Course Syllabus: US History

Northview Senior Academy

Mr. Seth Hale
Room Number: B-209
Email: sethhale@sevier.org
Website: haletothechief.weebly.com

Course Objective: The objective of this course is for students to examine and analyze the
systems, people, and structure of United States History starting with the Reconstruction Era.
Students who complete this course will have a working knowledge of the people and events in
the progressive era, World War 1, the Great Depression, World War 2, the Cold War Era, and
current endeavors of the United States of America. Students will use this knowledge to apply to
their current lives.

Textbook: The textbooks used for this class will be Prentice Hall US History: Post-
Reconstruction to Present.

Additional Materials: Students will need to come to class prepared with paper and pencil
everyday for notes and to participate in activities.

Classroom Structure
This class will be taught using a variety of methods to help ensure student achievement based
off of the Tennessee State Standards. These methods will include traditional classroom lecture,
group discussions, hands-on activities, projects, and writing assignments. My goal with the
class is for students to control both the pace and the learning which takes place within this
class. Students will be asked to engage with the material personally in order to derive meaning
from the current economy.

Classroom rules
1.) Students will show respect. Students will show respect to everyone involved in the
learning process. This will largely include three people groups. You will show respect to
fellow students. You will show respect to the teacher. You will show respect to yourself.
2.) Classroom issues and Discipline will be handled after class or school, nothing will be
handled in front of the class with other students as an audience.
3.) Students will abide by school rules. This class is a subset of a larger culture. Rules
that exist over this classroom will exist within this classroom.
4.) Students will not plagiarize. Students will not copy the work of others or use work that
is not their own. Showing you do not understand something and need further help is
consistently better than using the work of others.
5.) Cell Phone Policy. Cell phone use will be prohibited in class unless given permission
by Mr. Hale. Students who break this rule may have their cell phones taken up until the
end of the day. Repeated offences will result in the phone being taken down to the
office.
Tests- Students will have 5 or 6 tests and a final exam. The tests will cover the most recent
units while the final exam will be comprehensive. Tests will fall about every two-three weeks
and will be a combination of multiple choice, short response, and long response questions.
Students will be able to work for extra credit on the tests but there will be no test retakes. The
final test will be 15% of entire grade. The following units and topics will be grouped
Test 1- Reconstruction and Into a New Era
Test 2- The Progressive Era and the Early 1900s
Test 3- World War 1 and Colonialism
Test 4- The Roaring 20s and the inter-War Period
Test 5- Great Depression and WWII
Test 6- Cold War Era
Test 7- The Modern Era
Final Exam- Comprehensive (State Test.

Quizzes- Quizzes will be given throughout the course to ensure student understanding. These
quizzes may be announced or unannounced and may or may not include previous notes.

Projects: Within each section, students will have to complete at least one major project. Some
class time will be given to work on these projects but students may need to work on these from
home. These projects will be a combination of group and individual work.

Daily Work/Homework:. These assignments will assess student understanding as we

progress through the curriculum and allow students to provide feedback and opinions on
different issues.

Participation: The participation grade will be given at the end of the week and assess student
participation in group work and general attentiveness. Students will lose points for distracting
other students and taking away from the general classroom. Student Bell Work will also make
up a part of this grade.

Late Work- Students will be expected to turn in a prompt manner, but late work will be accepted
with a point penalty.