US History: 11th Grade

Syllabus

Instructor: Ms. Glaspie

1037 University Avenue West

Email: jolene.glaspie@stpaul.k12.mn.us

Office Hours: 3:00-4:00 daily in room 1040

Course Length: One Year-2 quarters  (Offered all year)

Course Description:

This journey into our nation’s past will be filled with themes relating to five key ideals for which our country has been built upon: DEMOCRACY, RIGHTS, LIBERTY, OPPORTUNITY, AND EQUALITY. Throughout the course these ideals will be considered as we explore the major events, laws, people, and places that helped to shape who we are as a society. The course begins with the story of the Indigenous experience, a focus of colonial settlement, the economics and politics of enslavement, as well as significant social movements like the Civil Rights era. The goal will be to study the nations origins in the 1400’s through present day, however, although this is the ideal, it not always the reality.  This one-year course presents historical and contemporary views of people, places, events and dates from multiple perspectives. Students will examine how the development of the United States of America has been impacted by many influences including its resources, documents, ideals, and relationships with other nations and its peoples whose many cultures have enriched the country. Upon completion of the course, students will have developed the knowledge and skills needed to satisfy the Minnesota Academic Standards in U.S. History.The content of the course is huge! However, we will do our best to learn as much as we can about the most important times and people that created what we now call the United States of America.

Essential Content Questions Explored in the Course:

Quarters 1 & 3

• How did migration, trade and conflict influence selected indigenous nations? How do they compare and contrast? (1400-1500’s)
• How did Indigenous nations of North American and European colonists have an impact on each other?
• How did the Triangular Trade develop and impact the Colonies? (1600’s)
• How did political and social ideas affect the colonies? (1600’s)
• What military and political events led the North American colonies to break with Great Britain? (1700”s)
• What were the major political events of the new nation? (1700’s)
• What were the domestic and international reactions to US expansion? How were Indigenous nations impacted? (1800’s)
• How did new technology impact agriculture, transportation and communication? How did these technologies in turn affect labor?
• What were social reform movements? What were the major cultural and religious reform movements? (1800’s)
• Why did the Civil War begin? (1861-1865)
• What were the stages of emancipation for enslaved African Americans
• What federal policies were successful during Reconstruction? Which were unsuccessful? (1870’s)
• Why did the struggle for emancipation have to continue after the Reconstruction amendments?
• What were the failures of Reconstruction?
• How did federal policies affect indigenous nations?
• Why did the United States expand its influence beyond its borders?
• How did citizens and the federal government address social, political and economic inequalities?

Quarters 2 & 4

• What were the Roaring 1920’s?
• What led to the Great Depression? (1930’s)
• How did the New Deal address the Great Depression?
• Why did the U.S. enter World War II? (1940’s)
• How did strategies differ during campaigns in different world regions?
• How did World War II affect the US?
• What were the differing social, political and economic ideologies of the USSR and the USA that led to the Cold War? (1950’s)
• How did conflict between the USSR and the USA play out during the Cold War?
• What was the historical context of the anti-Vietnam War movement? (1950’s-1970’)
• What were the causes and effects of the Secret War in Laos?
• Which U.S. foreign policies led to compromise and which policies led to conflict during the Cold War?
• What were the roots, obstacles, tactics and legacies of the Civil Rights Movement? (1960’s-1980’s)
• What were changes in the federal government's policy towards American Indians?
• What is the long term legacy of the Civil Rights Movements?
• How has the United States been involved in World affairs since the end of the Cold War?
• What Is the difference between an immigrant and a refugee?
• How have immigrants and refugees contributed to United States society? (present day)
• Do Black Lives Matter? What are the current social movements of our day? How are we impacted?

Course Requirements:

*Students are expected to complete all assigned readings, use the AVID learning strategies taught  and participate in class discussions and other engaging exercises. Students also need to complete quizzes, test, essays and assignments.

*US History Journal (Keep all lessons for the course in the self-created notebook)

*Schoology (Check Schoology daily as a way to know what lessons are assigned and to keep up with the grade you’re striving to earn.)

*Use the textbook, “History Alive” and various articles assigned as a means to answer the essential questions.

*Give presentations.

*Help to create and be a part of an atmosphere that promotes positivity and support for self and others in the course.

Student Evaluation & Assessments

“A” 90-100% (Student earns high tests scores, turns in all essays, completes all journal lessons, participates in class discussions, gives presentations, misses less than 3 days in the course.)

“B” 80-89% (Student earns high tests scores, turns in all essays, completes all journal lessons participates in class discussions, gives presentations, misses less than 5 days in the course.)

“C” 70-79% (Student tries to complete all or most of the lessons in the course and misses less than 9 days in the course.)

“D”60-69% (Student misses assignments and days of school, but takes all quizzes and completes all essays assigned.)

“D-” 50-59% (Student misses many lessons taught, but still takes quizzes missed due to multiple days missed in the course.)

“N”-0-49% (Very little lessons completed, nor effort put into the course, and misses far too many days of school to pass.)

All tasks completed  in the course are used to create a formative and summative assessment grade that will be accumulated at the end of the course to show how many points earned. The final grade will be determined by the amount of points earned for all lessons completed.

Late Work: I will accept late work, but points will be reduced (usually 5-10 points for everyday the lesson is not done for up to two weeks.).  If turned in three weeks late, the grade for the lesson will be reduced by 50% automatically.

Essays: All essays should be written using the guiding prompt questions provided for the lesson. Also, use MLA double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman). You must complete these essays to pass the course. Rough drafts will need to be completed in your journals for the class.