Mr. Mitchell’s Social Studies Class
Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School of Coventry
The Velocity Team (8th Grade)
2008-2009
Dear Parents/Guardians & Students,
I look forward to working with you for another year. If you are new this year,
welcome and I look forward to meeting you. Please
read the following carefully and sign at the bottom. Feel free to email
me with any questions or call the school at 822-9426.
1.
CURRICULUM:
All classes will follow the 8th grade
World History curriculum.
We will be covering the following units of study:
East
Asian History,
Ancient Greece,
Ancient Rome,
Europe after Rome,
The Rise of Islam,
Empires of Sub-Saharan Africa, and
Ancient Americas. (All of this can be found online from my class website –
see below.) Our Social Studies
Department is currently revising the curriculum under
Grade-Span
Thematic Essential Questions we designed them to bring consistency and
greater understanding to our 6-8 Curriculum.
2.
CURRENT EVENTS CONNECTION:
All students will be required to find current articles in newspapers, magazines,
online news sources, etc. that connect to the Grade-Span Thematic Essential
Questions. Due dates will be posted online and detailed directions will be
handed out.
3.
PORTFOLIOS:
All students will be required to keep a working portfolio of their work in
class. I will provide a file cabinet for this purpose. Their work will be
compiled according to evidence of their understanding of the Grade-Span Thematic
Essential Questions in our World History Curriculum.
4.
Textbook:
Each student will receive a copy of
Prentice Hall’s World Explorer: The Ancient World then students will switch
to
Prentice Hall’s World Explorer: Medieval Times to Today. They are
responsible for it and will be charged if they lose it. It must be covered to
protect it for future student use.
5.
EMAIL/CONTACT ME:
[trmitchell31@yahoo.com] The best way to contact me is through email. If
you have access problems, send a note in your school agenda or call the school
at 822-9426.
6.
STUDENT EMAIL:
All students will need to maintain a web-based email account. This account has
to be accessible through the school and home computers. Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail,
etc. offer free accounts. This is very important. Please do your best to
complete this task as soon as possible. I have 5 desktop stations connected to
the Internet for my students within my classroom that can be used to set up
these accounts. The purpose of this is for communication, such as forwarding an
assignment to me or to them, etc. (Our
school system has a strict censorship software program that bans inappropriate
material. All students will also be monitored while they are online. I can help
you find a filter for your home computer if you are interested.)
7.
PROJECTS/EVALUATION:
All students will participate in class and group projects during the year. It is
essential that students learn to work with each other effectively, yet
understand that all students will receive an individual grade. I use teacher,
peer, and self-evaluations to best determine individual contributions. There
will be defined standards and expectations for all assignments.
8.
CLASS WEBSITE:
I own and maintain my website at www.mitchellteachers.org. (I
share it with my wife who teaches in Cranston) You also can get to it through
the school’s website, as well. Please browse the site and familiarize yourself
with the content.* Class assignments are posted on it. Except for textbook
readings and questions, all work may be downloaded from the site, including some
video. While some assignments cannot be posted as they are implemented in class,
substitutions will be posted in case a student cannot attend school that day.
Obviously, most tests or quizzes will have to be completed in school. There are
a few highlights about the website you should be aware of:
*If you are not online at home, hard copies and traditional methods will be
provided for and sent home. You might be able to check from work or the
public library?
A.
Weekly Agenda
- The class schedule will be posted here. I cannot promise that it will be
adhered to strictly. Some lessons go quickly and others take longer than
expected. Fire drills, last minute team schedule changes, etc. happen. But, you
will have a good idea what we are doing in class when I post it by the prior
weekend.
B.
Trimester Assignment List
- All assignments we cover will be posted on this page. If days are missed or
the dog ate the work, it may be printed out or completed online.
C.
Grades
- All my grades will be done in Microsoft Excel (spreadsheet program) and I will
continually post them on the website. You will need a password to see the page.
Username: Email me for these
Password:
All students have been assigned a number (each student will be told to write
down this number. If you are not informed of this, email me for the
real one). In this way, students and
parents may see how well all are doing and what they have done so far. I'm sure
every student's progress will be monitored and admired from home or work.
Please sign below indicating that you have read the above.
Parent/Guardian Signature: _________________________________
Thank You,
Ted Mitchell – Velocity Team Social Studies
Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School of Coventry