Mankato West High School 2013-2014
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
Mr. Matt Moore | Room #109 | 507-207-3842 | mmoore1@isd77.org https://sites.google.com/site/mooresclassroom/apush
A.P. United States History 2013-2014
COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES
Advanced Placement United States History is a rigorous course that is meant to be the equivalent of a freshman level college U.S. History course. The course is a two-‐semester survey of American History from the age of exploration to the present. In order to succeed in the course it is necessary to have solid reading and writing skills, as well as the willingness to devote considerable time and energy on homework and studying. Outside of class reading will be extensive and it is imperative that you complete this work. The course will prepare you to take the AP United States History exam that will take place on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Over the course of the year, students will learn and master a large body of historical knowledge, interpret primary and secondary sources, examine alternative views of the past and use historical evidence to support an argument.
David Kennedy, American Pageant
COURSE ORGANIZATION The course has been split into 11 different units. The student will be assessed twice each unit. There will be a 50 question multiple-‐choice test and a Document Based Question (DBQ) Essay or a Free Response Question (FRQ) for each unit. The essays will be written in class with time limits.
Unit
Chapters
1-‐ Colonial Beginnings
1,2,3,4
2 – American Independence
5,6,7,8
3 – Jeffersonian America
9,10,11,12
4 – Growing Pains
13,14,15
5 – Road to Civil War
16,17,18,19
6 – Civil War & Reconstruction
20,21,22
7 – The Gilded Age
23,24,25,26
8 – Imperialism & Progressivism
27,28,29,30
9 – Boom & Bust
31,32,33,34
10 – WWII & the Cold War
35,36,37
11 – We Didn’t Start the Fire
38,39,40,41
AP Final Exam
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
4 Week Review
Exam Dates September 19 (Essay) September 20 (MC) October 8 (Essay) October 9 (MC) October 24 (Essay) October 25 (MC) November 7 (Essay) November 11 (MC) November 22 (Essay) November 25 (MC) December 12 (Essay) December 13 (MC) January 8 (Essay) January 9 (MC) January 29 (Essay) January 30 (MC) February 14 (Essay) February 17 (MC) March 6 (Essay) March 7 (MC) April 8 (Essay) April 9 (MC) May 14, 7:45 a.m.
RECQUIRED MATERIALS -‐ Pencils -‐ Black and blue pens -‐ Loose leaf paper -‐ Multiple highlighters -‐ 3 Ring Heavy Duty Binder -‐ Binder dividers -‐ MWHS Planner -‐ Cell phone or e-‐mail address
EXTRA CREDIT POLICY Extra credit is offered to encourage students to explore individual interests and reward extra time energy and effort. Extra credit can improve a final quarter grade by a maximum of 10%, but will be forfeited if a student has an unexcused absence, missing assignments, excessive tardiness, excessive absences; or has engaged in acts of cheating or plagiarism. All extra credit assignments must be pre-‐approved with the instructor.
GRADING SCALE (WEIGHTED GRADE – 5.0 SCALE) 94-‐100%…..…..A 90-‐93%…………A-‐ 87-‐89%…………B+ 84-‐86%…………B
80-‐83%…………B-‐ 77-‐79%…………C+ 74-‐76%…………C 73-‐70%…………C-‐
67-‐69%…………D+ 64-‐66%…………D 60-‐63%…………D-‐ Below 60%….…F
Late assignment policy: Homework must be completed by the day it is due. Late assignments will be reduced 10% for each day they are late. If you know you will be absent for a class in advance, you must complete and submit all assignments before you leave.
UNIT ORGANIZATION A typical unit in APUSH will take approximately two weeks and cover four chapters. During that time, you can expect to experience the following:
Activity
Point Total
Visual
Chapter Reading Notes Students will receive a guided notepacket for each unit. These notes will be checked and graded as students take the chapter quiz. These notes can be used on exams.
Crash Course ( ISBN: 9780840029041)
5 points
Chapter Quizzes
Pageant Guidebook (ISBN: 9780840029041 )
REQUIRED GRADUATION STANDARD ASSIGNMENTS Students must complete and receive a passing grade on the following assignments in order to receive credit for the course. If a student fails any required assignment on their first attempt, they must retake it until they pass. The grade earned on the first attempt will be the grade entered into the gradebook. If a student fails to complete or pass any of the following assignments, they will receive an “F” for the course. ALL UNIT EXAMS (11)
ALL UNIT ESSAYS (11)
ALL QUARTER TESTS (3) ALL FINAL REVIEW TESTS (4)
1ST SEMESTER RESEARCH PROJECT
ND
2 SEMESTER FINAL PROJECT
Chapter quizzes will correlate directly to chapter readings and contain multiple choice, identification and chronology questions. Quizzes are note open note and will be timed. Students will be limited to 40 seconds/question.
