<p>Honors Humanities Course Outline Email: [email protected] Fall 2015 Blog: http://lhsblogs.typepad.com/galvin/</p><p>Welcome to Honors Humanities! Honors Humanities is an introduction and foundation to high school Social Studies for ninth graders. This is an accelerated course utilizing more advanced writing prompts and reading passages intended for students interested in taking Honors World History or AP World History sophomore year. It includes a survey of the history of civilization, including art, language, science, religion and architecture. It provides an interdisciplinary approach that encourages the development of critical thinking, as well as analytical writing and reading skills. </p><p>GRADING: Major Grades-60% Major grades will include unit tests (including multiple choice, matching, and writing questions) and essay assignments. Any projects assigned will also count as major grades including, but not necessarily limited to, the continuing development of a personal historical and modern atlas (due Friday, December 4th). Make sure you keep your atlas from this semester for next semester as well. </p><p>Minor Grades-25% Minor grades will include vocabulary quizzes, map quizzes, and any other brief assignments. In addition, each six-week grading period will include a reading quiz grade. This grade will be based on performance on a daily homework check and unannounced quizzes drawn from nightly reading assignments. Students may use their own notes from the reading on quizzes.</p><p>Final Exam-15% This exam will be cumulative and will consist entirely of objective questions. Make sure you keep all the material throughout the semester so that you can study for it.</p><p>Note: Please be aware of the Synergy component of Cobb County’s web based grading system. I will update the grades on Synergy as soon as I get papers graded. Please note that essays and tests with essay questions take a great deal of time to grade. I try to get them finished within two weeks, but due to the volume of writing assignments from all five classes I teach, sometimes that is just not possible.</p><p>SEMESTER SCHEDULE: Text: World History: Patterns of Interaction Parallel Reading: Study Smarter, Not Harder—Kevin Paul Demon in the Freezer—Richard Preston (Summer Reading) </p><p>Reading assignments may also include a number of primary and secondary source documents that will be posted on the blog. Actual reading assignments will be made weekly on the class blog—see address above</p><p>SCHEDULE:</p><p>Unit Regional Geography</p><p> l l 1 Introduction to Humanities Fal 2 Prehistory Sub-Saharan Africa 3 Early Urban Societies of the Middle East and Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa 4 Early Urban Societies of South and East Asia South Asia 5 Classical Chinese Civilization East Asia</p><p> g 6 The Classical Mediterranean World Europe </p><p> rin 7 Classical South Asian Empires and Trade Routes of the Ancient World Southeast Asia and Oceania</p><p>Sp 8 European Early Middle Ages Russia and Northern Eurasia</p><p>9 Islam and Caliphates 10 Early Urban Societies of the Americas the Americas HOW TO READ YOUR WORLD HISTORY TEXTBOOK:  While the amount of information in a given section can seem overwhelming. If you focus on key concepts you can avoid copying the chapter verbatim, or insignificant, unrelated, and minute details. o As you read notice that the text is built based on an outline (and your notes should be too). Each section breaks down into component parts (paragraphs with topic sentences), and then supporting information within each paragraph. Your notes will likely reflect this same organization. Paying attention to key issues and topics for each section helps immensely. o You should always be asking, “how does this event/individual/term relate to the essential questions and key ideas within the section and chapter?” If it doesn’t seem important it may not be. If you’ve ever wondered why many other students don’t seem to work as hard as others, this is often the reason. Telling the difference between what is important and what is not is a challenging but crucial academic skill. o Cause and effect are central to what we’ll be discussing this year. When you come across underlying causes or results of an event take note. o Terms and related examples and definitions are important. Use your vocabulary list as a guide. Work your vocabulary into your notes, and then highlighting that word would be helpful.</p><p>KEYS TO SUCCESS IN HONORS HUMANITIES: Read, read, read, review, review, review!  REVIEW NIGHTLY—cramming weeks of information into your brain the night before a test is not an effective way to prepare. Review your notes nightly thinking about what you’ve read and what you remember from class discussions—try to link all the material together as you review.  