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Learning should be personal, reflective and practical

There has always been a debate on the most effective way to encourage a student to learn. Often times, we worry too much on the "grade" vs the learning gain. An F to a D is just as good as a B to an A because it shows that you learned and mastered 10% more than had before. This is what I want to encourage.  This is the mindset I want my students to understand.
 

Your grade is in YOUR hands. This is designed to take accountability for your own future. Most importantly, I want you to understand that although an "A" is great, the learning gain is what's important and what is valued.

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**PLEASE KEEP IN MIND** The teachers reserve the right to modify, change or switch up content teaching WITHOUT updating this website or with advanced notice. 

Welcome to U.S History

Examples of Supplemental Videos:

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Associated Press

Civil Rights Museum 

Crash Course John Green

Extra Credits

Heimler's History

Mr. Betts Classroom

National Museum of American History

Oversimplified

Simple History

Smithsonian Channel

Various news organizations 

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement

Description of Course and Objectives

U.S History (Non-Advanced Placement) students will investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods from approximately 1820 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical comparisons; and utilizing reasoning about contextualization, causation, and continuity and change over time. Students will also be exposed to seven themes throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: American and national identity; migration and settlement; politics and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; geography and the environment; American and regional culture; and social structures.


Course Textbooks / Content delivery methods


Course Standards

State of Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
You can visit the following for more information on the standards:
https://www.cpalms.org/  
https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5662/urlt/0077550-fl09sp_us_history.pdf


U.S HISTORY - SS.912.A.1.1-1.7 / 2.1-2.7 / 3.1-3.13 / 4.1-4.11 / 5.1-5.12 / 6.1-6.15 / 7.1-7.17

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Course Outline

 

  • Period 1 - 1820-1877 - Pre Civil War, Civil War and Reconstruction

  • Period 2 - 1865-1914 - Industrialization, Labor, Immigration and Urbanization

  • Period 3 - 1865-1900 - Western Expansion, Populism and Progressivism

  • Period 4 - 1890-1920 - Imperialism and WW1

  • Period 5 - 1920-1940 - Roaring Twenties, Great Depression and New Deal

  • Period 6 - 1940-1946 - World War 2 and the Holocaust

  • Period 7 - 1945-1960 - Post WW2 and the Early Cold War (Incl. Korea)

  • Period 8 - 1945-1980 - Civil Rights, Social Movements and Vietnam 

  • Period 9 - 1980-Present - Nixon through Present


Prerequisites

Recommended: World History 
 

State of Florida End of Course Exam (EOC)

50-65 multiple choice exam that includes: Graphs, charts, reading excerpts, political cartoons and standard questions. Each unit study guide you receive will help build a cumulative EOC study guide. At the end of the course, you will get a specific EOC Study guide as well. Typically, the Saturday before the EOC, the school offers a 3 hour "crash course" review. Your EOC is 30% of your overall grade.

EOC Score 1 = 60%
EOC Score 2 = 70%
EOC Score 3 = 80% (Considering passing)
EOC Score 4 = 90%
EOC Score 5 = 100%
 

If you fail this course BELOW a 60% but pass the EOC with the following, I will adjust your grade accordingly:
-Score a EOC 3 with a FIN Class grade of 0-69% - Your adjusted FIN grade will be a 70% unless higher
-Score a EOC 4 with a FIN Class grade of 0-79% - Your adjusted FIN grade will be a 80% unless higher

-Score a EOC 5 with a FIN Class grade of 0-89% - Your adjusted FIN grade will be a 90% unless higher

 

A good way to keep track of what you'll need to pass, use this formula:
(FIN GRADE X .70) + (EOC ESTIMATE GRADE X .30) = Estimated FINAL grade for the class.
 

Grades

Formatives include quizzes, small projects, classwork/homework = 40% of entire grade

Summatives include tests and projects = 60% of entire grade

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Expectations for my students:

  • Be respectful - No acts of vandalism will be tolerated and will result in automatic disciplinary action.

