Teacher: Adele Lassiter

Class: U.S. History

Syllabus and Teaching Goals: U.S. History
Course Description: U.S. History
This is a foundational course exploring the core themes and perspectives in American History
from the diverse pre-Columbian Native American settlements; the Age of Exploration and
Colonial Era, The War for Independence and the building of a new nation to the Civil War to
modern day globalization. America is an ideal as much as a place. Its history is interwoven as a
tapestry of unique cultures coming together, sometimes divisively, to build this nation. This
course is designed to discuss the critical points in American history and how they relate to the
American Experience. How does historical America shape our country today? What can we
learn from the past and how has our nations history shaped our society. The primary focus is to
expose students to important facts, figures and dates in American history, while shedding light
on landmark events and how they fall into the overarching themes of American history. This
course sets out to investigate major issues and events that shaped America and their global
impact. In investigating these issues we will utilize several perspectives of historical study, from
the macro or big picture lens, to studying individuals from autobiographies that add depth to
how the big picture affects individuals in society and the reason for cultural shifts. North
Carolina is rich in history from pre-Columbian tribes to The Lost Colony, Edenton Tea Party and
more. We will zoom in on how North Carolina fits into each era of American History.
Goals: To provide a solid foundational overview of American History in a diverse and interactive
classroom setting. It is a priority to prepare students for standardized and AP tests and postsecondary study. I want to ignite the classs interest in history and its role in their own lives
today. History is the core of culture, civilization and is part of the tapestry of our own individual
and societal perspectives. History is the foundation of developing citizens who can understand
contemporary issues and current affairs with the depth of understanding from past impact, in our
own lives as well as on a global scale. Social Studies primary goal is to educate students in their
duty as U.S. Citizens. My aim is that students have the critical thinking skills and historical
insight to participate as informed citizens, able to analyze information, articulate facts and form
their own opinions and argue their case effectively.
Grading and Evaluation:
Assignments are designed to build on core competency of material to ensure the student is
growing academically and retaining the material. This class will be taught through a
combination of lectures, interactive assignments including classroom participation, group
presentations, two essays, homework, quizzes, and a mid-term and final exam. The grading
scale is comprehensive for the semester, with quarterly grades representing the body of
classwork for that academic period.

Classroom Participation and General Assignments: 25%

It is essential that students are actively engaged in the classroom through discussions, group
work, and presentations. Each student will have equal opportunities to be active in class through
forum participation, reading responses and other class work. General Assignments:
This includes homework, quizzes and in-class assignments. All grades are of equal value and
averaged out at the end of the grading scale with lowest grade dropped.

Unit Exams: 25%

Five separate unit exams, plus the midterm, which counts twice. Lowest grade dropped and
replaced if student completes extra credit essay.
Class Project: 15%
Fall semester: students will have the opportunity to work in small groups to research and
present a creative historical project. Spring semester: Students will each work alone to complete
an individual assignment on varying topics.
Essay: 15%
Each semester students will be asked to complete a Think-Piece essay regarding a
historical subject. The essay will deal with topics in researching varying topics relating to the
founding of America, and societal, cultural and historical issues involved (i.e.: The causes of the
Salem Witch Trials, or The Impact of the Cotton Gin on Post-Colonial America.) They can
choose an intensive study for the essay in the form of a research report, book report or analytical
thesis. The rubric and essay guidelines will be detailed in class and graded on a Rubric scale.
Final Exam: 20%
This comprehensive exam will include core curriculum knowledge and is designed to gauge the
students aptitude and retention for the course material. I will host several study sessions to
ensure that students are prepared for the final exam. The exam will be modeled after the AP US
History Exam, while also including primary source identifications, term identifications and two
open ended questions.
Late Work: Submission of assignments past due will result in deduction of ten points per day
late. I accept all assignments, but if they are past one week the lowest grade a student will
receive is a D.
Extra Credit: There will be ample opportunities for extra credit in the class, which will be fun
and engage students in how history is part of the fabric of our lives and the human and American
Experience.
Academic Honesty;
Work should be a reflection of individual ideas and from properly cited sources. Instances of
plagiarism and cheating will immediately resulting in a failing assignment grade.

