August 2010
Dear Parent or Guardian,
I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and express my
excitement about working with your child this year. I love teaching history
because I care deeply about each of my students. I believe students can grow
and develop by examining the issues we cover in class. I hope to make the
study of history a fun and enlightening experience. For me, history is much
more than memorizing facts and dates. It is about the study of human kind
and who we are and where we came from. Ideally, the study of history
involves the active pursuit of knowledge. This is the type of course that
encourages student participation. I hope that they will enjoy this
class. I welcome all opportunities that will help my students throughout
this course, and encourage students to make arrangements to see me if they
are experiencing difficulty with the work in this course.
Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV)
This note is an addition to the previous letter you received from the School
District. The Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV) provides timely student
performance information so that parents can stay fully involved with their
child's academic progress.
The ability to monitor your child's grades and any assignment information can
now be securely viewed from your Internet Browser at home. We are providing
this access through our Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV) feature. This secured
access requires an Internet connection and a confidential user name and
password issued to the parent by the school.
* The parent and student login and password are confidential – Please, do not
give the passwords to other people or let your child use your parent password,
each child has their own. The parents can set up email notifications about
improvement, missing assignments, or outstanding performance that are sent
directly to you.
* Please allow teachers time to enter grades and scores into the gradebook.
This may vary by teacher due to the amount of work collected. When grades are
entered and an assignment is missing, it means it was due and not turned in.
* Please check first with your child as to their understanding of their
assignments and how they are graded before contacting the teacher.
* If you have any questions or problems about this service, please contact Mr.
Ron Gantvoort at (408) 522-8288
Our textbook materials are aligned with the Eighth Grade History-Social
Science Content Standards adopted by the California State Board of Education.
The following is the tentative pacing schedule describing the chapters and
sections that we will be covering this year along with the essential skills
students will be learning:
August-September
Chapter 1
Expanding Horizons
Age of Exploration
Rise of Modern Capitalism
The Enlightenment
Chapter 2 Road to Independence
Founding the American Colonies
Life in Colonial America
Trouble in the Colonies
War of Independence
October-December
Chapter 3
A More Perfect Union
The Articles of Confederation
Convention and Compromise
A New Plan of Government
Chapter 4
The Constitution
Goals of the Constitution
The Federal Government
Citizens’ Rights and Responsibilities
Chapter 5
The Federalist Era
The First President
Early Challenges
The First Political Parties
Chapter 6
The Age of Jefferson
The Republicans Take Power
The Louisiana Purchase
Daily Life in Early America
January-February
Chapter 7
Foreign Affairs in the Early Republic
ATime of Conflict
The War of 1812
Foreign Relations
Chapter 8
The Northeast: Building Industry
Economic Growth
A System of Transportation
The North’s People
Reforms and Reformers
The Women’s Movement
Chapter 9
The South
Southern Cotton Kingdom
Life in the South
The Peculiar Institution
Chapter 10
The Age of Jackson
Jacksonian Democracy
The Removal of Native Americans
Jackson and the Bank
March-April
Chapter 11
Manifest Destiny
Westward to the Pacific
Independence for Texas
War With Mexico
New Settlers in California and Utah
Chapter 12 Road to Civil War
Abolitionists
Slavery and the West
A Nation Dividing
Challenges to Slavery
Secession and War
Chapter 13
The Civil War
The Two Sides
Early Years of the War
A Call to Freedom
Life During the Civil War
The Way to Victory
Chapter 14
Reconstruction
Reconstruction Plans
Radicals in Control
The South During Reconstruction
Change in the South
May
Chapter 15
The Western Frontier
The Mining Booms
Ranchers and Farmers
Native American Struggles
Farmers in Protest
Chapter 16
The Growth of Industry
Railroads Lead the Way
Inventions
The Age of Big Business
Industrial Workers
Chapter 17
America Enters a New Century
The New Immigrants
Moving to the City
A Changing Culture
The Progressive Movement
A Changing Nation
June
Sparta
Job Interview
Resume Writing
Habits of Successful Students
The Stock Market Game
Essential Skills For Social Studies
Interpreting: What is really being said here?
Inferring: Developing ideas based on your background knowledge and the
material being studied.
Drawing Conclusions: Combine information and evidence to form a statement or
opinion about a topic.
Making Connections: Text-2-Self; Text-2-World; Text-2-Text
Analyzing: Looking at separate parts of something to understand the whole
Distinguishing Fact From Opinion: A fact is a statement that can be proven. An
opinion cannot be proven and comes from a personal viewpoint-though opinions
can be supported with facts.
Evaluating: Forming an opinion or making a judgment about
something. For example, deciding whether an article shows bias or not.
Synthesizing: Combining ideas (maybe even from other sources) to come up with
something new.
Comparison and Contrast: Showing how things are alike and different.
Cause and Effect: Explains why things are as they are.
Problem and Solution: Identifying a problem and how to solve it.
Sequence: How things are arranged such as in chronological order, spatial
order, and order of importance.
Notable Activities & Projects
Creating a Government
Jury Duty
Formal Speeches
Structured Debates
Open Forums
Sparta
Historical Board Game
Diorama
Journal Writing
Documentaries
CNN Student News
Murder Mystery Investigation
Note: Dates and activities subject to change without notice.
I am excited about working with your child. I welcome questions or comments,
and am looking forward to a great year!
Sincerely,
Mr. Vedar
