U.S. History II
(Social Studies: U.S. Studies Cluster)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This integrated, collaboratively taught Social Studies Content class will provide all students an opportunity to study primary and secondary source documents and arelated sources so they will know
about and understand the ways in which historical events have shaped their lives and the ways
in which their lives will shape history. By satisfying requirements of this study,
all students will become more informed, skilled, productive, employable, and socially
responsible citizens.
SWRSD OUTCOMES
Outcome 1:
Students demonstrate many forms of communication.
Outcome 4:
Students learn and understand their rights and responsibilities and work together
as members of a democratic society.
Outcome 5:
Students demonstrate honesty, respect, concern, and caring for themselves, their environment,
and others.
Outcome 7:
Students use a variety of ways to think and to reason when solving problems and making
thoughtful decisions.
COURSE OUTLINE
CONTENT
(Essential course facts, concepts, and basic skills; assessed
with
teacher
-made
tests
and
rubrics
)
Major Units of Study
A. Turn of the 20th Century - Moving Westward
Alaska Content Standard(s): Standard B History
(A student should understand historical themes through factual knowledge of time,
places, ideas, institutions, cultures, peoples, and events.)
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- correctly spell, define, and use in proper context a variety of key terms/concepts
(homesteaders, exodusters, cooperatives)
- identify key players in time of westward movement (Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Crazy
Horse, Susette La Flesche, Helen Hunt Jackson, Alice Fletcher, William Jennings
Bryan)
- explain the effect of westward movement on Indian ways (railroad effects on buffalo;
Fort Larramie and Chivington Massacre; gold discovery effects on Sioux lands
[Custer, Little Bighorn]; reservation resistance on the Nez Pierces, assimilation
efforts on the Sioux [Ghost Dance, Wounded Knee])
- demonstrate knowledge of cowboys, historical roots (vaqueros), problems between ranchers
and farmers, and sheep herders
- identify the problems of farmers in the late 1800s (grasshoppers, lack of arable
land) and their methods of solving them (National Grange, Farmers' Alliance, Populist
Party)
- explain the problems with railroad companies (rebates, pools)
B. Turn of the Century - Industry and Immigration
Alaska Content Standard(s): Standard B: History
(A student should understand that history is a record of human experiences that links
the past to the present and the future.)
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
1. correctly spell, define, and use in proper context a variety of key terms/concepts
(corporations, trust, monopoly, free enterprise, assimilation, Ellis Island)
- identify people who were key figures during this time ( Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller,
Edison, Elijah McCoy, Granville Woods, Henry Ford, Samuel Gompers, Mary Harris
Jones, Jane Addams, Horatio Alger, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Jack London, Emily Dickinson)
- demonstrate knowledge of the inventions from this time period, as well as their effects
on society (use of steel, light bulb, mimeograph, power plant, refrigeration,
typewriter, camera, automobile, mass production
- explain the negative effects of trusts on labor and the economy (continued low wages,
strikes, high prices); explain why Congress found the Sherman Antitrust Act to be
necessary
- describe the effects of industrialization on labor practices; form an opinion about
labor unions
- list the reasons Americans felt threatened by "new" immigrants (Southern and Eastern
Europeans, Asians); evaluate their reasoning
- explain the cause and effect relationship/s between the influx of immigrants and
industrialization on the growth of cities, and the impact of this on social conditions
(slums, ghettos); identify reforms of this time (education, literacy)
C. More Reform
Alaska Content Standards: Standard C History
(A student should develop the skills and processes of historical inquiry.)
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- correctly spell, define, and use in proper context a variety of key terms/concepts
(spoils system, reform, muckraker, primary, initiative, referendum, recall, suffragists,
temperance, conservation, public interest)
- identify key players (Carrie Chapman Catt, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Booker
T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Sarah Walker, George Washington Carver, Jane Addams)
- list at least two problems and their solutions from the Progressive Movement (banking
problems--Federal Reserve Act; trusts, unfair business practices--Federal Trade
Commission; spoils system--Civil Service Commission; unsafe food practices--Pure
Food and Drug Act; railroad problems--Interstate Commerce Commission; discrimination
against Blacks--NAACP)
- List the two major Constitutional Amendments from this time period and what they
accomplished (18th--Prohibition; 19th--women's suffrage)
D. Expansion Overseas/World War I
Alaska Content Standard(s): Standard B: History
(A student should understand historical themes through factual knowledge of time,
places, ideas, institutions, cultures, people, and events.)
