American+Studies+Curriculum+Audit


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 Buchholtz/Sidor American Studies Curriculum Audit

I. THE COURSE PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES This course is designed to provide students with opportunities to wrestle with significant issues of the American cultural experience as well as to work collaboratively, think analytically and communicate persuasively.

A. CONTENT FOCUS The history content will focus on American history from Reconstruction through the Obama presidency. The literature will be selected to compliment the historical content and shed light on American culture. Current issues, which have great importance for our students, will be analyzed as they occur.

B. SKILLS FOCUS The instructional activities in every unit are designed to help students •Improve reading comprehension, •Acquire efficient study strategies, •Refine their research process, •Utilize technology to more effectively research and communicate, •Work collaboratively to achieve a goal, •Think critically, •Write competently, •Communicate persuasively.

C. INTEGRATION We believe that students are more engaged when the learning activities integrate the language arts and history curriculum. Additionally, students spend more time on task when asked to debate an issue that has great historical and contemporary significance for Americans. Consequently, we will take a thematic approach to the content. Each quarter we will tackle an overriding question from one of the following topics: American Exceptionality, Civil Rights, Civil Society, Political Economy, Immigration, and Foreign Policy.

II. INSTRUCTIONAL AND REFERNCE MATERIALS To expose students to a variety of perspectives, we will furnish students with extracts from books, periodicals, primary source documents and subscription databases. All handouts will be accessible either on the "Buchholtz/Sidor American Studies" wiki (assignments) or Moodle sites (readings, PDF files, forums, questionnaires). Think of each site in this way: We publish our writing on the Wiki and Moodle is our file cabinet and forum for discussion.

Major works may include: // The Language of Literature: American Literature // by Applebee, et al. // The Great Gatsby, // by F. Scott Fitzgerald // The Crucible // by Arthur Miller // Our Town // by Thornton Wilder //Ashes of Roses// by Mary Jane Auch //The Things They Carried// by Tim O'Brien

Excerpts from // Thirteen American Arguments // by Howard Fineman // Outliers // by Malcolm Gladwell // Un-Spun // by Jackson and Jamieson // The American Promise // by Roark, et al. // Grand Expectations: The United States, // 1945-1974 by James T. Patterson // A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressives // by Michael McGee // Courage of their Convictions // by Peter Irons // Savage Wars of Peace // by Max Boot // A Necessary Evil // by Gary Wills // Peoples History of the United States // by Howard Zinn

Other history texts, periodicals, novels, plays, short stories, poems and essays as needed.

III. ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT PROGRESS

All learning activities are designed to help students engage the content at a critical level of thought. During the course of each unit students will be offered opportunities to move through Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels, which are itemized in an ascending order, in the figure below.


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Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels

A. **Formative Assessment** opportunities will be offered frequently. Oral assignments will receive immediate feedback and written assignments will be returned within two days of collection. Typical formative assignments include homework, reading checks, participation in class activities, power paragraphs that address narrow questions, engagement in collaborative activities, asking probing questions. Formative assessment lets students know how they are progressing on the learning objectives. Students should use this information to adjust or refine their strategies. Absent students not only miss instruction but also the opportunity for formative feedback so consistent attendance is very important.

B. **Summative Performances** assess the learning after the unit is completed and will make up a significant portion of the course grade. Typical summative assessments include tests consisting of multiple choice questions and short answer essays, in-class essays that offer students an opportunity to develop a thesis with evidence and reasoning, PowerPoint presentations in which students develop an argument with persuasive rhetoric and multimedia, or an analysis paper that draws evidence from several sources and is prepared outside of class.

C. **Timeliness** is valued, consequently on most summative assessments you will receive two grades: one for the quality of your work and the other for meeting the deadline. This will comprise 10% of your grade. ** NOTEBOOK ** : Students should purchase a 3 ring binder large enough to contain an entire quarter's work. Subject dividers should be labeled: Syllabus and Assignments, Notes and Study Guides, Handouts, References, Graded Papers. EACH divider should be followed by a Table of Contents list. Notebooks including the Spiral Notebook, which contains the journal, will be collected on the last day of each quarter. Assessment will be based on neatness, organization, and how easily five randomly selected items can be retrieved. This is a summative assessment that makes up 10% of the quarter grade.

IV. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Students and Teachers will:


 * Arrive on time.
 * Follow the course syllabus. (Posted on Moodle and in the notebook.)
 * Bring notebooks to class every day.
 * Come to class prepared to discuss the assignments.
 * Participate positively. Consider alternative perspectives. Listen. Share your ideas.
 * Ask for clarification or re-teaching while in class.
 * Suggest ways that the learning activities can better meet your needs.
 * Ask for one-on-one time with the teacher when you need better learning strategies,
 * Honor deadlines and commitments.
 * For special treatment, communicate requests in-person and, when possible, in advance. For unexpected absences give us a heads up on your situation with an email: bsidor@uaschools.org or dbuchholtz@uaschools.org.