World Geography 4 x 4 (Honors)
Instructor: Ms. Katrina G. Landon, Room 131, B Down
Email: Katrina.Landon@nn.k12.va.us, Phone: (757) 886-1236, ext. 61865
Woodside High School
Course Description
A 4 x 4 class is one that the student attends daily for one semester. Each nine weeks of a two quarter semester is equal to one
regular semester. This means the class moves at a very fast pace covering approximately one unit per 5 days of instruction. At
the end of the semester the student is expected to take and pass an end-of-course (EOC) SOL test in order to receive verified
credit for this class. The focus of this course is the study of the world’s peoples, places, and environments, with an emphasis on
world regions. The knowledge, skills, and perspectives of the course are centered on the world’s population and cultural
characteristics, landforms and climates, economic development, and migration and settlement patterns—physical, cultural,
economic, population, and regional geography. Spatial concepts of geography will be used as a framework for studying
interactions between humans and their environments. Using geographic resources, students will employ inquiry, research, and
technology skills to ask and answer geographic questions.
Text
World Geography and Cultures (Glencoe)
Supplies Needed
1 inch binder with 5 tabs (separators) labeled: Notes, Quizzes, Classwork, Homework, and Maps
(All students who obtain a binder with labeled tabs will receive a one-time quiz score of “100”! This must be obtained and
brought to class by the third day of class in order to receive credit)
Dark colored pens (no light colors will be accepted as they are difficult to read) (REQUIRED)
Loose-leaf paper (REQUIRED)
Pencil
Hi-Liter (optional)
Colored pencils (optional)
Flash Drive (optional)
White-Out (optional)
(Note to parents or guardians. I do give students many handouts that add up quickly, hence the need for a binder. If
economic necessity requires your child to use one binder for several courses, please make sure tabs are obtained.)
Grading
Homework: 20%
*Daily Quizzes: 20%
Classwork: 30%
Unit and Map Tests/Performance Assessment: 30%
*Students who correct quiz questions by writing the full question and correct answer in a complete sentence will receive ½
points lost. This is to be completed at home and returned the day after a quiz has been administered. Make sure you indicate
the quiz you are submitting corrections for by using the appropriate quiz heading.
Marks for Graded Homework/Classwork Assignments:
√+
=
A (90 - 100%)
90 – 100 % answered correctly
√
=
B (80 – 89%)
80 – 89% answered correctly
√=
C (70 – 79%)
70 – 79% answered correctly
√=
D (60 – 69%)
60 – 69% answered correctly
√-=
F (0 – 59%)
0 – 59% answered correctly
0
=
0
No credit (not completed)
Expectations
Number one rule: BE RESPECTFUL. I expect all of you to respect yourselves, your classmates, and me. Voicing racial,
sexual, sexual orientation, religious or cultural prejudices in this class will not be tolerated.
2. When I am speaking, or giving instruction to the class, you are to remain QUIET. You will find out that you will have
plenty of opportunities in class to be social while completing group assignments.
3. Bring all materials to class.
4. Everyone has a bad day. If you are not feeling well, or just plain stressed out, please let me know before class begins
so that appropriate accommodations can be made.
5. Cheating will not be tolerated. If you are caught, appropriate actions will be taken.
6. Per district policy – no food or drink in class (water is the exception). If you get breakfast in the cafeteria, it must be
eaten in the cafeteria. If it is brought to class, and you attempt to eat or drink in class you will be asked to throw it
away. Students who fail to do so will have their food or drink confiscated by security.
7. Per district policy: No cellphones are to be out, or on, during class. If you do not put your phone away when asked it
will be confiscated, and parents/guardians will be required to come to school to retrieve your phone. Additionally,
students are not to “charge” phones using school electrical outlets. Non-compliance will result in confiscation of your
phone.
Late Homework
PER WOODSIDE POLICY: Honors classes require a student complete homework when it is due. If you fail to turn in homework
on time the following school-wide policy will be enforced: for each day your homework is late: 10 points will be deducted from
your homework grade (up to 5 days.) Example: if homework is due on Monday, and you turn it in the next day, Tuesday, 10
points will be deducted plus any penalty points for incorrect answers. You will have up to 5 days to turn in your homework with
appropriate penalty. Homework may not be turned in after it is 5 days late.
