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2015-2016 Seventh Grade Social Studies Class Information and Syllabus
Mr. Crandall Room 236/Main Office
September 9, 2015 607-734-5078
Course Overview
Seventh Grade Social Studies, as designated by the New York State Department of Education, is part of a two year course on United States History. Students in Seventh Grade Social Studies will explore United States History from Pre-Columbian Times (1492) through the United States Civil War (1861-1865). Major topics of study include: Native Americans, Colonial Developments, American Independence, Development and Operation of the Constitution of the United States, Westward Expansion, Reform Movements, and a Nation Divided (Civil War). Please note the class syllabus at the end of this document for further details.
Skills and Practices
Ø Gathering, Interpreting, and Using Evidence
Ø Chronological Reasoning
Ø Comparison and Contextualization
Ø Geographic Reasoning
Ø Economics and Economic Systems
Ø Civic Participation
Parent-Teacher Contact Information
My direct contact information is:
734-5078 Phone (Main Office, including my office as Dean of Students)
Personal Webpage http://www.gstboces.org/toolbox/template.cfm?ID=2418
Seventh Grade Webpage http://www.gstboces.org/toolbox/template.cfm?ID=2125
* Although my classes (periods one and two) are located in Room 236, Mrs. Ryan teaches in that room for the remainder of the day. I can be reached in the Main Office at 734-5078 after 10:51 AM.
** The best method to reach me is through email (at the above address). A link has been posted under my subject on both my personal and the Seventh Grade Team Web Pages.
*** There are email links on Parent Portal that will enable you to email individual teachers and all of the teachers for a student simultaneously (i.e. if a student is in seventh grade, you can email all of his/her seventh grade teachers at once with a single email).
Teacher-Parent Contact Information
I would like to encourage all parents to make certain that their contact information includes an email address that is checked on a regular basis. Whenever possible I will send mass emails to all of the parents of my students to notify them of impending tests or important assignments. Please make certain to contact the school and notify the office staff of email changes throughout the year to maintain effective communication with the office and your child’s teachers!
Personal and Seventh Grade Web Pages
The Seventh Grade Teachers have a webpage which can be reached by going to the middle school website (see link on the previous page). I usually post my assignments; their due dates, and copies the actual assignments. The same information is posted on my individual page.
Assignments and due dates can change. These changes will be made in student agenda’s immediately in class and on the web pages later in the day or week.
Agenda’s
All of my students are expected to bring their agenda to class every day. On the first day of each week students will be given “assignment stickers:”
Ø I will check every student agenda to make certain that the stickers have been placed into the correct week in the agendas.
Ø The stickers will list all of the assignments and their due dates for that week (and possibly into the next week).
Ø Changes to assignments and due dates will be made to these stickers in class – so it is important for students to have them every day and not just the first day of the week.
Ø The student agendas should be used for every subject/class.
Ø In addition, passes to leave classrooms for any reason are located in the back of the agenda and must be filled out and signed by a teacher.
Materials and Supplies
Ø One Three-Ring Binder with a 1 1/2 inch wide spine or wider (preferably) to be used for Social Studies Only.
Ø Five Tab Dividers (they will be labeled and placed in the first week).
Ø One pocket folder (to be used if the binder has no pockets and for assignments).
Ø A pen with blue or black ink or a pencil with regular lead.
Ø The Student Agenda provided by the school or a substitute agenda of your own.
Averages
Full year seventh grade classes will follow the same basic method for determining a student’s average for the entire school year. Each marking period and the final exam will be worth about 20% of the final year average. The passing grade for any class at Cohen Middle School is 65.
You might be more concerned with how the marking period average is created for Social Studies:
Tests 30% (Chapter and Unit Tests)
Homework 30%
Quizzes/Labs/Classwork 30% (All graded work completed in class)
Participation 10% (Arriving with binder, agenda, and needed class materials such as notes and assignments, and participating in class activities and discussions)
Homework, Late Assignment, and Make-Up Policies
My social studies classes typically receive 1-2 assignments a week. When working on essays and other written forms of work (or projects) students may receive up to 3-4 smaller assignments during the course of a week to help them better manage their assignments and check their progress. The standard policy for all seventh grade classes regarding late assignments is as follows:
Ø Assignments turned in late on the due date or one day late will receive a 25% penalty.
