U.S. History 8Syllabus

Thurgood Marshall Middle School

Mrs. Zangara - Mason, Room C303

(858) 549-5400 ext. 2333

History 8 is based on California State Standards. Students will explore American history with a variety of sources, activities and student groupings in a competency skills based classroom. The text for this class is United States History: Independence to 1914, which is to be left at home. We have class sets for use in the classroom.

Studying the stories of individuals and situations in the past allows a student of history to test his or her own moral sense as they skillfully analyze some of the real complexities individuals have faced in difficult settings. People who have weathered adversity in real historical circumstances can provide inspiration. “History teaching by example” describes the use of a study of the past with heroes and ordinary people who successfully worked through moral dilemmas. Studying the stories of men and women in American history will provide lessons in courage, diligence and constructive protest that will contribute to the development of creative, thoughtful, civic-minded citizens.

Student assessments will be competency based. Please see the attached page on Competence Based Training ideology. In addition, a competencies-to-grade chart is available on my teacher website at Marshallmiddle.org under syllabus tab.

Differentiation:The content of the seminar and GATE cluster class will adhere to the state standards but the course will be differentiated. Students will have the opportunity to cover the content area in greater depth and complexity. Students will be expected to take an active part in the learning process.

Suggested Supplies: Bring the following to every class meeting:

  • Pencil or pen with black or dark blue ink
  • Colored pencils
  • Single subject plastic cover college ruled spiral notebook (I.N.), 8 ½” X 11” in size
  • completed assignments or classwork from previous class period

Interactive Notebook: Students will use an interactive notebook (I.N.) for individual student processing of information. Your I.N. book should be in a spiral notebook with at least 100 college ruled pages of 8 ½ by 11 inches in size. The I.N. will contain activities that provide practicing skills required for performance and competency assessments in this class. The notebook is to be used for History 8 only and not contain work or notes from other classes.

Performance Assessments: Assessments are designed to measure a student’s progress towards mastery of the content standards. Individual and group projects will measure a student’s progress towards mastery of the content standards. A variety of performance assessments will be distributed throughout the grading period whichmay include document based questions (DBQ’s), oral presentations, writing assignments and research projects. The quality of work and completion of I.N. pages is student driven and does reflect individual attitude and effort.

Class Participation: The study of American history will include reading and applying skills like a historian uses. Multiple exercises and activities in the classroom will provide daily opportunities for all students to contribute to class discussions with comments, questions or observations.Excessive absences or lack of participation limits understanding and often results in lower grades.

Citizenship Expectations: All students are expected to take responsibility for their actions, decisions, effort and behavior at all times. A single classroom rule of promoting mutual respectand being kind to everyone is expected, practiced and appropriate always in our learning environment. Plagiarism is not acceptable and will result in no credit earned for any assignment plus an N in citizenship for the grading period. The citizenship grade is not an evaluation of the student as a person yet is a reflection of the student’s actions in class. Please see attached page on expectations for citizenship.

Class Policies

Attendance: An absence does not excuse any student from the work missed. It is the responsibility of the student to obtain any assignments missed while absent.

Performance Assessments and Academic Grades

Percentage grades are assigned to all work. Students will build critical thinking and analytical skills to apply to tasks to show their understanding of course content. Problem–based learning activities withinquiry based instruction will challenge students to use acquired skills to demonstrate achieved competency level.THERE IS NO EXTRA CREDIT AVAILABLE. Missing work receives a zero.

Far Exceeds Expectations90-100 = A

Exceeds Expectations 80-89 = B

Satisfies Expectations 70-79 = C

Below Expectations 60-69 = D

Far Below Expectations 59 and below = F

Assignments will be recorded in one of four categories as follows:

Project Based Learning Activities 30%

Research Projects 30%

Reflective Learning Activities 30%

Interactive Notebook 10%

Late Work

Assignment due dates will be clearly provided, recorded online on date assignments are given, recorded on a white board in the classroom and are included with every assignment description guidelines. Assignments and due dates are always posted online under class assignments. Late work will result in lost points for assignments turned in after the due date, including Interactive Notebooks turned in for grading purposes. If competencies are not met on a single activity or project, students may resubmit work within 5 days of original due date after a conference with me, for a grade up to a B.

If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at , or call me at 858 549-5400. I look forward to seeing you at Back to School Night on September 8th.

Please sign the following, detach neatly and return in the next class meeting

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I understand the policies in Mrs. Zangara - Mason’s History 8 class.

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PRINT Student Name, First and last names Period Date

Student Signature

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Parent/Guardian Signature

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Parent/Guardian e-mail and contact number(s) for Home, Work and or Mobile