Welcome to U.S. History at James Irvine Intermediate School. This presentation will take you through the expectations for this class...in other words "How to Survive U.S. History".

Please make sure to read the Expectations in the History Classroom on pages 113-114 in the agenda book.

It is okay to disagree with someone's opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it differs from yours.

I am a fan of taking risks. It's an important part of the growth process. You will never be penalized for taking risks. =)

The standards to be covered during this course begins with the formation of our Constitution to Reconstruction. Our U.S. history classes followed the California State Standards for History/Social Science.

We have also incorporated the reading and writing literacy standards from the Common Core.

Your child was given the option to take home a textbook or use the online textbook. Your child needs to keep the textbook in a safe place. They are not to bring the textbook to school as we have a class set of textbooks to use.

We also have an online version of the textbook which is found in our PowerSchool class.

We believe in student choice. So we created learning scales so that students can decide which grade they want to earn. Level 3 is equivalent to a C; Level 4 is equivalent to a B; and Level 5 is equivalent to an A. The specific details for our learning scales can be found in your child's agenda on page 114-116,

The history classes are what we consider a technology-rich environment. In other words, we'll be using technology on a daily basis. Your child will leave this class not only having learned U.S. history but also many technology skills that will benefit them in the future.

You will be assessed in three different categories: participation/homework (10% of overall grade); formative assessments (30% of overall grade); and summative assessments (60% of overall grade).

Homework is graded according to completion/effort. Students, however, are expected to correct their homework when it is reviewed in class.

Formative assessments are typically quizzes and digital projects all of which are graded for accuracy.

Summative assessments are typically unit tests. All students are required to complete Level 3 (multiple choice). Level 4 (short answer) and Level 5 (essay) are optional.

We use a variety of technology tools in this class. Our PowerSchool class website contains the daily agenda and other important information.

PowerSchool is our online learning space. Most of our digital work will begin and end in PowerSchool.

Google Classroom is where I will push out assignments that are either Google Docs or Google Slides. The Levels 4 & 5 for the summative assessment will also be pushed out through Google Classroom.

Google Apps for Education (GAFE) consists of the Google suite of tools that our district has adopted. Essentially, your child has a GGUSD Gmail account that he/she can use until they graduate from GGUSD.