Tentative Lesson Plan:

Fall Semester: Pre-Columbian through 1865 (Civil War)
- Unit One:
- The Land of the Ancients exploring pre-Columbian civilizations in North America and
how Native populations and indigenous people are part of Americas identity.
- The Age of Exploration: How European exploration fueled a shift towards colonialism.
We will review the key explorers in Europes push towards westward expansion.
- Unit Two: Colonial Society and the Growing Spirit of a Nation
- Key issues: Massachusetts Bay Colony and Virginia Colony; Jamestown and Plymouth;
Colonial landscapes (comparing the different colonies and their trade, growth and
immigration movements); mercantilism, Salem Witch Trials, Bacons Rebellion, The
Great Awakening, The French and Indian War, taxation and a rising tide of colonial unity
and desire for Independence.
- Unit Three: The War for Independence
o The road to revolution, issues and events that helped spark the war, including
The Halifax Resolves
o The Declaration of Independence
o Major battles and issues in the war
- Unit Four: The Struggle of a New Nation
o The Articles of Confederation:
Limits of authority; Northwest Ordinance
o Shays Rebellion
- Unit Five: The Great Experiment: Building a Nation
o Constitutional Convention and Ratification
o Our Federal System
o Arguing for the Constitution: The Federalist Papers
o The Federalist Decade and birth of political parties
- Unit Six: Jeffersonian Republicanism Farmers Republic
o Revolution of 1800
o Louisiana Purchase
o Lewis and Clark Expedition
o Tariffs and Impressment
- Unit Seven: War of 1812 and Expanding Republic
o Monroe Doctrine
o Era of Good Feelings
- Unit Eight: Jacksonian Democracy and the Era of the Common Man
o Trail of Tears
o Spoils System
o Beginning birth pangs towards civil war: Nullification, Sectionalism and
Compromises.
- Unit Nine: Expansionism and Manifest Destiny
- Unit Ten: Crisis and Civil War The Testing of American Democracy

Spring Semester:
- Unit Eleven: Reconstruction
- Until Twelve: The Great West and Industrialism in 19th Century America
o Gilded Age, Silver Currency Farmer and Progressive Movement
- Unit Thirteen: The Emergence of the United States in World Affairs (1890-1914)
- Unit Fourteen: World War I and immediate aftermath
- Unit Fifteen: The Roaring Twenties to The Great Depression
- Unit Sixteen: World War II
- Unit Seventeen: Recovery, Prosperity and Turmoil (1945-1980) The Cold War and its
affects internally on American political structure and societal ideals, shifts in American
society, Space Age, Civil Rights Movement, The Great Society, Vietnam, Nixon from
dtente to Watergateand other important issues that shaped America in the post-WWII
era.
- Unit Eighteen: 1973 Present-day; shift from Cold War to Globalism, Terrorism, the
Great Recession and Current Affairs
Abbreviated list of Select Reading Assignments:
Mayflower Compact
John Locke Two Treatises on Government
Thomas Paine Common Sense
Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Letters of John and Abigail Adams
Declaration of Independence
The Constitution
The Federalist Papers
Virginia and Kentucky Resolves
The Journals of Lewis & Clark
Henry David Thoreau Civil Disobedience
Appeal to Christian Women of the South Angelina Emily Grimke
Frederick Douglass Narrative Life as a Slave
Speeches of President Abraham Lincoln, including the Lincoln Douglass debates
Muckraker Journalism and editorials from the Progressive Era
Kate Chopin The Great Awakening
Upton Sinclair The Jungle
Speeches of Winston Churchill and FDR
Book Report Reading List: each semester students are required to choose one of the following (or another teacher
approved historical book) for a book report (one information, one argument based)
- 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C Mann
- Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
- 1776 by David McCullough
- George Washingtons Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
- Undaunted Courage (Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery) by Stephen Ambrose
- The Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- The Civil War in North Carolina by John G Barrett *UNC Press
- Hell Before Breakfast: Americas First War Correspondents Making History and Headlines, from the Battlefields
of the Civil War to the Far Reaches of the Ottoman Empire
- Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation

- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laruen Hillenbrand
- A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II by Adam
Makos
- Code Talker by Chester Nez
Media Presentations:
Media is an essential part of the learning experience. Audio and Video presentations provide a dynamic interaction
with material. I am constantly searching to add to the media library. Documentaries, audio files, and films about
history will be included in the classroom in conjunction with lectures and class discussions.
Extracurricular Activities:
North Carolina is alive with history. It is my goal to sponsor several out of school field trips to area historical sites,
including the NC Museum of History, Art Museum, Bennett Place and the NC Capitol.
Guest Lecturers:
I hope to invite historical experts to come to the class as a guest lecturer when the opportunity provides.

