Learning Targets

Eighth Grade  U.S. History 

Students’ third nine weeks grade will be based on evidence they can do the following:

Unit 6: United States Constitution:

Students will understand the earliest forms of government in the United States and how our government looks today.

• Identify the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of a member of the United States of America (i.e., Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Bill of Rights)
• Identify the purposes and structures of various systems of governance (i.e., Federalism, Confederation, Republic, Democracy, Executive, Legislative, Judicial
• Recognize the purpose of government and how its powers are acquired, used, and justified
• Recognize the rights and responsibilities of individuals throughout the development of the United States
• Identify how conditions, actions, and motivations contributed to conflict and cooperation between states, regions and nations
• Recognize the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights
• Recognize the impact of major court decisions have had on American life, (i.e., Marbury v Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Dred Scott v. Sandford)
• Recognize how a right must be interpreted to balance individual rights with the need for order (i.e., freedom of speech, freedom of religion, trial by jury)

Unit 7: Jeffersonian Era:

Students will understand the impacts of major events (Marbury vs. Madison, Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition and the War of 1812) on the development of the United States.

• Recognize the impact of major court decisions have had on American life, (i.e., Marbury v Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Dred Scott v. Sandford)
• Read a timeline and order events of the past.
• Differentiate between a primary and a secondary source.
• Classify the characteristics of major historical events into causes and effects (i.e. expansion)
• Recognize the causes and effects of conflict (i.e. War of 1812)
• Interpret maps, timelines, and charts that illustrate key elements of history (i.e. expansion, politics)

Unit 8: The Jacksonian Era and Westward Expansion

Students will understand the importance of Andrew Jackson to the expansion of the United States, as well as how the United States grew prior to the American Civil War.

• Identify conclusions about historical events using primary and secondary sources.
• Read a timeline and order events of the past.
• Recognize the causes and examples of migration and immigration in Early America (i.e. land, money, pioneer spirit, displacement and slavery)
• Identify cultures that contributed to the development of the United States (i.e. African, Scottish, Irish, German)
• Recognize consequences of the westward expansion of the United States.
• Identify the impact of individual and group decisions n historical events.
• Classify the characteristics of major historical events into causes and effects (i.e. expansion)
• Determine the social, political, and economic factors that contribute to the institution of slavery in America.
• Interpret a timeline detailing the development of political parties  in the United States to the Civil War.
• Analyze the contributions of Tennessee political leaders on the national scene. (i.e. Andrew Jackson, Sequoyah, Sam Houston)
• Examine the demographic changes brought about  but the westward movement (i.e. slavery, industrialization, and Native American Relocation)

Students’ second nine weeks grade will be based on evidence they can do the following:

Unit 4: Pre-Revolutionary America: Students will understand the causes of and conflicts that led to the American Revolution.

• Recognize the economic activities of early America (i.e., agriculture, industry, and service)
• Differentiate between a commercial and subsistence economy
• Recognize the factors that led to urbanization and industrialization in early America (i.e., religious freedom, land ownership, thriving market)
• Recognize how immigration and cultural diffusion have influenced the character of a place (i.e., religion within certain colonies, African songs in the American south, British v. French influences)
• Read a timeline and order events of the past
• Recognize causes and consequences of conflict, (i.e., French and Indian, revolutionary War, War of 1812)
• Identify how religion contributed to early American society (i.e. impact on government, education, social norms, slavery, tolerance)
• Classify the characteristics of major historic events into causes and effects (i.e., exploration, colonization, revolution, expansion, and Civil War)
• Recognize the historical impacts of European settlement in North America

Unit 5: American Revolution: Students will understand the causes and results of  the American Revolution.

• Identify the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of a member of the United States of America (i.e., Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Bill of Rights)
• Read a timeline and order events of the past
• Recognize causes and consequences of conflict, (i.e., French and Indian, revolutionary War, War of 1812)
• Classify the characteristics of major historic events into causes and effects (i.e., exploration, colonization, revolution, expansion, and Civil War)
• Differentiate between primary and secondary source documents
• Differentiate between a primary and secondary source
• Identify cultures that contributed to the development of the United States (i.e., Native American, African, British, Scottish, Irish, German)
• Recognize the course of conflicts including major battles, alliances, strategy, leadership, resources, or technology using a diagram for the Revolutionary War

Unit 6: United States Constitution: Students will understand the earliest forms of government in the United States and how our government looks today.

• Identify the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of a member of the United States of America (i.e., Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Bill of Rights)
• Identify the purposes and structures of various systems of governance (i.e., Federalism, Confederation, Republic, Democracy, Executive, Legislative, Judicial
• Recognize the purpose of government and how its powers are acquired, used, and justified
• Recognize the rights and responsibilities of individuals throughout the development of the United States
• Identify how conditions, actions, and motivations contributed to conflict and cooperation between states, regions and nations
• Recognize the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights
• Recognize the impact of major court decisions have had on American life, (i.e., Marbury v Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Dred Scott v. Sandford)
• Recognize how a right must be interpreted to balance individual rights with the need for order (i.e., freedom of speech, freedom of religion, trial by jury)

Students’ first nine weeks grade will be based on evidence they can do the following:

Unit 1: Geography Review: The students will understand how the geography and natural resources of North America contributed to the location of settlement in the early United States.

• Identify and use the key geographic elements on a map (i.e., island, flood plain, swamp, delta, marsh, harbor, cape, sea level, bay, prairie, desert, oasis, mesa, mountain, valley, glacier, canyon, cliff, plateau).

• Use various geographic data from maps and globes to determine longitude, latitude, distance, direction.

Unit 2: Native Americans: The students will understand how early civilizations contributed to the formation of the United States.

• Recognize the causes and examples of migration and immigration in early America (i.e., land, religion, money, pioneer spirit, indentured servitude, displacement, and slavery).
• Contrast the characteristics of major civilizations of the Americas
• Compare and contrast the tenets of America’s early major religions (i.e., Olmec beliefs, Native American Earth/Mother Spirit, African Traditional Religion, Puritanism, Quakerism).
• Recognize America’s natural resources (i.e., land, timber, fish, animal pelts, peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkins, turkeys, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, cacao, beans and vanilla).

Unit 3: Exploration and Early Colonization: The students will understand how immigration from various European nations contributed to the formation of the United States.

• Recognize the causes and examples of migration and immigration in early America (i.e., land, religion, money, pioneer spirit, indentured servitude, displacement, and slavery).
• Recognize the influence of science and technology on the development of early American colonial cultures (i.e. compass, shipbuilding, food storage, printing press, financial markets, weaponry, transportation).
• Read a timeline and order events of the past.
• Recognize the historical impacts of European settlement in North America.
• Recognize the economic activities of early America (i.e., agriculture, industry, and service).
• Interpret a variety of economic graphs and charts with topics (e.g., the Columbian Exchange, numbers of slaves, population of colonies, population diversity).

            Key Vocabulary:

1. Columbian Exchange
2. Doctrine
3. Institution
4. Interdependence
5. Movement
6. Puritanism