The following document outlines the Revised Curriculum for 8th grade Social Studies and English Interdisciplinary Enrichment

LocustValleyCentralSchool District

Locust Valley Social Studies Department

99 Horse Hollow Road

Locust Valley, New York11560

Summer Curriculum Writing

July 2010

Curriculum Writers:

Penny McElwain, Social Studies Teacher

Kathleen Reilly, Social Studies Teacher

David J. Ethe, Department Leader

Table of Contents

Part 1:New YorkState Learning Standards for Social Studies

(p. 3)

Part 2:Course Description

(p. 4)

Part 3: Scope and Sequence Calendar

(p. 5-7)

Part 4: Course and Learning Objectives

(p. 8-9)

Part 5:Literatures Options and Assessments

(p. 10-17)

Part 6: Lesson Plans/ Project Requirements

(p. 18-31)

Part 1: Social Studies Learning Standards

/
Social Studies Standards
Students will:
History of the United Statesand New York
use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.
World History
use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Geography
use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
Economics
use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the U.S. and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.
Civics, Citizenship, and Government
use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

Part 2:

Course Description:

The 8th grade curriculum is the second part of a two year course focusing on American History.

In 8th grade the course begins with the American Civil War and concludes with current events in American history including major themes of economic, political and social which focus on domestic and foreign affair issues.

The teacher will use a variety of instructional methodologies to guide students’ academic progress. Cognitive skills will be developed through student-centered research, use of essential questions in debate form, essay and thesis writing, and historical analysis.

The curriculum will be designed to enhance the students’ skills in reading, writing, inferencing, comprehension, interpretation, increase of vocabulary, research skills, outlining, analysis and literature appreciation

Some of the methods used to evaluate the progress of the student will include IB Higher Level (HL) testing, essay review, correction and rewrites, peer assessment and evaluations of individual projects on a quarterly level.

Part 3:

Scope and Sequence:

Unit 1: A Dividing Nation/ Main Idea & Details

  1. anchor text: “A Country Divided”
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. writing extension

Unit 2: The Civil War/ Vocabulary in Context

  1. anchor text: “The Gettysburg Address”
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. unit assessment

Unit 3: The Reconstruction Era/Inference Skills

  1. anchor text: “Lincoln Rebuilds the Union”
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. unit assessment

Unit 4: The U.S. an as Industrial Society/Character Traits & RAFT paragraphs

  1. anchor text: “Biography of Andrew Carnegie”
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. writing extension assessment

Unit 5: Changes that Altered the Social Structure of the American Scene (Immigration and Citizenship) anchor text:

  1. anchor text: Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus” & The Great Wave

of Immigration.

b pre-reading strategy

  1. during reading strategy
  2. post reading extension activity
  3. writing extension

Unit 6: The Progressive Movement: 1900-1920 (Efforts to Reform Society)

  1. anchor text: Ida, Sam and the Muckrakers
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. writing extension

Unit 7: The U.S. Assumes a Role in Global Politics (WWI time frame)

  1. anchor text: America Becomes a World Power
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. writing extension

Unit 8: The “Roaring Twenties” (1920’s)

  1. anchor text: Silent Cal and the Roaring Twenties
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. writing extension

Unit 9: The Great Depression

  1. anchor text: The Great Boom and Big Crash, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?”
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. writing extension

Unit 10: World War II/Comparison & Contrast

  1. anchor text: “Message Asking for War Against Japan” (1941) FDR
  2. pre-reading strategy
  3. during reading strategy
  4. post reading extension activity
  5. writing extension

Calendar:

Month / Curriculum Unit
September / A Dividing Nation/ Main Idea & Details
October / The Civil War/ Vocabulary in Context
November / The Reconstruction Era/Inference Skills
December / The U.S. an as Industrial Society/Character Traits & RAFT paragraphs
January / Changes that Altered the Social Structure of the American Scene
(Immigration and Citizenship)
February / The Progressive Movement: 1900-1920
(Efforts to Reform Society)
March / The U.S. Assumes a Role in Global Politics (WWI time frame)
April / The “Roaring Twenties” (1920’s)
May / The Great Depression
June / World War II/Comparison & Contrast

Part 4: Course Objectives

The objective of this curriculum is to be used as a supplement to the New YorkState 8th Grade Social Studies Standards. Each quarter students will have a choice of literature based novels, fiction/non-fiction and historical fiction to read independently and in group sessions. For the first quarter, students will be introduced to a standard “Book Report.” For the second and third quarter’s students will self select a project from a variety of choices. The 4th quarter will be an IB Historical Investigation Project.

