world history i syllabus 09-10

8/8/2019 World History I Syllabus 09-10

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Napoleon Signals the Way Forward

He is saying, Care about the information

you are studying because it is essential!

World History IMr. Evan JonesHistoric and Cultural Roots of Modern Western Civilization

Highland School9th Grade2009-10 Academic Year

Where to BeginThe Essential Question

All Highland School social sciences courses begin and end with an essentialquestion.The essential question is a line of inquiry that guides us through the year,giving your history class a defined direction as well as giving it real meaning everyday. According to a national educational leader named Grant Wiggins, an essentialquestion is essential: important, vital, at the very heart of the matter theessence of the issues being taught and learned. In this class consider the essentialquestion a constant touchstone you can return to as you consider the many factsand intellectual mysteries of World History. Put the essential question at the centerof your successstrategyfor this classWhether you are answering a homeworkquestion, responding to a writing prompt, making a point in classroom discussion or

just trying to figure out what the heck does Mr. J. want me to know about this orthat bit of fact, just refer yourself back to our Essential Question, and you willsucceed to some degree!

In World History I, our Essential Question is as follows:

How does societalculture shape the lives ofindividuals in the Western world, and conversely,what kinds of individuals have the power andpotential to successfully transform the culturesthey live in?

What We Will Study This Year

World History I is what your parents may remember as ahigh school class called Western Civ. back in the day.Simply put, it focuses on Western civilizations (orthose centered around or having emanated fromEurope.) Unlike the way youve looked at history in thepast, in high school we do not simply memorize and putinto a sequence all the events that happened over thecenturies; instead, in this class, we will analyze somekey events in Western heritage seeking perspective onwhy they occurred, what they produced in terms ofimportant outcomes, and what connections these eventshave to our lives today. Well begin by digging into theancient ideals that spawned our notions of freedom and

justice as well as our concept of liberal democraticsociety that was sparked in the European Renaissance.From there we will formulate understanding andperspective on some key major developments that haveshaped western culture since then and which continueto influence circumstances in the present day.


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World History I Modern Western Civilization -- General Syllabus Page 2

How You Will Learn in this Class, and How You Can Thrive!

As you have seen, this class is a lot less about learning to memorize names anddates, and a lot more about learning how to analyze and articulate your viewpointson critical trends and events that have shaped who we are as individuals and as

citizens. World History I is designed to be the first step in building the foundation ofcritical skills youll need to succeed in all of the social sciences in high school,college, and beyond. You may have heard of some of these skills, but dont worry,you will learn them slowly, over time, during the course of the year. These includeconceptual skills such as objective analysis (or concrete thinking), abstractreasoning, critical thinking, logical reasoning, and analytical expression. And haveno fear, you will also focus onpractical skills youll be able to put to use right awayin this and other courses including critical reading, efficient note-taking, informationordering, analytical writing technique (including formulation of a proper thesis), andstrategic test-taking skills.

How the Work Will Break DownDont Worry YOU CAN DO THIS!

Your History JournalEvery time you sit down to think about history class this year, youll need to haveyour 2009-10 History Journal at your side. (You cannot lose this critical tool sotake care of it!) Here is how the journal will be used throughout the course of theyear: 1) Each time you read for history class (whether at home or in the classroom)you must summarize the key points of that particular reading in one succinctparagraph in your journal, and you must also identify and define any vocabularyfrom the text which you were unsure of as you read. 2) At the end of most classes,you will be given a moment to record a brief paragraph or bullet points in your

journal describing the one or two most important points you felt were raised duringthe class. 3) From time to time, we will reflect on various issues by writing in our

journals and we will try to share our thoughts on these matters as time allows.Journals will be checked for these entries daily to ensure you are keepingup. While the actual content in your journal will not be reviewed and gradedperse, the things you write down will be essential as you study for tests and exams,and will be a reservoir of knowledge you can always refer to quickly and easily ifyour entries are well organized and labeled clearly. Many weekly quizzes this yearwill be open journal quizzes giving you added incentive to make sure your entriesare meaningful and accurate.

Class NotesYou should take daily notes on loose leaf paper separate from your journal. This isyour year to learn to take notes efficiently and substantively. That means muchmore than just writing quickly and repeating what the teacher says. You need towork at determining what is important about lectures, discussions and activities and being able to succinctly synthesize on paper what youve learned that you didnot know before. Not only do notes serve as a source of preparation forassessments later on, but just the act of thinking through a concept and writing itdown helps you to digestthe idea intellectually, so it becomes something you canuse to develop and articulate your own ideas and perspectives.

HomeworkWe read a lot in history. Almost every weeknight that you are a 9th grader you willhave some reading to do for this class. There will never be too much reading in


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terms of the number of pages or words, but what you do have to read will challengeyour vocabulary and analytical capabilities constantly. Consequently, you will needto focus carefullyon things you read for history if you want to use the informationyou get from it successfully (so I would strongly recommend against trying to flashthrough it in the car on the way to school, or even worse, half concentrating on yourhistory homework while also watching TV and texting simultaneously!). Remember,

every time you read, youll have to do a brief written summary of key points in yourjournal. In addition, you may also have a worksheet, an online worksheet or quizsubmitted via Edline, an Internet quest, an art challenge or other written work to doin addition to the reading. Late homework is not tolerated. Failure to read and entera reading summary in your journal is absolutely verboten!