REAL UNDERSTANDING—is the key. Don’t just try to memorize the material (although history does require that you do remember some names, dates, events, etc.). Memorizing material that you don’t understand and that you can’t relate to anything else won’t really help you much in this class, in college, or in life!  PARTICIPATE IN CLASS—each day when you come to class, you should remember previous material. We will build on that knowledge. If you actively participate in class you will remember information better. </p><p>SUPPLIES:  For your Atlas project you will need an extra binder (1/2” size) or report folder. It must be separate from your class notebook. Colored pencils and some kind of atlas at home (in book form or online) would also be helpful.</p><p>ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:  Cheating is considered a serious matter. The parents of a student who has been involved in cheating will be notified and the student will receive a grade of zero for the assignment, test, essay, etc. in question and a grade of “U” in conduct. For this course cheating is defined as:  Copying anyone’s answers to questions, exercises, class work, maps or homework assignments (all students involved (giving or receiving) will earn a 0 on the assignment.)  Taking any information verbatim from any source, including the Internet, without giving proper credit to the author, or rearranging the order of words and/or changing some words as written by the author and claiming the work as your own, i.e. plagiarism.  Looking onto another student’s paper during a test or a quiz.  Having available any study notes or other test aids, including cell phones, during a test or quiz without the teacher’s permission.  Collaborating on assignments when independent work is expected is a breach of academic integrity.  Students displaying cell phones at any time during tests and/or quizzes will be given a zero for that test or quiz.</p><p>OTHER CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS:  Students will show respect to all individuals in the class. (ie. sleeping, talking, off-task behavior, keep hands to yourself)  Concerning Attendance, Make-Up Work, Academic Integrity, and Tardies: See student handbook for information. Make-up exams will be essay and test corrections will not be available for makeups.  Concerning Late Work: Unexcused late assignments will be worth half credit if turned in after they are due.  Concerning School Property: Treat school property as if it were your own. Put trash in the trashcan—not on the floor. Bottled drinks are allowed in class as long students clean up after themselves.  Use/visible presence of a cell phone in class will result in an automatic thirty minute detention before/after school.  IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY MASTERING THE SKILLS AND CONCEPTS OF THE CLASS, SEE ME TO SET UP AN APPOINTMENT FOR EXTRA HELP! We can find a time that works for both of us!</p><p>Honors Humanities Fall 2015 Coach Galvin</p><p>SYLLABUS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM</p><p>We have read the class syllabus and understand….  the additional demands of this advanced course  the academic integrity policy—including the cell phone policy  the grading and make-up policies  Coach Galvin is available for extra help after school—all I have to do is ask.  the Atlas is due Friday, December 4th. In addition we understand that because the Atlas is a major grade it could impact a student’s grade positively or negatively (if not turned in or incomplete).  We are willing to be contacted by email.  I have access to the Internet and will access Synergy to check on my child's progress and class absences. I understand that teachers will make every effort to post grades within 2 weeks of accepting the assignment, but that posting of grades larger papers and projects may extend beyond the 2 week timeframe.  I will check the Coach Galvin’s blog for the weekly class schedule and assignments.</p><p>Student Name: ______Class Period: ______(Please print)</p><p>______(Student's Signature) (Parent's Signature)</p><p>______(Student's E-mail) (Parent's E-mail)</p><p>______/______(Parent’s phone number—work/home)</p><p>______(Parent’s address)</p><p>Note: Since teachers have limited access to telephones, the most effective manner of communication is through email. Coach Galvin’s email address is [email protected]. </p><p>Please make a note of my blog address http://lhsblogs.typepad.com/galvin/. </p><p>This syllabus including the syllabus acknowledgement form can be downloaded from the “Welcome” page of my blog if you wish to reference it in the future. </p><p>PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM WITH SIGNATURES by Friday. Feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions or concerns.</p>