Modern World History
Ms. Andrews-Salmond
2014-2015
WELCOME to Modern World History. The year-long course fulfills state and district graduation requirements
and earns one credit.
Our main focus of study will be political, economic, and cultural World history from Big Era 6[the 1400s] to
the present. Students will use a variety of primary and secondary sources—documents, artifacts, films, and
literature—to explore events, individuals, and struggles that defined our modern world.
Contact information:
Ms. Andrews-Salmond—room 137; 206-631-6675; susan.andrews@highlineschools.org
Much coursework comes from the World History for Us All curriculum which uses a thematic Big History
approach to studying history. Three main themes we will return to are:
Humans and the Environment: How has the changing relationship between human
beings and the physical and natural environment affected human life from early
times to the present? Human beings are inhabitants of the biosphere and their
history is inseparable from it. This is as true today as it was 200,000 years ago.
Humans and Other Humans: Why have relations among humans become so
complex since early times? We live in a world of intense, complicated, and diverse
relationships among billions of people. Throughout most of its history our species has
lived in small, scattered communities of foragers and hunters. Questions about the
ways in which humans have multiplied on the earth and come to relate to one
another in such a variety of ways are fundamental to historical investigation.
Humans and Ideas: How have human views of the world, nature, and the cosmos
changed? History is not only the study of "what happened" but also about the ways
in which humans have thought about, questioned, interpreted, and represented (in
words, pictures, movies, and so on) what their senses tell them about the world and
the universe. Ideas influence historical developments and, conversely, events shape
ideas as humans strive to make sense of change.
Quarter 1 – Semester 1
Big Era 6: The Great Global Convergence, 1400-1800
Assessment: Research Project
Quarter 3 – Semester 2
Big Era 8: A Half Century of Crisis, 1900-1950
Assessment: Causes of Conflict CBA
Quarter 2 – Semester 1
Big Era 7: Industrialization and its Consequences,
1750-1914
Assessment: CBA or Research Project
Quarter 4 – Semester 2
Big Era 9: Paradoxes of Global Acceleration, 1945Present
Assessment: Research Project
Expectations
If I don’t do it, then you don’t do it (the one big
class rule) – which means:
 Respect my right to teach and the rights of
others to learn.
 Come to class prepared to think and work.
Supplies
A spiral notebook or composition notebook for
this class only.
Pens and pencils.
A highlighter.
A flash drive/USB drive.
A planner (HHS provides one)
Grading:
Students MUST earn a passing grade on quarter projects and the CBA (classroom-based assessment) to earn
credit in the class. A passing grade includes meeting Common Core Standards. Students who attempt but fail to
pass these projects will be given opportunities to revise and improve. No credit will be given without
completion of these major projects.
Due dates for in-class assignments, tests, and homework will be posted. Late assignments will be accepted
WITH A LOWERED GRADE at the teachers’ discretion.
Homework counts as 10% of the grade and is an expectation in order to complete major projects and prepare for
discussion and tests.
Students who have an excused absence on a test day must make up the test after school on the day of return or
by agreement with the teacher.
A
B
C
D
F
=
=
=
=
=
90 – 100%
Standards have been met
80 – 89%
Standards have been met
70 – 79%
Standards have been met
60 – 69%
Most standards have been met; all projects in
Standards have not been met; insufficient work to determine
__________________________________________________________________________________
Please sign this Modern World History 2014-2015 syllabus, and return to Ms.AndrewsSalmond.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Student Name Printed
Student Signature
Date
__________________________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature
Contact phone & email
The best way to contact me is _________________________________________________________.