HARRELLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Course Syllabus
Course Title: AP U.S. History
Credit Hours: 1 unit
Grade Level: 11 th grade
Description:
The AP U.S. History course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in U.S. history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students should learn to assess historical material and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An AP U.S. History course should develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. A topic outline is listed below.
- Pre-Columbian Societies
- Age of Exploration and Colonial Beginnings, 1492-1690
- Colonial North America, 1690-1754
- The American Revolutionary Ear, 1754-1789
- The Early Republic, 1789-1815
- Transformation of the Economy and Society in Antebellum America, 1800-1850
- The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum America, 1800-1850
- Religion, Reform, and Renaissance in Antebellum America, 1800-1850
- Territorial Expansion and Manifest Destiny, 1815-1848
- The Crisis of the Union, 1848-1861
- The Civil War, 1861-1865
- Reconstruction, 1865-1877
- The Origins of the New South, 1865-1900
- Development of the West in the Late Nineteenth Century,1877-1900
- Industrial America in the late Nineteenth Century, 1877-1900
- Urban Society in the Late Nineteenth Century, 1877-1900
- Populism and Progressivism, 1870-1920
- The Emergence of America as a World Power, 1865-1920
- The New Era: 1920s, 1920-1929
- The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1941
- The Second World War, 1930-1945
- The Home Front During the War, 1941-1945
- The United States and the Early Cold War, 1945-1955
- The 1950s, 1950-1959
- The Turbulent 1960s, 1960-1969
- Politics and Economics at the End of the Twentieth Century, 1968-1990
- Society and Culture at the End of the Twentieth Century, 1965-Present
- The United States in the Post-Cold War World, 1990-Present
Textbook: Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Bailey. The American Pageant. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002.
Additional selected readings
Instructor Contact: Mrs. Linda C. Carr
School: 532-4375
Home: 532-4387
Required Materials: Pens/Pencils
Two highlighters- any color
Loose-leaf paper
3-ring binder
Spiral notebook for reading notes
Access to Internet and computer/word processor
Major Course Objectives: The ultimate goal of this course is preparation for the AP exam which is given in the spring and, upon completion of the exam, each student will receive college credit for the course. In order to achieve this goal, students will:
- Demonstrate a mastery of a broad body of historical knowledge
- Use historical evidence to defend and support basic arguments and positions
- Differentiate between various schools of historical thought and interpretation
- Interpret and draw conclusions from various pieces of historical data including original documents, cartoons, and graphs
- Demonstrate an effective use of analytical skills of evaluation, cause-and-effect relationships, and compare and contrast
- Work effectively in groups to produce products, make presentations, and solve problems
- Prepare for and receive a grade of 3 or higher on the AP U.S. History Exam
Requirements and Grading:
A. Grading
Course grade will be calculated as follows: Marking period averages (50%) + midterm (25%) + final exam (25%) = 100%Marking period grades will include major tests will be 50% of the student’s grade. The major tests will be given over a two day period. The first day will be the multiple choice portion of the test and the second day will be the essay portion of the test. All other work which will include chapter quizzes on homework reading, take home writing assignments, presentations, projects, or class work will be the remaining 50% of the student’s grade.
B. Requirements/ AP U.S. History Exam Information
The A.P exam is 3 hours and 5 minutes in length and consists of 2 sections: a 55-minute multiple-choice section and a 130-minute free-response section. The free-response section begins with a mandatory 15-minute reading period. Students are advised to spend most of the 15 minutes analyzing the documents and planning their answer to the document-based essay question (DBQ) in Part A. Suggested writing time for the DBQ is 45 minutes. Parts B and C each include 2 standard essay questions that, with the DBQ, cover the period from the first European explorations of the Americas to the present. Students are required to answer one essay question in each part in a total of 70 minutes. For each of the essay questions students choose to answer in Parts B and C, it is suggested they spend 5 minutes planning and 30 minutes writing. The majority of the questions in both the multiple-choice and the essay sections are on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The A.P exam will be given on Friday, May 8, 2009, at 8:00 am. Everyone will be expected to take the AP exam unless other arrangements have been made in advance
In order to be proficient in U.S. History, students must be able to place events in a particular time period. In answering the multiple-choice questions, a thorough knowledge of dates will enable the students to eliminate invalid answers. The multiple- choice questions are designed to test the depth of knowledge the students have acquired during the course. There are five answer choices instead of the typical four answer choices. Many times the answer choices are similar so the students must be able to eliminate invalid answers by a careful discerning of the choices. The classroom tests that will be given during the school year will reflect this format.
