APUSH Syllabus

PDF Version of this Syllabus

PDF Version of the 2009-2010 APUSH Calendar

AdvancedPlacement United States History Course Syllabus

Instructor: Mr. O’Connor

Email: goconnor (at) wusd.k12.ca.us

Website: www.historycorner.net

Texts: The American Pageant, A History of the Republic, 13th Edition. Kennedy, Cohen, & Bailey.

AMSCO United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Exam, 2^nd Ed., Newman and Schmalbach

Introduction & Purpose for the Course

This course is designed to provide you with the skills and knowledge necessary to critically analyze problems in US history. The program prepares you for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon you equivalent to that made by a full-year introductory college course. You will learn to assess historical materials—their relevance, reliability, and importance—and weigh evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. You will be reading several primary source documents with each unit and learning how to interpret and evaluate them. The course provides you with frequent practice in writing analytical and interpretive essays such as document-based questions (DBQ) and thematic essays.

The course is designed to prepare you for the Advanced Placement Exam in United States History offered in May. Many colleges and universities offer students credit or advanced placement based on qualifying scores on the AP Exam, but each school sets its own policies. I will do everything I can to prepare you for both the AP Exam and continued college coursework in future.

Therefore, this class will be difficult and require much more from you than a typical high school course. This is a college course. Because of the comprehensive nature of the AP Exam, there will be a great deal of reading and writing and work will be required during breaks. Students contemplating taking AP US History should weigh their options very carefully before making the commitment required to complete the course.

Course Objectives: Students will

master a broad body of historical knowledge;
demonstrate an understanding of historical chronology;
use historical data to support an argument or position;
differentiate between historiographical schools of thought;
interpret and apply data from original documents, including cartoons, graphs, letters, etc.;
use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, compare and contrast;
write analytical, interpretive, and thematic essays;
and prepare for and successfully pass the Advanced Placement Exam

Grading

The grading scale is as follows: A=90%; B=80%; C=70%; D=60%. This scale applies to tests, quizzes, and assignments. (Also remember the additional benefit of the weighted AP grade; see below under Advanced placement exam an weighted grades.)

Assessments

Your grade will be based on your success in daily participation (10%), in-class work (15%), homework (30%), frequent short quizzes (15%), and end of unit tests (30%). End of unit tests may include either a Free Response Question (FRQ, sometimes referred to as a Standard Essay Question) or a Document-Based Question (DBQ).

Attendance

Attendance in this class is essential, especially in a 4x4 Block. Much of the material for success is provided through lecture, discussion, and class activity. This is not a correspondence course. Missing class can create serious problems for your success, and continued absences will require transfer to the regular high school course.

Advanced placement exam & weighted grades

The AP Exam is given in May. Registration for the exam takes place in February or March. Although the exam is not required, it is highly recommended and may earn college credit and/or advanced placement. The June final exam requirement for the course will be waived for those students who take the AP Exam. Students who fail to take the College Board AP Exam or the AP equivalent exam from the instructor will not receive a weighted grade for the course; weighted grades will only be conferred to students who pass with a grade of C or higher.

Withdrawal after the school year begins

Parents and students should understand that—as college-level courses—AP classes do not adhere to the curriculum or pacing of regular high school courses. Allowing students to transfer out of an AP class into a regular high school class after the first week of school presents difficulties for the student, instructors, and the school as a whole (in maintaining adequate and balanced class sizes, for example).

Therefore, parents will not be allowed to withdraw their child from an AP class after the FIRST FIVE CLASS DAYS of the course.

Parents wishing to withdraw their child from an AP class may do so only after a conference with the AP teacher, administrator, or counselor. Students who are withdrawn from an AP class will be placed in the next lower level course or available elective. Parents and students should understand that there is no guarantee on space availability in these classes after the second week.

Dropping students from the program

Students receiving a grade lower than a C- at the end of the first semester will be dropped to the next lower level course or available elective. Students having significant problems with attendance or behavior also may be recommended for removal from the program at the discretion of the instructor.

Final Exams

At the end of the first term, all students will take a final exam. At the end of the second term, all students who did not take the AP Exam will be required to take a comprehensive exam covering the entire course. This comprehensive exam will take the same form as the AP Exam in May. Students who take the AP Exam will be required to complete all assignments through the end of the course, and may choose to accept the grade they have going into finals week or take the semester final to improve their class grade.

Supplies

3-Ring Binder – Students will need a 3-ring binder to house the material compiled during the year. Students do not need to bring the binder to class everyday. Save your outlines.

Notebook— Every day, students will be expected to bring a spiral notebook for taking notes, completing assignments, taking quizzes, and writing journal or quick write entries.

Assignment Packets – Assignment packets will constitute the bulk of the class and homework due at the end of the unit. Stapled packets will be comprised of handouts, worksheets, notes, and journal writes.

Behavior Expectations

Note: An offense that is subject to suspension can result in an immediate referral to the Vice-Principal’s office AT ANY TIME without warning or detention.

COURSE SCHEDULE – 4 x 4 Block

For specific dates, refer to the calendar for your term, Fall or Spring

The American Pageant, Kennedy, Cohen, Bailey. Chapters 1-4 with study questions.

Taking Sides. “Was the American Revolution a Conservative Movement?” with essay question.

Unit 1 – Settlement of British North America

Unit 2 – Colonial Society and Protest

Unit 3 – Revolution and New Republic

Unit 4 – Jeffersonian Era

Unit 5 – Sectionalism and the Age of Jackson

Unit 6 – Society, Reform, and Expansion

Unit 7 – The Union in Peril and Civil War

Unit 8 – Reconstruction, the West, and The New South

Unit 9 – Industrialization and Urbanization

Unit 10 – Gilded Age Politics and Foreign Policy

Unit 11 – Progressive Era and World War I

Unit 12 – Boom and Bust: 1919-1941

Unit 13 – World War II and the Cold War

Unit 14 – The 1950s and ‘60s

Unit 15 – Age of Limits and Conservative Resurgence

Friday Morning, May 6: The AP Exam

I have read the above course outline and classroom rules. I understand that I am responsible for following the rules of this classroom as well as the policies of the school as a whole, subject to the disciplinary decisions of the instructor or administrator. I will keep this paper in my history notebook at all times.