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- correctly spell, define, and use in proper context a variety of key terms/concepts
(isolationism, nationalism, imperialism, militarism, mobilization, armistice, pacifist,
self-determination, reparations)
- distinguish the roles of key events in territorial expansion/sphere of influence:
- Great White Fleet
- purchase of Alaska
- annexation of Hawaii
- Open Door Policy
- Boxer Rebellion
- The Maine
- Spanish-American War
- Cuban "independence"
- Platt Amendment
- Foraker Act
- Philippines
- Panama Canal
Roosevelt Corollary
- outline the factors which contributed to World War
- entangling alliances (Triple Alliance and Triple Entente)
- the "isms" (nationalism, imperialism, militarism)
- the way in which the assassination of a duke could bring about world war (in connection
with the above listed items)
- identify the two main means of warfare in World War I (trench warfare, submarine
warfare)
- list the key events of the war (as far as involving Americans)
- sinking of the Lusitania
- Zimmerman note
- Russian Revolution-->Bolshevik takeover-->Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- Battle of Argonne Forest
- summarize the weak points of the Treaty of Versailles
- the potential effects of high reparations demanded of Germany
- Germany's loss of its land holdings
- Germany being forced to accept full responsibility for the war
- the effects the above would have on Germany
- Wilson's Fourteen Points/Weaknesses of League of Nations
E. The Interwar Years/World War II
Alaska Content Standards: Standard B: History
(A student should understand historical themes through factual knowledge of time,
places, ideas, institutions, cultures, people, and events.)
Alaska Content Standard C: History
(A student should develop the skills and processes of historical inquiry.)
Alaska Content Standard D: History
(A student should be able to integrate historical knowledge with historical skill
to effectively participate as a citizen and as a lifelong learner.)
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- correctly spell, define, and use in proper context a variety of key terms/concepts
(anarchists, quotas, deficit)
- identify contributing factors in making this a time of chaos
- Teapot Dome Scandal
- risky business (installment buying, buying on margin)
- decrease in demand for farm goods in post-WWI years, dustbowl problems
- anarchy and communism (Red Scare)
- anti-immigrant sentiment (e.g. Sacco and Vanzetti)
- labor problems
- Prohibition and spinoff problems (bootlegging, speakeasies, organized crime)
- KKK rebirth
- outline the factors which contributed to the Great Depression
- buying on margin, Stock Market Crash
- overproduction
- risky bank ventures, practices
- unemployment, downward spiral
- list at least three programs which accompanied the inauguration of FDR (PWA, CCC,
ERA, AAA, FERA, NRA, FDIC, TVA, SSA), as well as
- an accurate recognition of their effectiveness
- at least two criticisms of the New Deal (e.g. deficit spending, unconstitutionality)
- recognize the different ways in which he dealt with the public (e.g. Bonus Army,
fireside chats, his "try something" philosophy, his Brain Trust and Black Cabinet,
Eleanor's role)
- *Optional* if time, demonstrate knowledge of cultural goings-on (talkies, radio,
Flappers, Jazz, Harlem Renaissance, Lindbergh, Earhart, sports figures, then War
of the Worlds, Snow White, Gone with the Wind, John Steinbeck)
- list major players in World War II (Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, F.D. Roosevelt,
Churchill, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Truman)
- explain the basic philosophies behind Fascism, Nazism, Japanese aggression, totalitarianism
as well as that of appeasement
- demonstrate a knowledge of key events of World War II
- appeasement of Sudetenland
- Nazi-Soviet Pact (non-aggression)
- German invasion of Poland
- German invasion of France
- Battle of Britain
- Lend-Lease Act
- Pearl Harbor
- Battle of Coral Sea
- Battle of Midway
- Operation Torch
- Invasion of Italy
- Operation Overlord/D-Day
- Battle of the Bulge
- V-E Day
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- V-J Day
- Explain the implications of the less-glorious activity of U.S. during WWII
- non-involvement, even with the knowledge of the Holocaust
- Japanese Internment and Aleut Evacuation
10. Evaluate the decision to drop the A-Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, formulate
own opinion
11. Analyze the role of the Versailles Treaty in World War II
12. Investigate the role of women during World War II, giving oral and written
summary
F. The Fifties and Sixties
Alaska Content Standard(s): Standard D: History
(A student should be able to integrate historical knowledge with historical skill
to effectively participate as a citizen and as a lifelong learner.)
