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American History Syllabus Extended Standards Contact Information: Parents may contact me by phone, email or visiting the school. Teacher: Todd Seymour Email Address: todd.seymour@ccsd.us Phone Number: (740) 702-2287 ext. 2190 Online: http://www.chillicothe.k12.oh.us/schools/chs/ CHS Vision Statement: Our vision is to be a caring learning center respected for its comprehensive excellence. CHS Mission Statement: Our mission is to prepare our students to serve their communities and to commit to life-long learning Course Description and Prerequisite(s) from Course Handbook: American History (year) - 207 CBIP - 451 State Course # 150810 Prerequisite: None Required Course Grade: 9 Graded Conventionally Credit: 1 This course examines the history of the United States of America from 1877 to the present. The federal republic has withstood challenges to its national security and expanded the rights and roles of its citizens. The episodes of its past have shaped the nature of the country today and prepared it to attend to the challenges of tomorrow. Understanding how these events came to pass and their meaning for todays citizens is the purpose of this course. The concepts of historical thinking introduced in earlier grades continue to build with students locating and analyzing primary and secondary sources from multiple perspectives to draw conclusion. Big Ideas/Purpose per Unit and Essential Questions/Concepts per Unit: Defined below for clarity are the Big Ideas/Purpose of every unit taught during this course and the essential questions/concepts to be learned to better understand the Big Ideas/Purpose. A students ability to grasp, answer, and apply the essential questions/concepts will define whether or not he or she adequately learns the Big Ideas/Purpose and scores well on assessments given for this course. The Common Core Standards can be found at http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards. 1st Quarter o Unit I -- Historical Thinking and Skills (to be utilized throughout the course) Big Idea #1: Think like an Historian Essential Question #1: How is a thesis constructed, supported, and refuted?

2 Essential Question #2: How are alternative explanations for historical events provided? Essential Question #3: How do historians determine if the source is credible? o Unit II -- Industrialization, Immigration. and Progressivism Big Idea #1: Industrialization Essential Question #1: How did the rise of corporations, factories, and technological innovations transform the American Economy? Essential Question #2: How did the rise of industrialization and expanding workforce lead to the creation of labor unions? Big Idea #2: Immigration and Urbanization Essential Question #1: How did immigration, internal migration, and urbanization transform American life? Big Idea #3: The Progressive Era Essential Question #1: Why did many citizens call for reforms to fix industrial capitalism, urbanization, and political corruption? Essential Question #2: What is populism and how did it affect the United States? Essential Question #3: What were the policies and achievements of the Progressives? 2nd Quarter o Unit III -- American Imperialism through WWI and its effects Big Idea #1: America as a World Power Essential Question #1: Why did the United States seek to become an imperialist power? Essential Question #2: Why did the United States use diplomacy to achieve its economic objectives in Asia? Essential Question #3: How did economic expansion contribute to the United States declaration of war on Spain? Essential Question #4: How did American involvement in WWI influence Americas role as world peacekeeper? o [Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations] o Unit IV -- Between the Wars: Prosperity, Depression, and Isolation Big Idea #1: Post-World War I Essential Question #1: What were the economic, social, and political effects experienced in America in the 1920s? Big Idea #2: U. S. Isolationism Essential Question #1: How did the events following WWI lead to dictatorships and American Neutrality? Essential Question #2: What were causes and effects of the US isolation policies following WWI? Big Idea #3: The Great Depression Essential Question #1: How did post-war prosperity help create The Great Depression? Essential Question #2: What were three causes of the Great Depression?

3 Essential Question #3: What did Roosevelts New Deal[s] create and what were the long term effects of his policies? Essential Question #4: What were the effects of The Great Depression: [Economic, Political, and Social]? rd 3 Quarter Global Struggles o Unit V -- WWII Big Idea #1: WWII: American Involvement Causes/Effects Essential Question #1: How did the US react to WWII in 1938, 1940, 1941? Essential Question #2: Why did the US become involved in the Second World War? Essential Question #3: Why did the US decide to use atomic weapons against Japan? Big Idea #2: Americas Home front. Essential Question #1: How did Women and African Americans respond to war? Essential Question #2: What kinds of sacrifices does war create/require? o Relocation o Rationing o Government sanctioned imprisonment Essential Question #3: What decisions did America have to make economically to prepare for and sustain the war? Big Idea #3: Effects/Results of WWII Essential Question #1: What did the US do to help rebuild the worlds economy following WWII? o Unit VI -- Cold War Big Idea #1: US Containment Policy Essential Question #1: What is containment policy following WWII? Big Idea #2: Red Scare and fear of Communism Essential Question #1: How did Americans react to fears of the spread of Communism? Big Idea #3: Cold War conflicts Essential Question #1: How did the conflicts [Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam] of the Cold War influence domestic and international politics? th 4 Quarter o Unit VII: Post War America and Civil Rights Movement Big Idea #1: Struggle for racial and gender equality. Essential Question #1: What were the characteristics of the Post War Economic Boom? Essential Question #2: How did the economic boom influence science and social changes in American life? Essential Question #3: What were the characteristics of the Civil Rights Movement?

