• NWMS Seventh Grade Social Studies Syllabus


    Course Name:  World History/Pacific Northwest History

    Course Description:  In seventh grade, students become more proficient with the core concepts in social studies through two parts. Half of the year is focused on a continuation of World History from sixth grade as students look at the major course themes of major societies up through 1450. The other half of the year looks at Pacific Northwest History spanning 1854 to the present.

    Course Standards and Themes:

    1. CIVICS: The student understands and applies knowledge of government, law, politics, and the nation's fundamental documents to make decisions about local, national, and international issues and to demonstrate thoughtful, participatory citizenship. 
    2. ECONOMICS: The student applies understanding of economic concepts and systems to analyze decision­ making and the interactions between individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies. 
    3. GEOGRAPHY: The student uses a spatial perspective to make reasoned decisions by applying the concepts of location, region, and movement and demonstrating knowledge of how geographic features and human cultures impact environments. 
    4. HISTORY: The student understands and applies knowledge of historical thinking, chronology, eras, turning points, major ideas, individuals, and themes in local, Washington State, tribal, United States, and world history in order to evaluate how history shapes the present and future. 
    5. SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS: The student understands and applies reasoning skills to conduct research, deliberate, form, and evaluate positions through the processes of reading, writing, and communicating.

    Course Resources 

    TCI:  The Medieval World and Beyond

    The Washington Journey


    Course Outline/Instructional Units:

    Units and Major Assessments 

    1. World History 450­-1450:
      1. Unit 6: Civilizations of the Americas 
        1. Chapters 22-­26 
        2. DBQ: Unit 8: The Aztecs: Should Historians Emphasize Agriculture or Human Sacrifice?
      2. Unit 1: Europe during Medieval Times 
        1. Chapters 1- ­6 
        2. DBQ: World Unit 6: Samurai and Knights: Were the Similarities Greater Than the Differences? 
      3. Unit 8: Europe Enters the Modern Age
        1. Chapters 32-­34 

     

    1. Pacific Northwest History 
      1. Government, Citizenship, and Civics; and PNW 1854­-1889 
        1. Government, Citizenship, and Civics 
        2. Territory and Treaty Making (1854-­1889) 
        3. DBQ: Should Schools Be Allowed to Limit Students’ Online Speech?
      2. PNW 1889­-present
        1. Railroads, Reform, Immigration, and Labor (1889­-1930)
        2. Great Depression and World War II (1930-­1945)
        3. New Technologies and Industries (1945­-1980) 
        4. Contemporary Washington State (1980­-present)

     

    Grading:

    NWMS Grade Scale

    Letter Grade

    A

    A-

    B+

    B

    B-

    C+

    C

    C-

    D+

    D

    F

    Percentage

    93% and above

    90% - 92%

    88% - 89%

    83% - 87%

    80% - 82%

    78% - 79%

    73% - 77%

    70% - 72%

    68% - 69%

    60% - 67%

    50% - 59%

    Grade Categories and Weighting:

    Category Percentage of overall grade

    Summative (Tests, quizzes, papers, projects, presentations) 60%

    Daily Work (In class assignments, homework, student notebooks) 40%

    Grade Reporting:

    1. Students and parents can check grades at any time on-line through Family Access (contact the Main Office for help accessing Family Access).
    2. Teachers will update grades at least every 2 weeks.
    3. Progress reports will be available every quarter (9 weeks) through Family Access.  If you do not have on-line access, contact the Main Office for a hard copy of the progress report.
    4. Report cards (official grades) are produced at the end of each semester (18 weeks), and are available through Family Access. If you do not have on-line access, contact the Main Office for a hard copy of the progress report.

    Re-Do/Late Work Policy:

    Work assigned in class is important for learning and to determine student progress.  Students are expected to complete ALL major assignments to standard, even if they turn in the work late or need to re-do the work.  Students with documented accommodations will be provided those.

    Students have the opportunity to re-do summative and formative assignments during a time after the graded work has been returned. Typically this will be two weeks that students will have the opportunity to turn in a redo or a late assignment/assessment.  Work turned in on time and demonstrating full effort may be re-done for up to full credit. In order to re-do part or all of a major assignment, the student must:

    1. Talk with the teacher to understand what needs to be done for re-do.
    2. Demonstrate effort to improve or re-learn the material (determined by the teacher).
    3. Complete the revised work within 2 week2 (or other agreed upon deadline) of receiving the original graded work.
    4. If additional time is needed beyond 2 weeks, please contact the teacher.

    Extra Help:

    NWMS expects all students to meet the learning targets and earn passing grades in their classes.  For students who need more time or individualized instruction to be successful, opportunities for extra help are available.  Students are encouraged to seek extra help on their own as soon as they recognize that they are struggling.  Also, teachers may assign students to come in for extra help when they see a student falling behind or struggling.

    Teachers are available before and after school to provide extra help for students on a regular basis.  Teachers will provide a schedule of extra help times that they will be available in their classroom.  Special arrangements can be made by contacting the teacher directly via email or phone.

    NWMS Plagiarism/Cheating Policy:

    Any student, who knowingly turns in any work that has been done by someone other than himself or herself, and fraudulently represents it as his/her own, shall be considered to have cheated.

    Cheating also includes:  aiding someone else in cheating, the use or preparation of written, pictorial, or other materials not authorized by the instructor during a test or assignment, the use of testing materials obtained previous to the test date, or plagiarism of any kind.  

    The first violation of cheating will be handled at the classroom level and will result in:

    1. Parent notification.
    2. Administration notification.
    3. Redo the assignment without plagiarism or cheating with added supervision or conditions; the final grade for this assignment will not be garnished for plagiarism or cheating.  If the assignment is not redone, the student will earn a 50% score.

    Students who cheat repeatedly will also be subject to an office referral, which could result in a suspension.