8th Grade Social Studies

Syllabus
Westport Middle School
2016-2017 School Year
Mrs. Custis
Email: rebecca.custis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Website: rebeccacustis.weebly.com
Room: 303
School Phone: 485-8346

Course Overview:

The Grade Eight Social Studies Program uses the five big ideas of social studies
(government/civics, cultures and societies, economics, geography and historical
perspective) to focus on an integrated approach to the study of United States history
from the Land and People before Columbus through the Civil War Era. Grade Eight Social
Studies places emphasis on the significant events, critical movements, and people of
various backgrounds who contributed to the building of our government and nation.

Major Units of Study/Course Outline:

Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit

One: Native Americans and the Age of European Exploration

Two: Colonial Settlements
Three: The American Revolution
Four: Establishing a New Nation: The Constitution
Five: The Federalist Era
Six: Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Seven: The Industrial Revolution
Eight: Compromise and Conflict: A Nation Divided
Nine: The Civil War and Reconstruction

Textbooks:
History Alive! The United States Through Industrialism: TCI
United States History, Beginnings to 1877: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston

Weekly Work Plan:

Each week students will get a work plan sheet. Students will use the work plan sheet as
a tool to stay on track of their learning activities and homework for the week. This plan is
broken up into different sections: learning targets, weekly assignments, daily learning
activities, extensions, vocabulary, and a weekly self-assessment.
Learning Targets:
The learning targets are there to help students understand important content
information they are expected to master. Students will take quizzes and other
assessments over these learning targets throughout the unit.
Weekly Assignments:
Each week students will have a secondary text reading with a notetaking that builds
their background knowledge over the weeks content. This activity will be a whole class
activity to give students the opportunity to participate in group and class discussion. The
rest of the week students will complete other assignments to deepen their
understanding of the weeks content. These activities will be very consistent from week
to week. They include analyzing a primary source, interpreting a map, chart, graph, or
diagram, watching a video over the topic, making connections between the content and
current events, and creating a product to display their learning and understanding of the
content. Students will work on these assignments in class and should finish them for
homework if they dont finish them in class. All weekly assignments are due on Monday
of the following week unless otherwise informed by Mrs. Custis.
*As the week progresses, students can check off the learning targets and
assignments they have completed. This work plan helps students stay organized and
gives them a tool to keep themselves accountable for their work and learning. It is
important to remember that the plan may change some during the week since I may
alter learning activities based on the needs of the class. Students can make changes to
the work plan during the week if needed.

Extensions:
Each six week grading term students will be responsible for making a project that shows
their learning and understanding about the most important events/topics from that six
weeks. I will have a list of the events/topics that students must cover. This project will
help students review important knowledge, allow them to be creative and hands-on, and
serve as their extension activity throughout the six week grading term. Anytime students
finish all of their workplan assignments they should work on their review project. Ideally,
students should work on their project a little bit every week. That way students can
complete it gradually and not get overwhelmed at the end of the grading term. Students
should set aside some time each week to work on their term project and focus on the

topics that we are studying in class for that week. Projects will be worth 100 points so
students need to make sure they complete this project every six weeks and turn it in on
time!

Grading:

The following components will be used to determine grades.

I. Student Engagement: 20%
a. Participation for Warm Ups and Cool Downs
b. Participation in learning activities (this includes independent work time)
II.

Student Progress: 30%

a. Reading Notes
b. Workplan Assignments

III.

Student Mastery: 50%

a. Quizzes
b. Summative Tests
c. Review Project (one per six weeks, worth 100 points)

Student Engagement:

The whole class benefits when everyone participates and students come prepared. One
of our primary goals will be to teach students responsibility. We also hope to enhance
critical thinking and the ability to connect social studies content to contemporary life.
When all students are prepared and ready to participate, the achievement of the class as
a whole is higher. Given this, students will be monitored daily for being on task and
participating in the learning activities, and will receive a score out of 10 every other
week (bi-weekly) for their participation on warm ups/cools and in-class participation. If
they do not complete the warm up or they are off task and not participating in the
learning activities, they will lose a point for that day. Students cannot receive a score of
below a 5 for this grade. To earn a 10/10 for participation students must:
1. Answer the Warm Up or Cool Down question on the back of the workplans
2. Participate in whole class/group discussion and learning activities
3. Staying focused and participate during independent work time

Student Progress:

Students will receive weekly assignments to complete in order to help them work toward
mastering the content. The goal of all weekly assignments is to help students master the
learning targets. All assignments have value and the more students are exposed to the
content, the more likely they are to authentically learn it. Students will receive a grade
for their participation in the reading and notes during class. I will collect the rest of the
workplan assignments on Monday and give students a grade based on their effort and
understanding of the content. Students will also take part in peer assessment on

Mondays so students need to make sure they are finished with their assignments so they
can participate.
In addition to weekly assignments, students will take quizzes and formative assessments
throughout the unit (most likely one a week). Students will be more successful on these
quizzes if they complete all of their weekly assignments.

All assignments and quizzes will be out of 10 points in the gradebook. Assignments in
social studies will be graded with the following rubric:
10 points (check plus): Assignment is completely finished and shows good effort and
a thorough understanding of the content.
8.5 points (check): Assignment is nearly complete and shows good effort and
understanding, but there are a few mistakes or items missing.
7 points (check minus): At least half of the assignment is complete, but there could
have been more time and effort spent on the product. Product does show some
understanding of the content, but there are multiple mistakes or inaccuracies.
6 points (minus): The assignment is very incomplete and the student clearly did not
spend enough time and effort on the assignment. The assignment shows little learning
and understanding, or there are quite a few mistakes and inaccuracies.
5 points: No work was done on the assignment or the assignment was not turned in to
the teacher.
Late Policy:
1-2 days late: minus point after being graded with the assignment rubric
3-4 days late: minus 1 point after being graded with the assignment rubric
A week or over: minus 2 points after being graded with the assignment rubric.
**Products that are not turned in by the end of the grading period will not be scored.
Quizzes and assessments will be graded with different rubrics based on the type of quiz
and number of items on the quiz but all quizzes and assessments will get a score of 4
(Distinguished), 3(Proficient), 2 (Apprentice), or 1 (Novice).
In the gradebook all assessment scores will be out of 10.
4 = 10
3 = 8.5
2=7
1=6
0 or blank = 5
In order for a student to be proficient on an assessment they must earn a score of at
least an 8. Any score below a 6 is not passing. If you see a score of 7 or below in
the grade book for a quiz or an assessment, you should be aware that your

child did not score at least proficient on the learning targets and they should
retake the quiz or earn back credit on the assessment!
Materials:
Students will need a class folder, composition notebook, and a 1 inch binder for class.
The class folder will help students keep track of their weekly assignments and the
composition notebook will be used daily for notes and other learning activities. The
binder is important because students will keep all of their vocabulary words for the year
in the binder so they can use it to study for assessments and the KPREP exam at the end
of the year.