Washington State Studies / History

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Teacher: Mr. Denny
Room: Roaming for SY 09-10

Washington State Studies is a one-semester course and is required for high school graduation.  The first quarter focuses on Washington State geography, coastal and plateau native Americans, European explorers, fur traders, missionaries, early settlers and settlements, and finally, statehood.  The second quarter develops the growth of Washington State, the war years, economic development, the people of the state, and concludes with an examination of Washington State government.

Pathways for Student Success:  The areas described below are not a part of a student’s academic grade, however, they are indicators of how successfully they will be in this class.  By following as many of the pathways as possible a students chances of academic success are greatly increased.
1.    Effort includes the amount of quality time they put into achieving the standards of the course. It includes things like doing the class work and homework in a timely manner, using the planner to track learning targets and assignments, and finding out what was missed after an absence.
2.    Attitude indicates a positive outlook toward learning and working cooperatively with others.  A positive attitude helps students and others to stay on track in achieving academic goals while minimizing the impact of those students who choose to use a negative attitude to disrupt the learning process.
3.    Attendance reflects a sense of responsibility as a student to be at school regularly.  Students learn more when present than absent.
4.    Participation allows students to take an active role in their own learning. This includes involvement in classroom discussions, making comments and observations, working as a cooperative group or team member, and asking questions.
5.    Compliance involves doing what is expected to the best of their ability while at school.  Some areas include being on time to class and ready to learn when the bell rings, following the school rule and expectations as outlined in the planner, following individual teacher expectations, meeting assignment timelines, and coming to classes prepared to learn with the tools of a student (paper, pen, pencil, text material).

Essential Academic Learning Requirements:  This course follows state mandated Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALR’s).  You can view these EALR’s through Washington State's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction at www.k12.wa.us.  The goal for students is to have the opportunity to gain important Enduring (long lasting) Understandings that teach us about our world and ourselves.  Enduring Understanding come through addressing specific Essential Questions. Essential Questions for Washington State Studies are:

1.    How has physical geography affected the growth and development of the state?
2.    What impact did the development of Washington State have on different cultural groups?
3.    How did Washington emerge from a territory to achieve statehood?
4.    What is unique about the government of Washington State and what priorities does it reflect?
5.    What are the key industries of Washington State, past and present?
6.    How did the people of Washington State respond to the political, economic, and social challenges of the Great Depression and World War II?  What is the legacy of how these challenges were met?
7.    What significant political, economic, and social challenges affected Washington State in the post-World War II era?  How did these challenges impact individuals and groups of people?
8.    What challenges face the people of Washington State today?
9.    How can citizens work to address these challenges?

Grading and Evaluation Criteria:  I base student grades entirely on achievement of academic standards.  Academic standards are articulated at the beginning of each unit and supported by daily learning targets to help students meet grade level expectations.  The grade level expectations, or GLE’s, are outlined by the state.  I’ve listed the GLE’s with the appropriate EALR’s and EALR Components at the first attachment. I use three grading categories to track and assess student progress in achieving academic standards.
Class work
This is practice to help students meet the standard.
I track to see if they do it, but their grade is not based on class work.
I check how students are doing through Formative Assessments (a spot check).
Students are responsible for obtaining assignments missed due to absence.
There is no penalty for late turn-in of assignments.
Formative Assessments
These check student progress at any given time (Assessment for Learning).
The grade is replaced once students meet the standard through a Summative Assessment.
Summative Assessments
An assessment of what students learned or know (Assessment of Learning)
Students grade is based on achieving standard through summative assessments, not on completing class work. However, completed class work significantly increases their chance to meet standards.
Students must redo summative assessments until the standard is reached.
Students not meeting the learning standards the first time assessed must complete all class assignments (practice) prior to reassessing.
Reassessing is done, with prior arrangement, through Study Hall on Tuesday’s and Wednesdays.

Grade Scale:
A = standard exceeded = advanced knowledge (creating and evaluating)
B = standard met = mastery/proficiency (applying and analyzing)
C = standard nearly met = basic knowledge (remembering and explaining)
I = assignment not completed or turned-in = not able to measure progress toward standard

School Rule and Classroom Expectations:  Within the Make Your Day program, Frontier Junior has only one rule:

Supporting this rule, students earn points by doing what is expected, to the best of their ability.  In addition to the school expectations listed in the student planner, I have the following expectations: