CIVICS AND ECONOMICS

WEDDIINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020

Mr. George

 

Please 3-whole punch this syllabus and have it your SECOND page in your notebook!!

 

1. COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

Through the study of Civics and Economics, students will acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to become responsible and effective citizens in an interdependent world. Students will need a practical understanding of these systems of civics and economics that affect their lives as consumers and citizens. Furthermore, this course serves as a foundation for United States History. It is recommended that this tenth grade course, Civics and Economics, directly precede the eleventh grade United States History survey course to maintain continuity and build historical perspective.

As informed decision-makers, students will apply acquired knowledge to real life experiences.

 

When studying the legal and political systems, students will become aware of their rights and responsibilities and put this information into practice. The economic, legal, and political systems are balanced for presentation and, like other social studies subjects, this course lends itself to interdisciplinary teaching. The goals and objectives are drawn from disciplines of political science, history, economics, geography, and jurisprudence.

 

Those topics (Units) are as follows:

 

            Unit I---Foundations of American Government

            Unit II—Structure of American Government

            Unit III—Rights, Responsibilities and Citizenship

            Unit IV—Political Parties and Elections

            Unit V---State and Local Government

            Unit VI—Personal Financial Literacy

            Unit VII—The Economy and the Individual

            Unit VIII—Economic and Market Systems

 

You will have periodic homework, Tests on the Chapters and periodic quizzes on specific parts of the chapters or topics. 

 

PROMISE #1

1. If you come to class:  (don’t have absences)
2. Listen, take notes and pay attention during class.
3. Do the periodic homework I assign,
4. Take all the tests and quizzes assigned;
5. IT WILL BE MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL.

 

6. DO THE MATH:
   1. TERM GRADE
      1. HOMEWORK---20%
      2. CLASSWORK---10%

• QUIZ(all are unannounced and ALL are open notebook)---10%

1. TESTS---60%
2. IF—your test grade is a 55% and you come to class, take all notes, listen (additional notes) and do all homework on time…THEN… homework, classwork and quiz grades should be 100%.
3. SO…..55 x.6 =33 and 100 x .4 = 40     33 + 40 = 73%
4. SEMESTER GRADE
5. Term 1—25%

            ii Term 2—25%

            iii Term 3—25%

            final exam—25% Curved by the district and state. 

PROMISE #2

 

1. I make my own tests and quizzes.
2. I do not ask questions or material I have not covered in class, given on a powerpoint, had you work on in group work, or assigned for homework.

 

1. SYLLABUS AND TENTATIVE TESTING DATES. THESE DATES ARE TENTATIVE…SOME SECTIONS I WILL NEED MORE TIME AND SOME LESS TIME.  WE WILL HAVE SNOW DAYS, FIRE DRILLS AND OTHER INTERUPTIONS, WHICH WILL CHANGE THE SCHEDULE.  USE IT AS A GUIDE.  YOU WILL KNOW THE EXACT DAY WITH 5-7 DAYS TO STUDY

Unit I---Foundations of American Government

        11 DAYS—Test on or about February 5th

Unit II—Structure of American Government

        14 days—Test on or about February 26th

Unit III—Rights, Responsibilities and Citizenship

        6 days—Test on or about March 5^th

Unit IV—Political Parties and Elections

        7 days—Test on or about March 16^th

Unit V---State and Local Government

        7 days—Test on or about March 27^th

Unit VI—Personal Financial Literacy

        12 days—Test on or about April 23^rd

Unit VII—The Economy and the Individual

        9 Days—Test on or about May 6^th

Unit VIII—Economic and Market Systems

        9 days—Test on or about May 19^th

 

 

• Calculating a student’s grade:
  1. Percentages
     1. Tests will be 60% of your six week grade
     2. Quizzes will be 10% of your six week grade(open notebook)

• Classwork/participation will be 10% of your six week grade

1. Homework will be 20% of your six week grade.
2. Projects, if any, will be weighted in one of the above categories to reflect the amount of work a student must perform to complete the assignment

1. Homework Policy
   1. Students will receive a zero for an assignment they made no effort on or which is missing on the date it was due.
   2. If a student is missing an assignment due to an absence, the student has 10 days to turn in missing work. After 10 days, the work is considered late. If you are late multiple days, I am flexible with this policy

• Late work: Work not turned in on the date assigned, will lose 10 points / day.  After 10 days, the work will earn a ‘0’ for a grade. 

 

1. Text book
   1. You will not have a text book to have to carry around. We will always have a class set to use while you are in class.  THERE IS NO ONLINE VERSION OF THIS TEXT BOOK—If you Google “Civics Today”, you may find an online version of the text.
2. Required-- 2” TO 4” Three Ring Binder, three hole punch (very inexpensive one), 6-8 dividers, loose leaf paper

 

Class attendance and participation is a necessity in CIVICS AND ECONOMICS.  If a student is frequently absent from class and/or does not participate while in class, their grade will suffer. 

 

PLEASE BE AWARE:  You will only be allowed 7 absences from class.

 

All rules outlined in the Weddington High School Student handbook shall be followed while the student is in class.  Any infraction of the handbook shall be dealt with in the appropriate manner as stated in the handbook.  HONOR CODE VIOLATION WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. 

 

 

 

 

Most importantly, Mr. George’s classes will be a safe classroom for all students and staff members.  Students shall treat their classmates and Mr. George with respect and courtesy.  In turn, you shall receive the same treatment from Mr. George.

 

“LIFE HAPPENED”---POLICY

 

To contact me, please don’t call the school. The quickest way to have a response will be to email me at ronald.george@ucps.k12.nc.us.

 

HAVE A GREAT YEAR.