HUMANITIES 9: CIVICS &
ECONOMICS (C/E)
COURSE OVERVIEW
MR. LANE
This
course is designed to introduce students to both our legal and political system
and the structure of our economy. Students will gain a practical understanding of how civics and
economics affect their daily lives. We
will study these topics in a way that will allow students to acquire the skills
necessary to become active and productive citizens. When studying our legal and political systems, students will
become familiar with our government institutions as well as discover their
rights and responsibilities; students will also have the opportunity to apply
their knowledge through the examination of real life case studies. Finally, this course serves as a foundation
for United States History, which is typically taken in the 11th
grade.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM ~
MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAM (MYP)
All
freshmen and sophomores at Broughton are participants in the International
Baccalaureate Organization’s Middle Year’s Program (MYP). Grades 9 and 10 serve as the summation of
the five-year program. The MYP places
an emphasis on international awareness and responsibility, in addition to
stressing the connections between the core disciplines of humanities,
mathematics, language, and science.
These connections are revealed through the five Areas of Interaction
(AoI). These areas are broad themes
through which the academic disciplines can be used together to think critically
and discover answers to meaningful questions.
More about this later…
We
will conclude each unit with a test (approximately every 2-3 weeks). Tests are longer in nature than quizzes and
include subjective questioning designed to evaluate both a broader range of
skills and a higher level of knowledge.
Testing format will include multiple choice, matching, true-false, short
answer, and essay questions.
Several major projects will be assigned
during the course of the year. These
will include written papers incorporating original research, article summaries
and evaluations, opinion essays, and oral or digital presentations. I will distribute guidelines and grading
rubrics for each project as it is assigned.
25% Quizzes
Short
quizzes will be given frequently (1-2 per week). Quizzes are objective in nature and are designed to evaluate
basic knowledge; therefore, the format will usually consist of matching,
multiple choice, and/or true-false questions.
20% Minor Projects
Students will be assigned a minor project during the course of most
units. These assignments will be
shorter than major projects and will serve to reinforce key concepts from each
unit. Minor projects will frequently
take the form of visual assignments, thus allowing students to express their
knowledge in a more creative manner.
15% Homework/Class Participation
Homework
Students
will be assigned homework on a regular basis, and since it is 15% of
each quarter average, you should take care to complete every
assignment. I will usually grade
homework for completion. You do it…….you get credit. However, some assignments will be graded
based upon accuracy, and I will announce which assignments those will be.
Class Participation
Active student participation is essential to learning. Students will earn participation grades
based upon their work ethic and behavior during cooperative learning
assignments. During group activities,
students are expected to do the following:
1.
Make
meaningful contributions to the group.
Students that choose not to help their group will receive a zero for
their participation on that particular assignment.
2.
Refrain
from talking to others outside of their assigned group.
3.
Refrain
from wasting time and talking about subjects that are not part of the
assignment.
I may also assign participation grades during individual class
assignments. In short, if you follow
directions and put forth genuine effort during group activities, your
participation grades should take care of themselves.
MAKEUP POLICY,
LATE WORK, & RETRIEVING MISSED ASSIGNMENTS
Makeup
Policy
Tests
Students are expected to
attend class on test day. History has
shown that
scores on makeup tests are generally lower than scores on tests taken
in class. However, students will have 1 calendar week (7 days) to makeup a missed
test, provided that their absence is excused. Any student with an unexcused absence will not be permitted to
take the test and will receive a ZERO. I will announce the makeup times and post
the information on the board. Students
will generally have several opportunities to makeup their tests. HOWEVER,
once the calendar week is over, students will receive a ZERO on any test that
was not made up.
Quizzes
Students can makeup quizzes in 2 ways:
1.
Students
can makeup a quiz during any test makeup session.
2.
Students
can makeup a quiz on test day for that unit.
Any and all quizzes for each unit must be made up by test day for that
unit. If not, you will receive a ZERO on the quiz. Once again, only those students with an
excused absence will be permitted to makeup a missed quiz!
Late
Work
Homework
NO LATE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED! Please be
aware of your responsibility for work missed during absences. If you miss class when something is
assigned, it is your job to retrieve that assignment and turn it in during the
next class. If you miss class when an
assignment is due, you must turn it in when you return. However, I will occasionally offer makeup
homework assignments that, if completed, will replace missed homework grades.
Projects
All projects are to be submitted on the day they are due. If you plan on being out of school on the
due date, it is your responsibility to get the project to school. Otherwise, I will subtract 10 points per
class period for a late project.
Retrieving Missed Assignments
It is the responsibility of students to retrieve missed assignments and
handouts. This can be done in 2 ways:
1.
Refer
to the calendar on the wall to see what we did in class and retrieve handouts
from the folder on the table.
2.
Use
the C/E Daily Web Site to see what we did in class (refer to handout for the
web site).
Students WILL receive a ZERO on any assignment that is not made
up in the timetable established by this overview and school policy.
TARDY POLICY
Students are expected to be on time unless
they have a signed note from a teacher.
STUDENTS ARE CONSIDERED TARDY IF
THEY ARE OUT OF THEIR SEAT WHEN THE TARDY BELL RINGS.
Tardy
Policy
·
Sign
the tardy sheet located on the table by the door and then please take your seat
as quickly and quietly as possible.
There will be no discussion of your tardiness.
Serving Makeup Time
·
Our
school policy dictates that students must “makeup” time when they are tardy.
·
I
require that students serve 15 minutes of detention for each tardy.
·
You may serve your time only
on Monday & Wednesday mornings starting at 7:30 AM.
·
It
is your responsibility to serve your time within 1 calendar week (7 days) of
your tardy. If more than 1 week passes,
you will be written up in a discipline referral. The result of the discipline referral is the assignment of After
School Detention (ASD) from 3:00-4:30 PM.
It is much better to serve 15 minutes than 1.5 hours for a tardy, so
please be aware of any time you owe J
NOTEBOOK
Each student will need a 3 ring binder. Your binder should contain only C/E
work. Your binder should be divided
into the following sections:
A.
Class
notes
B.
Handouts
C.
Tests/Quizzes
D.
Do
Now/Returned homework
I will conduct a notebook check each test day
that will be worth 5% of the test grade.
This is only intended to help students learn and practice good
organizational habits. Plus, it is a
very easy part of your test grade!