Classroom Tools:
As a teacher I want to make learning accessible for the students under my tutelage. To ensure that
students acquire and retain course material I will employ a variety of tactics and tools. Here is a modified
list of examples
- Utilizing North Carolina Department of Education source materials provided online, including
curriculum guidelines and classroom discussion and lesson plan modules.
- Following Common Core Standards
- Providing handouts and itemized timelines to assist with the students understanding of the
overarching themes and micro points that are crucial to US and NC History. I also implement
handouts to keep students abreast of the class curriculum, review information and any other relative
articles or printouts for US High School History
- Reading Excerpts pertinent to course study
- Flashcards
- Interactive website: I will have an interactive website for students to form study groups, take
practice tests, access lectures, notes, etc
-Office Hours: I will have assigned office hours each week to allow students to receive extra help on
course study.
- Visual and Auditory Learning Exercises
- History Jeopardy and other games that involve students in the learning process and test their
understanding of material
-Study Groups: I will have study groups prior to every exam to prepare students for the test and
ensure that they readily comprehend the material
- Class discussions and Debates
- Tactile Learning Opportunities via in-class projects designed around creative educational process
that teach material through hands on learning (i.e. a project setting up a model of the Battle of Little
Bighorn, et.al)

Class: US Civics
Teacher: Adele Lassiter
U.S. Civics & Economics
Course Objectives:
Students will acquire the skills and be equipped with the knowledge necessary for critical
thinking and their duties as responsible and effective citizens in an interdependent world.
Civics and Economics mold our society and is the social contract that binds our country its
laws and its people together. We actively play a role in the democratic process and the
symbiotic relationship of society, government and the economy. The course is a foundation
for United States History as well as related fields of Political Science, Comparative
Governments, Economics and Business studies and Finance.
As informed decision-makers, students will apply their course study to real life experiences
and how they play a role in the civic and economic sector. Students are encouraged to
analyze the body of study to formulate their own opinions on current issues, while also being
encouraged to look facts through an unbiased lens so they can make informed decisions.
This course is interdisciplinary teaching and a foundation of Civics and Economic Principles.
Civics:
Core Goal is to meet the standards provided by the NC Public School System and Common
Core Guidelines.
The U.S. is a country built on forming a more perfect union. It is this idea of freedom and a
government for the people, by the people based on the ideal of a social contract,
compromises and working together in spite of differences to create a democratic republic that
establishes Justice, insures domestic Tranquility and provides for the common defense, while
promoting the general Welfare and espousing the ideals of Liberty. This course will
establish the foundations of the Constitution and its exact language and historical issues
surrounding its ratification and implementation. The course will discuss the rise of the
political party and party trends throughout U.S. History. Landmark Supreme Court Cases
will be detailed.
Competency Goal 1: The learner will investigate the foundations of the American
political system and explore basic values and principles of American democracy.
o Geographic diversity and its influence on economic, social and political
life in colonial North America
o Tracing and analyzing the development of ideas about self-government in
British North America including transference of Age of Enlightenment
Ideals and Continental societal issues that igniting a separatism of thought
from the Colonial System to the burgeoning idea (faint but impenetrable
light) of America as its own nation; The movement to independence and

its roots in The Mayflower Compact, House of Burgesses and Town Hall
Meetings
o Examine the causes and fallout of the American Revolution and how The
Articles of Confederation failed to be an effective government system.
o The Constitution; opposing viewpoints about the governments role in
society and as an institution: Compromise The Federalist Papers and
Anti-Federalist Movement The Bill of Rights as an extension of the
Constitution
o Comparative Government
Competency Goal 2: The learner will analyze how the government established by
the United States Constitution embodies the purposes, values and principles of
American democracy
Competency Goal 3: The learner will analyze how state and local government is
established by the North Carolina Constitution
Competency Goal 4: The learner will explore active roles as a citizen at the local,
state and national levels of government
o Examine structure of political system and political parties
o Discuss the election process and the qualifications and procedures for
voting
o Fact-checking and the role of bias (and how to avoid it) in the political
process
o Analyze information on candidates and political issues
o Benefits of civic participation
o Analyze costs and benefits of jury service, voting, seeking office and civic
action at the local, state and federal level
o Conflict resolution in civics
Competency 5: Learner will explain how the political and legal systems provide a
means to balance competing interests and resolve conflicts
Competency Goal 6: The learner will explain why laws are needed and how they
are enacted, implemented and enforced at the national, state and local levels

Economics:
Course Objectives: To inform students about the science of economics, its role on macro
(government and national) and micro (business, personal, etc) levels. How does the law of
supply and demand affect the economy? What are the factors of production? What is the
Production Possibility Frontier? These are some of the questions and topics we will explore in
Economics. This is foundational course that defines the classical and modern schools of
economic thought, comparing and contrasting the different economic models and governments
use of economics (fiscal policy). This class also will incite students to engage in the economic
process: creating a budget, stocks and retirement accounts, small business and entrepreneurship
and the interdependent role of Economics and Civics.

