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History Overview

  • Grade Level: 7th Grade History
  • Instructor: The History Teacher
  • Date: Early Fall Term

Course Description

Seventh graders will explore the medieval and modern world through its societies, empires, governments, art, cultures, religious beliefs, ideologies, and technological advancements. The primary goal is to place historical developments in context and understand how they relate to our world today.

Materials

  • Primary Text: Across the Centuries (Houghton Mifflin)
  • Additional Resources: Various publications, articles, and primary sources.

Class Format

Lectures and Slideshows

Students take notes during lectures.

Discussions and Reflections

Emphasis on critical thinking.

Labs and Activities

Analyzing historical documents and sources.

Labs-and-Activities
Course Components
Note-Taking
  • Students will maintain a notebook containing:
  • Lecture notes
  • Handouts
  • Maps
  • Student-created interpretations
Required Materials:
  • Spiral-bound notebook for notes
  • Binder or folder with sleeves for handouts
Research Papers
  • Students will:
  • Gather historical information
  • Synthesize findings into papers or reports
Guidelines:
  • A rubric will be provided well in advance of each due date.
  • Emphasis on developing critical thinking skills.
Class Projects
  • Students will complete individual and group presentations to:
  • Teach classmates
  • Foster creativity and collaboration
Requirements:
  • Submit a project proposal for approval.
  • Projects may include art, role-play, multimedia, model-making, and must integrate research.
  • Some projects will require a written component.
  • Detailed rubrics will accompany each assignment.
Homework and Classwork
  • Whenever possible, assignments will be completed during class time.
  • Homework may involve additional reading or research.
  • Homework and research may be assessed through quizzes or incorporated into upcoming tests.
Tests and Quizzes
  • Review sessions will precede each unit test or quiz.
  • Test dates will be shared on the class platform at least one week in advance.
  • Study Guides will be assembled during review sessions.
  • Midterms and finals may consist of a test or a research paper, depending on the unit.

Grading

  • Tests and Quizzes: Graded using a straightforward point system.
  • Research Projects and Presentations: Evaluated using detailed rubrics.

Focus:

  • Mastery of historical concepts
  • Application of critical analysis skills

Geography

Geography will be taught in conjunction with each historical unit throughout the year.

Course Overview

Part One: Medieval and Early Modern Civilizations

Early Travel and Cross-Cultural Connections

  • Travel methods (150–1500 CE)
  • Challenges, technological advances, and mapping

Byzantine Empire (Early Empire)

  • Fall of the Western Roman Empire
  • Constantine, Justinian, legal codes, art, architecture, and religious intersections

Islam

  • Desert culture and the rise of Islam
  • Life of Mohammed
  • Expansion and Golden Age of the Islamic Empire

Africa

  • Early village life in West Africa
  • Empires of Mali, Songhai, and Ghana
  • Bantu migrations
  • Rise of trading states such as Zimbabwe and Kongo
  • Consequences of European trade

Mongol Empire

  • Khan culture and meteoric expansion

China

  • Fall of the Han Dynasty
  • Influences of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism
  • Reunification under the Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties
  • Mongol conflict and Ming/Qing dynasties

Japan

  • Physical and human geography
  • Early people and Chinese influence
  • Rise of feudalism and the shogunate
  • Kyoto court art and literature (includes a role-play activity)

The Mughal Empire

  • Geography of the Indian subcontinent
  • Hindu-Muslim cultural dynamics
  • Leaders: Babur, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan
  • Art and architecture, including the Taj Mahal and miniature painting
  • Basic understanding of Hindu deities

The Ottoman Empire

  • Ghazi warriors and Muslim expansion
  • Rule of the Sultans
  • State organization and the Janissary corps
  • Planned virtual lesson from an international location

Civilizations of the Americas

  • Mesoamerica: Olmec and Mayan civilizations (cosmology, architecture, technology)
  • South America: Student projects on Incan or Aztec life; brief exploration of Tiwanakan and Moche cultures
Civilizations-of-the-Americas
Part Two: Europe and the Rise of the Modern World

Europe after the Fall of Rome

  • Feudalism
  • Growth of towns
  • Expanding Church power
  • Analysis of the Magna Carta

Western Europe under the Church

  • Conflicts between kings and popes
  • Rise of monasteries and universities
  • Art, architecture, sacraments, and the influence of cathedral-building on daily life

Byzantine Empire (Later Empire)

  • Trade
  • Church schisms
  • Decline of the Byzantine Empire

The Crusades

  • Understanding religious conflict in historical context
  • Immediate and long-term effects

Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance

  • Impact of the Black Death
  • Growth of monarchies
  • One Hundred Years’ War
  • Technological advances

The Italian Renaissance

  • Revival of Greek and Roman ideals
  • Rise of city-states, humanism, and influential families such as the Medici

The Renaissance in Northern Europe

  • Differences from the Italian Renaissance
  • Advances in literature, science, art, and the invention of the printing press

Decline of Church Authority

  • Corruption, including the sale of indulgences
  • Threats to papal authority
  • Early Reformation leaders

The Reformation Era

  • Martin Luther’s influence
  • Spread of Protestantism
  • Peace of Augsburg
  • Calvinism and the doctrine of predestination
  • Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition

Scientific Revolution

  • Scientific method and hypothesis testing
  • Conflicts with religious authority
  • Shifting worldviews and their impact on exploration

Age of Exploration

  • Historical shifts and global discoveries

Enlightenment Ideas

  • Spread of Enlightenment thinking
  • Impact on Europe and the New World