By referring to the topic outline, it is obvious that there is a tremendous amount of reading required for this course. Students will not only have a textbook that will be read and outlined from start to finish, but they will have additional readings and primary source documents. Students will have a quiz on all textbook reading assignments. Studying every day is a must, and students will have to devote however much time it takes to master the material. Remember this is a college level course, not a high school survey course. Students will receive a calendar which begins on August 18 and ends on May 1 which assigns the textbook reading for the entire year. Students will be expected to follow the planned schedule regardless of what is being discussed in class. It is mperative for students to complete the course objectives before the A.P. Exam.
We will have two major tests during a grading period. The dates for all major tests are on the assignment calendar. Students must be able to retain information over a period of time and not just memorize for the moment. The tests will be given over a two day period. The first day will be multiple-choice portion of the test, and the second day will be the essay writing portion of the test. In the beginning students will receive a selection of possible essay questions for which they may prepare thoughts in advance; however, they will not know which question will selected on test day. The entire class may not nswer the same question so student can prepare answers for all of the questions if they wish to excel. As the year progresses, essay questions will not be given in advance. Each part of the test will be worth 50% of the final test grade. The test grades will be 50% of the marking period average. Quizzes on required reading, practice writings in class, take-home essays, the analyzing of primary documents, group discussions, and presentations will be the remaining portion of the marking period grade.
In an historical essay students will take a position on an issue and then support the positions with facts. Do not say, “I think, I believe.” The words “I” or “you” should NEVER appear in an academic essay. If either of these words appear in an essay, points will be deducted. Students will be required to have a planning/brainstorming paper for every essay which will show what facts they will use to support their position and the direction in which they plan to proceed. All essays need thought before the pen hits the paper. Organization is paramount to an excellently written paper. Without a planning/brainstorming paper attached to all essays, students will receive no credit for the writing until it is provided. All essays must have an introduction which will include a thesis statement and a conclusion. As the AP exam day approaches, timed essays will be given which will model the exam. Writing is a process, and plenty of practice will be given throughout the school year to develop this skill. A DBQ document based essay) will be part of the exam. Students will be given a set of primary source documents to read and analyze. Then the students will be asked to answer a question based on their overall knowledge of U.S. history and the information learned from reading the documents. The documents will support both sides of the issue that is presented in the question so students must choose the documents carefully which will best support their thesis. In the essay students must refer to the supporting documents by number/letter.
After the exam on May 8, students will research a topic and write a paper approximately five pages in length, double-spaced with footnotes and a bliography. During the year students will probably find topics of interest that they will want to research. If not, topics will be provided by the teacher.
Policies and Procedures:
The rules are simple: (1) Be on time. (2) Be productive. (3) Be polite.
You should be in the classroom in your assigned seat and ready to begin the lesson when the tardy bell rings. A productive student brings his/her materials (textbook, paper, pen/pencil, and notebook) to class each day. A productive student participates in all class activities, pays attention in class, and avoids disruptive behavior. Being polite involves respecting the rights of others and treating others as you would like to be treated. Needless to say, you are expected to abide by the rules established in the student handbook. Consequences of rule infractions are stated in the handbook.
Make-up work after an absence: If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and to make up the assignment. You will have 5 days to make up missed work. After that time, you will receive a zero. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances which will require that we discuss a situation on an individual basis.
Bathroom procedure: Students will be allowed to go to the bathroom only in cases of emergency. Emergencies do not occur several times a week or even once a week. If you have a medical condition that might require you to have more frequent bathroom visits, please bring me a note from your parents.
Final Thoughts:
I am looking forward to working with you this year. Although AP U.S. History may seem overwhelming at first, it will become easier with time and effort. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. This is a process, and I am here to help you. This will be wonderful preparation for what you can expect when you go to college.
