Classroom policy

1. Bring notebook to every class and text when requested to do so.

2. Keep all notes in one notebook devoted only to history. Notebook will be neat and orderly.

Assignments/testing
1. All assignments will be done neatly and on time. Late work is not accepted without discussion with the teacher. If however, the assignment constitutes a large portion of the student's grade exceptions may be made on an individual basis. If the assignment is not turned in when collected it will be considered late and will receive zero points. If absent, the student will be given one day for each day absent to complete work. It is the responsibility of the student to keep track of any missed work. If the absence is school related i.e. sports, retreat, or if it is a planned absence the student should have the missed work on time. At any time students can check the homework page on the course web site by going to www. BishopIreton.org and clicking on academics, faculty, and Melanson. Students can also call someone in the class.

2. All tests missed must be made up the day the student returns. The student must see the teacher personally for arrangements if this is not possible. In the case of a multi -day absence other arrangements can be made but the test should be made up within one cycle. If an unreasonable amount of time passes before the student makes up the test it will receive a zero. The teacher may give essay tests as a make up.

Students are held responsible for the school Honor code and testing policies. Cheating will not be tolerated. This includes looking at another student's paper, speaking or communicating in any way during a test. No notes on paper, person or desk may be used as an aid. The policy extends to homework as well. Unless indicated by the teacher homework is to be done unaided by another student. If homework is copied or otherwise plagiarized it will receive a zero. This includes any violation of the schools computer policies i.e. e-mailing homework to another student, sharing work via the computer, plagiarism from a web site.

Grading Policy:
Grades are calculated on a point system. To figure out the percentage for each assignment divide the points received by the total points possible. The numerical grade can than be converted to a letter grade according to the schools grading scale. Approximately 50% of a quarter grade is tests quizzes and projects, 40% is class work and homework and 10% is participation and cooperation. Cooperation includes being in proper uniform, avoiding any consumption of food or anything that distracts form the instructors ability to teach the class. In a point system students should remember that the lower the point value of the assignment the less accurate in terms of weighting the conversion is. Converting an assignment worth 10 points into a percentage would yield a rather distorted view of the assignment as it is only worth a small percentage of the overall grade. It is more accurate to keep a running total of point accumulated and therefore keep track of the overall class grade.

Teacher Communication:
The instructor is best reached by e-mail at melansoc@bishopireton.org but can also reached by leaving a message on the schools voice mail system. E-mail usually results in a faster response time.

Teacher Availability: Every morning from 7-7:45 Tuesday and Friday after school, Thursday is usually an Haiti Alliance club meeting but short meetings are still possible. I would always encourage a student to make an appointment first.

Modern European History
Course Outline and Objectives

This course is structured around the development of skills necessary in the work of history as an academic discipline.  Special emphasis is placed on research, writing, the analysis of primary sources, and a small amount of historiography.  In each topic area students will work to develop these skills in conjunction with acquiring the content knowledge specific to that period.  See the curriculum Guidelines for Modern European History for a more in depth description of the course.

CP and Honors:  The primary difference between the College Prep level and the Honors level is not the amount of work expected of the students.  Every student at Ireton has a full academic load sophomore year regardless of the level of their course work and adding more in terms of the amount is not feasible.  This is not to say that the honors level student may not need more time as higher level assignments often take more time.  Every effort is made to make assignments valuable and manageable.  Honors and College Prep students will cover the same content area and work on the same skills.  Honors students will, however, work at higher level of analysis which requires better reading and writing skills.  More emphasis will be placed on historiography as well. While the content of Honors Modern European History differs little from the CP level course students are asked to demonstrate higher level analytical ability. There is more emphasis placed on primary source analysis and on writing that demonstrates an ability to synthesize and evaluate historical data. While some of the projects are the same, honors students do projects that challenge them to do real historical work. Honors students also cover some of the more difficult philosophical and political theories in greater depth.  

First Quarter

The Late Middle Ages
The Renaissance
The Reformation
The Scientific Revolution

Quarter Objectives:

1. To introduce the concept of primary source material and begin to develop basic analytical skills.
2. To enhance the ability to read and write critically.
3. To introduce and improve note taking skills.
4. To develop oral expression through discussion and group work.
5. To introduce a major research project on the Renaissance which will culminate in the second quarter.
6. Honors students begin to understand the concept of Historiography.

Writing Goals:

1. To introduce the concept of the standard 5 paragraph essay as it applies to history.
2. To introduce the concept of application of a thesis statement in the standard academic essay.
3. To utilize short written assignments as a tool for learning and expressing and accessing what students have learned. (primary source in particular)
4. Honors students will also be introduced to the DBQ style essay.

