Social Studies Syllabus 14-15

Social Studies Syllabus

Course Description

Social Studies in 8^th grade is driven by the Delaware Curriculum which can be accessed on the Delaware Department of Education website. This course will consist of challenging levels of thinking, reading, writing and speaking about American History, geography, and world events.

Supplies

v    Pencils – always have 5 sharpened pencils ready to go

v    Blue or black ink pens for class

v    Highlighters – at least two or three colors

v    Loose leaf paper- have at least 50 clean pages with you for class

v    Binder for handouts

v    Hand-held pencil sharpener

v    Agenda book

v    If possible a thumb drive or flash drive to save work from class to home

v    Earbuds or earphones to plug into the computer

v    2 boxes of tissues – send into Core 1 teacher

v    Germex for hand washing without soap and water

Classroom Expectations

Rule – Keep a positive and productive learning environment. Student will respect themselves, the teachers, each other and property.

Students are expected to work with each other, share information and projects, and participate in classroom activities. Students will be held to high standards.  Willingness to participate and persevere will be rewarded.

Students are expected to treat the computers with respect and care at all times. See Computer Use Agreement.

Consequences

Students are expected to follow the Mariner Middle and Cape Henlopen School District code of conduct. Classroom consequences will include verbal warning, teacher/student conference. If the problem persists then time out, and office referral will follow.

Procedures and Policies

1.     Students will be issued a text book, History Alive.  Many readings will be taken from this book. Students will take notes and outline chapters working in partners and individually.

2.     Grades will be taken from tests, quizzes, projects, classroom participation and worksheet completion.

3.     Major social studies projects will be worth 300 points. Each will include a rubric so that the requirements are clear.

4.     Students are required to take notes in class.  We will be using Cornell notes.

5.     Homework: review your notes from the day and the week. Reread the chapter and write reflection on what you have read. There will be Geography Country Projects to complete partially at home and you will need markers and crayons. Read, watch or listen to national and international news.  Plan to discuss the major news stories.

6.     It is requested that all assignments be typed, font Arial, 14 point, except where noted.  If you work at home save all of your work on your hard drive or upload it to Google Documents. You may bring in a flash with work on it to transfer to your file at school.

7.     You will create a special MMS gmail account to use for this class/year and a blog for projects and information/collaboration. 

8.     Geography Country Project will consist of researching a country and doing a series of lessons related to it.

9.     CNN Student News – We will watch ten minutes of commercial-free CNN Student News each day.  Students will fill out a graphic organizer with information from the news stories.

10.  Please keep all handouts in your 3-ring binder to study and for reference.

11.  Students are to check their grades and assignments online and make up the work in a timely manner. Let Ms. Albanese know if you need to make up work.  If a student has one day excused absence, that student has one extra day to make up missed work including homework, test, and/or quiz.  For an unexcused absence, missed assignments may not be made up and receive a zero.  A missed test must be made up within 5 days.   Extended excused absences will receive special completion due dates.  Late work will not be accepted.

12.  Use the restroom before/after class or before lunch or during Exploratories. No restroom during class.

13.  Use please and thank you. Be helpful in class. Find something positive to say!   The classroom is your home. Be respectful of each other and the teacher. 

A Special Note to Parents and Caregivers,

This marks my 36th year teaching!  I am delighted to be teaching students at the eighth grade level!  I have a love of children, language, writing, history, politics, technology and reading.  These all merge to allow me the privilege of being your child’s social studies teacher at Mariner Middle.   

If you wish to contact me there are now many ways! Call the school at any time and leave a message on my voice mail.  Email me or write a note in your child’s agenda.  I will make every effort to call you back or contact you as soon as possible. Please leave your number, cell phone or other when you call.

Please talk with your child about your own history and the news as much as possible

See you at the Open House. Thank you in advance for your support! 

Diane Saienni Albanese, NBCT

Parent Information Form – SS

Please fill out the information below and return it to Ms. Albanese by Friday.

Student Name ________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian(s) Name(s) ________________________________________________________________________
home phone ________________________________________

Cell phone(s)  __________________________________________________________

Email address ___________________________________________________________

Best time to call _________________________________________________________

Mailing address _________________________________________________________