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- correctly spell, define, and use in proper context a variety of key terms/concepts
(blockade, suburbs, assassination)
- identify five major players in the United Nations, demonstrate an awareness of the
structure (Security Council and General Council)
- identify factors of cold war era
- Berlin Blockade and airlift
- NATO
- Warsaw Pact
- Chinese Revolution
- Korean War
- McCarthyism
- Bay of Pigs
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Berlin Wall
- Domino Theory
- Vietnam War
- explain the Truman Doctrine (its goal, the reasoning behind it), and the Marshall
Plan
- demonstrate a working knowledge of terms (GI Bill of Rights, Medicare, Medicaid,
Baby Boom)
- recognize the names of key figures (MacArthur, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks,
Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Earl Warren)
- compare/contrast Eisenhower's "Middle Road" to the New Frontier and Great Society
- write in-depth about at least one movement of the time (de-segregation, farmers'
rights, American Indian Movement, women's movement)
F. The Very Modern Era
Alaska Content Standard(s): Standard A: History
(A student should understand that history is a record of human experiences that links
the past to the present and the future.)
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- correctly spell, define, and use in proper context a variety of key terms/concepts
(detente, inflation, deficit, environmentalism)
- identify achievements/events connected to Nixon (detante, SALT Agreement, relations
with China, Watergate)
- Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon
- identify achievements/events associated with Carter (SALT II Treaty, Afghanistan,
inflation, hostage crisis)
- identify achievements/events associated with Reagan (cut spending, "balanced budget,"
increased military spending, tax cuts, Iran-Contra affair, improved relations with
USSR)
- identify achievements/events associated with Bush (education, war on drugs, tax
cut, banking crisis)
- describe the historical roots of more current issues
- Arab-Israeli wars
- Iran Crisis
- environmentalism
SKILLS
(Essential processes or skills, universally taught by all teachers in all courses;
assessed
with
teacher
-made
rubrics
and/or
tests
)
Major Categories of Skills
A. Cross-curricular and/or Integrative Skills
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
1. effectively communicate (listen, observe, read, write, discuss, present, explain,
persuade, defend)
- apply a variety of mathematical concepts and skills (logic, statistical interpretation,
plotting and analyzing graphs, concluding, predicting trends) to solve common day-to-day
problems
3. use a variety of higher order thinking skills (hypothesizing, estimating, analyzing,
classifying, synthesizing, evaluating,inferring, generalizing) to solve common
day-to-day problems
- set and achieve goals (brainstorm, envision, plan, research, manage time, persist,
complete)
- produce quality products (plan, organize, draft, evaluate, revise, improve, persist,
complete)
B. Technological Skills
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- use modern technology (computers, scanners, copiers, printers, calculators, audio/visual
tools, telephones, fax machines, calculators) to solve common, day-to-day problems
- apply basic computer applications (word processing, spreadsheet, database, graphics,
desktop publishing, Internet, e-mail) to produce quality products, including
- multimedia presentations (speeches, demonstrations, lectures)
- reports, bids, proposals, instructions, manuals
- research polls, surveys, checklists
- graphs, tables, charts, maps, illustrations, photographs
- letters (complaints, requests, replies, recommendations, applications, resumes)
- expository essays, research papers, literary works related to U.S. History II
C. Life and/or Employability Skills
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- behave responsibly and produce quality products related to U.S. History II
- attend, be punctual, follow directions, manage time, stay on task, meet deadlines
safely, effectively, efficiently, accurately use the work area, materials,
tools, & technology
- set short and long-term goals, plan, use higher order thinking skills, seek help,
persist
- work well with others (cooperate, develop group unity, determine leadership roles,
contribute to group success, allow others to contribute, resolve group conflicts,
make group decisions)
- relate U.S.History II
content and skills to your personal life and the lives of others
respect and treat others equally, from the perspective of the needs and rights
of all people
- responsibly examine (be aware, know resources, research, consider, discuss) current
U.S. History II
issues and/or events that personally affect you or others
- effectively support opinions in productive ways (preplan, research, logically organize,
give specific examples, illustrate, recommend)
- use new knowledge, understanding, skills and tools to solve real life problems, make
decisions or choices , and predict logical consequences or possibilities
- . acquire career knowledge and skills related to employment opportunities in government
related organizations
- compare colleges, technical, or business schools (locations, size, costs, special
