Please Note! All dates for any deadlines, quizzes, tests, projects, etc.,
listed below are subject to change-as required by teacher/school needs.
students must also keep track of listings or deadline changes as they take
place in class-
students are strongly advised to form a HW buddy system and to record HW
daily in their assignment books.
Longterm due dates are posted in class well in advance-students should be
aware changes may come as deemed necessary by the teacher.
** Students are told that any/all quizzes, tests, project forms and grades
received are to be immediately shown to parents and signed by parents.
* parents are strongly advised to monitor student efforts, ask for
quizzes/tests approximately 1 week after they have been taken.
*** Please be aware that the 1st MP Grades come on quickly and before you
know it...progress reports are going out in mid-October.
Students will also need general art supplies... markers, colored pencils,
rulers, scissors, yardsticks or a straight edge, because students will be
expected to use art tools to complete individual poster projects.
HW assignments are posted online and in class and is almost always visually
checked for detail and thoroughness...so do quality work.
Assignments/Curriculum Content Covered w/dates
Soc. Studies Midyear Assessment is on 1/22 See study Guide Below!
3/10 In groups begin phase 1 of class project on westward Expansion
3/11 Continue class studies self assign HW
3/12 same as above - wrap up phase 1 of project
keep working on research paper deadline
3/15 Begin Phase 1 PPTs outlines
3/16 Continue class work/ PPTs - self assign HW finish 13 source cards
3/17 13 Source cards checked in class - continue work on phase 2 of class
project
3/18 Scripts for performance piece need to be completed -
Phase Presentations will begin on Friday
3/19 Louisiana Purchase and Texas Territory Present - tea. review Quest on
next Friday! See review guide.
3/22 Mex. Cession and Oregon Present outlines tea. review
3/23 continue class presentations - Alaska and Spanish Cession
3/24 continue class presentations - Hawaii and Panama Canal - tea. review
3/25 25 source cards are due and will be checked in class HW complete review
activities for quest Tea. teachers Spanish American War! quest prep.
3/28 Quest review on west expansion\
3/29 Full period quest.
4/1 Lewis and Clark DVD - quest Make-up.
4/2 - 4/5 Spring Break-Enjoy the Break - Keep up on 8th Grade paper!
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Preliminary - Proposed Topics for the 8th grade Research Paper Project -
Subject to Approval by Media Center and Approved by Teacher
Only after your parents have approved of your choices - you MAY NOW START
EMAILING YOUR CHOICES TO szingone@montville.net over the weekend ASAP
X = Taken NO REFUNDS, NO EXCHANGES
"You get what you get and you don't get upset"
Research Topics for the 8th Grade Research Paper Project p. 1
{Spanning 1900 – Present} 1900 – 1925
Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire X
American Polar Expeditions/Land, Air and Sea 1900-Present X
Popularity - Ragtime Music in America X
Building the Panama Canal X
The Progressive Movement and Associated Accomplishments/Reforms
The Populist Movement Early 1900s
Domestic Goals of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt {Background + Achievements}
Muckrakers Early 20th Century
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Aftermath X
Trust-Busting Court Cases Early
Background to and Break-up of Standard Oil by USA in 1911-Aftermath
Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 X
“Jaws in New Jersey 1916 X
Black Sox Scandal 1919 X
International Race to be First in Powered Flight – Wright Brothers
The History of U.S. Steel
The Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 X
The Age of Silent Movies and the Birth of the Hollywood Movie Industry
WWI Related
Topics
Causes of U.S. Entry into WWI/Role in WWI
WWI
2nd Battle of the Marne
Role of the U.S. Prior to Entry and During WW
Battle of Chateau Thierry
Trench Warfare – of WWI
Battle of Argonne Forest
African Americans in WWI
Battle of Le Hamel
New Weapons/Tactics of WWI – Total War
Battle of Belleau Wood
African Americans in WWI
U.S. Battles of 1918
Background and History of the League of Nations/Success
Armistice- “Peace Without Victory” Treaty of Versailles/Wilson’s 14 Points
for Peace
Movements/Time Periods
Art Deco Movement in America
Chicago School/ Prairie School of Design and Architecture X
Arts and Crafts/Mission Movement in America
Fashion Changes and Evolution from 1900 – 1925 {Men/Women}
Crazes and Trends that Swept America 1900 – 1920s {Sports,Fads,Dances, Ga X