Daily OrganizationBring your textbook, your journal, and note taking paper (in a three ring binder) toclass every day. Take great notes in class by writing down in outline form the keyideas that emerged that day. Create sections in your binder for each unit we study(See Unit Themes below) and put the notes pages from that day into theappropriate section of the binder together with all handouts, returned homework,

quizzes etc. relating to that topic. They will all be made holey so inserting theminto the binder will be easy to do. That way you will be very well organized when itcomes to preparing for tests and quizzes!


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Daily Activity in Class

Though we are limited to 40-minutes or less every day, we will try and incorporate anumber of different learning methods every class if it is at all possible and we willmake every effort to stick to a daily routine you can count on. While there will besome variations on how class breaks down, typically, here is how a 40-minute

period might work out:

0-minutes to 5-minutes: BRAIN WARM-UPThis is a brief opportunity for you toget you analytical muscles juiced and ready to go. It will be either be a brief groupgame that uses logical reasoning (such as Taboo, Scattergories, etc.), a fun brainteaser or historical riddle that everyone works on solo or in small groups (often for aspecial prize), or we will work on considering and writing about logical/ethicaldilemmas suggested by the works of ancients like Socrates and Plato. NOTE:Attendance will be taken during the warm-up. Tardiness will be noted, and will notbe tolerated. (Warm-ups are for fun and are almost always ungraded unless youare unusually tardy for class in which case a zero will be averaged into yourhomework and class participation average.)

6-minutes to 15-minutes: HOMEWORK/READING REVIEWWe will review themost important points from the previous evenings reading and written work duringthis time. On some occasions this could take the form of a pop quiz to keep you onyour toes. Any written work that is due should be handed into the homework slotby the door on your way into class. DONT FORGET TO HAND IT IN! Use your journalentry (which youll keep at your side) as a way to be prepared to participate activelyin this reading/homework discussion so you get the most out of it. If you find inlistening to the discussion that your journal entry is incomplete or off-base, take thisopportunity to correct it so it will be useful to you later on.

21-minutes to 35-minutes: LECTURE/DISCUSSION/ACTVITYEvery day youwill spend this 20-minute part of the class on a lesson that centers on the keyissue being studied for the day. Often it will be directly relevant to the previousnights reading, sometimes it complements previous work and tells a story of itsown. Oftentimes you will need to learn to listen attentively to a lecture on animportant subject and seek things in the subject matter that interest or inspire you.Sometimes we will do an active group activity centered on the subject that you mayfind more entertaining than listening patiently and attentively to a lecture. Stillother times we will explore resources on the Internet together as a class.

36-minutes to 40-minutes: WRAP-UP, REFLECTION, HOMEWORKCLARIFICATIONMost days you will have this brief moment before the end of

class to write some bullet points in your journal reflecting on the key things youlearned that day, to clarify your homework assignment, and maybe even to beginworking on that assignment.

Unit Themes for 2009-10

1. The Time Machine (SummerReading)

2. Foundations of Western Society

3. The Western Mind and Soul(MINI-UNIT)

4. Renaissance, Liberalism, andEconomic Freedom

5. Western Revolutions and"Institutional Liberty"


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6. Western Religions (MINI-UNIT)

7. Nationalism, Colonialism &Imperialism

8. The End of Innocence and Total

War9. Upheaval Threatens Western

Stability

10.The Lost Generation (MINI-UNIT)

11.Europe Creeps Back TowardWar

12.Virtues & Atrocities:Dichotomies of WW-II

13.Phoenix From the Ashes: Europe

Reborn and the Cold War14.World "Hot-Spots" (MINI-UNIT)


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Key Classroom Policies

Classroom Performance and behavior is taken very seriously in this classfrom day one. Students who are disengaged,disruptive, negative, or chatty in class will beaddressed by the instructor. Remember, you are not

here to be entertainedyou have a duty as a scholarto STAY ENGAGED substantively and LEARN.

Homework assignments not turned in on thedate assigned will be marked zero out of ten.Handing in a missed assignment is importantbecause it gives you the learning andinformation you will need for quizzes and tests,and will also enable you to raise the grade to asix out of ten (which is the highest possiblefailing grade and is much easier for you toovercome.)

On Quizzes and Tests, the grade you get isthe grade you get. You can and should re-doquizzes and tests you do poorly on. Likehomework, if you correct your quizzes and testswithin two days, you can raise your grade tothe maximum failing grade (64%) if you areunder 65% and you can raise your grade to thenext grade level (i.e. from a B+ to an A- or an A to an A+) if you scored above65%.

Weighting of Assessments

Daily Homework & Classroom Performance 10%Quizzes....................................................15%Projects...................................................25%

Tests........................................................30%Semester Exam.......................................20%

Materials Used in This Course

The Making of the WestPeoples and Culture ; Bedford-St. Martins; 2008.(Bring to class every day)

Handouts and Reprints of Primary Source Material

Videos and other Multimedia. Reprints from World Newspapers.

DaVinci, as he saw himself What doyou think he was saying?

world history i syllabus 09-10

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