World History Course Planning and Pacing Guide Template
1. Instructional Setting
School / Public high school with 1,800 students.Population / Community is suburban and ethnically diverse; Students are:
48 percent African American
16 percent Asian American
14 percent of European heritage
22 percent are native Spanish speakers
free/reduced lunch; percent going on to college; percent taking world history in school, etc. (any or all of these stats that is meaningful to your school)
Instructional time / 145 days prior to the AP exam.
47 minutes every day.
Student preparation / AP World History is offered junior year.
About half of the students have successfully completed AP American Government and the rest took the required National, State, and Local Government class. Students completed two years of American history from eighth to ninth grade.
Textbook and Primary Source Reader / The Earth and Its Peoples, 3rd AP ed., by Richard Bulliet et al.
The Human Record, 5th ed., by Alfred Andrea and James Overfield. Additional primary sources and handouts are posted online within the web service provided by the school system
2. Overview of Course Learning Objectives and Instructional Philosophy
AP World History helps my students get a greater understanding of how the world we live in got to be the way it is. We examine the evolution of global processes and contacts, including interactions over time, in order to find patterns in the causes and consequences of significant changes in various regions around the world. Moreover, we compare those patterns of changes among major societies since 8,000 B.C.E. By the end of the course, I find that students are interested in current events in many more places on the planet, and can make connections between those events and the patterns of changes and continuities they discovered in the past.
This syllabus uses the key concepts to organize the lessons and assessments within each unit. The outline below of each unit links each key concept with sample formative and summative assessments. I use these assessments to collect evidence of the content and skills the students are mastering. The formative and summative assessments cover the range of skill levels I want the students to achieve. Since my students do not usually master the content and skills evenly at the beginning of the course, I encourage them to rewrite their essays and other written assignments as well as correct their multiple-choice quizzes by explaining why the wrong answers they chose are incorrect responses to the stem or question. Moreover, I frequently meet with students individually to help them acquire the skills they need to become more independent learners, i.e. how to effectively use the textbook and other secondary sources as guides to the most important ideas and interpretations in world history. Although many of the juniors enter APWH with solid skills in reading, writing, and studying, for a substantial number APWH is their first challenging history course. Therefore, I must balance improving the skills of all of the students while challenging them with content and pacing appropriate to where they start at the beginning of the year. I find the data from formative assessments very useful for determining which students are demonstrating historical thinking skills and which need more scaffolding from me or academic support from our literacy specialist, tutoring services, or guidance counselors. In order to reach students’ range of learning styles, I use a variety of instructional methods including lecture-discussion, daily analysis of primary sources, simulations, debates, seminars, and small group work on annotated maps and timelines.
I also find that making world history an exercise in addressing questions students have about the past helps to keep them engaged in seeking evidence to answer those questions as well as recognizing the limitations in those sources. I often like to share my excitement about the historiographical debates that spark regularly in the relatively new field of world history as a way of revealing more about how history is written and rewritten. Students seem to enjoy learning that historians like to challenge each other publicly about their arguments.
One page (max); written from the perspective of the teacher to fellow AP teachers; should discuss the following topics:
· Guiding principles for making instructional choices
· Teaching historical thinking skills (recommend providing one example)
· How to differentiate instruction based on prior knowledge or learning styles (recommend providing one example)
· Using formative assessments to inform instruction (recommend providing one example)
3. Pacing Guide (Overview of Course Pacing by Unit)
Unit / Pacing / Essential Question(s) / Reading Assignments / SummativeAssessments
Period 1:
Technological and
Environmental
Transformations / 2 weeks.
(5% of
the course) / Did historical changes
before 600 B.C.E. occur by
diffusion or independent invention? / Textbook: Part One, The Emergence of Human Communities, to 500 B.C.E. Chapter 1, “From the Origins of Agriculture to the First River-Valley Civilizations, 8000–1500 B.C.E.,” 1–35, with special
attention to 32, “Environmental Stress in the Indus Valley”
Chapter 2, “New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, 2200–250 B.C.E.,” 36–56
Chapter 3, “The Mediterranean and Middle East, 2000–500 B.C.E.,”59–86
Mesopotamian Judgments of Hammurabi (13–17) and the Egyptian The Negative Confession (21–22) as found in The
Human Record, Volume I: to 1700, 5th ed. / Write an essay comparing characteristics of early civilizations; 20 selective
response questions
Period 2:
Organization and
Reorganization of
Human Societies, c
600 BCE to 600 CE / 4 weeks.
(13% of
the course) / Did belief systems do more to reinforce or alleviate social hierarchies? Why did rulers of states have to legitimize their power? / Textbook: Part Two, The Formation of New Cultural Communities 1000 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.