4 o END OF COURSE EXAMS Completed by End of April o Unit VIII America Into 21st Century Big Idea #1: Political protest and role of government in economy, environmental protection, social welfare and national security. Essential Question #1: Can you explain in detail the challenges of the 21st Century [communications, international trade, economic competition, and the changing business model]? Big Idea #2: National security issues in the 21st century. Essential Question #1: How has the United States faced new challenges [political, economic, and security challenges] since the turn of the millennium? Textbook: Pacemaker: United States History, Pearson Education, 2004. Grading: Unit Exams 50% Assessments (includes Quizzes, Essays, Labs and Projects) 30% Homework 10% Class Work 10% Grading Scale The grading scale for Chillicothe High School can be found in the student handbook. Late Work: Late work will be subject to the board adopted policy on assignments that are turned in late (to be reviewed in class). CHS TENTATIVE Course Schedule This is an overview of what will be covered in this course at CHS for this school year. Although, I would like to follow this plan verbatim this years tentative schedule is subject to change (at the teachers discretion). 1st 9 Weeks: Week 1: Beginning of the Year Pre-Assessment Exam Unit I Weeks 1-2: Unit I Pre-Assessment Exam Weeks 2-3: Formative Assessment Weeks 4-5: Formative Assessment Week 5: Unit I Summative Assessment Unit II Week 6: Unit II Pre-Assessment Exam Weeks 6-7: Formative Assessment Weeks 8-9: Formative Assessment Week 9: Unit II Summative Assessment 2nd 9 Weeks: Unit III

5 Week 1: Unit III Pre-Assessment Exam Weeks 1-2: Formative Assessment Weeks 3-4: Formative Assessment Weeks 4-5: Unit III Summative Assessment Unit IV Week 5: Unit IV Pre-Assessment Exam Week 5-6: Formative Assessment Weeks 7-8: Formative Assessment Weeks 8-9: Unit IV Summative Assessment 3rd 9 Weeks: Unit V Week 1: Unit V Pre-Assessment Exam Weeks 1-2: Formative Assessment Weeks 3-4: Formative Assessment Weeks 4-5: Unit V Summative Assessment Unit VI Week 5: Unit VI Pre-Assessment Exam Weeks 5-6: Formative Assessment Weeks 7-8: Formative Assessment Weeks 8-9: Unit VI Summative Assessment 4th 9 Weeks: Unit VII Week 1: Unit VII Pre-Assessment Exam Weeks 1-2: Formative Assessment Week 3: Unit VII Summative Assessment END OF COURSE EXAMS Completed by End of April Unit VIII Week 5: Unit VIII Pre-Assessment Exam Weeks 6-7: Formative Assessment Weeks 7-8: Formative Assessment Week 9: Unit VIII Summative Assessment Performance Based Section: Writing Assignments/Exams/Presentations/Technology One or more of the End of Unit Exams may be Performance Based. According to the Ohio Department of Education, Performance Based Assessments (PBA) provides authentic ways for students to demonstrate and apply their understanding of the content and skills within the standards. The performance based assessments will provide formative and summative information to inform instructional decision-making and help students move forward on their trajectory of learning. Some examples of Performance Based Assessments include but are not limited to portfolios, experiments, group projects, demonstrations, essays, and presentations.

6 CHS American History Course Syllabus After you have reviewed the preceding packet of information with your parent(s) or guardian(s), please sign this sheet and return it to me so that I can verify you understand what I expect out of each and every one of my students. Student Name (please print): ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Student Signature: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Parent/Guardian Name (please print): ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Parent/Guardian Signature: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Parent/Guardian Contact Number: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________________________________________________________________________________________