Welcome to Mrs. Williams 6th Grade Social Studies Class!

E-mail: jennifer.williams@sccpss.com Phone: (912) 395-5075

Course description:
Sixth grade is the first year of a two-year World Area Studies course. Sixth grade students study Latin
America, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The goal of this two-year course is to acquaint middle school
students with the world in which they live. The geography domain includes both physical and human
geography. The intent of the geography domain is for students to begin to grasp the importance
geography plays in their everyday lives. The government/civics domain focuses on selected types of
government found in the various areas so that students begin to understand the variety of governments in
the world. The economics domain builds on the K-5 economics standards; however, the focus shifts from
the United States to how other countries answer the basic questions of economics. The history domain
focuses on major events in each region during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

For a list of standards that we will learn this year, please visit my E-chalk page or go to:
www.georgiastandards.org

1st Semester 2nd Semester

• Themes and understandings in social
studies/Map skills
• Government Systems- overall
• Economic Systems- overall
• Europe:
Geography/History/Government/
Economic systems
• Latin America- Geography/History
• Latin America- Government/Economics
• Australia –
Geography/History/Government/Economics
• Canada-
Geography/History/Government/Economics

Workbook: TBD

Textbook: Holt McDougal-Western World: The Americas, Europe, and the Pacific World (Primary,
class-set text) Students will be allowed to check-out a textbook if needed. Notes are provided to students
in class as well as online via Google Classroom.
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Grading Policy
The following grading policy has been adopted by Oglethorpe Charter School and can be found in the
student agenda on page 11.

A 90-100 - Excellent
B 80-89 – Above Average * NHI = Not Handed In and
C 73-79 - Average equates to a “0”
D 70-72 – Below Average
F below 70 - Failing

Students’ grades will be based on each of these weighted components

Class work 50%
Tests/Projects 30%
Quizzes 15%
Homework 5%
Quizzes/Projects/Test/Current Events
• Quizzes will be announced and unannounced and will cover information from class and/or
homework. Tests will be announced at least one week in advance. Students may re-take
previously failed assessments in tutorial for a highest possible score of 70.
• Projects will be assigned and students will be given a minimum of two weeks to complete them.
• Current event reports- Due dates TBA. A template and instructions will be provided to students in
class as well as online in E-chalk.
Homework

Homework will be assigned weekly. Please make sure that you have reviewed the school policies on
academics in the front of the student agenda. The homework policy is discussed on page 10. Finally,
homework is written on the board in class, copied in the student agenda under social studies, and
found on e-chalk (www.oglethropecharter.org). Late assignments are not accepted except in
cases of illness or emergency. Per OCS policy, failure to complete CW/HW will result in mandatory
Saturday School.
Assignment Heading

All assignments must have the proper paper heading in the right hand corner of the paper to ensure
timely grading.

Student name:
Date:
Period #:
Assignment title:

Tutorial
Tutorial will be on Monday from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. and no sign-up is required, but students must sign-in.
Parents must pick up students promptly at 4:05p.m. Students may re-take previously failed assessments
at this time for a highest possible score of 70.

Conferences: Please e-mail me to arrange a conference with the team or call the front office and leave a
message so that I can respond to you promptly.

Behavior: This will be monitored using the program Class Dojo on our team (www.classdojo.com). All
students were given letters on the 10th day of school with codes for both parents and their own child.
Please monitor your child’s account on a weekly basis. Only one account is needed as each teacher can
be linked to that one account. If you need this information again, please contact your child’s homeroom
teacher.

Technology
Technology will be an integral part of sixth grade social studies and students will often need access to a
computer and the Internet at home. Some of the educational websites we use will require students to
have a working email account. Each student has been issued a district e-mail address and Google Drive
account which consist of the following: first name. last name (dot separating the two)
@students.sccpss.com (Example: john.doe@students.sccpss.com ).The sites we use are trusted
educational sites and will NEVER require students to provide personal information such as full name,
address, phone number etc. If your child will not have access to a computer and/or Internet access
this school year, however OCS is a 1:1 technology school so there are many opportunities for
students to access technology. If you feel this will be an issue, please let me know as soon as
possible so that we can form a plan for to assist your child.

Please keep this syllabus in the front of the Social Studies section of your child’s
notebook! Please note that some of this syllabus may be subject to change by the
teacher based on student needs.