S+Nielsen,+Brandi

American History I **Syllabus**

Office: EDU Center 112 Office Phone: 123-4567 Office Hours:** **Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00-11:00**
 * Teacher: Ms. Nielsen
 * E-mail:** brandi.nielsen@maine.edu


 * =Summary of Unit= ||
 * Students will learn about the American Revolution and how events during that time were perceived by different people. They will learn about the actions that lead up to the war, and how those instances effected peoples viewpoints. Students will also learn about the battles and the opposing forces. Students will create a Comic Life of the events leading up to the Revolutionary War. They will also participate in two webquests. The first will outline battles and spies during the American Revolution. The second will require students to fully understand the perspective of people during the war. They will be apart of a newspaper team and contribute to that paper. In the end students will understand why the war happened and the internal fight among budding Americans. ||

//**Students understand major eras, major enduring themes and historic influences in the United States and World history including the roots of democratic philosophy, ideals and institutions in the World.**// d. Analyze and critique varying interpretations of historical people, issues, or events, and explain how evidence is used to support different interpretations. ||
 * **Establish Goals: (G)** ||  ||
 * **Maine Learning Results:** Social Studies - E. History
 * E1 Historical Knowledge, Concepts, Themes, and Patterns**
 * Grade 69-Diploma** "The Revolutionary Era 1754-1783"

//What understandings are desired?//
•The outcome of the war was affected by many different variables. •Different perspectives yield different stories. ||
 * //Students will understand that:// **(U)** ||
 * •The past can help explain the present and the future.

//What essential questions will be considered?//
•What were the opposing sides strengths and weaknesses and how did they affect the outcome? •Why do different perspectives change the story that is told? ||
 * **Essential Questions:** **(Q)** ||
 * •How do the events leading up to the revolutionary war continue to affect us today and into the future?

//What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?//
Sugar Act, Currency Act, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, Townshend Revenue Acts, and the Sons of Liberty, Boston Massacre, Townshend Acts repealed, Committee of correspondence, Tea Act, Boston tea Party, Coercive Acts, Boycott, new version of Quartering Act, and The First continental Congress, Paul Revere, Lexington and Concord, Second Continental Congress, George Washington, Bunker Hill, Washington Crosses Delaware, Saratoga, France sails over, Charleston, King Mountain, Cowpens, Guilford, Longest battle, and York Town. •Terms Loyalist, Patriot, British, Americans •Important Documents Olive Branch Petition, Common Sense, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, The Constitution. || •Describe why taxes played an important role in the events leading up to the war. • Illustrate their knowledge of the different battles. • Exhibit knowledge of the two opposing sides of the war. •d. Analyze how different perspectives create different interpretations. • Consider the different perspectives of t the Loyalists and the Patriots. • Be aware of how certain events led up to the war. ||  ||
 * //Students will know:// **(K)** || //Students will be able to do:// **(S)** ||
 * •Important Events & People
 * A single event can seem different to every person that views it. You are a reporter during the time of the Revolutionary War. You are going to create an online newspaper so that you will be able to inform fellow colonists about the current events happening around you. You will be writing the newspaper from you own personal perspective, being biased is okay. You will be a part of an editorial staff with like minded people who share the same perspective you do. You are going to research different events that are happening in the Revolutionary War. Do not forget what your own personal perspective is because you are writing for like minded people and you do not want to end up tarred and feathered. You will enter eye witness accounts into a wiki you built and designed to look like a newspaper. Each member of the editorial staff will cover at least two different important stories that are going on, but you MUST remember to include multimedia into the wiki, such as pictures, videos, and sound, so that your online newspaper comes alive to your readers. Remember that you are a part of an editorial staff. You are there to help each other. Make sure to support your fellow staff members by bouncing ideas off of each other, and editing each others pages. You also want to keep up with the opposing classroom newspapers. Each member of the newspaper will be keeping up with one of the other newspapers. You will send an editorial to the newspaper you are "spying on.". Though remember that you must convey your ideas in a respectful way to your fellow Revolutionary War journalists and yet you want to try to sway them into seeing and understanding your perspective. ||


 * =Expectations= ||
 * 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. This course follows the academic integrity policy of this school. You are expected to understand the policy, please take the time to find it in the handbook and read it. ||


 * =Benchmarks= ||
 * Below is the point value for each assessment and your grade will be base on the percent of points earned from the total points of 300.

__**Attendance and Participation**__: (80 points) 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.

__**Blogs**__ - (50 points) You will be writing in your blog as reflections from class, or your own ideas.

__**Comic Life**__ - (30 points) You will create a comic life of the events leading up to the American Revolution. You will pick one event to depict with a partner and then the class will combine all the events to have a complete view of the start to the war.

__**Spy Webquest**__ - (60points) You will create a map, a letter in code, the decoder to your letter, and a military plan to complete the webquest.

__**PERFORMANCE TASK**__ - (80 points) You will make an online newspaper with a certain viewpoint in mind. You will be apart of a team, and will be expected to contribute a certain number of articles. You will also be expected to include music, pictures, videos, and Google earth into your newspaper. At the end you will participate in a debate about issues concerning citizens during the American Revolution with people that have different perspectives than your own. ||


 * =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) ||