Red Scare in America After WWI
Women’s Movement for Equality/Political and Social 1900-1930 X
Prohibition X
Harlem Renaissance X
Jazz Age Origins and Night Life X
Roaring Twenties X
Tea Pot Dome Scandal
Ellis Island 1900 – 1925-The Peak Years X
Rise of America’s Pastime – Baseball 1900 – 1925 X
History of Basketball – 1945 - 1980
Nome Epidemic of 1925 and Dogsled Saviors/Balto X
The Negro Leagues and or the Harlem Globetrotters X
History of Automobile Industry 1900-1940
1926 – 1950
P. 2
The Arrival of the “Talkies” and the Golden Age of Hollywood Up To 1940
Origins/Evolution of Television up to 1950
Origins/Evolution/Height of Radio in America up to 1950
Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre 1929 X
Rise of “Mobsters”/Organized Crime in America X
Rise of Gangsters in America 1920s – 1930s {Not Organized Crime}
Stock Market Crash of 1929 X
The New Deal Success/Why it Died
The T.V.A. Project Origins/Accomplishments
The C.C.C. and Its Accomplishments/Improving National Parks
Agricultural Depression-The Dust Bowls
Great Depression from Stock Market Crash to 1935
1936 Olympics – Nazism and American Successes
Bonus Army Incident – Background to Tragedy and Aftermath
Growth of Labor Unions/Strikes 1900 - Wagner Act and 1940
Great Depression 1936 – Outbreak of WWII
Great Brinks Heist of 1950
Growth of Aviation in America {1915-1940 Advances, pioneers, accomplishments}
The Hindenburg Disaster X
The Golden Gate Bridge Project X
Building of America’s Great Skyscrapers {Chrysler and Empire State Buildings}
America’s National Parks in the 20th Century {Birth/History to Maintenance
Great Building Projects of the Great Depression
NYC Tunnel Projects
Mount Rushmore Project X
Hoover Dam Project/Construction/results
Trans-Alaska Highway Building Project
St. Louis Tragedy- The Sad Tale of What Happened to German Jews X
World War II related Topics
Causes for U.S. Entry into WWII
Attack on Pearl Harbor X
Battles of:
Guadalcanal X
Battle of Corregidor
Battle of Coral Sea X
Battle of Midway X
Background to/ Incidents of Bataan Death March X
Americans in Japanese POW Camps
Japanese Internment Camps in America X
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Saipan
Battle of Iwo Jima X
Battle of Okinawa X
The Manhattan Project X
Dropping of Atomic Bombs/Results X
Bombing of Japan Fire Bombing of Tokyo
Advanced/Unusual Japanese Technology and Weapons Used Against the USA in WWII
Tragedy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis X
P.T. 109 Incident – Survival Story X
Occupation of Japan after WWII
Tuskegee Airmen X Flying Tigers of WWII
WACS, WAFS of WWII and the Home Front– How Women Contributed to the Effort to
Win WWII X
Operation Torch/Invasion U.S battles in North Africa X
American Invasion of Sicily/Battles
Operation Overlord/D-Day Invasion X
Battle the Bulge/Battle of Bastogne
X
American Liberation of Concentration Camps
U.S. Weapons Advances of WWII
The Fighting 442nd – A Heroic Japanese American Regiment of WWII
X
101st Airborne-WWII Missions Behind Enemy Lines
Hollywood Contributions to Fighting WWII
Post WWII
Nuremberg Trials and Japanese War Crimes Trials
Occupation of Europe After WWII and Rising Tensions with USSR/Berlin Airlift X
The United Nations War Conferences and Its
Creation
P. 3
Marshal Plan and Truman Doctrine – Saving/Rebuilding Europe After WWII
Achievements of the Fair Deal – Truman’s Domestic Plan
Baseball and the Breaking of the Color/Race Barrier Up to 1950 X
The X-Plane Experiments and the Quest for the Sound Barrier
1950 - 1975
Korean War – Background-Outbreak of War-Truman’s Decision to Send Troops/Pusan
Inchon Invasion – Liberation of Seoul X
Crossing the 38th Parallel – Chinese Incursion and U.N.Retreat Across 38th -
Parallel /Chosin Reservoir Retreat X
Firing of MacArthur and Arrival of Ridgeway and Armistice – Status Today
Pork Chop Hill and or Other Specific Battles of the Korean War
H-Bomb Projects/Spies/Tests X
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg – Spy Case X
Cold War/Red Scare of the 1950s and Loss of American Liberties X
Background, Rise and Fall of McCarthyism -Fear and "Patriotism Run Amok"
Origins of Civil Rights Movement-Successes/Race Related Events in 1950s X
Fashion Trends of 1950s {Men and Women}
Desegregation of School in Little Rock Arkansas X
The Space Race – Origins of NASA and Missions of 1950s X
1950s and Explosion of the Consumer Society
The Beat Generation
Origins of Rock n Roll and the Day the Music Died X
Growth/Explosion of Fast Foods Restaurants in America
Origins and Growth of Auto Racing In America X
