Ms.

Alamida
Voyager Public Charter School
Social Studies & Language Arts
Room 304
aalamida@voyagerpcs.com
Course Website: http://alamidaworldcivilizations.weebly.com

Aloha, my name is Ms. Alamida. I will

be your middle school Social Studies and
ELA teacher this year. I earned my BEd in
Secondary Education from the University
of Hawai'i at Manoa, and in May 2015 I
earned my MEd in Learning, Design, and
Technology from UH. This is my first year
at Voyager, and I'm very excited to be
joining such a great team!

Welcome to Ms. Alamida's middle school Social Studies and

Language Arts class--this is going to be such a wonderful year. I am

excited to welcome you into my classroom and to get to know each
one of you. This year will be dedicated to educate you on the history of
ancient world civilizations, as well as reading and writing that are
aligned with the Common Core Standards. So, open up your minds and
grab your bags, pencils, pens, and notebooks and get ready to learn!

Kaapeha Academy agreed on their Purpose, Vision,

and Mission. We will work as a class to uphold these shared ideas:

*Purpose: Kaapeha Academy comes to school to discover our
roles, passions, interests, strengths and challenges, and goals in
order to lead a successful life.
*Vision: Kaapeha Academy wants to be known as reliable,
respectful, hardworking, passionate, and intelligent leaders of
the future.
*Mission: To achieve our vision Kaapeha Academy students will
cooperate with others, be responsible, prepared and organized.
Teachers will make learning fun, be fair to all students by
respecting their ideas, and not have any favorites.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Students will read, discuss, and write about both literary and
informational texts along with multi-media forms of literary works.
Students will examine pieces of world literature in a cultural context in
an effort to appreciate the diversity and complexity of local and global
issues and to connect these ideas to their own experiences. They will
further develop their command on the English language by
demonstrating expressive, informational and explanatory, narrative,
and persuasive essay assessments throughout the year. The central
historical focus will be based on world civilizations dating from 300 BC1500 CE. Specific to reading, writing, listening and speaking, students
in Ms. Alamidas class will:
Demonstrate critical analysis of multiple works through projectbased learning with peers.
Expand knowledge of vocabulary words in diverse literary works.
Analyze the interaction of literary elements of a story or drama.
Interpret and make connections between literature and other
texts, ideas, and perspectives.
Use standard grammatical conventions and produce clear and
coherent writing that is appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience.
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant
evidence.
Cite several pieces of text-based evidence to support an analysis
of literary text; use proper MLA citation to credit works.
Conduct short research projects to answer a question and
generate additional questions for further research.
Evaluate the credibility and accuracy of a source.
Quote and paraphrase others work while avoiding plagiarism.
Effectively engage in discussions with diverse partners about 68th grade topics, texts, and issues.
Express ones own ideas clearly during discussions.
Build on others ideas during discussions.
Analyze main ideas in diverse media and formats (e.g. visually,
quantitatively, orally)
This is a project-based course that will merge overarching themes
between World Historythis years social studies contentand
Language Arts. The curriculum will be aligned to the Hawaii Content
and Performance Standards 6th grade Social Studies standards and
the 6th, 7th and 8th grade ELA Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
Many lessons will be modified versions of the Expeditionary Learning
project by EngageNY, a series of lesson modules by the creators of the
CCSS for teachers to use.

COURSE BREAK DOWN

Students can expect to read, write, speak, and listen everyday during class.
There will be numerous articles, forms of multi-media, and additional
resources students will use everyday in class. Each unit will be based around
a set of central topics. Overview of topics covered in each trimester:
Trimester 1
(Aug. 3-Oct. 30)
Geography
Mesopotamia
Egypt
World Religions
A Long Walk to
Water

Trimester 2
(Nov. 3-Feb. 19)
Greece
Tales of the Odyssey
Rome
Early Americas
India

Trimester 3
(Feb. 23-May 19)
China
Bound
Silk Road
Renaissance
Explorations

*Content is subject to change*

CLASSROOM PROCEDURES

Be IN CLASS and ON TIME EVERYDAY!!

Enter the classroom in an acceptable mannerno
yelling/screaming, pushing, or running.
Get your composition book before the bell rings, and
complete the Bell Work prompt SILENTLY.
Copy down the daily planner work in your planner.
Classroom clean up is done by ALL members of the class.

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS

Be seated in your assigned seat before the tardy bell rings

If you are not in your assigned seat when the tardy bell rings
you may be marked tardy.
Follow classroom rules at all times. (*Failure to follow
classroom rules may result in detention, parent contact,
referral, and/or suspension)
Raise your hand and wait to be called onDo not interrupt
the speaker.
Actively participate in group discussions, verbal
presentations, and group projects.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITES

Come to class everyday prepared and ready to learn.

It is your responsibility to have all of the necessary materials
for learning.
Turn in all assignments in a timely manner (see below for the
late work policy).
Respect oneself and others, as well as the classroom and the
school.

ASSESSMENTS & GRADES

***Grades will be monitored through engrade.com***
The following is a breakdown of how students will be assessed in this
course:
35% Citizenship: Class work, homework, notebooks,
participation, bell work, binders, and exit passes.
25% Formative Assessments: Quizzes and Tests
40% Summative Assessments: Projects
P
Grading Scale:
90 100% A
exceeds expectations
8089% B
meets expectations
7079% C
approaches expectations
6069% D
below expectations
059% F
well below expectations
Late Assignments: Late-up work will be accepted one day late for each
day of excused absence, with no penalty.

SUPPLIES
Student supplies have already been purchased and distributed by
Voyager. However, students will need to purchase a Flash Drive.

Ms. Alamida
Social Studies & Language Arts
Class Contract
___________________________
Student Name (print)
Period: ____________
My child and I have read the middle school World
Civilizations and Language Arts syllabus and
understand what is expected. We have read the
classroom procedures and expectations, and
understand how the students will be graded for this
class.
___________________________
Student Signature
Date: ___________________
___________________________
Parent/Guardian Name (print)
___________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature
Date: ________________

*** Return this completed contract by ______________***