  • Gain a greater understanding of historical based facts through literature on the level of fiction, non-fiction and historical fiction.
  • Students’ skills will be developed in the areas of reading comprehension, vocabulary, interpretation of historical facts and inferences.
  • Literature will allow students to evaluate main and sub characters, plot, theme, transitions, setting, problem solving and key historical references.
  • Essay writing toward book reports and individual assignments will be enhanced through the use of RAFT, restating the question, answering the question thoroughly, giving examples and being able to compare and contrast information.
  • Note taking skills will be implemented periodically throughout the book per chapter.
  • Essential questions will be developed and answered by the students based on chapter themes.

Learning Objectives:

  • Activate schema prior to reading
  • Hone active reading skills by practicing self-monitoring of comprehension
  • Develop literal and inferential comprehension
  • Build vocabulary through the use of context
  • Effectively summarize content
  • Interpret visual texts
  • Synthesize information from multiple sources
  • Analyze primary source documents
  • Identify point of view
  • Recognize bias in a novel
  • Understand historical context of a novel
  • Become familiar with text structures specific to varying genres
  • Support ideas with documented examples
  • Learn to defend an argument
  • Determine the most important ideas/themes
  • Employ correction strategies when comprehension breaks down
  • Identify the purpose of the reading and apply the most appropriate strategy/approach

Part 5

Literatures Options and Assessments

  1. First Quarter- Standard Book Report
  2. Topic: Civil War and Reconstruction

a.Choices include the following:

* Widows of the South by Robert Hicks

* Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

* Manhunt by James L. Swanson

Synopsis: Widows of the South

In 1894 Carrie McGavock is an old woman who has only her former slave to keep her company...and the almost 1,500 soldiers buried in her backyard. Years before, rather than let someone plow over the field where these young men had been buried, Carrie dug them up and reburied them in her own personal cemetery. Now, as she walks the rows of the dead, an old soldier appears. It is the man she met on the day of the battle that changed everything. The man who came to her house as a wounded soldier and left with her heart. He asks if the cemetery has room for one more.

In an extraordinary debut novel, based on a remarkable true story, Robert Hicks draws an unforgettable, panoramic portrait of a woman who, through love and loss, found a cause. Known throughout the country as "The Widow of the South," Carrie McGavock gave her heart first to a stranger, then to a tract of hallowed ground–and became a symbol of a nation’s soul.

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Synopsis: Killer Angels

After more than a quarter of a century and three million copies in print, Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War classic, The Killer Angels, remains as vivid and powerful as the day it was originally published.

July 1863. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia is invading the North. General Robert E. Lee has made this daring and massive move with seventy thousand men in a determined effort to draw out the Union Army of the Potomac and mortally wound it. His right hand is General James Longstreet, a brooding man who is loyal to Lee but stubbornly argues against his plan. Opposing them is an unknown factor: General George Meade, who has taken command of the Army only two days before what will be perhaps the crucial battle of the Civil War.

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fight for two conflicting dreams. One dreams of freedom, the other of a way of life.

Manhunt by James L. Swanson

Synopsis: Manhunt

The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history -- the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin led Union cavalry troops on a wild, twelve-day chase from the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.

At the very center of this story is John Wilkes Booth, Americas notorious villain. A confederate sympathizer and member of a celebrated acting family, Booth threw away his fame, wealth, and promise for a chance to avenge the South’s defeat. For almost two weeks, he confounded the manhunters, slipping away from their every move and denying the justice they sought.

Manhunt is a fully documented work, but it is also a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you’ve never read it before.

  1. First Quarter Book Report Projects

Students must complete the following standard book report for their first novel. Requirement sheet will instruct students of the following:

  • Cover Page, Student’s name, course, date, Title and author.
  • Questions must be rephrased and typed in full sentences.
  • One visual must be included at the end of the report with an explanation.
  • One quote from the book must be included at the end with an explanation and stated by whom.
  • Rubric Grading System will be distributed after students complete the novel.

