Dear 8^th Grade Parents,

The 8^th Grade Team would like to welcome you to the new school year. The 8^th grade team believes that communication is very important for the success of all students. Please feel free to contact your child’s teachers with any questions or concerns that you may have. 

We would also like you to know that progress reports for all students will be sent out at the mid-point of each nine weeks. Also report cards will be sent home at the end of each nine weeks. Please be looking for these at the appropriate time. If you do not receive a progress report or a report card please contact the school to get one.

Course:  United States and World History

Text: Discovering Our Past: A History of the United States, World History and Geography

           TextBooks can also be accessed online by going to Mr. Ward’s webpage

Teacher:  Mr. Ward

History matters…….the world we live in did not just happen.  It is the result of choices made by countless individuals and groups.  Even the smallest of those decisions can have enormous consequences.  Learning history fosters perspective taking, critical thinking, and moral decision making.  History is everyone’s story and it can be unpredictable.  The present is linked to the past and real people can change the course of history.

How to Contact Mr. Ward:

[email protected]

Phone-824-3400 ext. 3219

Requirements:  Notebook, Folder, Binder, something to write with

Grades:  Your grade will based on tests, daily quizzes, projects, in class assignments, current events, and homework. Homework will be worth 2 points per assignment. You will receive a 2 if it is complete, a 1 if it is completed half or more, and 0 for less than half.  Tests and graded assignments will not be made up during class.  All tests, quizzes, and assignments need to be made up before school, during homeroom, in tutorial, or after school.  It is your responsibility to set up a time to take the tests, quizzes, and do assignments if you are absent.  Tests and quizzes need to be made up within two days of you being absent.  It is also your responsibility to get all missed work if you are absent.  Your grade will also be weighted in this format:

§ Summative – 60%-Tests, Projects

§ Practice/Skills Check– 30%-Quizzes, Projects, In Class assignments, etc..

§ Homework –10%

Rules: 

1. Be on time and sit in assigned seat
2. Be prepared for class
3. No eating or drinking
4. Respect other students and teacher at all times
5. Refrain from all activities that disrupt the learning process
6. NO SLEEPING
7. All rules in the handbook also apply

Material Covered

Geography                                                         Industrialization

Expansion                                                           Major American Documents

Civil War                                                                                     

Battle of Lake Erie                                            Reconstruction

Forming Our Government                            World War I

Economies of North America and the World

8^th Grade Late Work Policy

1.Homework-students will have one day after the day the homework is due to turn in a missed homework assignment. After that one day the homework assignment will become a zero. Students also can be assigned to Academic Support.

2. Projects/Assignments- Students have a maximum of 5 school days to turn in late projects or assignments. Each day the assignment is late the grade will be reduced 5%. After 5 school days the student will receive a zero. Students may also be assigned academic support.

3.When a student is absent from school it is his or her responsibility to contact the teachers to get missed work. All assignments, tests, etc… must be completed no later than 5 school days following the absence or a zero will be given. Students also can be assigned to Academic Support.

4.When students are given a Work Request Form for trips/extended absences/OSS or other reasons the work is due upon returning to school. Students also can be assigned to Academic Support for incomplete work.