U.S. History
AMERICAN HISTORY
This course is an overview of American history, with a focus on social history: how the mores and social climate of each historical period influenced the people who lived in that time and who shaped our nation. Using this approach we will be able to examine our own era, and analyze how our social, cultural, and religious beliefs affect America’s domestic and international policies.
Text/s:
Don’t Know Much About History by Kenneth Davis
America: Pathways to the Present Prentice-Hall textbook
American History Part I & II PASS booklets Florida Department of Education
Editorials, political cartoons, and articles from various sources, including periodicals. For a more detailed list of additional curricular materials, see my Fact Sheet.
Grading System: Grades will be awarded on a numerical basis, based on the total point value of an assignment, exam, or project. SMA uses Sarasota County’s grading scale, as follows:
A = 90 to 100 points
B = 80 to 89 points
C = 70 to 79 points
D = 60 to 69 points
F = 59 points and below
My extra credit policies may be found on my webpage on the SMA website. Extra credit is a reward, and not a rescue. Students who do not do their assigned work during the school year will not be permitted to earn extra credit points in order to pass the course.
Employability Points: SMA follows Sarasota County’s employability points system, in which a student’s behavior in class, including preparation for learning (completing/handing in assignments and readings on time, bringing needed learning materials to class daily, keeping an assignment notebook, etc.) and in-class behaviors (staying on task, staying AWAKE, taking notes, refraining from chatting, eating, gum-chewing and other distracting behaviors, and following the SMA Cadet Code of Conduct) account for 20% of a student’s final grade. Students receive a verbal warning for the first infraction, and then the SMA handbook’s procedures are followed (a student-teacher conference; parental contact; a written referral and administrative discipline, depending on the severity and frequency of the undesirable behavior).
Class
Work/Homework/Exams/Projects:
COMPLETING READING ASSIGNMENTS ON TIME IS VITAL TO PASSING THIS COURSE.
Some items will require memorization (the Bill of Rights and excerpts
from various primary documents, with the use of a first-letter mnemonic
device permitted), but in general rote memorization will not play a
major role in grading students’ achievements. Rather than a traditional
research paper, hands-on projects of various kinds will be assigned.
Major projects will be posted on my webpage, along with due dates.
Extra
Help:
Students at this level must be responsible for their own learning, which
means they must be able to ask for help when they need it. I am
available after school every day by appointment. Whether the help needed
is in reading comprehension, source analysis, or concrete help on a
project or with memorization, my job is to give students the help they
need, BUT I can only do this if students let me know when they need
help.
Parent
Conferences and Contact:
The best way to contact me is via email:
rachel_wasserman@sarasota.k12.fl.us
. I can also be reached every day during my planning period (from 7:45
a.m. to 8:30 a.m.) and after school from 2 to 2:30 at the school’s phone
number (941–926–1700). I can also be reached at my professional email
address: I am available for face-to-face conferences either during my
planning period or from 2 to 2:30, with at least 24 hours prior notice.
However, I firmly believe that a student should be part of any
parent-teacher conference!
Links
General U.S. History
FDOE
AMERICAN HISTORY
STANDARDS
americanhistory.about.com
/library
historyplace.com/
unitedstates/revolution
historyplace.com/
unitedstates/revolution
/rev-nation