Book Report

Following the outline below, write a five-paragraph book report. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence and at least four detail sentences. This means that each paragraph will have at least five sentences in it. Check off the items on the list below as you do them and you will be able to write the twenty-five sentences that you need. Each check mark should be one sentence. Please refer to the requirement sheet when completing the Standard Book Report/

Title of Book:

______

I. Setting

1. What was the setting for this book?

_____

(example: snow-covered wilderness)

2. Where did most of the action of the book take place? _____

(example: northern Alaska)

3. When did it take place?

_____

(example: the 1880's)

4. Describe what this place was like.

_____

(example: bitterly cold, desolate, lack of food)

5. Why do you think the author picked this setting for the story? _____

(example: to show how hard it was to survive in Alaska)

II. Main Character

1. Who or what was the main character of this book?

_____

(example: a wolf-dog named Butch)

2. What did this character look like? _____

(example: large head, thick body, heavy brown and black fur)

3. What kind of personality did the character have? _____

(example: fierce, fearless)

4. Give an example of one of his or her good traits.

_____

(example: loyalty to his master)

5. Give an example of one of his or her faults. _____

(example: reckless, easily distracted)

III. Plot

1. Briefly summarize the book’s plot in one sentence.

_____

(example: a new dog fought for survival on a sled team)

2. What was the goal of the main character?

_____

(example: to become the lead dog on the sled team)

3. Why was he or she trying to accomplish this goal? _____

(example: he was tired of being abused)

4. Who or what was working against the main character? _____

(example: a large husky named Plato)

5. What was the climax of the book?

_____

(example: when Butch fought to defend his master)

IV. Message

1. What was the message of this book?

_____

(example: kindness will be repaid)

2. How did the author get his message across to the reader? _____

(example: he showed that an animal can sense and return love)

3. Give a specific example of this from the book.

_____

(example: Butch slept near the man who showed him kindness)

4. Give another specific example of this from the book. _____

(example: Butch was given his freedom, but he chose to stay)

5. What do you think the author wanted you to learn or

to feel after reading this story?

_____

(example: that love can be more powerful than physical strength)

V. Personal Review

1. Did this book hold your interest?

_____

2. Why or why not?

_____

3. Did you enjoy the author’s writing style?

_____

4. Why or why not?

_____

5. Would you recommend this book to others? _____

  1. Second Quarter and Third Quarter
  1. Topic: Immigration (Second Quarter)

Westward Expansion (Third Quarter)

  1. Novel choices: Second Quarter

King of Mulberry Street, by Donna Jo Napoli

Letters from Rifka by Karen Heese

Novel choices : Third Quarter

1000 White Women by Jim Fergus

Students self selection

Synopsis: King of Mulberry Street

In 1892, nine-year-old Dom’s mother puts him on a ship leaving Italy, bound for America. He is a stowaway, traveling alone and with nothing of value except for a new pair of shoes from his mother. In the turbulent world of homeless children in Manhattan’s Five Points, Dom learns street smarts, and not only survives, but thrives by starting his own business. A vivid, fascinating story of an exceptional boy, based in part on the author’s grandfather.

Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse

Synopsis: Letters from Rifka

Twelve-year-old Rifka's journey from a Jewish community in the Ukraine to Ellis Island is anything but smooth sailing. Modeled on the author's great-aunt, Rifka surmounts one obstacle after another in this riveting novel. First she outwits a band of Russian soldiers, enabling her family to escape to Poland. There the family is struck with typhus. Everyone recovers, but Rifka catches ringworm on the next stage of the journey--and is denied passage to America (``If the child arrives . . . with this disease,'' explains the steamship's doctor, ``the Americans will turn her around and send her right back to Poland''). Rifka's family must leave without her, and she is billeted in Belgium for an agreeable if lengthy recovery. Further trials, including a deadly storm at sea and a quarantine, do not faze this resourceful girl. Told in the form of ``letters'' written by Rifka in the margins of a volume of Pushkin's verse and addressed to a Russian relative, Hesse's vivacious tale colorfully and convincingly refreshes the immigrant experience.

Synopsis: 1000 White Women

One Thousand White Women is the story of May Dodd and a colorful assembly of pioneer women who, under the auspices of the U.S. government, travel to the western prairies in 1875 to intermarry among the Cheyenne Indians. The covert and controversial "Brides for Indians" program, launched by the administration of Ulysses S. Grant, is intended to help assimilate the Indians into the white man's world. Toward that end May and her friends embark upon the adventure of their lifetime. Jim Fergus has so vividly depicted the American West that it is as if these diaries are a capsule in time.

3. For the second and third quarters students will self select ONE of the following choices for each novel they read.

Part 6

Lesson Plans/ Project Requirements

2010-2011Book Report Options

Requirements:

  1. All projects must have the following items, a cover page, date, students name, title, author.
  2. All projects (where appropriate) must be typed 12 inch font with full sentences and paragraphs which have a least 5 full sentences.

The following are a list of Book Report Options, you must select a different project for each quarter.

1. Interview a character from your book. Write at least ten questions that will give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story. Make sure youinclude the character’s responses to the questions, which should not be one-word answers.