Including but not limited to a score of zero for that assignment and points off their grade.
Advance Placement Designation: Advanced Placement grade “weighting” is only granted on the basis that the student takes the AP exam. Failure to take the exam will result in the removal of the AP course designation from your HSMSE transcript
Visual Media: This class will look at visual media that occasionally depicts nudity and acts of violence. Some examples of this might be ancient fertility statues or depictions of war. However, the vast majority of visual/written media does not contain this type of material. Please have your parents contact me if they have concerns.
Basic Class Rules: Below is a set of guidelines for my classroom. Please read them over carefully.
1. My class will be challenging but fair: By being in my classroom you agree to work hard every single day.
2. Respect: Always be respectful of yourself and your classmates. You can demonstrate this respect by not calling out answers and not interrupting the class.
3. Assignments: Assignments must be turned in on time.
4. Punctuality: Please get to class on time.
5. Attitude: School can be as boring or as exciting as you want to make it. Try and bring your best attitude to my class everyday.
6. Appropriateness: Always be mindful of the impact of your actions and language. Act the correct way in the classroom. (In other words, you are at school, not in your home)
7. Patience: Delay your gratification. This means waiting for the right time to throw out papers (not just when you feel like it), waiting to ask to go to the bathroom, and waiting until the lesson is finished before you pack up to go to the next class.
8. Stoicism and mental strength: Detach yourself from harmful emotions, think in a level-headed manner, discard your biases, and work through the hard times. Life is not always easy: prepare yourself for the upcoming challenges.
9. Build up your companions: The people around you are your family while you are here. It is likely that at least one of the people in your grade will be your friend for the rest of your life. Make a good impression. Help them and they will help you.
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