Accomplishments of Eisenhower Administration /Peace – Interstate Highway Act
and Changes to USA
Notorious Prisons of America Alcatraz and Sing Sing X
Golden Age of Television 1950s X
Birth and Evolution of the Motown music Industry
1960s
U-2 Incident - Background – Aftermath X
1960 Nixon-Kennedy Campaign and Results
The Peace Corps
JFK/Jackie and Camelot – Influence on and Inspiration to Americans
Assassination of JFK X
Bay of Pigs Fiasco X
Cuban Missile Crisis X
Origins and Evolution of Satellites X
I.C.B.Ms/Strategic Air Command and Assured Mutual Mass Destruction – Nuclear
Deterrence
The Nuclear Arms Race and S.A.L.T. Talks
The New Frontier – Quest for the Moon and NASA Missions That Got Us There
Mercury Missions X
Gemini Missions X
Apollo Missions X
Apollo 11 Mission X
Apollo 13 /Tragedy Averted X
Civil Rights Movement/Leaders/Organizations/Events/Successes/Legislation of
1960s
Freedom Riders and Freedom Marchers Sit-Ins for Civil Rights
L.B.J. and the Great Society Reform Movement
Origins and Evolution of the Hippie Movement X
Fashion Trends and Fads of the 1960s/70s X
P. 4
How Rock n Roll Changed from the 1950’s Through Its Evolution in 1960’s X
How the British Invasion Changed American Rock n Roll
Great Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami of 1964
Watts Riots and Fire of 1965 and Other Race Riots of the 1960s
Woodstock Music Festival 1969 X
Origins/Growth of the Environmental Movement/Passage of the EPA
Women’s Equal Rights Movement/Leaders/Events of 1960s and Title IX
Vietnam War Related Topics
Origins of the Vietnam Conflict-Background History up to Gulf of Tonkin
Incident /Resolution 1953-1964
Vietnam War Escalates - Operation Rolling Thunder – 1967 and MLK Speech
1968 Tet Offensive and Subsequent Battles
Battle of Junction City City
Hamburger Hill
Mi Lai Massacre and Aftermath X
Battle of Khe Sanh
Assassination of MLK Jr. X
RFK Presidential Campaign of 1968/Assassination of RFK X
1970s – Present {Misc. Topics}
Vietnam POW Camps/Prisoner"Treatment" and Releases/Hanoi Hilton
Vietnam Anti-War Movement/Leaders/Tactics/Events
Kent State Tragedy X
Peace Talks/Bombing Escalation/American Withdrawal from
Vietnam
Fall of South Vietnam and the Fall of Saigon/Evacuation of U.S. Embassy
Deep Sea Expeditions / the Alvin and Trieste expeditions
Watergate Break-in/ Conspiracy X
Bobby Riggs vs. Billy Jean King and the “Battle of the Sexes” X
Fashion Trends ands Fads of the 1970s X
Great New York City Blackout of 1977
The Voyager Project Mission/Findings X
The Skylab Mission /Project X
The NASA Space Shuttle Fleet Program
Arab Oil Embargo/Crisis
Iran Hostage Crisis X
Building of the World Trade Center
Three Mile Island Incident X
Mount St. Helens Eruption and Aftermath X
Sears Tower Construction Project
Love Canal Environmental Disaster X
Exxon Valdez Environmental Disaster X
Statue of Liberty Repair Project and the Centennial Celebration
The Worst Hurricanes … Camille X , Hugo, Katrina X , Long Island,
Galveston, Audrey {Pick 1 or do any 2}
The U.F.O. Phenomenon Fact and Fiction X
Challenger Shuttle Disaster X
Columbia Shuttle Disaster X
Patty Hearst Kidnapping/Trial X
Building of WWII /War Memorials {Background to Design} Ex. Arizona,
Vietnam, Korean, Iwo Jima
Persian Gulf War
Mogadishu-Story of “Black Hawk Down” X
Hubble Telescope/Mars Landing Projects X
Tragedy in Columbine X
Terrorist Attacks on U.S. {Beirut and/or the 1st World Trade Center
Bombing}
9/11 X
Oklahoma Bombing X
Pam-Am Lockerbie Bombing/Aftermath X
P. 5
Grenada Invasion
Capture and trial of Manuel Noriega
War on Drugs
Assassination Attempt on Ronald Reagan
Tragedy in Bosnia and U.S. Intervention/Peacekeeping X
2000 Election Campaign/Dispute/Solution/Results X
Important/Landmark Court Cases in U.S. History 1900 – Present
{For the cases below, provide the background to the case, facts of it,
outcome, aftermath, etc.}
Brown v. Board of Education 1954 X
Mapp v. Ohio 1961
Korematsu v. USA 1944
Gideon v. Wainwright 1963 X
Miranda v. Arizona 1966 X
Tinker v. Des Moines 1969
Roe v. Wade 1973 X
U.S. v. Richard Nixon
New Jersey v. T.L.O. 1985 School Prayer
Engle v. Vitale 1962
Abbington v. Shepps
Bush v. Gore 2000
Weeks v United States
Powell v. Alabama
Mississippi Burning Trial X
Scopes Monkey Trial X
Sacco and Vanzetti Case/Trial X
Leopold and Loeb 1924
Scottsboro Boys Case X
Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case X
Initial Research Prior to and Required for Topic Approval
1. Students are directed to go into the school media center databases and
online and find information about EACH of the topics they would consider
researching for the 8th Grade Research Paper Project.
