Mrs. Byrd’s Social Studies 7 Class, 2014 - 2015United States History, 1865 to the Present

The Lynx 2014 - 2015

The Lynx Core includes the following teachers:

Social Studies 7: Mrs. Byrd

Mr. Palmiere

English 7: Mrs. WatsonMrs. Chasse

Science 7: Mrs. HopkinsMrs. Hoey

Math 7: Mrs. RoanMrs. BeckMrs. Piper

Mrs. ByrdAbout me: I graduated from

ODU and received my masters in education from ODU as well.

This is my 14th year at PAMS.

I have been married for 32 years and have 3 children and a beautiful 3 year-old granddaughter and another on the way.

My ‘children’ – Stephen, Taylor, Rory

RORY & TERAH and WINSLOW STEPHEN & CASEY & KENZI the dog AND SOON TO ARRIVE AVERY!!

Winslow Mary Byrd

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Standards Based GradingRationale: Grades are NOT compensation. Grades are communication: They are an accurate report of what happened, a measurement of how far the student has mastered his/her skills. A standards-based grading system does not factor in where a student begins in his/her learning; rather it evaluates a student’s progress throughout the unit offering multiple opportunities to obtain mastery. Procedure: Seventh-grade social studies teachers are basing students’ grades on the standards for Social Studies 7. Final grades are first and foremost determined by our professional opinion of your child’s work against those standards, not by mathematical calculations. We have been trained in analyzing student products against standards and in finding evidence of that learning using a variety of methods. A student’s final grade will be determined at the end of each quarter by converting from the 4- point scale to the VBCPS Board approved grading scale. Please be sure to sign up for Parent Portal, if you haven’t already done so, to view your child’s progress towards mastery.

 

Standards Based GradingSTANDARDS-BASED GRADING

4 (AP) – A: ADVANCED PROFICIENT – consistently demonstrates proficiency; grasps, applies

AND extends key concepts, process and skills while making connections

3 (P) – B: PROFICIENT – regularly grasps and applies key concepts, processes and skills with

limited errors

2 (DP) – C: DEVELOPING PROFICIENCY – beginning to grasp and apply key concepts, processes and skills

1 (N) – D: NOVICE – needs improvement, not making expected progress toward

grasping key concepts, processes and/or skills

0 (NE) – E – no progress is evident

HomeworkHomework: Homework will be assigned on an as-needed basis to introduce, practice, reinforce, extend, and prepare students to successfully participate in or prepare for the next day’s activities and work. Because standards-based grading evaluates mastery of your child’s learning, homework will no longer be counted as part of his/her overall progress for a grade. It does continue, however, to be an integral part of his/her role in his/her education, something for him/her to take ownership of. If your child does not complete the homework assigned, he/she risks being unable to successfully participate in or complete the next day’s activities and work.

 

Princess Anne Middle School is implementing an academic detention program for teachers utilize with students who fail to complete assigned work. Teachers will issue academic detention to students who fail to complete classwork, homework, or other assignments for the Wednesday following the week in which the work was due. Wednesday detentions will be held from 4:00-5:30 PM, and parents will be notified of the detention via an AlertNow email. The purpose of the academic detention is to notify parents of missing assignments and to ensure students complete and return work considered important to the learning process. Therefore, students will have until the day of the assigned detention to submit work owed. Those who do will not have to serve the detention. Students who must serve detention will be required to complete the work owed during that time frame. Keep in mind these academic detentions will not become part of a student’s disciplinary record.

Supplies for Social Studies1” binder with dividersComposition bookLoose leaf paperPencils; blue or black pensColored pencilsGlue sticks

Wiki Space

Your source for what’s happening in Social Studies class! You will find my course expectations here!

http://pams-byrd.wikispaces.com/

Mrs. Byrd’s Contact Information

School Phone: (757) 648-4950,

E-mail: mebyrd@vbschools.com (This is the preferred BEST method of contact! I check my e-mail throughout the day!

You may call the school and leave a message for me, but e-mail is the best way to reach me.

Big News:

NO SOCIAL STUDIES 7 SOL THIS YEAR!!

United States History, 1865 – the Present

The seventh grade History curriculum picks up where the sixth graders left off – with the Civil War and Reconstruction. Our class will span US History from 1865 to the present day, incorporating elements of geography, economics, and political science along the way. Historical methods will be emphasized during the year as well – meaning that students will be engaged in the “stuff” of history – research, discourse, debate, writing, and peer review!

Unit One: Reuniting the Nation

In the late 1800s, a diverse group of Americans settled in the West. Both conflict and cooperation characterized the Frontier.

Unit Two: Getting Down to Business

While the great industrialist of the late 1800s gained wealth and influence, labor unions formed to demand and end to child labor, higher wages, safer working conditions, and the 8-hour day.

Unit Three: A Nation Transformed

Immigration, urbanization, and the origins of progressive reform in the USA.

Unit Four: Competition and Conflict

The Spanish-American War, imperialism in the Pacific, policies toward Latin America, and the emergence of the United States as a world power are chronicled in the unit.

Yellow Journalism

Unit Five: Progressive Reforms

Prohibition may not have lasted, but the woman’s suffrage movement did. The expansion of democracy – through both local and national movements (17th Amendment, 19th Amendment) is featured in this unit, as are social and economic reforms (child labor laws, consumer safety, income tax reform, and the “trustbusting” efforts of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.)

Unit Six: World War IThe United States’ involvement in the “Great War” was brief, but decisive. President Woodrow Wilson’s failed effort to craft a lasting peace in the aftermath of the war is as much a theme to this unit as the participation of the “doughboy” Americans. The failure to resolve Europe’s underlying economic and political problems, unfortunately, played a large part in engendering conflict 20 years later.

Unit Seven: America Goes from Boom …

Liberated women of the 1920s (flappers!), Henry Ford, the “Tin Lizzy,” and prosperity characterized the “Jazz Age.” Literary figures such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and the Harlem Renaissance-inspired Langston Hughes all found their uniquely American voices during this period as well.

Unit Seven: …to Bust!

The Great Depression and FDR’s efforts to end the economic catastrophe continue to shape political discourse in the United States.

Unit Eight: World War II

Victory in Europe and the Pacific

Unit Nine: Transitions in Pursuit of Peace

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union generated a nuclear arms race which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Anxiety and concern were constant. But the war never came; and the USSR collapse of old age in the early 1990s.

Unit Ten: Turmoil at Home and Abroad

The Civil Rights Movement, the woman’s movement, and the social protest generated on college camps across America during the 1960s (and throughout the Vietnam War Era) energized and revolutionized society during the late 20th Century. But they caused turmoil and conflict as well.

Unit Eleven: Globalization and Interdependence

Where are we, now? How will our children reinvent America in the 21st Century?

Thank You!I’m looking forward to a great year!

Please keep in touch if you have questions or concerns! Best way to reach me: mebyrd@vbschools.com Schedule conferences by calling he guidance

office at 648-4961