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High School Social Studies Teacher
Groton-Dunstable Regional High School
Today is: Friday,03 September,2010 12:20:34 AM

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United States History I Honors

Course Description:
This course begins with the French and Indian War and continues through the period of Reconstruction and Western Expansion.  Students will analyze primary sources and demonstrate knowledge of the economic, social and political transformation of the United States and the world between the end of British rule and sectional conflict.  Students will be required to write a research paper, develop cooperative group projects and use various multimedia technologies to enhance their understanding of the key concepts and themes provided by the Massachusetts frameworks.  The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis, including the ability to analyze and interpret primary and secondary documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history from 1763-1877.  Students will make connections between past and present, interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives and evaluate and debate issues orally and in writing.     

Course Objectives:
  •   Master a broad body of knowledge
  •   Demonstrate an understanding of historical chronology
  •   Use historical data to support an argument or position
  •   Differentiate between different schools of historical thought
  •   Interpret and apply data from original documents, including cartoons, graphs, letters and maps
  •   Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, compare and contrast
  •   Research, organize and analyze a specific topic for the creation of an original research paper
Supply List:
  • 3 ring binder
  • folder
  • notebook
  • writing utensil
  • highlighters
  • flash drive recommended

Textbooks/Materials:
The primary text used for this course will be Mary Beth Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation.  In addition there will be numerous handouts, primary and secondary source readings.

Class Procedures:
  • Question and Answer-Discussion
  • Presentation of material via lectures and PowerPoint slides
  • Experiential-Debates, Socratic Seminars, role play, trials, oral presentations, field trips, videos, map exploration and other activities
  • Collaborative Group Work
Expectations:

  • Homework:  In general, students are expected to spend about 50-60 minutes a night on homework in this course.  
  • All formal papers must be typed, double-spaced and in manuscript form.    Your name, date and assignment must appear typed on all assignments.
  • All work submitted must include a proper bibliography including author, title of book or website, publisher, date of publication and web address as each applies to the source.  This includes photographs or charts used in projects and presentations.  Your educational integrity includes proper source citation.
  • Academic Freedom:  All students have a right to their opinions.  How you support your opinions is key to doing well in this class.
  • Keep in mind that we want all of you to be successful.  We want you to reach your goals and your full potential as a student and a person.  If you have a problem, come to me earlier rather than later.  If you find you are overwhelmed, we can work something out… but do not let it go.
  • Always give your best effort on all class activities and assignments.  There are opportunities to learn, achieve, and grow.  Take advantage of them.
Class Rules:

  • Cover textbooks.
  • Remember that your personal honor and integrity are a very precious and important part of who you are as a person.  Therefore, I expect that you will do all of your own work at all times.  Please see your GDRHS handbook for further information regarding cheating and plagiarism.
  • Promptness to class and attendance:  You must arrive to class on time and be prepared to work.  If you are late, you must have a pass.  If you do not have a pass you will be subject to both teacher and administrative detention.  If you are absent, you should contact a member of the class or the office for the day’s assignments.  Cutting class will result on a zero for that day’s work.  You are responsible for all work missed during an absence.
  • Bring appropriate materials to class.  This includes your textbook, notebook, writing utensils, paper, highlighter and all homework that is due.  Late work will receive reduced credit.
  • Respect of fellow classmates, teacher and classroom is a mandatory obligation in my classroom.  
  • No Food or Drinks in the classroom.  Water only.  

Notebook Requirements:
  •         You will need a three ring binder for organizing material at home or school and a minimum of a notebook and folder for daily use.  Notebook sections should include:
  • Notes
  • Tests/Quizzes
  • Readings/ Handouts/ Worksheets
  • IDs
  • Essays/ Document Based Questions (DBQ)
  • Projects
  • Socratic Seminar Questions and Evaluations



Study Information:
Evaluation:

  • 30% Tests/Quizzes/In class DBQs:  Chapter and unit tests, including essays, on textbook reading, supplemental reading, and class discussions.
  • 30% Projects, Essays and Research Paper:  Group or Individual work including newspapers, pamphlets, maps, statistical analysis, power point presentations, etc. In class and out of class essays.  Ten page research paper on Early American History requirements leading up to original paper.
  • 30% Homework:  Identifications, short answer, graphic organizers and work sheets.
  • 10% Participation:  Discussion participation and leadership, including Socratic Seminars.  Notebook grade will be included here.
United States History I Syllabus

Topic
Projects
Severing the Bonds of Empire

Pamphlets
Revolution

Forging a National Republic

Constitutional Convention News Paper Project
The Early Republic

Partisan Politics and War:  The Democratic-Republicans in Power

War of 1812 Poster Project
Nationalism, Expansion and the Market Economy

Begin Research Paper Project
Reform and Politics in the Age of Jackson

Age of Jackson Scrapbook Project

People and Communities in the North and West, 1830-1860

People and Communities in a Slave Society:  The South, 1830-1860

Power Point Presentations on People of North and South

Slavery and America’s Future:  The Road to War


The Civil War

Draft Riots Primary Document Activity
Reconstruction

Final Research Paper Due
Developing the West
Access and Denial of Democracy in the West

Industrialization

Advert Project
Urbanization

Quantitative Analysis Project


GDRHS Core Assignment
(Performance Based Assessment)

Course: United States History I
Grade Level: 10th Grade  Honors/ Advanced/ Standard

Title:  10th Grade Research Paper

Background:  Students will have the opportunity to pick one topic from the United States I curriculum, which is of interest to them, which they will write a research paper on.  The 9th Grade Research Paper is an assignment that fortifies student research and writing skills, and helps students to write well-crafted, thesis-based papers.  Students will sharpen research methods, citation skills and logical paper outlining ability.

