Honors Government Jazmin R.

Villalpando, Instructor
2017/2018
12th Grade Email: jvillalpando@thesae.k12.ca.us
www.saegov.weebly.com

Dear Parent/Guardian of _______________________________________,

I am very happy to have the opportunity to work with your child this year. I am excited, and I

know that this will be a great year. Please take some time to review the course description that

follows. If you would like to communicate and receive updates or progress reports, please include

your contact info below:

Parent Email: ____________________________________________________

Student Email: ___________________________________________________
Parent Phone: __________________ Is this a cell? _____ Is texting ok? _____
Student Phone: _________________ Is this a cell? _____ Is texting ok? _____

If I have not already, I look forward to meeting with you some time during the year. Please feel free to

contact me by phone or email for any reason.

Sincerely,

Jazmn R. Villalpando
The School of Arts and Enterprise

I have read the Government course description and I understand what is expected in this class.

Student Signature________________________________ Date__________

Parent Signature__________________________________ Date__________

Honors Government Jazmin R. Villalpando, Instructor 2017/2018
12th Grade
Email: jvillalpando@thesae.k12.ca.us
www.saegov.weebly.com

Course Overview
Students will gain an understanding of how our government and those of other countries work. They
will explore how their lives are affected by public policy and how they can exert and activate their own
power within institutional structures. Students will be expected to think critically about the standards
presented in class. Major assignments in this class include responding to current events, visual and
performing arts projects, group tasks, reading comprehension, note taking, annotations and essays.
Midterm and semester final exams are cumulative. This class is UC approved and aligned with
California state standards.

Grade Level Project

This course functionally integrates Government with Business, Mathematics, and English classes.

Grading Criteria:
Mastery Learning:
The SAE has adopted the Mastery Learning model of standards-based grading. This means that
students are evaluated based on specific standards (things students need to know and be able to do),
rather than on a point system. Students will no longer be given points towards their final grade for
completing work or simply participating. A student must demonstrate their knowledge and abilities
on a variety of different assessments (quizzes, oral, quizzes, discussions, tests, essays, reports,
speeches, projects, presentations, portfolios) and all of the standards the students demonstrated in
each assessment are evaluated separately on a 4-point rubric (4=Advanced, 3=Proficient, 2=Basic,
1=Below Basic). This allows students to easily see which concepts they understand and can put to use
(Mastery of a standard) and on which concepts they need more practice and instruction.

Final Course Mark Grade Scale

Final grades are determined by the percent of standards that are mastered, not by the average grade
of assignments completed.

Retakes for summative assessment are not to exceed two weeks.

4-Advanced A 88-100%

3-Proficient B 75-87.9%

2-Basic C 63-74.9%

1-Below Basic No Credit 0-62.9%

Materials
Students will need to bring to class:
100+ pages, college-ruled, notebook or bound composition book used only for
Government class
Binder or folder for handouts and returned papers (may be used for multiple classes)
Day planner, agenda, or calendar
Glue/Mini stapler. (Students will attach assignments to their notebook)
 (Optional) Various art supplies for projects involving drawing, coloring, cutting, and pasting

Attendance
Much of our class will be conducted similar to a popular college format: the seminar. That means that
much of your learning will depend on your attendance, participation, and preparation for class
discussion. I expect that you will attend every class meeting on time and without leaving early, having
completed all work necessary to make a meaningful contribution during our time together. That
means doing the reading beforehand, utilizing study methods such as annotation, going over your
notes, and reviewing any handouts I give you.

When you miss class, you lose out on the learning that happens spontaneously during our class
interaction (such as targeted writing support, additional assistance with understanding the text, ideas
that can help inspire and inform your responses to formal, assigned essays) and there is no way to
make up this work. If you have an emergency, it is your responsibility to notify me before class so
that arrangements can be made. Take responsibility for your success and make your decisions
accordingly.

Late Work Policy

As a rule, late work is not accepted. As explained in the attendance policy, when you miss class you
miss out on essential learning. In order to mitigate this fact it is essential that you keep me updated
on any absences or situations. If you notify me before you have a problem then you will never need
to turn in a late assignment. Also, when a student fails to turn an independent
practice/summative/formative assessment in on time they lose the ability to retake/redo the
assessment.

Assessment Retake Policy:

Students are permitted on retake within two weeks of posted grade. If the assessment is designated
Formative (Quiz, etc), students are required to attend one hour of tutoring prior to the retake. If the
assessment is designated Summative (unit assessments, major essays and projects), students are
required to attend at least two hours of tutoring prior to the retake.

Tutoring
Drop-in tutoring times are Monday and Tuesday from 3:35 4:35. Ms.Villalpando is also
available most days before and after school by appointment.

Student Expectations
All class participants are expected to showcase the following behaviors:
Students must make every effort to learn.
Students must not hinder other students learning.
Active participation is a requirement. When there is something to do, do it.
Collaborate. Work together to accomplish what you cannot accomplish alone.
Help each other. Tutoring a classmate helps the school, and it helps you learn better, too!

Ms. Villalpando Classroom Norms

Ms. Villalpando will regularly arrange her students desks according to the needs of the activity
for the day. DO NOT MOVE THE DESKS AROUND unless specifically asked to do so.
Electronics must be turned off when class starts
Backpacks and unnecessary materials must be kept off the desks during class activities.
Be in your seat early. Ms. Villalpando starts class on time.
Ms. Villalpando ends class, not the bell.
Course Units

Unit 1 American Identity: Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence

Unit 2 Government in Action: Judicial, Legislative, Executive, Federalism, Social Welfare

Congress: Bill of Rights, Minorities, and Protection

Unit 3 114th

Unit 4 Elections: Media, Campaign, Parties, Voting Behavior, and Interest Groups

Unit 5 SCOTUS: Supreme Court, Roe vs. Wade, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act

Benchmarks
Dates TBA

Exams
TBA

Project: Political Party Affiliation Project

PowerPoint
Interviews
Research

Socratic Seminars
Every other unit there will be a Socratic Seminar. All students are expected to participate and this is
considered a summative assessment and will be part of your grade.

Notebook/Portfolio
Every student must have a notebook/binder that will work as their portfolio for the unit. At the end of
each unit I will check for completion of notes and annotations. Notebooks are due at the end of each
unit the day of the test. I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING LATE NOTEBOOKS. THIS IS A SUMMATIVE
ASSESSMENT AND WILL BE PART OF EACH STUDENT'S GRADE.

Unit Test
At the end of each unit students will take a unit summative assessment that will contain 15-30 terms
and two essay response questions.

Vocabulary Assessments
The Vocabulary Assessments are to help with college preparedness and literacy skills. Most of the
words are found in the SAT and GRE, which will help your student, prepare for college.

Additional Summative Assessments

Additional summative assessments may by assign throughout the year.

I will not tolerate racially insensitive behavior (jokes, comments, and inappropriate references), body
shaming, inappropriate references to a persons gender expression, sexual orientation, national
origin, cultural practices or beliefs.