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Mrs. Jennifer Smith Website: J.Smith's APUSH Website

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A.P. United States History: Summer Assignment due Wednesday, August 30th

Welcome to APUSH!

In this class you are going to be accepting the responsibility and the workload of a college freshman. You will be expected to read, analyze, and write on a regular basis! The emphasis of this class is to prepare you for the AP test, which can gain you college credit (and save you and your parents some tuition money!). In the process of preparing for the test, you will learn skills preparing you to be a successful college student. You will learn the importance of taking notes over what you read, how to identify important and significant information, how to analyze events and documents to determine the role they played in our history, and how to write a college essay. In essence, you will learn how to think on a higher level! Our coursework in APUSH will use various narratives, accounts, evidence and scholarship to achieve a critical understanding of the history of the United States from the settling of English America to the present day.

The following summer assignment has two general purposes:

1. To accelerate our movement through Period 1. Since you have already had some limited exposure to world history, we will move quickly through this material and you will have to work some on your own.

2. To orient you to the textbook, internet resources, and the variety of assignments you will have this year. Reading is your primary “homework” all year long. What you do with this information is to analyze and respond to it. I hope these assignments will give you a taste of these processes and skills.

TASK ONE: USING THE TEXTBOOK

1. Read Chapter 1 of the American Pageant textbook (pg.4-23) and complete the Guided Reading Packet

• *READ FOR UNDERSTANDING!* Pay attention to the section headings and look for the Key Terms and Key Questions provided (it helps to read these questions before you start reading!)

• **These answers must be hand-written on the packet or notebook paper**

• These questions will be used to lead classroom discussion and I will be collecting your answers for a Homework grade during the first week of school.

• Incomplete answers will receive incomplete grades. I will not accept duplicate answers.

TASK TWO: USING THE WEBSITE

1. VIDEO: Please go to and watch the 8 minute video that gives an overview of Period Then using information gathered from BOTH your textbook and from the video, give SPECIFIC examples you discovered that explain the three Key Concepts below (to be hand-written on notebook paper).

On a North American continent controlled by American Indians, contact among the peoples of Europe, the Americas, and West Africa created a new world.

● Key Concept 1.1: Before the arrival of Europeans, native populations in North America developed a wide variety of social, political, and economic structures based in part on interactions with the environment and each other.

● Key Concept 1.2: European overseas expansion resulted in the Columbian Exchange, a series of interactions and adaptations among societies across the Atlantic.

● Key Concept 1.3: Contacts among American Indians, Africans, and Europeans challenged the worldviews of each group.

2. TIMELINE: This part of the website will give the key events that happened in succession during the time period. Create a timeline of TEN important events that happened beginning in 1491 and ending in 1607 AND explain why each event is important to the time period.

3. DOCUMENTS: This section of the website will discuss and give examples of important primary sources from the time period. Read Bartolome de Las Casas debates the subjugation of the Indians, 1550 and in a short written response tell me the following:

● Who wrote the document?

● When was the document written?

● What is the document saying?

● Why is the document important to US history and to the time period we are studying?

4. ESSAY: This section of the website will give essays written by prominent historians about events that happened in the time period and their interpretation. This is called historiography. Please read the essay on the Columbian Exchange and in a short written response tell me the following:

● What is the overall content of the essay?

● What is the author’s point of view regarding the subject?

● Do you agree or disagree with their argument? Why or why not?

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES: (you may complete one or both of these assignments to earn extra credit in our first Unit of Study; these are due on FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9th )

1. Where in the United States?? (or World??) PowerPoint or Poster

• You may create a multimedia PowerPoint Presentation of any summer travels that you and your family take if they pertain to our nation’s history (or world’s history—lucky you!)

• Each PowerPoint or poster must include PICTURES of YOU AT the location as well as researched information about the location; it also helps to save pamphlets and information handouts of places your visit both for research purposes and “proof” that you visited them!

• Your presentation (or poster) must be factual and include a bibliography of outside sources; you will be graded on content and aesthetics!

2. Chapter 1 Guided Reading from the AMSCO AP US History Review book [pic]

• Check out a Review book from Ms. Smith’s room 105 before the end of the school year or purchase one from Amazon or Barnes & Noble (average price $15-25 depending on shipping.)

• Online PDF: click HERE

• Print off and complete the Guided Reading packet that goes along with the first chapter from the review book

• Each Chapter guided reading from the AMSCO review book earns 5 points extra credit toward your overall test average!

Please email me over the summer with any questions that arise as your work on these assignments!

Also, please visit and familiarize yourself with our class website:

jsmithapush@

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