U.S. History and Government
Archbishop Stepinac High School
2008-2009
Mr. Hogan / Dr. McGee
Overview: United States History and Government will cover chapters 1-22 in the “Amsco Publications” textbook. Broken into 4 quarters, the material will focus on Regents level subjects in preparation for the NYS Regents Exam in June, 2009. In addition to textbook material, teachers should use media projects as well as presentation projects to further the student’s ability. Use of the Stepinac Library, as well as the Regents Prep website should be done regularly during each quarter. Students should also be assigned regular essays in regents format, as well as practice regents level multiple choice questions.
Quarters: Quarter One should consist of textbook chapters One to Six. In addition to textbook materials, students should also be conducting in class debates featuring the topics of the current presidential election, as well as doing independent projects on the same material. Grades should likely consist of three (3) chapter tests (two chapters at a time) and one (1) independent project grade.
Quarter Two should consist of textbook chapters Severn to Eleven, due to the shorter calendar schedule, and multiple-long vacation periods. The end of Quarter two should have students working on review-type questions, in Regents format, in preparation for the up-coming midterm exams. During Christmas Vacation students should be given a take home exam in Regents format, to be handed in upon return. Grades should consist of Three (3) chapter exams (covering 2 chapters, 2 chapters, then 1 chapter) as well as an essay project grade.
Quarter Three should consist of textbook chapters Twelve to Seventeen, and will broken-up with a long vacation in the middle. Teachers should try and end chapters leading into the break, and give take home tests as review over break. At the end of the quarter, teachers should assign the third of the essay projects to students to either be accompanied by an in class presentation, or by media study in the library. Grades should consist of Three (3) chapter tests (two chapters covered at a time) and One (1) Essay grade.
Quarter Four should consist of textbook chapters Eighteen to Twenty-Two, and should come to an end in the end of May, leaving the first two weeks in June dedicated to Regents Review. Teachers should combine Multiple Choice practice from the Regents-Prep Website, along with Essay Practice on the popular essay topics covered by the Regents Exam. (D.O.I., Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI/WWII, Depression, Communism in Korea/ Vietnam/ and Cold War)
Practice Essay Topics by Quarter:
Q1- From Articles of Confederation to Declaration of Independence
Q2- Civil War and Reconstruction
Q3- WWI to Depression to WWII
Q4- U.S. as world police during Korea, Vietnam and The Cold War.
Weekly Breakdown of Suggested Material to be covered
Quarter One (9/5-10/30)
9/5- Class orientation and syllabus review
9/8-9/12 Chapter 1
9/15-9/18 Chapter 2
9/19 Test # 1 based on material covered in Chapters 1 and 2
9/22-9/26 Chapter 3
9/29-10/2 Chapter 4
10/3 Test # 2 based on material covered in Chapters 3 and 4
10/6-10/10 Chapter 5
10/14-10/17 Chapter 6
10/20 Test Review
10/21 Test #3 based on material covered in Chapters 5 and 6
10/23-10/24 Debates or Media Study based on Presidential Elections 2008
10/27-10/30 Projects/ Presentation based on independent study of Election Topic
(Project Examples: Demographic study of US voters, Influence of Iraq Conflict on voters, Difference in stance of candidates, etc. )
Quarter Two (11/3-1/9)
11/3-11/4 Election Analysis
11/10-11/14 Chapter 7
11/17-11/21 Chapter 8
11/24 Test #1 based on material covered in Chapters 7 and 8
12/1-12/5 Chapter 9
12/9-12/11 Chapter 10
12/15 Test #2 based on material covered in Chapters 9 and 10
12/16-12/19 Chapter 11
12/22-1/2 Christmas Vacation. Students be given a take home test on Chapter 11
1/5-1/9 Regents Practice Exam (Multiple-choice and Essays) in preparation for mid-term exams.
Quarter Three (2/2-3/27)
2/2-2/6 Chapter 12
2/9-2/12 Chapter 13
2/13 Test #1 based on material covered in Chapters 12 and 13
2/16-2/20 Vacation, students should be given a take home Practice Regents.
2/23-2/27 Chapter 14
3/2-3/5 Chapter 15
3/6 Test # 2 based on material covered in Chapters 14 and 15
3/9-3/13 Chapter 16
3/16-3/19 Chapter 17
3/20 Test # 3 based on material covered in Chapters 16 and 17
3/23-3/27 Essay Project/Media Presentation on “Great Depression”
Quarter Four (3/30-6/9)
3/30-4/3 Chapter 18
4/8-4/17 Easter Vacation, students will be given a take home assignment
4/20-4/24 Chapter 19
4/27/4-31 Finish Needed Material/ Test # 1 on Chapters 18 and 19
5/4-5/8 Chapter 20
5/11-5/14 Chapter 21
5/15 Test # 2 based on material covered in Chapters 20 and 21
5/18-5/22 Chapter 22
5/26 Test # 3 based on material covered in Chapter 22
5/27-5/28 Regents Essay Practice
6/1-6/9 Two weeks leading into Regents Exam should be used as review of both multiple choice questions and essays taken directly from previous Regents Exams. Teachers should use the Regents Prep Website for questions.
Additional Resources to be used:
http://www.regentsprep.org/Regents/ushisgov/ushisgov.cfm
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/