Course Description: Honors

Honors World History 9

Mr. Rob Morris

Idaho Falls High School 2012-2013

Honors World History is a new three-semester class that combines what were formerly Western Civilization I, II and III and History of the Twentieth Century.  Students will learn about and gain an appreciation of the roots of what has become commonly known as Western Civilization, from ancient Greece and Rome through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment.  They will also explore how the western world developed into the Twentieth Century, and how it interacted with the civilizations of Latin America and Africa.

Honors students will be expected to master all content contained in the regular curriculum, but to demonstrate a deeper mastery through extensive discussion, tests that require more synthesis of learned material, challenging writing assignments, and two reading projects during the course of the year (see Reading List I)

Basic Course Outline

Unit One—     History Themes, History Toolbox, Etc.

Unit Two—     Ancient Greece

Mini-Unit—    Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World

Unit Three—   Ancient Rome and the Roman Republic

Unit Four—    The Roman Empire: Rise and Fall 

-------------------------------------------------End First Trimester

Unit Five—     The Middle Ages

Unit Six—       The Renaissance

Unit Seven—  The Reformation

Unit Eight—   The Enlightenment

Unit Nine—    Emergence of Nation-States and Representative Government

Unit Ten—      The French Revolution and Napoleon

Unit Eleven— The Industrial Revolution

--------------------------------------------- End Second Trimester

Unit Twelve—Nation-States, War, and Imperialism

Unit Thirteen—Balance of Power and World War I

Unit Fourteen—Isolationism and Internationalism

Unit Fifteen—World War Two

Unit Sixteen—Problems of Post-WWII World

Required Materials for this Class

1. One composition notebook (pages are sewn in).  This book will be used for all journals, notes, and other writing assignments and will be graded at least once a month.   This notebook will be worth 100 points per week—50 for notes and 50 for journal/other.
2. Textbook—McDougal Littell Ancient World History: Patterns of Interaction. 
3. Writing utensil/planner.  No-brainer on these.
4. Loose leaf paper
5. Colored pencils for maps/projects

Grading

Students must receive a score of 70% to pass the class.

Points are assessed as follows:

ü  Notes and Journal--- 100 points per month

ü  Quizzes—anywhere from ten to sixty points, depending on content

ü  Tests—100-150 points (about every three weeks)

ü  Current Events—10 points, due every Friday of the school year.

ü  Book Homework—anywhere from 4 to 8 points

ü  Other work as assigned (group work, projects, papers, maps, etc)—varies but usually under 50 points.

ü  Trimester Final Exam—200 points

ü  Trimester Final Project—20 to 100 points

ü  Book Project due by end of second trimester, no matter which teacher you start with.

ü  The grading scale is the standard 90-80-70-60

Expectations

My expectations are fair and few

• Be on time.  Tardies will be assessed
• Be prepared.  Bring notebook, writing utensil daily. 
• Golden Rule.  Treat your fellow classmates and teacher the way you would like to be treated.  Other than tardies, all other issues are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, with the object being to help you improve as a student and a young adult. 

Success

Our common goal is your success.  I will do my part to prepare you to succeed by being prepared every day myself.  Note taking will help you learn the material and also give you a study tool.  Class discussion and other in-class activities will help make the material relevant.  Before tests, a review sheet containing all information on test will be given to students.  Review Jeopardy will be played the day before a test to firmly set the material in your brain.  Students are allowed to retake quizzes and tests.  The grades of the original and re-test will be averaged.  Once a week, on Monday, I will hold student-teacher conferences one-on-one with each student to discuss grades, missing work, and come up with strategies for success.  You can also check your grade any time from home on Powerschool. 

Make-up Procedures

Make-up work is accepted for full credit at the rate of one day late per day of excused absence.   After that, the grade will decline to half credit and then to no credit after several weeks.  I will always listen to student pleas for exceptions under special circumstances.

Staple this syllabus into your notebook. It is worth ten points.  If it is loose in the notebook, it will be a zero.