  • Be Responsible - We are in high school. This isn't daycare or babysitting. Take responsibility for your actions. Plan ahead. Ask if you need help.

  • Be Accountable - No one is sitting in that chair except for you. Take command of your academics. Plan ahead. Ask if you need help.

  • Be Safe - Never put yourself or find yourself in an unsafe environment. If you do, contact someone right away.

  • Be engaged and participate - ASK QUESTIONS, engage in group projects and activities, talk to your peers. Have fun.

  • Complete all assignments with a positive outlook.
     

Course Supplementations

Through my professional experience as a social studies educator, I take it upon myself to truly dive deep into the content we are learning. To help facilitate and create the best learning experience, I supplement my material in addition to the textbook. Here is a list of supplemental material that may be included in your learning experience while in my classroom. I also encourage you to use these supplemental materials to help reinforce your comprehension of the material being learned. Please keep in mind that I do NOT own these materials. The source author may delete, change or re-direct the material AFTER I've already screened it. If you notice something that may not be right, please let me know right away. 
 

Examples of Supplemental Material that may be included in our lessons

  • Educational websites ending in .edu

  • Government Websites ending in .gov

  • Military Websites ending in .mil
     

America In Class

Bill of Rights Institute

Britannica

Constitution Center

C-Span

Council on Foreign Relations

Discovery Channel

Docs Teach

Fiveable

Gilder Lehrman Institute of AH

History Channel

JSTOR

Khan Academy

Library of Congress

Miller Center

Model Diplomacy

National Archives and Records Administration

National Archives United Kingdom

National Geographic

National WW2 Museum

NPR

PBS

Smithsonian Institute

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

US History.org

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SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS  55% of entire grade

Unit Test(s) - 10pts

Each test will consist of multiple choice questions (MCQ's). The MCQ's will consist of a variety of standard question and answer, graph and chart analysis and primary or secondary source analysis that can include speeches, excerpts, & political cartoons.
 

District Quarterly - 10pts

Each assessment will consist of multiple choice questions (MCQ's). The MCQ's will consist of a variety of standard question and answer, graph and chart analysis and primary or secondary source analysis that can include speeches, excerpts, & political cartoons. This assessment is cumulative, covering everything within the last 9 weeks. 

 

Quarterly 1 - Units 1, 2 & 3

Quarterly 2 - Units 4 & 5

Quarterly 3 - Units 6, 7 & 8
 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS  45% of entire grade

The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments: help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work.
 

Below are the most consistent formatives the student will be expected to complete. â€‹
 

  • Lesson Assessment - 10pts - For each new lesson, the student will receive a double sided worksheet. The student will be graded on the following 4:
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    • Lesson Graphic Organizer - Students will receive a graphic organizer. This graphic organizer goes hand in hand with the reading strategy and PDF student copy lesson. I DO NOT grade the graphic organizers. However, you CANNOT retake a summative without every graphic organizer being completed for the Unit. 
       

    • Lesson Reading Strategies - After the completion of the lesson, the student will complete a reading summary that reinforces the lesson. They are then to answer (2) comprehension reading questions, (1) vocabulary check and (1) Exit ticket response. Students are also expected to highlight or underline the main ideas in each paragraph.
           - Comprehension check #1 - 1pt
           - Comprehension check #2 - 1pt
            - Vocabulary Check - 1pt
            - Exit Ticket Response - 2pts
       

  • Florida History - 10 pts - For each Unit, the student is expected to complete a 5-10 question, open book quiz on Schoology. This assessment goes hand-in-hand with a PDF . Students gets 3 attempts and the highest score is recorded. It is encouraged to take the 1st attempt without any notes to gage what the student comprehends. 
     

  • Lesson formatives - 10 pts -Depending on the lesson, there may be an accompanied formative activity that reinforces what we learned the previous day. Some may be graded, others may not be. Students won't know until the activity is completed.

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