17
Impossible
Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It is a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.
APUSH Course Syllabus
Course Objectives
This course is designed to provide a yearlong college level course in preparation for passing the AP Exam in May. It is a two semester survey of American history from the early Native American cultures to present day (2018). Solid reading, writing, outlining, test taking skills, analytical skills, and a desire to devote personal time to study are needed to be successful in AP US History.
Themes chosen and organized by the AP College Board will be traced throughout the year and will be shown how their interconnectedness helped shape our unique American culture. Just before the AP Exam, we will review using these themes in group presentations. The themes include: Identity, Work, Exchange, and Technology, Peopling, Politics and Power, America in the World, Environment and Geography, Ideas, Beliefs and Culture.
This year will be rigorous and require your dedication to pass the APUSH exam, but I know that we will become the honored few who are able to say we are in the Hallowed Hall of APUSH.
Course Organization
This course will move at a very rapid pace, covering approximately 500 years of history in twelve months. To help stay on task the following activities will be utilized:
Additional Meetings
We will be meeting during the summer, winter and spring breaks, as well as Saturdays in April. We will meet ten times over the summer, four times over winter and three times over spring break. Each meeting will be three hours each and have reading quizzes as well as vocabulary quizzes during the summer and winter meetings. During our spring break we will have vocabulary quizzes. Any quizzes not completed during the breaks may be made up during the first two weeks back at school. One to two practice exams will be given on Saturdays in April. Extra credit will be given for all meetings attended.
We will review the first three units (Pre and Post-Columbian America, Colonial America and the American Revolution) during our Winter Break meetings and during our Spring Break meetings we will review the first half of 19th century units (Constitutional Period, Growth of the Economy and Democracy, Age of Reform, and Sectionalism, War and Reconstruction).
Writing
Approximately every other week we will have an in-class-essay or Short Answer Response. The first semester we will learn how to write Document Based Question essays, Long Essays and the four types of Short Answer Responses. First semester our weekly lectures will help prepare students for writing in class essays. Second semester we will vary our practice essays according to the classes’ needs and will be given without lecture preparation.
Quizzes/Tests
Daily reading quizzes will be given on the main text, American Pageant (outlines may be used on reading quizzes). On the day of each quiz an outline for that particular text will be turned in. On weeks our class does not meet on Fridays, we will be having on-line quizzes on Sunday evening at 8 pm. On Thursday or Friday weekly vocabulary quizzes of 35 words will be given. The AP US History course is divided into nine periods, which will establish the time periods for our nine exams.
Supplemental Readings
Several supplemental texts will be used throughout the school year: Albion’s Seed and Facing East From Indian Country will be used during the summer. The Unfinished Journey will be used in the spring as we study the second half of the 20th century. In order to understand the shift of conservativism and liberalism in the 20th century we will be reading Barry Goldwater’s Conscience of a conservative. To round out our study we will be reading the graphic novel The 9/11 Report. Throughout the year we will be reading various interpretations of history through essays written by classic and current historians, historiographies, archelogy and historical news articles and analyzing primary documents.
Online Discussions
We will have online discussions on Mr. Groven’s web page during the summer and possibly winter breaks.
Homework
Beyond the standard reading outlines, additional homework will be given through supplemental text questions, annotating texts, preparing study guides, worksheets and blogging. Usually homework will be given with enough time so students will be able to finish it according to their schedule.
Group Presentations
Projects will be used throughout the course to support what we are studying. The AP themes will be used to trace the course of US history from early native cultures to 2017 and then presented to the rest of the class in a 45 min presentation. Other group projects will include a video presentation of the candidates and issues of presidential elections from the 19th century.
Mr. Groven’s Webpage
Mr. Groven maintains a web page at http://mrgroven.wikispaces.com/ for all his classes. All students receive one copy of papers in class. If you lose a copy of your vocabulary sheets, need additional copy of handouts, or other project papers, or just want to study from a digital copy please download them from Mr. Groven’s web page. Please do not print off dozens of copies at HTPA. Printing should be done at home.
Course Instructional Materials
Main Text
The main text will guide students as they begin to understand a basic knowledge of U.S history and enable them to compare and contrast their specific knowledge of people, places and events with various interpretations of the past through supplemental texts.
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. 12th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2002.
Supplemental Texts
Throughout the course students will analyze various historical interpretations from past historians and current research to compare point of view, from diverse sources and explore various thesis arguments based on relevant historical sources
.
Armstrong, Thom A., ed. Readings in American History Volume I & II. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1990.
Chafe, William H. The Unfinished Journey: America Since World War II. 6th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Fischer, David Hackett. Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Goldwater, Barry. The Conscience of a Conservative. Stellar Classics, 2013.
Johnson, P. Michael, ed. Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents Volume I & II: To 1877. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2005.
Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Jacobson, Sid and Ernie Colón. The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaption. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006.
Course Required Materials
Blue or Black and Red pen and either
A #2 pencil (preferred) or mechanical pencil (with extra lead)
Wite Out or Wite Tape
Highlighter (any color)
Loose leaf notebook paper
USB Flash drive (at least 2GB)
At least a 3-inch, three ring binder and a 1” three ring binder. FYI - some students needed a 5-inch three ring binder (4-inch binders are often only sold online). Each binder must have 9 sections for notes, outlines, worksheets, essays (DBQs, FRQs and Short Answer Response), reading questions, vocabulary lists and Bull Sessions, review sheets and projects.
