United States History
Class Welcome and Expectations - 2009-2010 School Year
Textbook: Creating America: A History of the United States, Beginnings
through WWI © 2007.
Teacher: Brian Cassady, 8th grade US History,
Community Service Sponsor
• Bachelor of Arts (Honors), History, CSUN (1997)
• Master of Arts (Educational Leadership), CSUN (2008)
Teacher Contact:
I can be reached via email me at bdc1539@lausd.net or call 818/678-4100
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see that
it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve
them…They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." –
Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787.
Overview and Objective: The quote above is Jefferson’s thoughts on the
importance and challenge of education. His statement sets the tone for our
course of study in American History, which will take us from colonization
and the creation of our nation, through the young nation’s near destruction
in the Civil War and its fitful recovery during Reconstruction. Students
will develop critical thinking, historical interpretation, and research and
communication skills. Equally important, students will explore and come to
appreciate the civic and cultural values that make us uniquely American.
Our country has a rich heritage. It will be my objective this year to delve
into that heritage – and in so doing to challenge my students
intellectually, to develop in them new levels of academic skill, especially
clear thinking and clear communicating, and to engender in them a true and
informed understanding and love of our nation’s history.
Classroom Procedures/Guidelines:
1. INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOK THIS YEAR.
2. It is your responsibility to keep a calendar to track due dates –
your PLANNER would be a good place for this. Stay organized and
assignments, quizzes and tests will always be manageable. Please let me
know if you need assistance staying organized – I will be happy to help.
3. In fairness to those who complete work on time, I will deduct 10%
off your total available points per day for work that is submitted late.
4. Please be on time to class. Attendance is important and directly
related to success. The Holmes Middle School Tardy Policy will be strictly
enforced. (see page 3 of the PLANNER)
5. Absences:
• It is a student responsibility to see me after an absence to make up
any missed work or to receive class material.
• If you are absent the day a project is due, it must be in school or
it is considered late (unless special circumstances prevent this; you must
communicate with me).
Classroom Management Policy:
To maintain a positive and effective learning environment:
1. Be in your seat, prepared with necessary books and supplies, before the
tardy bell rings.
2. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat and/or to speak.
3. Keep the classroom a neat, clean, distraction-free learning atmosphere.
4. Extend courteous behavior at all times to all school personnel and fellow
classmates.
5. A student may only be excused to go to the restroom if it is an emergency.
6. Gum is not allowed on the campus.
7. No student is to be out of class without a hall pass.
Material and Supplies Needed:
For the school year, students will need at least the following:
4, 70 sheet spiral notebooks
150, 3x5 note cards
Many black/blue pens and pencils
Assessments:
We will use a variety of assessments. Assessments arise from the natural
flow of learning activities – they are not ends in themselves. It is
important to complete all graded assignments to the best of your ability;
when you don’t, the missed points can really add up, with obvious effect at
the end of the term. The following formats and point values may change – I
will let you know – but represent a fair sampling of what to expect:
1. Tests: 50 – 100 points. May include some of all of the following:
Short Answer, Identification, Multiple Choice, and Essay.
2. Document Based Questions (DBQs): 50 – 100 points. Essay questions
that will require the writer to incorporate information from documents in
the DBQ as well as outside information learned in class.
3. Debates/Role Plays: 20 – 100 points. Informally conducted exercises
on a specific controversial topic; generally will require some research and
analysis of an historical topic.
4. Projects: 50 – 100 points. Longer-term projects, usually written
work, that engage your analytical and creative minds, and which generally
will involve presentations to the class. The Internet will often come into
play. May involve a partner or partners.
5. Quizzes: 10 – 40 Points. Generally announced, but you never know…
Objective and subjective.
6. Current Events: 20 Points. Group work. Bulletin board display to
be created by each group, one per marking period. Sources: newspapers,
magazines, Internet, television. Will include group presentation of the
material to class.
7. Homework: 5 – 30 points. Generally involves reading in order to
prepare for the next day’s class. Readings will be in the textbook, or in
handouts. Notes and readiness for class will determine credit. There may
be assigned television programs to watch and report on.
8. Class Participation: Class participation is highly valued and points
will be awarded on a subjective and fair basis.
Grading: Points Earned divided by Total Possible Points. If a student
earns 450 points in a term, out of a possible total of 530 points, his score
will be 450/530, or 85%.
90 – 100% = A
80 – 89% = B
70 – 79% = C
60 – 69% = D
0 – 59% = F
Cheating/plagiarism:
Quite simply…ANY form of cheating will not be tolerated.
In this class, cheating is defined as copying answers/work from another
student, giving answers to another student in this class or any other class
(when it is not part of the assignment), talking during a test or quiz,
passing notes during a test or quiz or copying another person’s work
(whether from class or from a book, magazine, website etc). Included in
this is the mere attempt to do any of the above-mentioned items. I am
working under that assumption, and by the signing this syllabus, students
and parents acknowledge that cheating is not allowed and will be punished.
A Note About the Internet and the World Wide Web:
It is my hope that students can explore the considerable resources available
to historians on the Web [for example The National Archives
(www.archives.gov)], and I will encourage them to do so. We do have some
access to the Web in our library, computer labs and classroom computers;
however, this is limited. Computer access will only be allowed with a school-
issued i.d. card.
Special Note to Students:
Retain these guidelines in your class folder and refer to them as needed.
If conditions warrant it, amendments will be made as the year progresses.
Thank you. I consider it a great privilege to be your teacher!
