US History Index

U. S. History

Mr. Marchand
The Seton Keough High School
2015 - 2016 School Year

Learning Guide

Text: McDougal Littell, The Americans

Purpose: The United States History course is designed to provide students with the skills necessary to deal critically with the events and patterns in the history of the United States. The course will concentrate on the history of the United States following the colonization of the North American continent by Europeans, although the development of Native American cultures before the arrival of Europeans will be studied.

The US History course will also provide the students with connections between past events and trends and the present. The relationship of History with other subjects and areas of interest will be a third focus.

Hopefully, the students will be able to apply the patterns of past events and trends to predict the future and make informed judgements and decisions.

Skills: Students should learn to assess historical materials such as first hand descriptions, documents, and opinion pieces as well as following the text.

Students should also learn how to write clearly and quickly, and how to make persuasive arguments based on evidence.

Students will develop and carry out a research plan that meets the standards of the most advanced high school students, and will learn how to deal with a variety of methods of assessment.

Objectives: Are at the beginning of each syllabus

Click Here For Current 1st Frame USH Syllabus

Click Here For Current Afternoon Diagonal USH Syllabus

Click Here for Assessment Calendar

Click Here for Journal Guidelines and Assignments

Click Here for Research Paper Schedule

Click Here for Peer Review Worksheet

Click Here for History Day Page

Click Here For First Semester 1st Frame USH Syllabus

Click Here For First Semester Afternoon Diagonal USH Syllabus

Grading Rubric

These are the performance standards that lead to the specific grade that you wish to earn for the course. Achievement of you desired grade can be reasonably be expected if you complete assignments, perform tasks and achieve assessment results that are consistent with these standards.

GRADE	Mastery of Vocabulary	Reading to Learn	Homework and Use of Web Resources	Group Work	Project Assignments	Tests, Quizzes, Assessment
A	Can use vocabulary in everyday speech, and can put vocabulary together with assignments and tests	Reads each section before doing homework, seeks links, similarities and differences between words and concepts in the section	Completes all homework assignments, does homework after reading the assigned section, uses the web to reinforce understanding	Completes all parts of the assignment, performs work and positively contributes to the group activity	Completes project assignments over enough time to make sure the final product exceeds all objectives	Masters detail knowledge (multiple choice/ short answer), analysis (comparisons and description), and synthesis (essay)
B	Can relate vocabulary to current instruction and previous assignments and tests	Reads most sections before doing homework, sometimes finds links, similarities and differences between words and concepts in the section	Completes most homework assignments, does most homework after reading the assigned section, frequently uses web resources and searches the web to reinforce understanding	Completes all parts of the assignment, performs work and positively contributes to the group activity	Completes project assignments with a strong knowledge of the content of the project	Understands detail knowledge (multiple choice/ short answer), analysis (comparisons and description), and synthesis (essay)
C	Can relate vocabulary to current instruction	Skims sections to find homework vocabulary, usually does not read the section	Looks at vocabulary first, tries to find vocabulary in the section, does not seek similarities or differences between words and concepts in the section, uses the web for specific assignments	Completes enough work to help the group complete requirements of the group assignment	Completes the project with all objectives barely accomplished	Understands one of the following: detail knowledge (multiple choice/ short answer), analysis (comparisons and description), or synthesis (essay)
D	Can define most vocabulary words	Tries to find homework vocabulary in index and/ or dictionary without reading the section	Defines vocabulary and answers questions without seeking similarities or differences between words and concepts in the section, rarely uses the web	Does not contribute equally to help the group complete the assignment, depends on other group members to complete project	Completes the project with some objectives minimally accomplished	Asks the question "what material is going to be on the test" (NOTE: It's DEFINITELY OK to ask what SECTIONS or CHAPTERS are on the quiz/ test!)
F	Cannot define vocabulary	Makes no attempt to read assigned sections	Does not do homework, does not use web resources	Does not participate in the group assignment	Does not complete (partial grade) or turn in the project (grade of 0)	Does not meet the minimal requirements of the assessment

Journals

Each student will keep a journal in a separate section of her notebook. Each Journal entry will be worth up to 25 points. The guidelines for writing Journal entries may be found at Journal Guidelines.

The journal questions for US History are posted as assigned at US History Journal Questions.

Projects and Research Papers

First Semester Research Project

1. Here is the 1st Semester Research Paper Schedule.

2. There is a peer review component. You will need the Peer Review Rubric.

Second Semester Research Project

1. Here is the 2nd Semester Research Paper Assignment and Schedule.

2. There is a peer review component this semester too. You will need the Peer Review Rubric.

Web Resources

Text: The Americans, Holt McDougal 2012 Edition

Unit 1 - American Beginnings to 1783

Chapter 1: Three Worlds to Meet, Beginnings to 1506

Native Americans

A ncient Indian Ruins

The Moundbuilders

Mesoamerican Photo Archives