Syllabus

Teacher: Marie Doucette Contact: mdouce70@maine.edu US Government Students will learn about the U.S. government’s structure, its relationship to its citizens, and how it differs from other world governments. To do this they will compare our government to other forms of government in the world. They will research the different parts of the U.S. government and create various types of products including Mind Maps, Wiki pages, and a Comic Life. The students will analyze the different ways that citizens in the Unites States can affect their government, what our government actually does do, and the differences between our government and other types of government in the world. They will be able connect this information to their own lives through journal entries, various self-assessments, and reflections. Maine Learning Results: Social Studies – B. Civics and Government B1 Knowledge, Concepts, Themes, and Patterns of Civics/Government Grades 11-12 Students understand the ideals, purposes, principles, structures, and processes of constitutional government in the United States and in the American political system, as well as examples of other forms of government and political systems in the world. Students will understand that the structures of the US government have specific relationships to the US citizens, that the three major branches of government have specific purposes, ideals, and principles that they each uphold, and that the process of constitutional government in the American political system is different from other forms of governments and political systems in the world. Assignments are required to be turned in on time, unless prior arrangements have been made in advance. You may have the opportunity to redo some assignments, if they are turned in on time and will be due one week after being returned to you. You must submit the original work, rubric, the revised work and a brief statement of the improvements you made to the assignment. All assigned work must be typed on a word processor using Times font, 12 points, unjustified and free of typographical, spelling and grammatical errors. Please keep a copy of all work submitted, until the final grade of the course has been determined. Academic honesty and integrity are important. This schools code of academic integrity is enforced in this course and students are expected to educate themselves. Please take the time to review the code. In case of an absence the student is responsible for finding out about any missed work or information. You can check the class Wiki, contact one of your partners, or me to acquire any missed information. If the student provides me with evidence (a note from a parent/guardian, a physician, a coach or another teacher) of extenuating circumstances that prevented them from contacting anyone about the assignment and/or completing the assignment, then I will provide them with extra time to complete their work with no grade penalty. The amount of time granted for an extension on an assignment may vary depending on factors such as length of the assignment or the extenuating circumstances mentioned previously. However, if there are no extenuating circumstances involved, I will deduct two points from the total grade of the assignment for each day (not class period) that the work is not completed or five points from the total grade per class period if it is the final assessment that is late. Below is the point value for each assignment and your grade will be based on the percent of points earned from the total points of 200. You will be journaling a reflection on each class time; you will be graded on content being relevant to class and participation. You must be present and actively engaged in all aspects of this course. You need to be prepared and a contributing member in all the learning components of this course. The understanding of the course content will be demonstrated by completing a WebQuest, designing a Comic Life that depicts how the United States government works, and a garage band interview with the heads of the five types of government that we studied. The presentation of these components is the final assessment. //__ A. Lesson 1 (10 points) __// //__ B. Lesson 2 (10 points) __// //__ C. Lesson 3 (10 points) __// //__ D. Lesson 4 (10 points) __// //__ E. Lesson 5 (10 points) __// //__ F. Lesson 6 (10 points) __// //__ A. Products (30 points) __// //__ B. Presentation (30points) __// This syllabus was built using Dr. Grace J. Ward’s spring 2008 EDU 221 syllabus as a guide. Thank you Dr. Grace. http://www.wikispaces.com/
 * __ COURSE __**
 * __ ESTABLISHED GOALS __**
 * __ UNDERSTANDINGS __**
 * __ ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS __**
 * How can a United States citizen affect the United States government?
 * What is the responsibility of each branch of government in respect to legislation, the other branches, its constitutional duty, and how are they each structured?
 * How is the constitutional government and American political system different from other forms of governments and political systems?
 * __ SELF-ASSESSMENT AND REFLECTION __**
 * Journal entries throughout the unit will be used for reflection on course content.
 * Pre and post survey comparison will be used to show progress.
 * Checklist for assigned tasks throughout the unit.
 * Students will have a chance to reflect on their understanding and refine their Wiki pages after feedback is given.
 * Wiki journals throughout the unit that must contain a paragraph reaction on class content.
 * __ EXPECTATIONS __**
 * __ BENCHMARKS __**
 * //__ Wiki Space journal (20 points) __//**
 * //__ Attendance and Participation (60 points) __//**
 * //__ PERFORMANCE TASK – Class assignments, WebQuest, and Presentation __//**
 * //__ Lessons (60 points): __//**
 * Students will build a page on their wiki that includes Google Earth snapshots and descriptions of the different governments.
 * Finally, students will build a mind map of the different branches of our government and link it to their wiki page for homework.
 * Create an Avatar of the senator and representative’s likeness to upload to their wiki page than includes a theme song and biography of each.
 * Comic Life of a bills progress through legislation.
 * Students will create a wiki page that includes a paragraph about the judicial branch and include two links that they found helpful in researching and a statement as to why, and a reaction to the game.
 * Students will create a mind map of the different reasons that justices make decisions.
 * //__ WebQuest Products and Presentation (60 points): __//**
 * Comic life will be graded on accurate content, proper mechanics, and creativity.
 * Garage Band will be graded on accurate content, creativity, and professionalism.
 * Your presentation will be graded on preparedness, content, time limit, comprehension, props, posture, and peer evaluation.
 * //__ GRADING SCALE: __//**
 * A ** (93 -100), **A-** (90 - 92), **B+** (87 - 89), **B** (83 - 86), **B-** (80 - 82), **C+**(77 - 79), **C** (73-76),
 * C- ** (70 - 72), **D+**(67 - 69), **D** (63 - 66), **D-** (60 - 62), **F** (0 - 59). A grade of a C- is required for each individual course in the Block. Your grade for the Block will be the average of the four grades you earn from each individual course of the Block.