7th Grade Social

Studies

Poblete.erika@littletonaz.org

Mrs. Alvarez
(Poblete)

1. Read like historians

2. Write with conviction and clarity
3. Raise our voices

Mission Statement
In this class, our mission is to:

Content Overview
Quarter 1
Heritage Project
2016 Election
(continues through
Q2)
He Named Me
Malala
Colonialism

Quarter 2
Revolutionary War
Expansion
Civil War

Quarter 3
Civil War
Gilded Age
Imperialism
Progressivism

Quarter 4
Progressivism
World War I
Citizens Project

Class Website and Blog - mrsalvarez7thgrade.weebly.com

Our class website will contain information including calendar updates, units, resources,
leadership, and our class blog, as well as a link to contact me.
I will update our class blog regularly with helpful information for you and your families,
and you will update our class blog with summaries of what we are learning and doing in
class.

Checks for Understanding

Thoughtful
Response/Journals
You will complete a
thoughtful response each
day, as a part of your
beginning of block routine
in your spiral notebook
journal. I will review and
provide feedback in your
journals throughout the
week. I expect that you use
the feedback to improve
your writing and use the
opportunity to think deeper
about your responses.
Thoughtful responses will
be graded at the end of
the week.

Debates

Speeches

For each unit, we will host a

spirited debate that follows
the Middle School Public
Debate Program format. You
will be responsible for
participating in ONE debate
per quarter. You will work
with a team to debate a
position on a topic derived
from our current unit. You
will be responsible for
conducting research, then
developing and presenting
your argument with plenty
of evidence!
When you are not debating,
you will be responsible for
participating in the
audience, gathering notes,
and providing feedback to
debaters.

For each unit, you will have

the opportunity to present a
speech by one of the
influential studied in our
current unit. Your part of
the speech must be
memorized and AT LEAST
one minute in length. You
MAY work with others to
present parts of an entire
speech. You may also bring
clothes and props to add
context to your
presentation. You will be
responsible to present ONE
speech per quarter.

Assessments
Quizzes
For each unit, you will take
a Timeline Quiz and a
Vocabulary Quiz. These will
be a collection of multiple
choice, fill-in-the-blank, and
short answer questions. The
goal is for you to
understand the context,
language, and basic facts of
the time period we are
studying.

Oral Exams
For each unit, you have the
opportunity to provide a
thoughtful verbal response
to an open-ended question
derived from our current
unit. You will explain your
response to me personally
and are expected to use
complete sentences and
plenty of evidence to
support your claim.

DBQ Essays
The culminating assignment
for each unit will be an
essay written based on a
Document-Based
Question. You will use your
contextual knowledge to
analyze multiple documents
and make a historical claim
backed by documentary
evidence. We will follow the
writing process for these
essays, including thorough
peer review and publishing
our final drafts on the
laptops.

Absent Work
There are absent trays in
the back of the classroom. I
will put your name on any
work you miss and place it
in your blocks tray. You are
responsible to check the
tray, ask questions, borrow
notes, complete the work,
and turn it in within a week
from when you were
absent.

Late Work
Any work turned in late (not
including absences) will
lose 10% from the final
grade for each day it is late.

Policies
Homework
You will not have consistent
daily homework in this
class, though you may
receive assignments to help
review, reflect, or expand
on topics. Assignments
started in class may need
to be completed at home.
Homework is essential to
your success in the class
and I expect you to
complete it with 100%
effort and turned in on
time.
Late/forgotten homework
will result in a passport
mark.

Grades
I will do my best to send out progress reports every two weeks to update you and your
family on your progress, as well as meet with you regularly to discuss your writing,
speaking, goals, and anything else!

Scale:
B
C
D
F

A
90-100%
80-89%
70-79%
60-69%
59% and below

Supplies
- Spiral notebook
- Pencils, pens, highlighters
- Sticky notes

Im SO looking forward to an exciting

year full of historical inquiry, passionate
discussion, and exceptional writing! Its
going to be aaaaamazing!