Chapter 4, “Greece and Iran, 1000–30 B.C.E.,” 89–120
Chapter 5, “An Age of Empires: Rome and Han China, 753 B.C.E.–330 C.E.,” 123–148
Chapter 6, “India and Southeast Asia, 1500 B.C.E.–600 C.E.,” 150–170
Sima Qian, The Records of the Grand Historian, Asoka, Rock and Pillar Edicts, and Three Funerary Monuments as found in The Human Record, Volume I: to 1700, 5th ed.
Chapter 7, “Networks of Communication and Exchange, 300 B.C.E.–600 C.E.,” 173–191
Wiesner, Merry, William Wheeler, Franklin Doeringer, and Kenneth Curtis. Discovering the Global Past: A Look at the Evidence, 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. [Volume I: Chapter Four: “Han and Rome: Asserting Imperial Authority”]
Adams, Paul V., Erick D. Langer, Lily Hwa, Peter N. Stearns, and Merry Wiesner-Hanks., Experiencing World History. New York: New York University Press, 2000. [All sections on continuities and changes in gender structures and demography from 8,000 B.C.E. to 600 C.E. ] / Group textual and visual primary sources according to the political and cultural values they express about ancient Greek civilization.
Seminar: “How did the early major belief systems affect continuities and changes in the social and gender systems in the Classical Period?”
Write an essay comparing the process of decline for two classical empires.
Locate and explain causes for the spread of major belief systems and related cultural developments on a mental map.
Locate and compare characteristics of trade networks on a mental map or in a simulation.
Unit Test: 50 selective response Questions for Units I & II
Period 3:
Regional and Transregional Interactions, c. 600 to c. 1450 / 7 weeks (24% of the course) / Should we study cultural areas or states? Did changes in this period occur more from the effects of nomadic migrations or urban growth? To what extent did economic networks during this period overlap? / Textbook, Part 3, Competition Among Cultural Communities
Chapter 8, “The Rise of Islam, 600–1200,” 196–216
Chapter 9, “Christian Europe Emerges, 600–1200,” 218–240
Chapter 10, “Inner and East Asia, 600–1200,” 243–264
Anna Comnena; The Alexiad; Nicetas Choniates; Annals; and Gunther of Paris, A Constantinopolitan History as found in The Human Record, Volume I: to 1700, Fifth Edition.
Textbook, Part 4 Interregional Patterns of Culture and Contact, 1200–1550
Chapter 12, “Mongol Eurasia and Its Aftermath, 1200–1500,” 294–322
Chapter 14, “The Latin West, 1200–1500,” 349–373
Textbook, Part 4, Interregional Patterns of Culture and Contact, 1200–1550
Chapter 13, “Tropical Africa and Asia, 1200–1500,” 324–347
The Human Record, Volume I: to 1700, 5th Edition, Chapter 12, “Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries.”
Kevin Reilly, Worlds of History, A Comparative Reader, Volume 1, Chapter 10 “The First Crusade, Muslims, Christians, and Jews during the First Crusade, 1095 – 1099 C.E.” Third Edition, Bedford/St. Martins, New York, 2007.
Wiesner, Merry, William Wheeler, Franklin Doeringer, and Kenneth Curtis. Discovering the Global Past: A Look at the Evidence, 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. [Volume I: Chapter Six: “Vikings and Polynesians: Exploring New Worlds]
Adams, Paul V., Erick D. Langer, Lily Hwa, Peter N. Stearns, and Merry Wiesner-Hanks., Experiencing World History. New York: New York University Press, 2000. [All sections on continuities and changes in gender structures and demography from 600 C.E. to 1450 C.E. ] / · Write a thesis statement comparing the annotated map created for the end of the classical period with the two post-classical annotated trade maps to identify the changes and continuities over time in transportation technologies, state support for commercial growth, and in commercial practices for the luxury-goods trade, i.e. increased volume, geographic range, and integration of regional economies.
· Create an annotated timeline of the rise of Islamic empires and states along with the other major political systems in Afro-Eurasia during this period, and then periodize the timeline to show important breaks and changes over the post-classical period. Justify these choices.
· Discuss periodization issues regarding the usefulness of these dates for the post-classical period in analyzing historical effects in the Americas; debate the usefulness of 600 for areas of Afro-Eurasia not affected by the spread of Islam.
