Advanced Placement United States History
Advanced Placement United States History
2014-15
The following information is provided to help students and parents understand the expectations of the student for the course. Your questions are always welcomed. Please call 703-6776 or send me e-mail to smcabee@wsfcs.k12.nc.us.
The purpose of this year-long course in United States History is two-fold: first, it is to prepare you for the rigors of academic work at the college level by ensuring that you receive college-level credit for your work in this course. Please understand that this is a rigorous course with a demanding workload for the student at home. As such, late assignments will not be accepted. You need to be willing to commit to the demands of the course up front. As much as possible, you will be treated like college students and you will be held to the same standard to which advanced college students are held.
*** There are assignments over Winter and Spring Breaks. Due to the quantity of material necessary to cover during the course of the school year and the fact that we have four fewer weeks to cover this workload in, students are expected to complete material on their own. We only have approximately 80 total class days between the start of school and the AP Exam on May 8, 2015. ***
The second goal of the course is to infuse you with the knowledge of over 500 years of American history. This will be no simple task given our time constraints, but it is one that we will attack vigorously. Many people have a hard time articulating why the study of history is so important. What you will be expected to learn in this class is not just a select group of facts; instead, you will be asked to develop your own personal interpretation of American history. What does the history of this country mean to you? Is it a history filled with heroic deeds performed by heroic people? Is it a history of discrimination highlighted by the struggle of ordinary people to overcome that discrimination? Is it a history of wars and other conflicts fought to protect the “American Dream” from foreign tyranny? Or is it a history of social struggle against the tyranny of the majority?
To be successful in this course, you must be willing to eliminate any bias you may bring into the course regarding a person, political party, or historical event. You must be willing to commit time and energy outside the classroom in order to be successful. This includes having all readings completed on time, all assignments ready to turn in at the designated deadline, and writing questions out that you have at night that need to be explored or clarified. Reading quizzes will be randomly given to guarantee that you are preparing at home for future classes.
Required Materials to be Provided by the Student:
On a daily basis, students should bring to class:
• a 3-ring binder with dividers
• college ruled loose-leaf paper
• pens (blue or black only) or pencils
• a highlighter
You might want to a series of index cards to create study cards throughout the year. Color pencils may be needed on some days, but there will be advance notice.
Text
Boyer, Paul S., et al. The Enduring Vision. Sixth Edition. (Toronto: D.C. Houghton Mifflin
Company, 2008).
The Enduring Voices Documents Sets by Penelope Harper and James Lorence will be used to provide supplemental documents.
Other:
Dudley, William. volume editor and John C. Chalberg, consulting editor. Opposing Viewpoints in American History, Volume 1 and 2. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2007.
Hofstadter, Richard and Beatrice Hofstadter. Great Issues in American History, Vol. I, II, III. New York: Vintage Books, 1969.
Madaras, Larry and James M. SoRelle. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in American History, Volume I and II, Twelfth ed. Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group, 2007.
Outside readings will be required each quarter. Assignments are designed to enable you to study more detailed accounts of history than found in a standard textbook. Assignments may include but not be limited to the following:
• Paine, Thomas. Common Sense.
• de Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. Edited by Richard Heffner, Penguin Books, 2001.
• Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938. Library of Congress.
• Ellis, Joseph. Founding Fathers: The Revolutionary Generation. Knopf Publishing, 2005.
• Carroll, Andrew. Letters of a Nation. Broadway Books, 1997.
• Ambrose, Stephen and Douglas Brinkley. Witness to America. Harper Collins, 1999.
• Edelman, Bernard. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.
• Ravitch, Diane. The American Reader. Harper Perennial, 2000.
Other AP texts are available in the Media Center for students to utilize during the school year. Students are encouraged to consult/review at least one other text during each semester of study.
Themes in American History:
Students will learn to think conceptually about the American past and focus on historical changes over time. The content learning objectives for the AP U.S. History course and exam are organized under seven themes, which are topics of historical inquiry to explore throughout the AP U.S. History course.
• Identity
• Work, Exchange, and Technology
• Peopling
• Politics and Power
• America in the World
• Environment and Geography — Physical and Human
• Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture
Students are expected to demonstrate the following:
1. Historical thinking involves the ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate the relationships among multiple historical causes and effects, distinguishing between those that are longterm and proximate, and among coincidence, causation, and correlation.
2. Historical thinking involves the ability to describe, compare, and evaluate multiple historical developments within one society, one or more developments across or between different societies, and in various chronological and geographical contexts. It also involves the ability to identify, compare, and evaluate multiple perspectives on a given historical experience.
