United States Government

Teacher: Ms. Paige ShakeriRoom: 203

Email: ffice Hours: M-F 7:45-8:00; Lunch

Textbook:Government in AmericaTutoring: Thursday 7:00-8:00 am

Ouchi’s Mission:Ouchi High School is an independent charter school under the management of the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools. Our mission is to be a small, high-performing school in historically underachieving, low-income, overcrowded community, that will significantly outperform other public schools in preparing students for graduation and readiness to enter and succeed in college.

Course Description: This course of United States Government will be the culmination to your secondary education in Social Sciences. We are going to take an in depth look and use your previous knowledge to analyze the American government system and compare it to other governments in the world today.

About the Teacher: Hello! My name is Paige Shakeri and I will be your new Government teacher. I grew up in San Luis Obispo and attended California State University, Long Beach for my Bachelor of Arts and credential program. GO BEACH! Previously I have taught Economics, World History, and United States History. I am looking forward to watching you grow this year as you learn about our government!

Classroom Expectations:

  • Be prompt! Sitting and working when class starts!
  • Be courteous! Please, thank you, may I, speaking in turn, no gum, food or drink, etc.!
  • Be prepared! Pens, notebook, homework, uniform, etc.!
  • Be on task! Stay seated, follow directions, complete work, do not disrupt others!
  • Be kind! Treat others as you wish to be treated!

Required Materials—please have supplies no later than ______.

Spiral bound notebook

No. 2 Pencil and/or Blue and Black pens

Highlighter and/or colored pencils

Glue stick

Grading

Students’ grades will be based on the following:

  • Standards based grading. Assessments will consist of the following: unit exams, daily quizzes, projects, and writing assignments.

% of Standards Proficient or Advanced / 4-Point Scale / Overall Grade
90-100% / 4 / A-Advanced
80-89% / 3 / B-Proficient
70-79% / 2 / C-Basic
Below 70% / 1 / NP-Not Proficient
  • Life Skills Grade
  • Interactive Notebook
  • Homework—Due Dates
  • In-class discussion and Socratic Seminars
  • Following class expectations and procedures

Assessment Types

  • Unit Tests will be based on each unit of study and will occur at the end of the unit. They will be comprised of multiple-choice (MC) questions and an essay question, called a Free Response Question (FRQ).
  • Quizzes will be given on a daily basis to hold you accountable and test your knowledge on your reading. Each quiz will range from 3-5 questions. Students who take notes on their homework will be able to use them on their quiz
  • Projects will be given throughout the year on various subjects. This is your time to be creative in the content!

Late Work/Make Up Policy

Your education is important! Please come to school and be on time! Late work will be penalized through your Life Skills grade. Your Life Skills grade will have an impact on your senior contract and senior activities. Don’t throw away this grade!

If you have an excused absence, you must have a re-admit to turn in your missed work. You have the number of days in which you were absent to complete missed work. Tests must be made up on the day you return to school. Assignments and tests not completed in this time frame will receive a zero. This is to make sure that you are caught up and ready to re-enter class as soon as possible. Please check the absence crate near the door for assignments.

General Video Permission Slip

As a part of the current events portion of the class, I may regularly show short video clips. Most of these are from television, primarily news shows, such as the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer and Comedy Central’s Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I will also occasionally show clips from movies. Some of the clips may contain violence and language. However, I am VERY careful to choose clips that I believe have important content that connects to themes and lesson of the class. Please mark the appropriate line below to grant permission to show these clips to your child.

______FULL PERMISSION

I give Ms. Shakeri permission to show my child any video clip that enhances understanding of US Government concepts.

______NO PERMISSION

I prefer that Ms. Shakeri not show my child any video clips. I understand that when she does show these clips, my child will have the chance to leave the room and be given the missed information in another form.

Please sign that you have read and understand the requirements and expectations for this class and return it to class by ______.

______

Student Signature Print Student Name Date

______

Parent Signature Parent Email Date

Please feel free to let me know of anything that you feel is pertinent to the success of your child in my class this year. Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to getting to know your students over the coming year!