programs)
- apply for admission, complete applications for scholarships or other financial aids
- develop a four-year schedule of classes, including alternatives for those not available 6. present oneself in an employable manner
- wear appropriate dress and be physically well-groomed demonstrate good
speaking and/or interviewing skills
- complete all written forms (letter of application, resume, required forms, legal
documents) provide a portfolio that shows special products, skills, experiences,
achievements, awards
D. Cultural Relevance:
Alaska Content Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools: Student Standards A-E
Key Elements:
Student will know about, understand, and demonstrate the ability to
- respect ones own cultural heritage, traditions, and language
- interview elders in order to compile personal genealogies and/or a local history
- identify local cultural values and traditional responsibilities to the environment
- respect and live in tune with local cultural values and traditions
- build on local knowledge and skills to achieve future success in the world at large
by
- using methods from ones own traditions to learn about the world beyond ones village understanding
how the local culture relates to others in the area, state, nation, and world
- making appropriate choices regarding the long-term consequences of ones own actions
- participate in a variety of traditional activities related to the local culture,
including
- subsistence activities, arts and crafts, dance and music, sports and recreation
- community government, tribal, and church affairs
- total wellness programs (drug and alcohol free programs, parenting, nutrition, exercise)
- engage in family-related activities based on traditional ways of knowing and learning,
including
- consistent, respectful, loving interactions with Parents and Elders that show appreciation of
their roles as providers and care givers, culture bearers, and educators in the community
- self-assess ones own strengths and needs in order to make appropriate life choice
- explain the processes, forces, and interactions of the world and its varied cultures,
including the
- interrelationships of the spiritual, natural, and human world
- geographical and ecological resources of the local environment
- impact of the environment on the origins of culture and ones personal cultural perspective
- the nature of diversity and the need for change over time
- cross-cultural influences, interactions, conflicts, communications, and resolutions
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES AND MATERIALS
A. Community Resources Related to Course
Each individual and/or team of instructors, with the help of long time staff, students,
parents and other concerned community members should cooperatively compile and periodically
update a list of village elders, parents, local government leaders, business persons, and other concerned, active members of the community willing to share their
wealth of experiences, knowledge and skills.
B.
Major Internet Web Site Addresses Related to Course
(a tiny sample)
- Free Federal Resources for Academic Excellence: http://www.ed.gov/free/subject.html
- General Resources: Government & Politics: http://www.execpc.com/~dboals/govt.html
- ITO Interdisciplinary Projects: http://www.fred.net/nhhs/html/ito.html
Or, use one of the many Internet search options to find materials about women, African
Americans, and Native Americans and their place in U.S. History. For example:
C. Media Center: Southwest Region School District
Contact Roz Goodman, the Southwest Region Media Specialist, for help. She has
lists of materials related to specific subject areas and will help you find Internet
resources or other materials
- The Alaska State Framework for Social Studies Content Standards (This resource is full of
suggestions for activities, teaching/assessment strategies, lesson plans, web site
addresses etc.
)
- Teaching Study Skills & Strategies in High School (includes activities); Active
Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject (includes activities)
- Reconnecting Youth: A Peer Group Approach to Building Life Skills; Teaching Social
Studies With the Internet (booklet and CD ROM);
- Lion's Quest: Skills for Adolescence (instructional manual/student activities)
D. Itinerant Travel Kits and/or Permanent Core Skills Instructors' Materials
This information not available at this time.
- Simulations and/or Activity Packets Related to Course
This information not available at this time.
- CD ROMs/Software Related to Course
This information not available at this time.
- Text and/or Supplemental Books Related to Course
From Pocahontas to Power Suits: Everything You Need to Know About Women's History
in America (Mills, K.); Timelines of African-American History: 500 Years of Black
Achievement (; What Every American Should Know About Women's History (Lunardini,
C., Ph.D.); Timelines of Native American History (Hazen-Hammond, S.); The American Nation
(Prentice Hall)
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(Assessment Guidelines and Grading still "under construction" and awaiting additional
in-put)
Teacher-made tests of content units will be required: pre-tests, quizzes, Unit Tests,
Final Exams
Processes/Skills will be assessed Rubrics, checklists, et.al.
