Middle Grades Social Studies Education

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Students will learn theory, resources, and methods to teach social studies content in ways that promote student engagement, critical thinking, and active learning.
• Students will learn how to synthesizing content into units and individual lessons, work with state and national standards, and use a wide variety of strategies to relay content.
• Students will develop the skills needed to be successful on the edTPA assessment that they will have to take next semester.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Quizzes	10%
Sample Lesson Plan	5%
Practicum Discussion Questions	5%
Videotaped Teaching and Reflection	10%
Mini-Lessons	10%
Primary Source Lesson	15%
Webquest	15%
Final Project	30%

Final numerical grades will be averaged and assigned a letter equivalent based on the scale below. When a numerical average falls between two letter grades, an average of .5 or higher will round up.

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
100%	A+
95-99%	A
90-94%	A-
87-89%	B+
83-86%	B
80-82%	B-
77-79%	C+
73-76%	C
70-72%	C-
67-69%	D+
63-66%	D
60-62%	D-
0-59%	F

Attendance/Participation:

Teacher licensure is an example of a professional program mandated by the state which requires a minimum number of contact hours for students. Therefore, in accordance with department policy, students’ final grades will be lowered if there are an excessive number of absences. Everyone will get one “freebie” absence. Each subsequent absence (no matter if it is “excused” or “unexcused”), will result in the final course grade being lowered (e.g., two missed classes = one letter grade lower, three missed classes = two letter grades lower). Four or more absences will result in failure of the course. In addition, three tardies (arriving late or leaving early) will equal one absence from class. This policy is in addition to other academic incentives for prompt attendance to each course session.

You are expected to attend class, participate in class discussions and activities, and thoroughly read assigned material. Nearly all of the class meetings will require you to read one or more SHORT articles prior to coming to class. To help ensure that the course material is being thoroughly read, I will give short 5 question quizzes near the beginning of every class period that a reading as been assigned. These quizzes will cover broad aspects of the article and are not designed to force you to memorize minute details. Also, on weeks where you have been assigned a mini-lesson video to watch, one of the five questions will relate to the mini-lesson video. Rather, these quizzes serve as a way of rewarding you for doing your assigned reading and being prepared for class. THE QUIZZES ONLY PERTAIN TO REQUIRED READINGS/VIDEOS THAT EVERYONE IS EXPECTED TO READ, NOT THE MINI LESSON READINGS THAT ARE ONLY TO BE READ BY STUDENTS ASSIGNED TO THAT ARTICLE! (See the course calendar and list of readings)

Missed quizzes cannot be made up. If you come to class late and miss the quiz, you cannot make it up. Also, if you leave class early, your quiz will not count for that day. We will have 12 quizzes during this semester for a total of 60 points. However, your final quiz average will only be averaged out of 55 points, giving you one “freebie” in the event of a missed class or a forgotten reading. If you come to every class and take every quiz, however, you have the opportunity to make over 100% on your quiz grade.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

No course materials are required.