Course title: U.S. History

Teacher: Bill Pratt

General Course Description:
What does it mean to be an American? What principles, hopes and ideals are included in "the American dream?" What does this dream promise, and to what extent have these promises been fulfilled? Has American history been a history of progress? How successful have marginalized groups been in their struggles to gain full membership in our society? In this course, students explore these and other essential questions in a study of the major turning points in 20^th century American history, with an emphasis on the social, cultural, political and economic developments that have challenged America to broaden its founding definitions of freedom and equality.

Goals/Objectives:
Students will develop a complex understanding of the major ideas and events that have shaped the United States in the last one hundred years and will learn how knowledge of the past can illuminate possible answers to the issues and problems which confront our country today. With the use of broad, open-ended and often provocative central questions to tie together the many diverse activities of each unit, students will see how knowledge builds and grows towards tentative conclusions. They will consider multiple perspectives on events and issues as they develop skills of historical research and interpretation; they should also be able to identify with the experiences of people from different backgrounds and time periods. Students will learn to effectively express their ideas in various ways, especially through writing, but also discussions, oral presentations, role-plays, group projects, video, photography and other media.

Course content:

FALL SEMESTER

Unit 1 The United States Coming of Age: 1877-1920

Part A: Immigration

• Who gets to be an American?

Part B: Industrialization and the Progressive Response

• Are democracy and capitalism compatible?

Part C: The U.S. Emerges as a World Power: Imperialism and World War I

• When should the U.S. intervene in the affairs of other countries?

Culminating Project: Museum, with video, evaluating the United States, 1890-1920

Unit 2 The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

• Were the 1920's really "roaring" and the 1930's really "depressing"?

Culminating Project: Metaphor project comparing the 1920's to the 1930's

Unit 3 The United States in World War II

• Was World War II the United States' "good war"?

Culminating Project: Illustrated report card of U.S. performance in World War II

SPRING SEMESTER

Unit 4 The Cold War and Vietnam

• Should the United States be praised or condemned for its efforts during the Cold War?

• Given the outcome of the Cold War, did the ends of U.S. policy justify the means?

Culminating Project: Test and essay

Unit 5 Movements for Liberation and Civil Rights

• Were the liberation movements of the 60's and 70's successful?

• Should Americans use nonviolence or "any means necessary" to rectify social injustice?

Culminating Project: Civil Rights magazine project

Unit 6 Contemporary American Society

• Which trends and events from 1950-1990 most profoundly shaped contemporary American society?

Culminating Project: Time capsule of contemporary America

Students complete a major research paper (10+ pages) each semester.

Grades:

Grades are based on a point system with the following categories:

30% Notebook-daily in-class assignments and homework

25% Major Written Assignments-i.e. essays and research papers

25% Unit Culminating Projects, Quizzes and Tests

20% Participation-daily attendance, timeliness, contribution to class, respect for others

Instructional Materials:

The two main texts for the course are A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and The Americans, by Winthrop D. Jordan, et al. We will also use a variety of documentary and feature films, sound recordings, primary source documents and other written materials.

Suggestions for Independent Work:

-Students have a wide range of topics to choose from for each of the research papers.

-Time Outs (explained in detail in the instructor's course outline) allow students a variety of creative ways to do independent work in their notebooks by making connections between current events and course topics.

-Relevant reading materials and videos (many available from instructor) can also be a basis for doing independent work.