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APUSH II (Advanced Placement United States History)
About My AP Class ~ General Information
Dear Parents and Students,
There are some key things that you need to know in order to understand how we tackle Advanced Placement US History in my classroom. The first thing I would like to address is one of the last things to do- the AP Exam in May. You are EXPECTED to take the AP Test, which has a cost of about $95 dollars. If you do not intend to take the test, there is really little sense in your taking this class. If cost is an issue, see me.
One of the most important things to know is that I expect you to keep all of your assignments organized in your binder according to the Table of Contents for that unit. In other words don't throw anything away. At the end of the year you will need all of your notes so that you can review the material prior to the FINAL EXAM at the end of the year. There is a test grade for your completed notebook each quarter.
Students that take the AP Exam are excused from the final exam and will receive a grade based on their respective class averages.
We will be doing a lot of reading in this class. My advice to you is to EMBRACE IT! You will do well in life and in this course if you learn to love reading and do not treat it as a chore. Put your phone in sleep mode an hour before you go to bed and keep some reading material (it doesn't have to be history) on your bed table. You will sleep better and you will soon cherish that time where no one is texting you!
Class attendance is mandatory and I expect you to be present in class and prepared to contribute. I cannot teach you if you are not in class. Excessive absences will affect your grade. AP students may be asked to drop the class for poor attendance.
Finally, communication is very important to your being a successful student in my class. If you are sick, have a special situation that will interfere with your work, or are feeling overwhelmed by the class, please see me during my office hours.
I'm looking forward to a great year of AP U.S. History with you!
Best regards,
Mr. Tuttle
Yearly Schedule
We keep to a tight schedule in AP and if you fall behind it will be difficult to keep up. I am ALWAYS available to my AP students for help, both academically or if you are feeling stressed out- it will happen. Remember that you are in this course because either I, or another teacher felt you belonged here. struggling academically is expected in an AP class and if you are not struggling, you are probably not doing your work correctly. That said, Here is a the ideal schedule for our school year.
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SEPTEMBER
NOVEMBER
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JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY- AP TEST
Research Project (TED Talk, 2 weeks) Movie- |
The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) enables students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. Through more than 30 courses, each culminating in a rigorous exam, AP provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both. Taking AP courses also demonstrates to college admission officers that students have sought out the most rigorous course work available to them.
Each AP course is modeled upon a comparable college course, and college and university faculty play a vital role in ensuring that AP courses align with college-level standards. Talented and dedicated AP teachers help AP students in classrooms around the world develop and apply the content knowledge and skills they will need later in college.
Each AP course is modeled upon a comparable college course, and college and university faculty play a vital role in ensuring that AP courses align with college-level standards. Talented and dedicated AP teachers help AP students in classrooms around the world develop and apply the content knowledge and skills they will need later in college.
Course Details Course Resources
The course is divided into nine chronological periods (some units overlap chronologically due to the different concepts covered in each unit):
In this course, you’ll develop the AP history disciplinary practices and reasoning skills:
AP United States History will:
Learn about the exam.
APUSH Unit Test Resources and Strategies:
- AP United States History Course and Exam Description (PDF) (Opens in new window)
- AP US History Modules from Gilder Lehrman Center AP US History Modules from Gilder Lehrman Center (Opens in new window)
- AP U.S. History Practice Exam (PDF) (Opens in new window)
- American and National Identity
- Politics and Power
- Work, Exchange, and Technology
- Culture and Society
- Migration and Settlement
- Geography and the Environment
- America in the World
The course is divided into nine chronological periods (some units overlap chronologically due to the different concepts covered in each unit):
- 1491-1607
- 1607-1754
- 1754-1800
- 1800-1848
- 1844-1877
- 1865-1898
- 1890-1945
- 1945-1980
- 1980-present
In this course, you’ll develop the AP history disciplinary practices and reasoning skills:
- Practice 1: Analyzing historical evidence
- Practice 2: Argument development
- Skill 1: Contextualization
- Skill 2: Comparison
- Skill 3: Causation
- Skill 4: Continuity and change over time
AP United States History will:
- Provide you with the reasoning skills and enduring understandings necessary to deal critically with the main issues and documents of U.S. history
- Prepare you for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon you equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses
- Enable you to assess historical sources — their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance — and to weigh the evidence and interpretations of the past presented in historical scholarship
- 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 an essay format
- Train you to analyze and interpret primary sources, including documentary materials, maps, statistical tables, and pictorial and graphic evidence of historical events
- Teach you to take notes from both printed materials and lectures or discussions, to write essay examinations, and to write analytical and research papers
- Enable you to express yourself with clarity and precision and know how to cite sources and credit the phrases and ideas of others
Learn about the exam.
APUSH Unit Test Resources and Strategies:
- Textbook: Review the unit openers and the summary of each chapter. Skim the section headings and subheadings. Ask yourself what you know about each section or subsection. Skim the bolded terms. Review any notes or annotations of the chapter.
- Unit Review Guides: The unit tests and APUSH exam come from the CB concept outline so make sure you really understand the Key Concepts, Supporting Concepts, and Topics from your unit review guides. Your notes and examples are what you need to know for the short answer and essay questions.
- Practice Stimuli Multiple Choice Questions: Learnerator and Five Prep both have free (and paid) practice stimuli multiple choice questions of varying quality.
- AMSCO Review Book (Don't Buy Until New Version is Released in November 2017): this is an excellent supplement to use alongside the textbook. It will help you review important material in a more concise format than your textbook and can also help clarify any difficult to understand concepts.
- Gilder Lehrman: The short video overviews of each unit by a historian are excellent for review. The site also contains a robust timeline, documents and other resources for each historical time period.
- Gilder Lehrman (SAT II US History): GL also has an excellent set of resources to prepare for the SAT II US History exam with video overviews, annotated timelines and other features. Even though this page is designed for the SAT II, the content review can still be very helpful for the APUSH exam.
- This course continues the chronological survey of American History from 1898 to the present. Special emphasis is devoted to studying the transformation of the United States from a rural, agrarian, predominantly Protestant, and individualistic society to an urban, industrial, pluralistic, and institutional society. In addition, emphasis is placed on America's significant role in world affairs. New Jersey State History and the role of minorities will be studied throughout. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the institutions that form the basis of our unique American culture and an appreciation of our democratic heritage. The writing of frequent short analytical papers and document essays emphasizes the development of writing and critical thinking skills. A college level text is read, as are articles from scholarly journals and books of readings. A typical workload for one week would include twenty-five to fifty pages of reading, the writing of two essays, and one or more quizzes. This course culminates in the Advanced Placement exam in May. After the exam students will embark on an overview of American Culture from 1900 to 2001 and will be required to complete a term paper as well. Students not taking the AP exam will also be required to take a final exam.