Class Curriculum Points:

- Competency 1: The learner will investigate how and why individuals and groups make
economic choices
o Factors of production: land, labor, capital and entrepreneurial skills
o Role of scarcity
o Opportunity Costs
o Specialization, Division of Labor, Consumption and Production Increases,
Comparative Advantage
- Competency 2: The learner will analyze features of the economic system of the United
States
o Compare characteristics of command, market, traditional and mixed economies
o Supply and Demand
o Free Enterprise
- Competency 3: The learner will analyze factors influencing the United States economy
o Business Cycle, Fiscal Policy, Human Capital and Consumerism
- Competency 4:
o Understanding of Macro and Microeconomic principles and the local, national
and global market
o The learner will develop, defend and evaluate positions on issues regarding the
personal responsibilities of citizens in the American constitutional democracy.
Class Goals:
- Interaction in research, analysis, debate and civic participation.
- Student projects designed to teach students about current affairs, politics and lobbying and their
role as citizens
- Projects aimed at exploring major Supreme Court Cases and their effect on the Federal System
and American Society
- A comprehensive understanding of historical politics and government in America to the
modern area
- A working knowledge of economics and how it can be engineered in fiscal policy and on a
micro level (i.e. students will have a project to create their own business plan, balance budget
and understand stock options and the stock markets role in the economy convergence of
macro and microeconomics)

Class: World History

Teacher: Adele Lassiter
World History:
Course Objectives:
This course will offer students a comprehensive overview of the history of the world and the
important events that shapes human history from its origins to the present day.
Topics:
- Neolithic Revolution and rise of Agricultural Society
- Mesopotamia: It starts at Sumer the rise of agriculture and civilization along the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers, birth of writing (cuneiform), Epic of Gilgamesh, Arithmetic (60 second
minute), Taxes and social hierarchy. The rise of an empire Sargon the Great and Akkadian
Empire (Worlds First Empire); Amorites and Babylon Hammurabi and The Code of
Hammurabi, The Kassites, The Assyrian Empire and Neo-Babylonian Empire
- Indus River Valley: Harappan and Mohenjo-Daro Civilization
- The Gift of the Nile: Egypt: Old Kingdom (Age of Pyramids), Middle Kingdom, New
Kingdom (Age of Conquest)
- The Minoan and Mycenae Cultures of early Greek civilization, The Dark Ages of Greece and
Homer, transition of Greek City States; Greco-Persian Wars
- Alexander the Great and Hellenistic Globalization
- Indias Mauryan Empire: Buddhism and Ashoka the Great
- Roman Empire, its rise and descent from republic to imperial power; The Barbarians and
cultures within and beyond Romes reach
- China A Land of Dynasties
- India The Gupta Empire
- Rise of World Religions
- Fall of Roman Empire and European History in the Dark Ages
- Mesoamerican, South American cultures
- The Middle Ages, forging of European identities
- Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Timur the Lame and how Mongol became a band of nomads that
ruled Asia, India and Mesopotamia
- The Silk Road
- Islam and Christianity, the Middle East and Crusades, conflict, issues and misconceptions
- The Mughal Empire
- The Renaissance
- The Reformation and Counter-Reformation
- Russia Land of the Czars
- African History from pre-history to the Trans-Saharan Road and beyond
- The Ottoman Empire
- Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg Dynasty
- Absolute Rule and Divine Right of Kings

- British History from Alfred the Great to Norman Conquest, Kings and Queens to Cromwell,
Imperialism and beyond
- The Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution
- The French Revolution, Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna
- Crimean War and end of Concert of Europe
- Nationalism, Germany and The Balance of Power
- World War I The Lost Generation
- The Great Depression
- Fascism, Communism, Nationalism and Totalitarian States a perfect monster storm that
sparked World War II
- World War II comprehensive overview and detailed study of case study issues
- Post-War era to present day