•Remember the media center databases can be accessed from home and must be
used!
•Students may also check on-line sources and find sites with information
about their choices.
2.Students are to select 6 varying topics of interest from the list provided
and write them in the spaces below.
Students must bring in a print-out on their choices to have any chance of
being approved.
No more than 2 choices per. Realm… ex. 2 from music,2 from sports,2 from war
Student choices should span the entire time period
Topics will be assigned/approved on a first come/first serve basis or by
random order
Students may come to school by 7:30am on _Monday_ to be approved,
• Note: Student topic choices are completely subject to teacher approval.
• Efforts will be made to match the student with topic as necessary.
Write your 6 varying topics in these spaces:
1. ________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________
6. ________________________________________________________
* If you have another idea for a topic-you may write it in below.
Hope for approval is low!
________________________________________________________
Students are to have their initial selections made and ready for approval by…
Date: ________________ or e-mail teacher with 6 varied choices 1-3 pm ONLY on
_Sunday__ for pre-approval! Students must bring in THIS signed form on Monday
nonetheless.
Parent/Guardian Signature: _____________________________________
Topics will not be approved without the signature and will then be assigned
as necessary!
To Parents/Guardians:
Your signature above means the following:
1. You have viewed the list of topics chosen by your son/daughter and find
that you approve
2. You believe the topic is appropriate for content and level of difficulty
3. Your son or daughter has sufficient understanding of their choices
{researched topics on-line}
4. You are aware the 8th Grade Research Paper Project is about to begin and
will monitor efforts
5. Your son/daughter, once approved, needs to begin obtaining book and tech.
resources immediately!
Approved/assigned topic for the 8th Grade Research paper is
______________________________________
Guide for Social Studies Mid-Year Assessment
{Students should keep the following guide in mind}
Purpose: The 8th Grade Social Studies Mid-Year Assessment is intended to
perform as a tool that will measure a student’s retention of basic curriculum
content, their ability to analyze and decipher visual representations of
social studies related concepts and a student’s ability to display evidence
of strength in the area of creative fact based writing. The Mid-Year
Assessment will also serve as one of numerous diagnostic materials used in
helping to form the basis of recommendations for 9th Grade Social Studies.
Assessment Date: Jan 21st {two full periods}
• Bring two #2 pencils for completion of Scantron formatted questions
• Bring a blue/black pen for completion of the pre-write and written response
The following units of study include:
1. Exploration/Colonization
2. The 13 Colonies
3. Causes of the American Revolution
* Information taken from class studies of Chapters 3, 4, 5 in the text book.
The Soc. Studies Assessment has 3 parts delivered over 2 full class periods
Part 1: 40 Multiple Choice {40 points}
{Questions are main idea type questions from materials studied this year}
Part 2: Skills Acquired {15 points}
15 Questions requiring students to do the following:
A. Read a primary source and answer questions about it
B. Analyze Visuals {charts, graphs, timelines, etc.} and answer questions
Part 2 Continued: {20 points}
A. 20 Questions requiring students to analyze charts, graphs, timelines, etc.
Part 3: Picture Prompt Writing Skills Assessment {25 points}
A. Students will be provided a picture to analyze {based on class content}
1. Complete a pre-write
2. Complete a well-written response
To Prepare:
Students may wish to review old quizzes, tests, and recall class studies and
discussions, scanning through the text for main ideas, may be helpful as
well.
Students may also wish to scan through the text chapter reviews to practice
answering questions based on the analysis of charts, graphs, timelines, and
other visual representations of social studies related concepts.
****************************************************************************
