Contents
• Why study US History -- again?
• Reading skills
• Writing
• Writing: Caution!
• Citing Sources
• Assessments
• Special Assessment: The Family Epic
• Communications with Parents
• Homework
• Grading
• Incidental learning

Overview

Why study US History -- again?
Seventh graders have heard before about Columbus, and Washington, and wars, and freedom. In a few years, they'll study it all again in depth. So why do they need to study it now?

Any kind of history can be a perfect instrument for learning critical thinking, because it's all about inquiry. Students will be raising questions of their own about what texts say and also about what texts leave out. They will learn to different kinds of texts in different ways: secondary sources, original documents, rhetoric, poetry and fiction. They'll be "reading" non-verbal sources such as paintings, music, and architecture, looking for clues to the minds that created those works.

Because the sources that we read deal with complex ideas, the grammar and vocabulary are often more complex and nuanced than the typical seventh grader will have encountered. We will regularly practice reading skills, previewing some of the hardest portions of texts. For this program to be effective, students will need to retain what they learn of root meanings and grammatical tricks from week to week.

We focus on US History because seventh graders are at an age when their awareness of the world outside themselves and outside of their peer group begins to grow. In this course, and in Literature, and in our Advisory program, we'll be asking students to see how things are today, and how they got this way, and how decisions we make might affect developments in the future. top

Writing:
Writing is thinking made visible. As a writer who struggled through six different drafts of the paragraph you're reading now, I fully expect my students' writing to show signs of struggle. There'll be first impressions, second thoughts, and questions instead of answers, gaps where they need to find more information, and grammatical errors where they have more to say than their technique can handle. I will give full credit for that kind of draft. Sometimes, I will ask students to write "for publication," and I will act as an editor does, pushing the pieces to perfection in content, expression, and appearance. So long as a writer meets deadlines, the end result will earn full credit. Link here for much, much more about what I've learned as a writer and as a teacher of writing. top

Caution, Parents:
A personal trainer who works out while the client just watches is stunting that client's growth. So is the parent who writes the student's papers. If your child asks for help, it is better to ask questions than to write it your way. Ask, "What do you want to say? Can you be more specific? What makes you say that? Where did you get that idea? Is there another side to that?" If the young writer can answer those questions, it's time to scribble it out on paper and hand it in as a good first draft. If the writer cannot, there's probably a lack of knowledge of the subject, and it's time to practice reading and research skills again. top

Citing credible sources of fact and opinion will be an essential element of writing in this class. Start with page 121 in the student planner that Walker has printed for you.

Web sites that generate citations for their users don't work well for students who don't already understand the rules and exceptions.

For on-line instruction, I recommend a site by Long Island University that color - codes its examples. Look there for proper "MLA" format. Link to http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/Library/workshop/citmla.htm
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Assessments: I will use a variety of activities as "formative assessments" to see what students are learning as we cover the material. Nearly every day, students will quote from the previous class discussion in a reflective journal. Other formative assessments may include an open-note quiz, in-class writing, a closely monitored class discussion, or something to connect the material we're studying with events of another era.

There may be a "summative" assessment near the end of a unit, intended to make students reach back through their accumulated knowledge to see how things tie together. There may be a closed-note quiz or couple of in-class essays, or both. For fun, we occasionally have a cumulative assessment that I call "The Dating Game."

We combine facts with imagination in an ongoing Family Epic. It's a multi - chapter novel that traces a family's story from its ancestor in the Old World down to the generation that comes of age in 1900. it isn't due all at once: When we finish a unit, I may ask for a new chapter for the epic. I grade each piece separately and equally, and even the final draft is graded as just another draft. Family Epic Overview and Samples for first chapter
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Up to thirty Minutes of Homework, three-to-four times a week is what I usually assign. I could certainly give out all the same information with outlines and lecture, but the main objective is for students to develop the ability to learn for themselves. I will prepare them to read different kinds of material, and I will help them to make notes in a way that works for them. They will grow more comfortable with these skills with practice.

No assignment should take longer than thirty minutes of attentive work (not counting time spent texting friends, petting the dog, getting a drink, etc.). After thirty minutes, the student should stop. That's surely going to be enough to earn a passing grade. The student should write a note on the page: "Smoot! Homework is taking me too long!" We'll work out something.

Weekends are reserved for making up missing assignments, re-drafting writing, and reviewing vocabulary as necessary (see Reading Skills).

• Absent students should make up homework by writing good notes about the text(s) that we covered, due by the next Monday. Students may ask for an extension.
• Students who skip an assignment earn a zero for the day, but they can earn back fifty percent if they complete the missed assignment over the weekend.