10-‐20 points
Chapter Reviews After students complete a chapter quiz, we review the chapter together as a class to ensure understanding of key content. Notes can be used on exams.
Not graded
Unit Essay Essays will take the form of FRQs or DBQs. Students will receive the question in advance and can write a draft in advance. Essays will be timed and limited to 45 minutes.
50 points
Unit Multiple Choice Exam The multiple choice exams will take place the day after the essay exams. Students can use notes on the exams. Chapter reviews and unit reviews are located on the course website to help students prepare for these exams. Multiple choice exams will be timed. Students will be limited to 40 seconds/question.
50 points
PREPARING FOR THE COLLEGE BOARD EXAM
Students will take comprehensive practice exams at the end of each quarter. Prior to the May 14th exam, we will spend 4 weeks reviewing; spending two weeks on a key content review game and two weeks reviewing a series of four AP practice exams. All practice exam questions have been taken from previous exams.
A.P. United States History 2013-2014
SUGGESTED REVIEW BOOKS
A.P. United States History 2013-2014
TIPS & TECHNIQUES FOR SUCCEEDING IN APUSH
READ THE TEXTBOOK The reading guides, chapter quizzes and unit exams are all designed to directly reflect the content from the American Pageant textbook. If you can commit to five or six hours of reading and studying a week, you will better prepare yourself for a 4 or a 5 on the APUSH exam. PROPER PREPARATION PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE Each student at Mankato West will receive a daily planner to keep track of homework assignments. Be sure to “backwards map” your school year by filling up the planner with important test dates and deadlines for homework assignments. If you are involved in extra-‐curricular activities, include those schedules as well. ORGANIZE YOUR BINDER Every document you receive in APUSH will be 3-‐hole punched. Keep your assignments and notes in chronological order and divide your units with binder dividers. Invest in a good binder that can hold a lot of material. USE THE CLASS WEBSITE Each year, more resources are added to the class website to help students succeed in APUSH. You can use the learning calendar to find assignment due dates, watch chapter reviews on each chapter, take practice quizzes on each chapter and print off copies of assignments for a class you may have missed. REPETITION, REPETITION, REPETITION In order to be successful in APUSH, there are certain dates, names and facts that you will have to commit to memory. If you are having problems committing things to memory, you should use the Cornell method and re-‐read your notes twice a week and develop flash cards for key terms, events and historical figures. Find a study buddy that is willing to quiz you on course materials PURCHASE A REVIEW BOOK There are several great review books that can help you supplement the textbook and better prepare for the AP exam. The American Pageant Student Guidebook will help you better prepare for quizzes and tests, and AP U.S. History Crash Course provides great outlines of the key content that will be on the APUSH exam. POWER-‐DOWN DEVICES WHILE COMPLETING HOMEWORK It can be difficult to concentrate on homework and reading assignments if you are easily distracted by cell phones, computers, video games, televisions, etc. Find a quiet, peaceful place to study and commit to one-‐hour chunks of homework before you check your texts, tweets, instagrams, e-‐mails, Friendster requests etc. TAKE PART IN EXTRA CREDIT If you would like to raise your grade, complete an extra credit assignment. You can write reviews about historical movies related to class and historical books that you may have read. The biggest extra credit assignment that any student can complete is a History Day project. More info can be found on the class website. ASK QUESTIONS I am less impressed by students who answer questions than I am with students who ask questions. If you are curious about something, ask. If you are confused by something, ask. I am almost always in my room before and after school and also answer questions over e-‐mail outside of school hours.
SEMESTER PROJECTS At the conclusion of each semester, APUSH students will be required to complete a semester project. Each project will be worth 100 points and entered into the gradebook as the “Semester Exam” grade (therefore, each project is worth 20% of the semester grade).
st
1 SEMESTER PROJECT Students can work individually or in groups to complete a historical research project that fits a theme. This year’s theme is “Rights & Responsibilities in History.” Each individual and group is allowed to select their own topic for this project. Students who wish to revise and improve their projects at the conclusion of the first semester can exhibit their projects at the regional History Day competition and receive 50 points of extra credit.
2nd SEMESTER PROJECT After the AP exam on May 14th, students will investigate historical issues facing modern America and create a DBQ that focuses on the issues they feel are most important
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR Mr. Moore grew up in Redfield, SD, received his undergraduate degree at North Dakota State University and master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. This past summer, he graded over 1,000 APUSH essays at the national reading in Louisville, KY. When he’s not busy at school, you may find him remodeling his house with his wife (Jen), hunting pheasants, reading history books, walking his dog (Walter), eating copious amounts of Frosted Mini-‐Wheats or watching the latest episode of the Daily Show.