Sonoraville High School

Government Syllabus

Mrs. Walraven

I.Objectives

  • Examine the origins and structure of the American system of government
  • Examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in America
  • Focus on the laws and the legal system

II.Grading Policy

  • Your grade will be averaged from 4 areas:
  • Unit Tests
  • Projects/Notebook
  • Daily Assignments
  • Benchmarks: A major assessment given at the 6, 12 and 18 week mark.
  • Final Exam: A culminating test of all covered material. ONLY seniors may exempt the final.

Semester GradeFinal Grade

Tests40%Semester Grade80%

Project/Notebook20%Final Exam 20%

Daily 20%Total100%

Benchmark 20%

Total100%

III.Class Rules

  1. Come to class with Text, Notebook, pen or pencil, and paper everyday. Do not interrupt class to borrow supplies.
  1. Respect others in the class. Raise your hand if you have a question. Do not interrupt the teacher or anyone who has been given permission to speak.
  2. Cheating of any kind will result in a zero on any assignment. This includes turning in work identical to another student on tasks assigned separately or work plagiarized from another source.
  3. According to board policy, cell phones, MP3 players and other handheld devices are not allowed. Any student who uses such a device on an assignment will receive a zero and be turned over to the administration for further discipline.
  4. Tutoring sessions are provided by the social studies department Mon–Fri 7:15-7:45am & Mon-Thurs 3:15-4:00pm. Students may make-up work for excused absences then. It is the student’s responsibility to make up all missed work.
  5. All assignments will be graded on a 100 points scale. If an assignment is turned in 1 day late, the most the student can earn for the assignment is an 80. Then the most the student can earn for the assignment is a 70.

Please feel free to contact me by email at by calling SHS (706)602-0320.

As part of the American Government course, aside from the notes and textbook, I would like to show select scenes from several films (time permitting) that correlate to the content that we are covering in class. I feel that the videos listed below will be a valuable instructional tool, which will result in the students developing a greater understanding of the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and help them better prepare for the US History EOCT.

Some of the films have ratings above PG; therefore, we wanted to get your permission to enable your child to view excerpts from these movies. As mentioned, the videos are listed below and we have listed the appropriate standard next to the video. If you will allow your child to watch these videos, please sign the line below. If there is a particular film that you do no want your child to watch please initial on the line provided next to the name of the film. Your child will not be punished and their grade will not suffer if you would prefer for them to not view the selected scenes of the film. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us by email or phone.

FilmStandardInitials

(Only if not to watch)

The West Wing (NBC TV Series)SSCG 1-22______

Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonSSCG 9-10______

School House RocksSSCG 1-5, 10______

12 Angry MenSSCG 16______

MLK “I Have A Dream”SSCG 6 & 7______

By signing the line below, I am stating that I have read and understand the syllabus and that I approve for my child to view clips of the films listed above.

Student Name: ______Student Signature: ______

Parent Signature: ______

Comments/Questions: