Eighth Grade History

Overall goal : Students will become effective and efficient researchers and communicators of information.

Listed below are skills that the history department at the high school wants all incoming freshmen to possess and that I will be asking your student to successfully demonstrate throughout the year. I have bolded the items that I added for developmental purposes.

Organization

•  using planners

•  handing assignments in on time and as directed

•  maintaining a three ring binder

•  using models given in class to complete independent assignments

•  using class discussion and notes to complete homework

Writing Skills

Paragraph Structure – working towards 5 paragraph essays

•  5-7 sentences

•  complete sentences

•  complex sentences

•  capitalization

•  spelling

•  punctuation

•  subject-verb agreement

•  vary sentence structure and verb choice

•  strong word choice

•  topic sentence, body, conclusion

•  use specific examples from text, discussions, history or current events

Reading Skills

•  reading for the main idea

•  finding supporting details

•  finding inferences

•  skimming and scanning

•  summarizing and paraphrasing

•  recognize text structure and use an appropriate reading strategy

•  compare and contrast

•  descriptions

•  sequence patterns

•  cause and effect

Overall goal : Students will become effective and efficient gatherers and communicators of information. They will reach this goal and develop the skills necessary for high school while we examine the following topics:

Civics

•  What is government

•  Why do we need government?

•  What is a republican government?

•  What is a constitutional government?

•  How is the United States Government Organized?

•  How can governments be organized to prevent the abuse of power?

•  How was the Constitution used to establish the United States Government?

•  How do historical events influence development, interpretation and expansion of the Constitution?

National and Regional Growth

•  War of 1812

•  Early Industrial Revolution – U.S.

•  American System

•  Nationalism and Sectionalism

Jacksonian Democracy

•  Role of the Common Man

•  Conflicts over States' Rights

Causes and Effects of the Civil War

Immigration/ Eugenics Movement

Causes and Effects of WWI

Causes and Effect of WWII

Topics listed may or may not be covered in a given year because of changes in time available due to state testing or students needing more time in a particular topic.