· Unit test: 50 selective response questions.
· Write an essay about changes and continuities in trade systems, or about labor systems, or about state formation in the post-classical period.
· Write an essay on the effects of the Mongol conquests and rule that makes use of primary sources on the topic.
· Write an essay on the cross-cultural exchanges fostered by networks of trade and communication that makes use of primary sources on the topic. Explain how these illustrate the cultural roles of merchant diasporas, the role of entrepôt cities as cosmopolitan cultural and commercial centers, and other roles of cities as administrative and religious centers. (Some of the primary sources will be from interregional travelers commenting on cultural similarities and differences along trade networks).
· Discuss the continuities and changes over time in demography and gender structures based on readings in Experiencing World History.
Period 4: Global Interactions, c. 1450 to c. 1750 / 6 weeks
(20% of the course) / To what extent did Europe become predominant in the world economy during this period? Why? / Textbook, Part 3, Competition Among Cultural Communities
Chapter 11, “Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas, 600–1500,” 267–289
Textbook, Part 4, Interregional Patterns of Culture and Contact, 1200–1550
Chapter 15, “The Maritime Revolution to 1550,” 375–399
Textbook, Part 5, The Globe Encompassed, 1500–1750
Chapter 16, “Transformations in Europe, 1500–1750,” 405–428
Chapter 17, “The Diversity of American Colonial Societies, 1530–1770,” 430–455
Chapter 18, “The Atlantic System and Africa, 1550–1800,” 457–481
Chapter 19, “Southwest Asia and the Indian Ocean, 1500–1750,” 484–507
Chapter 20, “Northern Eurasia, 1500–1800,” 510–533
Flynn, Dennis O. and
Arturo Giráldez. “Cycles of Silver: Global Economic Unity through the Mid-Eighteenth Century.” Journal of World History 13:2 (Fall 2002): 391–427.
Andrade, Tonio. “The Company’s Chinese Pirates: How the Dutch East India Company Tried to Lead a Coalition of Pirates to War against China, 1621–1662.” Journal of World History 15:4 (December 2004): 264–266.
Berdan, Frances and Patricia Rieff Anawalt. The Essential Codex Mendoza, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
Adams, Paul V., Erick D. Langer, Lily Hwa, Peter N. Stearns, and Merry Wiesner-Hanks., Experiencing World History. New York: New York University Press, 2000. [All sections on continuities and changes in gender structures and demography from 1450 C.E. to 1750 C.E.] / · Write an essay based in part on analysis of primary sources explaining the new maritime commercial patterns and their effects. Address the role of European merchants in Asian trade, monetization and the creation of a global economy, circulation of silver, Japanese and Chinese policies toward foreign trade and tributary relations, mercantilism in theory and practice, and the European joint-stock companies.
· Discuss periodization changes caused by Alfred Crosby’s Columbian Exchange.
· Unit test: 50 selective response questions.
· Write an essay about changes and continuities in trade systems, or about labor systems.
· Discuss the continuities and changes over time in demography and gender structures based on readings in Experiencing World History.
Period 5: Industrialization and Global Integration, c. 1750 to c. 1900 / 6 weeks
(20% of the course) / How did the influence of industrialization spread throughout the world? How did the rights of individuals and groups change in this period? To what degree did new types of social conflict emerge during the nineteenth century? How and where did the idea of “The West” become a coherent and leading force in historical interpretation? / Textbook, Part 6, Revolutions Reshape the World, 1750–1870
Chapter 21, “Revolutionary Changes in the Atlantic World,” 540–566
Chapter 22, “The Early Industrial Revolution,” 568–590
Chapter 23, “Nation Building and Economic Transformation in the Americas, 1800–1890,” 592–621
Textbook, Part 6, Revolutions Reshape the World, 1750–1870,
Chapter 24, “Africa, India, and the New British Empire, 1750–1870,” 623–648
Chapter 25, “Land Empires in the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1870,” 650–675
Textbook, Part 7, Global Diversity and Dominance, 1850–1945
Chapter 26, “The New Power Balance, 1850–1900,” 680–705
Chapter 27, “The New Imperialism, 1869–1914,” 707–735
Pomeranz, Kenneth. “Political Economy and Ecology on the Eve of Industrialization: Europe, China, and the Global Conjuncture.” American Historical Review 107:2 (April 2002): 425–46.
Yang, Anand A. “Indian Convict Workers in Southeast Asia in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries.” Journal of World History 14:2 (June 2003): 179–208.