American History: 1877 to

Present
Miss Shannon Nadler
Horizon Science Academy High School
Course Information 2014-2015
Room: 204 E-mail: nadler@horizoncolumbus.org


Course Description
This course examines the history of the United States of America from 1877 to the
present. The federal republic has withstood challenges to its national security and
expanded the rights and roles of its citizens. The episodes of its past have shaped the
nature of the country today and prepared it to attend to the challenges of tomorrow.
Understanding how these events came to pass and their meaning for todays citizens is
the purpose of this course. The concepts of historical thinking introduced in earlier grades
continue to build with students locating and analyzing primary and secondary sources
from multiple perspectives to draw conclusions.

Course Goals
Students apply skills by utilizing a variety of resources to construct theses and
support or refute contentions made by others. Alternative explanations of
historical events are analyzed and questions of historical inevitability are
explored.
Students use historical thinking to examine key documents which form the basis
for the United States of America.
Students will be able to connect causes and effects of various events throughout
U.S. History.

Assignments
This course will contain a variety of assessments and assignments in various forms. Some
examples include, but are not limited to: vocabulary flashcards, reading comprehension
worksheets, group projects/presentations, quizzes, and tests. Tests will always consist of
some form of multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, and short and extended
responses.

Extra credit will be given throughout the year at my discretion. Always feel free to ask
what opportunities there are for you to improve your grade.







Grading
The grading scale will be as follows:
98 - 100 = A+ 87 - 89 = B+ 77 - 79 = C+ 67 69 = D+ 0 59 = F
93 - 97 = A 83 - 86 = B 73 - 76 = C 64 66 = D

90 - 92 = A- 80 - 82 = B- 70 72 = C- 60 63 = D-


Plagiarism/Cheating
There will be a Zero Tolerance policy that will be strictly enforced for any form of
cheating or plagiarism. If you are caught cheating, copying, or plagiarizing you will
receive an automatic zero for that assignment and receive a detention and there will be a
call made to your parent/guardian. I encourage open lines of communication so there
should never be a test or assignment for which you feel unprepared; ask me if you feel
that you need help! I will always be willing to set up times outside of school to meet with
you, you just need to communicate with me.