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(The Following Still Needs Input, Thought, and Work)
ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES AND GRADING
The primary goal of this class is to give all
students an opportunity to gain essential new knowledge, comprehension, and skills.
To determine if all
students are actually attaining this goal, regular, in-progress
assessment
of student progress will be part of daily in-progress activities and final student
projects.
- cooperatively develop traditional teacher-made daily/weekly quizzes, unit tests,
and final trimester exams
designed to measure student knowledge and comprehension of basic course content.
- cooperatively plan and consistently apply a variety of student performance assessments
(rubrics,
check-lists) to evaluate in-progress and summary student skill development.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE TESTS
Minimum Requirements
: At the very least, course Content
will be regularly assessed with traditional
Teacher-made Tests
(multiple choice, completion, true/false, matching, short essay).
- daily or weekly Quizzes
should be given as part of normal, on-going classroom procedures.
- periodic reviews and subsequent summary Unit Exams
will be given in every course.
- comprehensive reviews and summary Trimester Final Exams
will be given in every course. Unit and Trimester Final Exams should measure
student retention and comprehension of the most
important
factual content (who, what, where, when, why, how) and
improvement of basic
skills (recall, reading, thinking, writing, calculating).
Suggestions:
- Pretest
or use the test-study-test
method
rather than simply study-test
. Pretesting at the start of a unit helps both students and teachers discover
What They Already Know
and What They Need to Learn
.
- Wh en necessary develop individualized tests to account for individual learning styles
and/or special learning difficulties. Consult Special Education teachers and
counselors for help.
- Reteach
and Retest
when needed to improve and/or reinforce student knowledge and comprehension.
- Promptly grade and review results of all quizzes, tests, or exams. Students want,
need, and have the right to quickly know how they have done on tests.
- Use tests as a teaching tool: require students to correct all factual errors and/or
process mistakes.
- Teach students How to Take Tests
. Important skills are involved and students need to learn them.
CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS (CRT's)
- Core Skills
Language Arts and Mathematics teachers at the secondary level still have the duty
of teaching, testing, and accurately recording student progress on the district's
standardized CRT Tests
and are accountable for accurately recording student progress on these tests.
- Note:
Because all
secondary teachers are members of collaborative teams, all
secondary teachers are expected to assist their team partners help all
students successfully complete, at the very least, Banks 7 and 8
of the CRT's
.
STUDENT PERFORMANCE RUBRICS
- Rubrics
will be used to better teach and assess the development
of essential Skills
(listening, reading, speaking, critical thinking,writing, research, cooperative
group work, discussion, problem solving, decision-making, use of technology, social
behavior, employability, social behavior/citizenship, cultural relevance) and
to determine the quality
of final products
- Rubrics
must include clearly stated, easily understood directions, and specific information
about what students will be expected to do and learn. Quality standards and deadlines
should be included.
- Rubrics
will be assigned at the beginning of any activity whose major objective is the acquisition
and application of essential Skills. Carefully explain exactly how a particular
rubric will be used.
- Use rubrics as a teaching tool. Teach all
students how to use rubrics to self-assess the quality of their own work and/or
that of their classmates--and their teachers.
EXTRA CREDIT WORK
In order to encourage students to pursue high level performances and quality products,
all
students who have completed required work, including any expected revisions, should
be given an opportunity and encouraged to do Extra Credit
work that might increase the depth and/or breadth of their understanding.
- Note that extra
does not
mean in place of
; rather, extra
means in addition to
. Students should thus be allowed and encouraged to voluntarily complete additional,
challenging tasks that might broaden or deepen their understanding.
- Assessment of Extra Credit
work should follow the same systematic guidelines and/or utilize the same type of
assessment rubrics
, tests, or other techniques used to evaluate required work.
GRADING
All
students will be held accountable for meeting the minimum requirements of all courses
and will earn grades based on their ability to demonstrate the acquisition of basic
content knowledge and comprehension, and their ability to apply specific essential
skills to produce quality finished products. Final Grades in all courses will follow
on a traditional "A", "B", "C", "D", "F", "I", system.
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