Ø Assignments turned in two days late will receive a 50% penalty.
Ø Assignments will receive a grade of zero if late beyond two days.
* Absent students will receive additional time (one day for each day absent) to complete missed assignments. Students are responsible for seeing their teachers when they return form an absence to receive missed work and to determine the new due dates for missed assignments or to make-up missed quizzes and tests.
** Teachers may refuse to allow students to make-up missed work for unexcused absences. If your family is planning to go on a vacation during the school year, then this will be considered an unexcused absence. Therefore, I personally require advance notice from students who will be going on vacations during the school year. I will allow students who have given advance notice to make-up assignments and tests. Students who fail to give advance notice will not be given this opportunity.
Behavioral Expectations
Cohen Middle School follows the Six Pillars of Knighthood and the characteristics described in them are expected of all students in the school. We will be working on the Pillars all year, so there is no need to go into detail on them here beyond a simple listing and definition:
Caring: Showing concern for the welfare and feelings of all others
Citizenship: Participating as a responsible member of the school community
Fairness: Applying the same caring and respectful treatment to all others
Respect: Showing consideration for and appreciation of all others
Responsibility: Making the right decisions on how to act and being accountable for your own actions
Trustworthiness: Behaving in a manner that is worthy of the respect and trust of others
I do, however, have a few standard expectations for my classroom in particular and they are:
1.Be Respectful - You will be treated with respect as long as you treat others (myself included) with respect.
2.Be Responsible - We are in control of our own behavior and actions and will be held accountable for them.
3.Be a Good Citizen - Our school was created to give all students a chance to receive an education and no one person has the right to take that from another.
Classroom Consequences
The school has general rules and policies regarding behavior (MIR’s and Conduct Referrals). Within this room, I more or less operate on a three-warning system - with each “warning” becoming more direct. A student who receives a third warning will either be sent to the main office or could face any of the following consequences:
Ø Removal from group/team
Ø Room Cleaning Duties
Ø Team Meeting
Ø Morning/After School Detention
Ø Note/Email to Parents/Guardians
Ø Phone Call to Parents/Guardians
Ø MIR Report or Conduct Referral
Ø Any one of my creative penalties (example: Like to write notes in class? How about having that note copied and emailed or mailed home?!).
* Certain behaviors that represent a serious offense under school and/or district guidelines may result in immediate removal from the class with or without warnings.
Cooperative Learning, Cheating, and Plagiarism
During the course of a school year it is acceptable for students to work cooperatively with one another. Cooperative learning takes place when students work on a common assignment or prepare for an assessment by sharing tasks such as reading portions of an assignment, taking notes, highlighting/underlining relevant information, or discussing information related to the assignment or assessment. Ideas and information are shared but are not copied.
Cheating, however, takes place when students deliberately exchange completed work for the purpose of copying from one another prior to turning an assignment in for a grade. Cheating implies ANY direct copying of information, whether it is in verbal or written form. When this takes place both the student who supplies the information and the student who receives the information are guilty of cheating. Most teachers will give students a zero grade for an assignment on which a student cheats and contact his/her parents. Repeat instances of cheating may be addressed through conduct referrals and consequences will be applied by the Principal and/or the Dean of Students.
Plagiarism occurs when a student copies work from a source of information but fails to cite (note) where that information has been taken from by quoting, footnoting, or otherwise clearly documenting the source of the information. Consequences for plagiarism will be addressed in the same manner as instances of cheating.
2015-2016 Course Syllabus
Unit One – Native Americans September, 2015
Unit Two – Colonial Developments October-November, 2015
Unit Three – American Independence November-December, 2015
Unit Four – Development of the Constitution January-February, 2016
Unit Five – The Constitution in Practice February-March, 2016
Unit Six – Westward Expansion March-April, 2016
Unit Seven – Reform Movements May, 2016
Unit Eight – A Nation Divided May-June, 2016
Links
New York State Education Department (Social Studies Curriculum/Framework)
file:///C:/Users/dcrandal/Downloads/ss-framework-k-8%20(2).pdf
NYSED – Regents Tests (note the DBQ and Thematic Essays in the Eleventh Grade final exams)
http://www.nysedregents.org/USHistoryGov/home.html
EngageNY
https://www.engageny.org/