§ The 1 inch binder needs to be brought to school every class meeting.
§ The 3 inch binder should be left at home and papers should be transferred to it periodically for storage.
Course Grading System
The grading system for this class is a point system. The positive of a point system is that it is easy to calculate a grade and easy to raise a grade. The negative of a point system, is that it is easy for a grade to drop.
Grading Scale
A 100%-90
B 89%-80%
C 79%-70%
D 69%-60%
F Below 59%
Late Work
Late work cannot be turned in after the AP exam. Students may turn in work late, however the maximum possible grade decreases by ten percent each day an assignment is late. Days are counted consecutively, except for weekends and holidays. The late work breakdown is as follows:
Days Late Highest % Possible
1 90%
2 80%
3 70%
4 60%
5 50%, etc.
Extra Credit
Extra credit will be given for attending AP study sessions during the summer, winter, spring breaks as well as Saturday practice AP exams. Extra credit will also be given for organized and complete 3” binders at the end of the year
Class Rules
· Adhere to Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy’s code of conduct.
· No food or drinks in the classroom, at any time.
· Hats may not be worn in class or they will go to the Wishing Field.
· Students must be in their assigned seat, ready to work at the beginning of class.
· Respect each other and the classroom – no name calling or profanity.
Ø Listen to way others have to say and respond to each other with truth and grace
Ø Disagree in agreeable ways
· Respect the classroom – please use the student staplers, three hole punchers, tape dispensers at appropriate times, place books left on the floor in the book racks and pick up any trash left in the classroom.
· No electronic equipment (ipods, ipads, cell phones, etc.).
· At the end of the period, all students are to remain seated, until Mr. Groven dismisses the class.
· Each student has three passes to the restroom for the semester. So use your passes wisely.
Attendance
Regular attendance is an absolute necessity for an AP class. This class is run at the rigor of a college class, has daily reading quizzes and students usually score much lower on make-up quizzes. Remember missing one day of class is equal to missing two days due to block scheduling.
Tardiness
1st tardy = verbal warning
2nd tardy = call home
3rd tardy = detention (U in citizenship)
4th tardy = parent conference
Movies/Video Clips
Occasionally we will view a video clip that may come from a PG, PG-13 or R rated movie. These will be chosen with the utmost care for their historical significance to illustrate a lesson. After the AP exam we take a break from working the previous twelve months and watch one or two historically relevant movies. The movies will be chosen with the utmost care.
Curricular Requirements
CR1a This course includes a college level text book.
· See pages 3 & 4
CR1b This course includes diverse primary source consisting of written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
· See pages 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12,
CR1c This course includes secondary sources written by historians or scholars interpreting the past.
· See pages 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
CR2 Each of the course historical periods receives explicit attention.
· See pages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17
CR3 This course provides opportunities for students to apply detailed and specific knowledge (such as names, chronology, facts and events) to broader historical understandings.
· See pages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
CR4 This course provides students with opportunities for instruction in the learning objectives in each of the seven themes throughout the course as described in the AP U.U. History Curriculum Framework.
· See page 18
CR5 This course provides opportunities for students to develop coherent written arguments that have a thesis supported by relevant historical evidence. – Historical argumentation
· See pages 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
CR6 This course provides opportunities for students to identify and evaluate diverse historical interpretations. – Interpretation
· See pages 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
CR7 This course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from diverse sources such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art. – Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
· See pages 12, 13, 15, 17
CR8 This course provides opportunities for students to examine relationships between causes and consequences of events or processers. – Historical causation
· See pages 16
CR9 This course provides opportunities for students to identify and analyze patterns of continuity and change over time and connect them to larger historical processes or themes. – Patterns of continuity and change over time.
· See pages 3, 14, 17
CR10 This course provides opportunities for students to investigate and construct different models of historical periodization. – Periodization
· See pages 3, 18
CR11 This course provides opportunities for students to compare historical developments across or within societies in various chronological and geographical contexts. – Comparison.
· See pages 8, 14
CR12 This course provides opportunities for students to connect historical developments to specific circumstances of time and place, and to broader regional, national or global processes. – Contextualization.
· See page 3, 15, 18
CR13a This course provides opportunities for students to combine disparate, sometimes contradictory evidence from primary sources and secondary works in order to create a persuasive understanding of the past. - Synthesis
· See pages 10, 17
CR13bThis course provides opportunities for students to apply insights about the past to other historical contexts or circumstances, including the present. - Synthesis
· See page 19
Course Outline
v Your first grade of the class will be to bring the parent letter signed to our meeting in May
v Your second grade of the class will be to bring both binders with all dividers ready to our meeting in May.
Unit 1: 1491-1607
Pre-Meeting
Review Syllabus A, summer meeting, reading quiz, vocab quiz, the independent reading schedule, blogging, turning in assignments to Mr. Groven’s Google APUSH account and the summer paper.