Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School
District 233

999 Kedzie Ave., Flossmoor, IL 60422
(708) 799-3000
 
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Course Syllabus 

Course Name: United States History - Honors Level

I Course Information
Course Number: 1532                     
Level:  Honors
Department:   Social Science

II Course Description
Prerequisite: World History
Open to: Juniors
Length: 1 Year
Credit: 1
Summary:  This course is a chronological survey of United States history. In addition to the text, reading assignments in supplementary books are required. Students are expected to work at above average composition skills. Students will formulate and defend original interpretations of major historical problems. Written assignments require mastery of both primary and secondary sources. Exams may consist of multiple-choice questions and essays.

III Course Goals    As a result of the study of U.S. History, students will:
1) Understand the narrative of U.S. History and how studying history helps explain the world we live in today.
2) Understand that the United States has always been a diverse society and that the struggle for equal rights was and continues to be central to the American story.
3) Widen their perspective on what it has meant and what it means to be an American and to be a human being.
4) Develop critical-thinking skills necessary for citizens in a democracy and for historians.
5) Develop reading comprehension skills for primary and secondary sources and identify points of view.
6) Learn to create a thesis and support the thesis with evidence from primary and secondary sources.
7) Develop historical empathy.
8) Develop geographic literacy.
9) Develop historical research skills that culminate in the production of a paper

IV Textbooks and Materials
Danzer DeAlva Wilson, The Americans, (2003), McDougal Littell
Graebner & Richards, The American Record - Images of the Nation's Past,
          
Vol. 1 and 2, McGraw Hill Higher Education (2006)
Morgan, Edmund S., The Birth of the Republic, University of Chicago Press (1992)
Sinclair, Upton, The Jungle, Bantam (1981)        

V  Course Outline
First Semester
Units of Instruction:
Unit 1: Colonial America, 1492-1763
Unit 2: The American Revolution, 1763-1782
Unit 3: Confederation and the Constitution
Unit 4: The New Republic, 1789-1828
Unit 5: Antebellum America, 1828-1861
Unit 6: The Civil War and REconstrucftion, 1861-1877
Unit 7: Industrial America, 1870-1900      

Major Assessments:            
Research Paper (first or second semester)
Book Review
Unit Exams and Essays
U.S. Constitution Exam
First Semester Exam

Second Semester
Units of Instruction:
Unit 8: Progressive America, 1900-1920
Unit 9: American Foreign Policy, 1890-1920
Unit 10: "Normalcy," Depression and the New Deal, 1920-1940
Unit 11: The United States and World War II
Unit 12: The Cold War, 1945-1962
Unit 13: Economic Boom and Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968
Unit 14: The War in Vietnam
Unit 15: Modern America

Major Assessments:
Research Paper (first or second semester)
Progressive Era Essay
Book Review
Unit Exams and Essays
Illinois Constitution Exam
Second Semester Exam

 

(Parents and students: please consult individual teachers for grading policies, extra credit info, class procedures, etc.)

 

 

For more information about these pages,
contact Mr. David Thieman, Director of Human Resources: dthieman@hfhighschool.org