Task:  Students will demonstrate the skills of research, primary source analysis, secondary text analysis, organization, proper formatting of bibliography and footnote citation, writing, and skills of summation in a formalized research paper on a specific USI topic.

Audience:  The Teacher

Purpose:  the purpose of this assignment is to create an original research paper compiling the skills of research, primary source analysis, secondary text analysis, organization, proper formatting of bibliography and footnote citation, writing and summation.  Students will gain insight into a specialized topic of their choice within US History I.

Learning Objectives:
  • Students will be able to write a thesis paper based on research that includes quotations, footnotes or endnotes, and a bibliography.
  • Students will apply steps for obtaining and evaluating information and presenting research, including differentiating between primary and secondary sources; differentiating between using paraphrasing and direct quotations; documenting information in a consistent, standard bibliographic format.
  • Students will prove a thesis statement by using logical organization, effective supporting evidence, and a variety of sentence structures.
  • Students will formulate open-ended research questions and apply steps for obtaining and evaluating information from a variety of sources, and be able to present this research in writing.

Procedure:
Students will select an appropriate, and approved, topic within the context of US History from 1763-1877.
Students will locate primary and secondary sources.
Students will develop a thesis statement.
Students will organize and develop a proper bibliography.
Students will organize and develop an outline.
Students will synthesize research and writing skills to create an original research paper.



POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR USI RESEARCH PAPER

Colonial America
Navigation Acts
Roger Williams
Anne Hutchinson
John Smith
King Philips
Baconís Rebellion
Puritan Society
Virginia and slave code (1705)
The French and Indian War
Albany Plan of Union
Stamp Act Crisis
Sons of Liberty
Boston Massacre
Boston Tea Party
First Continental Congress
Battles of the Revolution
  • Lexington/ Concord
  • Battle of Bunker Hill
  • Valley Forge
  • The Battle of Saratoga
  • Battle of Kings Mountain
  • Battle of Yorktown
Thomas Paine and ìCommon Senseî
Designing the Declaration of Independence
John Paul Jones
Signing of the Treaty of Paris
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Slavery
  • Economics of Plantations
  • Daily Life of slave/slave owner
  • Resistance to Slavery
  • The Middle Passage
  • Three/Fifths Compromise
Articles of Confederation
The Northwest Ordinance
Shays Rebellion
The Framers of the Constitution
  • James Madison
  • George Washington
  • Roger Sherman
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • Benjamin Franklin
Women of the Revolution
Great Compromise
Federalism/ Anti-Federalist Debate
Formation of the Bank of US
Whiskey Rebellion
Thomas Jefferson and Agrarianism
Jayís Treaty
Pinckneyís Treaty
Alien and Sedition Act
The Election of 1800  (John Adams vs. Jefferson)
The Louisiana Purchase
Expedition of Louis and Clark
The War of 1812/ Treaty of Ghent
Tecumseh and Tippecanoe
Era of Good Feelings
Court Cases
  • Marbury vs. Madison
  • Martin vs. Hunterís Lessee
  • McCulloch vs. Maryland
  • Gibbons vs. Ogden
  • Dred Scott vs. Sandford
The Monroe Doctrine
National Railroads
Steamboats and Canals
The Iron Horse
Francis C. Lowell
Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin
Early 19th Century Labor Unions
19th Century Life in
  • The South
  • The Northeast
  • The Frontier
  • Middle America
The Missouri  Compromise
Jacksonian America
Suffrage Rights in US
The Nullification Crisis and Daniel Webster
Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears
Panic of 1837 and Marin Van Buren

Religious Groups
  • German Mennonites
  • Unitarians and Universalists
  • Baptists
Mormons
Transcendentalism and Margaret Fuller
Henry David Thoreau and Walden Pond
The Temperance Movement
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Susan B. Anthony
Seneca Falls Convention
The Abolition Movement
Frederick Douglas
Sojourner Truth
Manifest Destiny
Sam Houston and the Alamo
The War with Mexico
The Gold Rush
Compromise of 1850
Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman
Bleeding Kansas
John Brownís Raid
The Civil War
  • Forming of the Confederacy
  • Fighting for the Union
  • Life of a Civil War Soldier
  • Battles of the Civil War
  • Military Technology
  • Southern Strategy
  • The Anaconda Plan
  • Stonewall Jackson
  • Ulysses S. Grant
  • Emancipation Proclamation
  • Shermanís March to the Sea
  • Lincolnís Assasination
Reconstruction
Freedmenís Bureau
Black Codes
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
KKK
Compromise of 1877

Lowell Mill Girls
Masons
Development of Photography
Republican Motherhood
Cult of Femininity
























 Last Modified: 1 September,2010