QUEENS-SATELLITE ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL

Course Title: Global Issues
Teacher: Brian Finnegan

Content Area: Global History

 

Description

This class is designed as an introductory course to Global History. Students will examine and use the tools of the Social Sciences as they investigate the development of civilization. The class will also explore several of the major problems facing the World today.

Target Population

Our students are a mix of grade levels and abilities. This class is part of our middle level social studies core academic component. Students must have completed our introductory social studies course, Community in order to take this class. This class will include both special and general education students.

Topics and Themes


Methods of the Social Sciences
Beginnings of Civilizations
Comparisons of Early Civilizations
Classical Age
Current International Issues

Goals and Objectives of the Course ( Students will be able to)

  • Analyze the development of early civilization using the tools of the Social Sciences.
    Analyze several different perspectives on key turning points in history.

  • Differentiate fact from opinion

  • Analyze and offer an informed opinion on various International Issues.

  • Distinguish between past, present and future by creating multiple-tier timelines that display important events developments from Global History.

  • Understand and evacuate the interconnection of the World today.

  • Read and react critically to ,newspaper articles, eyewitness statements, historical documents and editorial viewpoints.

  • Demonstrate good class discussion habits.

  • Self-assessment of work habits.

  • Work more effectively in small groups.

 

Alignment to Standards

Content and abilities of student to apply content are consistent with the New York State Scope and Sequence for Global History. The course covers Era 1: Methods of the Social Sciences, Era 2:The Ancient World and Era 9: Global Connections and Interactions

 

Assessment


There will be a varied approach to evaluation. There will be frequent quizzes to judge student understanding of the content of the class. There will be a number of essay exams in which students will be expect to show a deeper understanding of the concepts of the class. Many individual class reading assignments will be collected and graded to determine class understanding and critical thinking on reading material. Self reflection is a vital component of the learning process and will be stressed in this class. Students will be filling out bi-weekly rubrics which will be designed to have them exam their own progress in the class. There will be periodic individual conferences with students to discuss these rubrics.. The final project in the class will be a student created WEB page on a Global Issue
Instruction Materials
Student Text: Global History Brun,Forman and Brodsky Amsco School Publications N.Y 2000
CIA World Fact Book
Various news article from newspapers on the WEB ( New York Times, Daily News, etc.)
Various teacher created handouts
Instruction Strategies
The material will be explain as clearly as possible by the instructor. All major concepts will be related to everyday examples to further student understanding. Discussing complicated issues that can be related to students personal life will be used to engage students in the learning process. To engage students in their own learning students will be involved in small group work that requires presenting and teaching class content to each other. Group and individual discussion of class rubrics will be used to focus in on the process of learning. Classroom activities will be aimed at meeting the needs of all learning styles. Scenes from contemporary films will be used to heighten interest and student understanding of basic concepts. Current issues will also be emphasized to increase student interest. The use of computer technology will be an component of this class. Students enjoy and are often self-motivated to use a computer in class studies,. Students will be able to create their own WEB page. They will learn how a page is constructed and be given the opportunity to use their own creativity in designing their own personal page.