Chickasaw High School

Coach Jacob Hayden

2015-2016 Course Syllabus

World History 8th Grade

Course Overview:The study of world history in Grade 8 addresses the time period from prehistoric man to the 1500s. Content standards for this grade incorporate the strands of economics, geography, history, and political science, with an emphasis on the history and geography strands. Course content focuses on the migrations of early peoples, the rise of civilizations, the establishment of governments and religions, the growth of economic systems, and the ways in which these events shaped Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Unique to this course are experiences that provide for the study of the ways human beings view themselves over time. (Alabama Course of Study)

Students will:

  • Explain how artifacts and other archaeological findings provide evidence of the nature and movement of prehistoric groups of people.
  • Analyze characteristics of early civilizations.
  • Compare the development of early world religions and philosophies and their key tenets.
  • Identify cultural contributions of Classical Greece, including politics, intellectual life, arts, literature, architecture, and science.
  • Describe the role of Alexander the Great in the Hellenistic world.
  • Trace the expansion of the Roman Republic and its transformation into an empire.
  • Describe the widespread impact of the Roman Empire.
  • Describe the development of a classical civilization in India and China.
  • Describe the rise of the Byzantine Empire.
  • Trace the development of the early Russian state and the expansion of its trade systems.
  • Describe early Islamic civilizations.
  • Describe China’s influence on culture.
  • Compare the African civilizations of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai to include geography, religions, slave trade, economic systems, empires, and cultures
  • Describe key aspects of pre-Columbian cultures in the Americas including the Olmecs, Mayas, Aztecs, Incas, and North American tribes.
  • Describe military and governmental events that shaped Europe in the early middle Ages (600-1000 A.D.).
  • Describe major cultural changes in Western Europe in the High Middle Age (1000-1300 A.D.).
  • Explain how events and conditions fostered political and economic changes in the late Middle Ages and led to the origins of the Renaissance.

Instructional Materials:

1. A binder of some kind. (I am not picky.)

2. Something to write with.

3. Good attitude

Grading Determination/ Scale

60% Summative-Test, Unit Assessment, Major Project

5% Homework

35%Formative- Bellringers, Quzzies, Classwork

100% Class Grade

Grading Scale

A / 90-100%
B / 80-89%
C / 70-79%
D / 60-69%
Failing / Below 60%

NO EXAMS CAN BE MADE UP WITH AN UNEXCUSED ABSENCE!

Testing/Bellringers:

Test will be given on Fridays (most of the time). This should be known by each student, therefore there is no excuse not to be prepared. Bellringers will be taken up every Friday. These are 100 points each week that will be a part of the 30% of the student’s grade. IF THE BELLRINGER IS TURNED IN EVERY WEEK IT WILL HELP YOUR GRADE TREMENDOUSLY!! (It will also hurt it.)

Textbooks:

Chickasaw High School will provide a class set of textbooks to be used as a resource inside the classroom. If you feel that you need to take a textbook home, you and your parents may request a textbook from Mr. Lewis. You will have a numbered book assigned to you and you will be held responsible for lost, stolen, damaged and defaced books to the value as seen by the Assistant Principal/ Textbook Coordinator. All books will be monitored daily for damage and or accountability at the end of the class room instruction period.

Bellringers:

At the beginning of each class there will be a series of questions, usually about three, on the board. Sometimes pertaining to what we did the day before and sometimes it is introduce what we will cover that day. These are to be done on the SAME PIECE OF PAPER EVERYDAY. Every Friday I will take these up and they will make up most of your daily grades.

Late Assignments

For every assignment that is late 10 POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED.

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

George Santayana

Welcome Coach Hayden’s World History to 1500’s 8th Grade. It is my honor and my goal to introduce students to World History using primary source and secondary source documents. My hopes are that I will teach students to look at History a different way than they are used to. Some students find History to be difficult because it is such a broad topic. My goal is to teach students how to put events into historical context, because there is no point in learning what happened in the past, if you do not know why it happened.

Student Signature:
Date Signed: ______/______/______
Parent(s)/ Gaurdian(s): I have read this syllabus and am ready to support my child as an active learner and cooperative participant in this class, thus encouraging my son/daughter to do their very best.
Parent(s)/ Guardian(s) signature:
Date Signed: ______/______/______
Parent(s)/ Gaurdian(s):
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I would like a copy of the syllabus for my personal use: YES NO