3. Historical thinking involves the ability to define and frame a question about the past and to address that question through the construction of an argument. A plausible and persuasive argument requires a clear, comprehensive, and analytical thesis, supported by relevant historical evidence — not simply evidence that supports a preferred or preconceived position. In addition, argumentation involves the capacity to describe, analyze, and evaluate the arguments of others in light of available evidence.
4. Historical thinking involves the ability to describe, analyze, evaluate, and construct diverse interpretations of the past, and being aware of how particular circumstances and contexts in which individual historians work and write also shape their interpretation of past events. Historical interpretation requires analyzing evidence, reasoning, determining the context, and evaluating points of view found in both primary and secondary sources.
The AP Test
Students will take the AP test on Friday, May 8, 2015. In accordance to WSFCS policy, any student who does not take the AP Exam will have their final average reduced by one letter grade.
The AP format has changed with the new curriculum. The new test includes:
1 Document Based Question – students will have to read up to 7 documents and write an essay based upon these documents and the assigned prompt topic. Students are given 15 minutes to read and 45 minutes to write their response.
1 Long Essay – this 35 minute session requires the student to write on an assigned topic.
1 Multiple Choice section – 55 questions to be answered in 55 minutes.
4 Short Answer questions – these are new to the format, but tend to be based upon the student’s ability to analyze a document and apply it to the historical era in question. Students are given 45 minutes to complete all four questions.
Course Evaluation
60% - Major Tests - There will be two or three major unit tests each nine weeks. (I do hold a test grade until the next quarter if necessary to maintain a grade balance.) The format will be similar to the College Board’s Advanced Placement test which will be given in May. While not all four types of questions may be present in a test, you will always have one essay (long form or DBQ) and a multiple choice section. Depending on the time allotted for the essays, there may be a short answer question to complete. Students are therefore encouraged to prepare well in advance in order to ensure success. There will also be random reading quizzes in order to encourage you to keep up with your reading assignments. You are responsible for completing all your assignments on time. You will also have several quizzes (which will count half a test) throughout the year on the following:
• States, capitals, U.S. geography
• Presidents, terms of office, and political parties
• Bill of Rights and Amendments
• Expansion of the United States geographically
Your first semester reading guide, which will be handed out on the first day of the course, discusses the dates of each of these quizzes. It is YOUR responsibility to keep up with these dates.
40% - Study Guides / Miscellaneous Out-of-Class Assignments / Short Answer Practices – Each unit will have a packet of factual information and questions that the student is responsible for completing before the due date. Other assignments will be categorized in this section, but with varying weights. In class Short Answer practices given will be counted toward this 40%. Assignments must be hand-written, no typed answers are permitted.
ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not send home copies of tests with students – this is consistent with all APUSH teachers in the county. However, you are welcome to sit down in the classroom and view your portfolio throughout the year. Students do have opportunities for test corrections on the multiple choice section during the first five units. This opportunity is designed to help the student learn how to read questions more effectively, and should also help the student with their at-home reading. Test corrections are limited to an equal number of morning and afternoon sessions.
Academic Misconduct Policy
Plagiarism, giving or receiving help on any in class or take home test, essay, and/or quiz without teacher permission, or unauthorized use of any published materials is forbidden and a violation of academic policy. It is also a violation of the academic misconduct policy to discuss any test, quiz, and/or essay question that any other student has not yet completed. Violations will result in a zero for that assignment as well as a discipline referral and potential loss of honor society membership.
Attendance / Make-up Policy
Attendance in a class of this rigor is absolutely essential to successful completion of this course. Please be sure to read your Student Handbook for the WSFCS Attendance Policy. Students must turn in all their assignments by the required due date. Failure to do so may result in a failing grade. Be aware that the instructor is under no obligation to accept assignments after the due date. Your syllabus provides many dates for the semester. It is your responsibility to get any notes when you miss a class.
All make-up work should be completed within two days of the student returning to school. This does not mean two class periods (i.e. two “A” days or two “B” days), but two consecutive school days. Any work turned in after the two-day period will not be accepted. To prevent the student from falling behind any more, all make-up tests will be given before or after school by the teacher (other arrangements will be based on a case by case basis), and must be completed within the same two day period. If you miss the day before an announced test, you should still be ready to take that test. All test dates are announced in advance. You can find these on the reading schedule given out on the first day in class.
If you need any additional help to review, practice test taking, thesis writing, etc. I am happy to meet with you. There will be optional review sessions prior to the AP exam that you may find helpful. We are both trying to help you be successful in the course and most especially on the AP exam, so please do your part to prepare and I will give my best effort to help you achieve your goal.
I post many homework readings and assignments on my webpage. Use my webpage wisely as I have tried to provide you with many study aids. The page is divided by the nine units we will study throughout the year. For every unit, you will find questions that can help a student delve into the historical content (some of these are part of your grade for the study guide). You will also find a list of key terms that students should be aware of as they are reading.
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