Department of History & Social Sciences

8th Grade Orientation Program

• “Names, facts and dates: this is what history has become for a lot of students. But the funny thing is that when you ask historians what they do, an entirely different picture emerges. They see themselves as detectives searching for clues to a puzzle that can never entirely be solved.”

• Sam Wineburg, Professor of Education, Stanford University

Students as Historians

What the classroom should look like

Analyzing Primary sources• All Levels:– What are the origins of this document? When was

it written? What type of source is it? Who created it?

– What is the purpose of this document?– What value does this document have for us as

students of history? What are the limitations of this document?

Analyzing Historical Documents

Reading Levels Honors Level Text

• “The West on the Eve of a New World Order”– Chapter Outline & Focus

Questions

– In what ways were the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the seventeenth-century English Revolutions alike? In what ways were they different?

End of Chapter: Conclusion & Suggested Readings

Advanced Level Text

• “On the Eve of A New World Order” 1700-1815– Questions to Guide Your Reading

& Outline

– What caused the American Revolution, and what did it accomplish?

– What were the long-term and immediate causes of the French Revolution?

– What were the major events of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1799?

End of Chapter: Section Review(locate, define, identify, recall, think critically)

Reading LevelsAcademic Level Text

• “Revolutions of Society and State 1714-1815”– Understanding the Main Idea– Themes– Time Line– Section Focus

– End of Chapter: Section Review includes vocabulary, main idea, writing exercise, and synthesis of material

Studies Level Text

• “A War For Independence”– Read to Find Out– Terms to Define– People to Meet– Places to Locate– Time Line– Storyteller

-End of Chapter: Chapter Assessment includes self-check quiz online, using key terms, technology activity, reviewing facts, critical thinking, understanding themes, skill practice

Develop a broad body of history knowledge.

Consider multiplepoints of view.

Understand & usethe habits of mind in history.

Develop an appreciation for differences.

Understand that history is a “foreign place.” They did things differently there.

Analyze primary sources.

Seek relevantevidence in research.

Create effectivearguments in debate & in writing.

Develop & defenda point of view.

Appreciatethe tentative natureof history.

Use visuals, projects,& technology to demonstrate learning.

Do original research.

Electives

• IB Psychology• IB Research Methods• IB Economics• IB European History

• AP American Government & Politics

• AP European History

• Western Civilization• Economics• American Government &

Politics*************************

Semester Electives• Sociology • American Legal Systems• Contemporary World Issues • Anthropology • American Government &

Politics - Academic Level