Mr. Stone
7th Grade Medieval History – Honors and
Regular
Academic
Plan
Content
The main goal of the course is to help
students understand the Medieval World by studying
themselves. In short, students will learn how their identity
influences their interactions with others. Then, using the same
idea, students will study European, Mesoamerican, and Japanese
cultures to learn their medieval identities and how those
identities influenced how they interacted with others… aka
their medieval history.
Along the way, we will also pull in
current/modern topics for comparative and interest purposes.
Examples include the Presidential election, the book Three Cups of
Tea, and the conflict in France between the French and French
Muslims.
The year ends with a large student learning
project that requires students to apply some of the lessons/ideas
learned in the course regarding identity and the treatment of
others to a real life situation. There will more information on
this fourth quarter, but it is very similar to the Senior Project
they will do in twelve grade.
Key Skills and
Assessments
Students will spend LOTS of time learning
to read information/non-fiction texts, learning how to take, and
learning how to write expository (explanatory, compare/contrast,
and analysis) essays. There will be very few is any
fixed-response (multiple choice) tests.
Grading
There are two types of grades in this
class, formative and summative. Formative are practice grades and
they make up the majority of the work students do. These are
entered into Skyward for record keeping and measuring progress, but
have no bearing letter grades.
Summative grades count for 100% of the
score and are the assessments of student learning. There are few of
these each quarter (four to six) and the letter grade students earn
are based only on these summative. The formative assignments very
often are practices for the summative.
Letter Grades- Honors 7th
A = 90% - 100% and means a student has
performed at an EXCEPTIONAL HONORS level.
B/B+ = 80% to 89% and means a student has
performed HIGH HONORS level.
C/C+ = 70 to 79% and means a student has
performed at HONORS level.
D/D+ = 60 to 69% and means a student has
performed BELOW HONORS level.
F = 50 to 59% and means a student has
performed WELL BELOW HONORS level.
Letter Grades- Regular
7th
A = 90% - 100% and means a student has
performed at an EXCEPTIONAL level.
B/B+ = 80% to 89% and means a student has
performed ABOVE level.
C/C+ = 70 to 79% and means a student has
performed AT level.
D/D+ = 60 to 69% and means a student has
performed BELOW level.
F = 50 to 59% and means a student has
performed WELL BELOW level.
Late Work/Missing Work
My philosophy is to accept all work from a
given quarter (and sometimes semester), no matter how late. I will
have cut off dates at the end of each quarter, but will give
warning to students prior to. Most times the late work is not
penalized.
Instructional Materials
Students will use a composition book for
the vast majority of my work. I provide a bin for students to store
these comp books in the classroom.
Study Club
I will be offering my Study Club this year
on Fridays from 2:35 to 3:05.
Classwork vs. Homework
When an assignment is given to students, I
will provide class time to work on that assignment. As a result,
very little homework is directly assigned. That said, I have
noticed that the students that voluntarily take work home to
complete, improve, and/or practice on are the students that tend to
earn the higher grades.
Contact Information
The best way to reach me is email, most
emails can be responded to in short order. A phone call is also
good, but typically leads to a voicemail because I teach throughout
the day. I try to return phone calls and emails within in three
school days.
With 140 students, I find it easiest to
contact parents via email. When I send out emails, I will use the
email listed in Skyward, so please make sure that is up to date. If
you do not have email, please let me know (see below) so I can make
sure to send home a paper copy with your student.
I also try to post every assignment we do
on my website. These are downloadable/printable via Microsoft or
Open Office software (this is a free).
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