Government Class

The Seton
Keough
High School

Government/ Economics

Mr. Marchand
The Seton Keough High School
2016 - 2017 School Year

Welcome to Mr. Marchand's Government and Economics classes for the 2016 - 2017 school year. This is an election year, with all 435 US House of Representatives seats, 33 US Senate seats, and the President and Vice President of the federal government all being contested. There are also a number of state and local races to be decided on election day.

In class we will learn how the federal and state Constitutions work, using the elections and current events as the framework for study. We will also work on understanding the economy of the United States and how that economy is integrated into world trade and conflict resolution.

Learning Guide

Text: Pearson American Government E-Text
Please link to notes and resouces: Pearson Chapter Resources

Purpose: Thie students should understand the United States government through the following themes:
     1. The Constitution and it's Amendments
     2. Federalism, the separation of powers, and federal state and local government
     3. Political Parties
     4. Elections, through primaries and caucuses, to nominating conventions and
         through a general election
     5. The branches of the government and how they work; Legislative, Executive,
   Judicial
     6. Comparative Politics; the federal system with the parliamentary and
          conferderation systems
     7. State and local government

Skills: Students should learn to assess current materials such as first hand descriptions, documents, and opinion pieces as well as following the text.

Students should also learn how to write clearly and quickly, and how to make persuasive arguments based on evidence.

Students will develop and carry out a research plan that meets the standards of the most advanced high school students, and will learn how to deal with a variety of methods of assessment.

Objectives: Are at the beginning of each syllabus

Click Here For Current 3rd Frame Syllabus

Click Here For Current 4th Frame Syllabus

Click Here for Assessment Calendar

Click Here for Journal Guidelines and Assignments

Click Here for Research Project Schedule

Click Here for Peer Review Worksheet

Click Here for History Day Page

History Day Project Links 2017

Grading Rubric

These are the performance standards that lead to the specific grade that you wish to earn for the course. Achievement of you desired grade can be reasonably be expected if you complete assignments, perform tasks and achieve assessment results that are consistent with these standards.

GRADE	Mastery of Vocabulary	Reading to Learn	Homework and Use of Web Resources	Group Work	Project Assignments	Tests, Quizzes, Assessment
A	Can use vocabulary in everyday speech, and can put vocabulary together with assignments and tests	Reads each section before doing homework, seeks links, similarities and differences between words and concepts in the section	Completes all homework assignments, does homework after reading the assigned section, uses the web to reinforce understanding	Completes all parts of the assignment, performs work and positively contributes to the group activity	Completes project assignments over enough time to make sure the final product exceeds all objectives	Masters detail knowledge (multiple choice/ short answer), analysis (comparisons and description), and synthesis (essay)
B	Can relate vocabulary to current instruction and previous assignments and tests	Reads most sections before doing homework, sometimes finds links, similarities and differences between words and concepts in the section	Completes most homework assignments, does most homework after reading the assigned section, frequently uses web resources and searches the web to reinforce understanding	Completes all parts of the assignment, performs work and positively contributes to the group activity	Completes project assignments with a strong knowledge of the content of the project	Understands detail knowledge (multiple choice/ short answer), analysis (comparisons and description), and synthesis (essay)
C	Can relate vocabulary to current instruction	Skims sections to find homework vocabulary, usually does not read the section	Looks at vocabulary first, tries to find vocabulary in the section, does not seek similarities or differences between words and concepts in the section, uses the web for specific assignments	Completes enough work to help the group complete requirements of the group assignment	Completes the project with all objectives barely accomplished	Understands one of the following: detail knowledge (multiple choice/ short answer), analysis (comparisons and description), or synthesis (essay)
D	Can define most vocabulary words	Tries to find homework vocabulary in index and/ or dictionary without reading the section	Defines vocabulary and answers questions without seeking similarities or differences between words and concepts in the section, rarely uses the web	Does not contribute equally to help the group complete the assignment, depends on other group members to complete project	Completes the project with some objectives minimally accomplished	Asks the question "what material is going to be on the test" (NOTE: It's DEFINITELY OK to ask what SECTIONS or CHAPTERS are on the quiz/ test!)
F	Cannot define vocabulary	Makes no attempt to read assigned sections	Does not do homework, does not use web resources	Does not participate in the group assignment	Does not complete (partial grade) or turn in the project (grade of 0)	Does not meet the minimal requirements of the assessment

Journals

Each student will keep a journal in a separate section of her notebook. Each Journal entry will be worth up to 25 points. The guidelines for writing Journal entries may be found at Journal Guidelines.

The journal questions for Government are posted as assigned at Government History Journal Questions.

Projects and Research Papers

First Semester Research Project

1. Here is the 1st Semester Research Project Schedule.

2. There is a peer review component. You will need the Peer Review Rubric.

Second Semester Research Project

1. Here is the 2nd Semester Research Project Assignment and Schedule.

2. There is a peer review component this semester too. You will need the Peer Review Rubric.