Weekly objectives by content area:

Week One- Intro. And the Late Middle Ages
Week Two- The Renaissance and project
Week Three- The Renaissance and Reformation
Week Four- The Reformation and the Tudors
Week Five- The Tudors
Week Six- The Scientific Revolution
Week Seven- Preparation for the Renaissance Faire

More Projects:  Renaissance Research project (see project objectives and rubrics for details)

Group work:  Mock inquisition of Galileo, Plague debate, peer writing evaluation

Second Quarter

The Ancien Regime
The Enlightenment
The Habsburg Dynasty and Enlightened Absolutism
The Structure of French Society
The French Revolution
Napoleon
The Congress of Vienna
Liberalism at Work
The Industrial Revolution
Romanticism
The Revolution of 1848
The Second French Empire

Quarter Objectives

1. To continue research skills with an emphasis on technology (Internet, computer skills) culminating with the Renaissance project.
2. To continue to develop cooperative learning through more group work.
3. To continue the development of analytical skills through some portfolio primary source work.

Writing Objectives:

1. Greater emphasis on the development of the thesis statement in the context of the standard academic essay.
2. To introduce and develop good topic sentence usage in essay writing.
3. Honors students will continue work on DBQ’s.

Weekly Objectives by content area:

Week One- Ancien Regime
Week Two- Enlightenment / Structure of French Society
Week Three- French Revolution             
Week Four- French Revolution / Napoleon   (Case study: The Haitian Revolution)      
Week Five- Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna
Week Six- Liberalism              
Week Seven- Liberalism and exam review       

Major Projects:  Renaissance Faire, Honors historiography project introduced

Group Work:  Mock Trial of Lois XVI, Liberalism vs. Conservatism debate, Mock Congress of Vienna

Third Quarter

Romanticism
The Industrial Revolution
Italian Unification
German Unification
19th Century Russia
Fin-de-Siecle Europe
Imperialism

Quarter Objectives:

1. To move further away from board outline and develop better aural note taking skills (provision is made for the student with learning disabilities in this area).
2. To continue work in analytical development with special emphasis in the differences of analyzing a secondary and primary source.  This is vital for the introduction of the research paper.
3. Heavy emphasis on research skills in preparation for the Research paper.

Writing Goals:

1. To concentrate on writing a major research paper in cooperation with English department.
2. To work on the writing of introductions, conclusions and transitioning in essay writing.
3. Honors students will continue DBQ work.

Weekly Objectives by content area:

Week One- The Industrial Revolution
Week Two- Romanticism                                 
Week Three- German and Italian Unification
Week Four- 19th Century Russia                   
Week Five- Fin-de-Siecle Europe               
Week Six- Fin-de-Siecle Europe                         
Week Seven- Fin-de-Siecle Europe / Imperialism
Week Eight- Imperialism: case study South Africa/ Rwanda
Week Nine- The Coming of the Great War

Major Projects:  The Research Paper (see project objectives and rubrics for details)

Group Work:  Westernizes vs. Slavophiles debate

Fourth Quarter

WWI
Inter-war Europe and the Rise of Fascism
WWII and the Holocaust
Post and Cold War Europe
Nowa Huta: A Case Study in Planned (Stalinist) Communism
Détente
The Collapse of Communism
The Global Future

Quarter Objectives:  The major focus of the final quarter is the assessment of skills that students have developed throughout the year.  At this point students should be able to identify strengths and weaknesses and have an idea of how to improve the latter.  Assignments and projects lean more toward allowing students to enhance their favorite areas.  Students should now know if they prefer social history over political history or intellectual history over military history.  They should also have an idea about the skills at which they excel. (Research, writing, oral presentation, artistic presentation, etc.)  When the year is out, students should have a clear picture of what they learned, why, to what extent and how they can apply that knowledge in the future history courses as well as other disciplines.

Writing Goals concur with the above objectives.

Weekly Objectives by content area:

Week One- WWI
Week Two- WWI and the inter-war period (including the depression)
Week Three- The Rise of Fascism     
Week Four- WWII                                   
Week Five- WWII and Post War Europe           
Week Six- The Cold War and Détente                     
Week Seven- The Collapse of Communism and Europe today including the European Union
Week Eight- The Global Future and Information Age

Major Projects:  Oral and Video projects on Eastern Europe, Escape from the Berlin Wall

Group Work:  The above project is a group project.