Make-up Work for Absences
Per district policy, if a student is absent from school for a test, quiz, classwork, or the assignment of homework s/he will have 5
days to make up the missed assignment(s). It is the student’s responsibility to ask me for missed assignments the day of his/her
return. I will make every attempt to give a student missed assignments when s/he arrives to class, but in some cases a student
may need to stay after class in order to be given missed assignments(also see “Class Webpage” below.)
Class Webpage
Students will be able to access most class materials (including Power Points, slot notes, homework assignments, and classwork)
at my webpage on Edmodo. Students will be instructed how to use this site and be assigned passwords during the first five days
of class. Consequently, even if a student fails to get missing assignments from me due to an absence s/he can simply go to this
site in order to download the necessary missing work.
Pacing
World Geography is a core class which requires an “end of course” SOL test. The following pacing will be adhered to for as
much as Mother Nature and/or human events allow us! For further information concerning specific SOL’s please refer to the
VDOE website.
First Quarter (1st interim period, 1st nine weeks)
1.
Unit
SOL
Title
Length
1
2
3
4
WG: 1a-e, 12a-b
WG: 2: 2a-c, 12b
WG: 3c, 10a-b, 12b
WG: 7a-b
Map and Geographic Skills
Physical Geography
Cultural Geography
Economic Geography (begin)
5 class days with test
5 class days with test
5 class days with test
5 class days with test
Review and Administer Quarterly District Assessment
First Quarter (last half of first quarter)
5
WG: 5,6,11a-c,12b
Population Geography
6
WG: 3a-b, 4, 12a-b
Intro. to Regional Geography
7
WG: 4, 12a-b
Regional Geography: US & Canada
2 class days with test
5 class days with test
5 class days with test
5 class days with test
Review and administer Semester 1 Exam
5 class days with exam
Second Quarter (2ND interim period, 2nd nine weeks)
Unit
SOL
Title
Length
8
WG: 4, 12b
Regional Geography: Latin America
and the Caribbean
5 class days with test
9
WG: 4, 12b
10.
WG: 4, 12b
11
WG: 4, 12b
Regional Geography: North Africa and
Southwest Asia (Middle East)
Regional Geography: Sub-Saharan
Africa
Regional Geography: Asia (South, East,
Southeast
5 class days with test
5 class days with test
5 class days with test
Review and administer Quarterly District Assessment
2 class days
Second Quarter (last half of second quarter)
12
13
WG: 4, 12b
WG: 4, 12b
14
WG: 4, 12b
Regional Geography: Europe
Regional Geography: Russia and
Central Asia
Australia, Antarctica, and Pacific Islands
5 class days with test
3 class days (no test)
2 class days (no test)
****For those students taking the 4 x 4 during 1st semester, all new material will be completed by winter break. It is
expected that the student will begin reviewing notes for the EOC SOL test that will be given mid-January during the winter
break.
Review and Administer SOL Test
10 class days
Review and administer Second Semester Exam
3-5 days
Parents and Guardians,
If for any reason you wish to contact me, please feel free to do so. The quickest way to contact me is by email. If you have an
email address, please note it on the signature form attached to this syllabus. It is my intention to send out a mass email every
week in order to let parents know about upcoming tests or major assignments for my class.
Email: Katrina.Landon@nn.k12.va.us
*********************************************************************************************
Students and parents: please fill out, sign, detach, and return this portion of the syllabus. Students who do not return this form
within two class periods will receive a “zero” for a quiz grade.
PARENT/GUARDIAN SIGNATURE
I ____________________________________, the parent/guardian of
student______________________________________, have been given and gone over my child’s syllabus for Ms. Landon’s
World Geography (Honors) course.
Signature: _______________________________ Date: ____________
Email address: ______________________________________________
Phone number(s): ___________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Student Signature
I, ______________________________ have read, and understand, the course syllabus.
Signature: _______________________________ Date: ____________