Here's a link to your child's current assignments.
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Incidental learning includes "Good Stuff to Know" about history and arts in the 20th century, vocabulary and word attack skills, and "grammar in real life" to help students to learn techniques for subordinating ideas and for quoting sources.
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Communications with Parents All teachers at Walker Middle School send home comments at certain scheduled times during the year. In addition to these, I often attach my personal comments, commendations, and concerns to scores that I post to the school's online grade page. (You will soon receive from our office a parental password along with instructions how to use that site). I will also send a reminder every ten class days to review the online grade site, along with a general progress report on what we've been doing. I often send out emails when I see that work is overdue, especially when a student has other overdue assignments, and I love to send out emails about good things that happen in class. Because I'm usually with students from morning to dinner time, I rarely am in a place where I can use a phone: Please, let's use email as much as possible. My preferred email address is not the school's, but scott@smootpage.com.
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Grading: Some formative assessments spot-check a hard concept, counting for only two points. Most assignments receive a grade on a scale of ten points. A single draft of an essay is worth ten, and so is an improved draft, and so is the polished draft. Answering questions about a twenty minute reading assignment is worth ten points. Some assignments or in-class work may have two graded components, such as a page of writing and a page of Sources Cited. Some exercises will involve a collaborative portion, receiving five points, and another five-point part that's "YOYO" ("You're on your own!"). Because we all have bad days, I drop two lowest grades at the very end of each quarter.
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Link to Maps

Smoot's own essays

During the year, I may assign reading in excerpts from my own unpublished textbooks, Force and Law: Ten Leaders in Times of Crisis and American Characters.

• Apocalypse in Mexico

Fact Check www.factcheckED.org

Recommended by our principal Mr. Fisher: "It's full of super lessons for just about every discipline. A great lesson on Wikipedia and its pros & cons, critically analyzing information (both in print and on the web), logical arguing, misleading/emotional language and how language is used to sway people, the use of polls, and much much more!"

Fordham University Sourcebook Project http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/

Since 1996, Professor Halsall and Fordham University scholars have posted primary sources from eras ancient, medieval, and Renaissance. More recently, they've added texts in other categories, focused on particular cultures and religions. For our unit on the Renaissance, I drew excerpts from Columbus's journal here. Projects asking for daily life and major events in those early times might benefit from a look here.

Digital History http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

Credible institutions worked together to create this site for teachers: the University of Houston, the National Park Service, the Chicago Historical Society, and others. Students can benefit from it, too. It ranges from prehistoric times to the present, but keeps well focused on the North American continent. The "explorations" page is especially interesting for this class, because it collects alternative perspectives on events from primary sources. Movie clips are also available here, along with photographs.

Emints.com http://www.emints.com

This site helps students and teachers to find links to sites on a wide range of topics, including math and science, as well as history. Typing in "North Carolina History" on the search bar yielded excellent credible sources, including the State Library's web archive of documents and articles.

Eyewitness to History http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com

An educational web publisher called Ibis, Inc. supports this useful site with numerous flashy ads and an on-line store. It ranges widely, from the Roman Empire to the present. I sampled articles that included primary source texts with secondary source explanations. An outstanding feature of this site is its providing of sound clips from history and photographs.

Teaching History http://teachinghistory.org

Resources for teachers that certainly could help students, too, geared to different grade levels. Also includes, just for teachers, information about professional development opportunities, issues and research in teaching history.

The History Place http://www.historyplace.com/

One man, Philip Gavin, started this web site in 1996. According to the profile of him on Amazon.com, he is a "pioneering web author" whose works for the internet have led to traditional publications, as well. His site consists mostly of his articles on a wide-range of topics from American history, but it also contains movie reviews and a section called Perspectives that draws together opposing points of view from scholars. This site is supported by ads, but Gavin marginalizes them.

The Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

The Library of Congress presents searchable collections of primary sources, helpfully organized by topics of special interest to students:

African American History | Architecture, Landscape | Cities, Towns | Culture, Folklife | Environment, Conservation | Government, Law | Immigration, American Expansion | Literature | Maps | Native American History | Performing Arts, Music | Presidents | Religion | Sports, Recreation | Technology, Industry | War, Military | Women's History

The site also provides a section for finding out events that happened on any particular day.

National Archives of the United States www.Archives.gov includes photos, primary sources, and even sound files, arranged by topic. For example, here are photos from the Civil War, link.

Assignments ,
Resources

Sources that may be assigned
• Animated Timeline
• Columbus's Journals, excerpts
• "Apocalypse in Mexico," essay by Smoot
• Jamestown, two sources
• 1600s English Colonial Sources
• Smoot's essay about G. Washington's youth
• Patrick Henry's Speech, 1775
• The Declaration of Independence
• Washington at Valley Forge, essay
• The Constitution of the United States
• Abraham Lincoln's Life and Times, in four chapters by Smoot: Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
• The Gettysburg Address
• TR Mr. Smoot's magazine of research about Teddy Roosevelt
• TR, A to Z: a timeline with photographs
• Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, excerpt
• Museum Box, a site that assists students in gathering multiple sources for display, discussion, or writing.

New York Times Educational Web Site, with current events, a link to "On This Day in History," and other historical resources for students and teachers.

Links to Savannah movies, articles

Signers of the Declaration at http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/index.htm, with short biographies. Many other kinds of sources are available at this site.

Art of the First World War I recommend "the age of artillery" part of the "guided tour"

A professor's list of interventions by US Armed Forces since 1890, useful with or without his own conclusions

Trial By Jury (link http://gabar.org/cornerstones_of_freedom/civics_video/civics_video/) - a Video presentation that links present-day rights all the way back to Magna Carta, "narrated" by Thomas Jefferson.

44 Presidents' morphing: http://www.flixxy.com/presidents-morphing.htm

Constitution - Constitution Center. Includes up-to-date news feeds that relate to the Constitution; a section for "education" where students can look up current events involving issues of the constitution as they choose.