Miami Killian Senior High School
A.P. World History
Mr. Taracido
Course Overview
The purpose of the A.P. World History course is to help students develop proficiency in
historical thinking skills. Students should be able to craft historical arguments from historical
evidence and identify appropriate use of relevant historical evidence, engage in chronological
reasoning by analyzing historical causation, identifying patterns of continuity and change over
time, and evaluating models of historical periodization, compare and contextualize multiple
historical developments, and interpret primary and secondary sources and achieve a synthesis.
The five themes of the A.P. World History course include a study of the interaction between
humans and the environment (demography and disease, migration, patterns of settlement,
technology), the development and interaction of cultures (religions, belief systems, philosophies,
ideologies, science and technology, the arts and architecture), state-building, expansion, and
conflict (political structures and forms of governance, empires, nations and nationalism, revolts
and revolutions, regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations), the creation,
expansion, and interaction of economic systems (agricultural and pastoral production, trade and
commerce, labor systems, industrialization, capitalism and socialism), and the development and
transformation of social structures (gender roles and relations, family and kinship, racial and
ethnic constructions, and social and economic classes) Geographic and geospatial awareness is
fundamental knowledge necessary for students to build an understanding of cross-cultural
contacts, trade routes, and migrations
CLASS PROCEDURES AND EXPECTATIONS
1. Pens, #2 pencils, paper, and your notebook must be brought to class every day. Your
notebook must be devoted exclusively to this course, and should contain all handouts and
all notes in chronological order. Your notes may be kept on a laptop computer.
2. The assigned textbook is:
Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler, Traditions and Encounters: A Global
Perspective on the Past, fifth edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
The textbook must be brought to class at the instructor’s request. Students must ensure
that the textbook is kept in good condition, and returned, either at the end of the school
year or when a student transfers to another course or withdraws from the school.
3. Students and parents may contact me at ktaracido@dadeschools.net regarding grades,
assignments, and classroom procedures.
4. An unexcused absence will result in an F for that day’s work. If you have an excused
absence, it is your responsibility to make up work immediately upon returning to class.
You will be expected to arrive in class on time every day, and tardiness will be addressed
according to the school’s tardiness policy.
5. Students will have their seats assigned. These assignments may be changed at any time
by the teacher. You are expected to be in your seat before the bell rings, and you will be
dismissed by the teacher at the end of the period.
6. No gum chewing, eating, or drinking is allowed in the classroom. Use of telephones,
video games, and music players is prohibited as well. These devices may not be visible to
the instructor or other students. Violations will result in confiscation of the device.
Students are responsible for maintaining the area around their desks clean.
7. Students must be respectful and courteous at all times. Any kind of disruptive or
disrespectful behavior will result in parent contact and, ultimately, a referral to an
administrator.
8. Students will be expected to adhere to our school’s policies on academic integrity. These
guidelines will be strictly enforced.
9. The A. P. class is the equivalent of a college course in world history and is designed to
prepare you for a demanding national exam which all students will take on May 14, 2015.
As such, you will be held to very high expectations of both behavior and academic
diligence. You should anticipate engaging in class discussions and participating in class
lectures, writing analytical essays, interpreting maps and charts, answering documentbased questions, and mastering large amounts of material. Your grade will be based on an
average of each grade received for your writing assignments and tests. Each grade has
equal weight, and there will be roughly twenty grades per marking period. Expect a
weekly writing assignment and an objective test for each chapter. Parents will be notified
if a grade drops below a C. The grading scale is as follows:
A = 90-100 3.5-4.0
B = 80-89 2.5-3.49
C = 70-79 1.5-2.49
D = 60-69 1.0-1.49
F = 0-59 0-.99