1 AP United States History La Quinta High School
10372 McFadden Ave.
Westminster, Ca 92683
(714) 663-6314
Mr. D. Geil
dgeil@ggusd.us
Mr. Pratt
cpratt@ggusd.us Welcome to APUSH: AP United States History! “History is furious debate informed by evidence and reason.” – James Loewen “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” – Mark Twain Course Design Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) is a challenging course that is meant to be the
equivalent of a first year course at a university. It is a survey of American history from the age of
exploration and English colonization to the present (1600s – 1990s). In fact, one could argue that it
is ​
harder​
than the average college history course since the textbook and all materials must be
completed by the first week of May (requiring a pace of approximately 1½ chapters per week) and
because it culminates with a rigorous, comprehensive, nationally administered exam. Strong
reading and writing skills along with the willingness to devote time to daily homework and studying,
including work over the weekends and an especially concentrated effort at least six weeks prior to
the AP exam are necessary to succeed. In truth, most of the responsibility to pass the A.P. exam
lies with the individual student. Emphasis is placed on critical reading and thinking skills, essay
writing, and interpretation of historical time periods and a thematic understanding. This will require
a level of hard work, study and authentic critical thinking that will produce significant rewards for
those who endeavor to challenge themselves. Course Goals There are three (3) goals for this class: 1. that students will gain a love and appreciation of history and the historian’s craft. 2. that students will mature in their abilities to READ, WRITE, and THINK ​
critically​
, thus
preparing students for college rigor. 3. preparing students for the APUSH exam in May. The Exam The College Board’s APUSH exam will be on ​
Friday, May 6, 2016​
at 8 am. More information regarding the exam, including test format, review sessions, and test preparation
will be forthcoming. Academic Objectives ● Students will learn how to approach history critically and will be able to analyze and
evaluate competing sources of historical information. ● Students will study selected historical themes and the context and significance of major
interpretive questions. ● Students will be able to express themselves with clarity and precision and know how to cite
sources and credit the phrases and ideas of others. ● Students will be prepared for the Advanced Placement United States History Exam. 2 Student Behavior There is one primary principle in the classroom: Nothing shall interfere with teaching and learning. In addition, organization, time management, punctuality and excellent attendance are required and
necessary to succeed in this class. ​
All​
school rules apply in the classroom​
. Moreover, students must become self-advocates. This means that a student needs to take full
responsibility for his performance in the class. Students should immediately communicate with their
teacher should any issues arise—such as illness, sporting events, family emergencies/vacations,
difficulties with the class—that interfere with class attendance and completion of assignments.
Students should contact the teacher if/when he will be absent on the day of a quiz, unit test,
midterm or final exam or if/when an assignment will not be completed by the deadline. Students
can speak with their teacher before/after school or class, at lunch and via email if there is any
problem. The best thing to do is to communicate as soon as possible if a student foresees an
inability to complete an assignment or be prepared for a quiz. All students are expected to behave in a manner appropriate to a college setting. Those who do
not can expect fair, consistent, and natural disciplinary consequences for their inappropriate
actions or attitudes. Typical consequences include but are not limited to warnings, time-outs,
detentions, referrals, parent phone calls, parent conferences, behavior contracts, and even
expulsion from the class. How to Learn in APUSH and how I will Assess your Learning One of the key lessons that students must gain in high school is to learn how to learn! Each
student learns information and acquires knowledge differently, which is why taking AP classes
help students figure this out before arriving at college. The outside-of-the-class-work expectation
for an AP class is about 45 minutes to an hour per day. The key here is TIME MANAGEMENT!
Students will receive each unit and semester’s reading assignments far in advance and will often
have several days or weeks to complete an assignment/reading. Therefore, it is essential that
students learn to manage their own time to complete assignments and reading on time. Besides reading the main text, students will also need to regularly review class notes, handouts
and study key content vocabulary. To hold students accountable for the reading, students will take
frequent quizzes. Interventions will be put in place if students fail multiple quizzes. At the end of each unit (lasting approximately 3-5 weeks) students will write an ​
in-class essay​
to
assess mastery of the content. Writing is an essential college and life skill, and a significant part of
the Advanced Placement exam is the essay portion. Therefore, considerable time will be spent
learning and practicing how to write effectively. Specific essay guidelines and expectations will be
handed out at a later date. Those essay guidelines must be carefully followed. These essays will
be similar to the type given on the APUSH exam (Short Answers, Long Essays (LEQ’s), or DBQ’s
= Document Based Questions) and will be graded on the same 3, 6, or 7 point scale. Students who
need to make-up an essay due to an absence can expect a different, perhaps more difficult
prompt. The following shows how the rubric’s point values will be converted into a score for the
grade book. 3 Document Based Question: 7=100%
6=94%
5=87%
4=79%
3=70%
2=62%
Long Essay: 6=100% 5=93% 4=85% 3=76% 2=66% 1=55% 1=55%
A College Board style multiple-choice exam and short answer questions will be given at the end of
each quarter, as a ​
midterm​
and as a ​
final​
exam. Students will work up to the ability of completing
55 multiple choice questions in 55 minutes. Each of these tests will be counted as two (2) unit
tests. Grading Categories and Scale Summative Assessments (Unit Tests, Midterm, Final, Projects) = 65% Formative Assessments (Quizzes) = 25% Homework (Assignments) = 10% Grading Scale
90%–100% A
80%–89%
B
70%–79%
C
60%–69%
D
0%–59%
F
Materials* Students will be expected to have a large, 3 or more-subject, spiral notebook specifically for
APUSH to organize important assignments and study guides. This notebook will be checked
periodically to ensure students are staying organized. Students may be responsible for
completing/printing materials from the internet on their own. If you do not have internet access at
home it is your responsibility to schedule time to visit the library. Textbook Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, Thomas Bailey. ​
The American Pageant​
, 13th
​​ed. Boston.: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Newman, John J., John M. Schmalbach. ​
United States History, Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. ​
New York.: AMSCO School Publications, 2010. Kennedy, David M., Thomas Bailey. ​
The American Spirit, Volume 1 & 2, 11th ed. Boston.: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. *If any student has any difficulty obtaining any of the above materials, I would be happy to
help the student get the supplies recommended for success. It is the student’s
responsibility to inform the teacher of any needs as soon as possible. Academic Integrity While students are encouraged to help each other and work together, cheating will not be
tolerated. According to the La Quinta Discipline Code, ​
cheating​
is defined as, but not limited to
“using or giving any form of aid(s) in completing the assigned work and/or tests for a class.”
Plagiarism​
is defined as but not limited to “taking the ideas/work/writings from another source
4 and offering them as your own.” Any student found committing any type of the above academic
dishonesty will be given a negative 100% score (which will not be dropped in the case of an exam)
on whatever assignment was compromised. He/she will likely also be suspended from class
pending a parent conference. Teacher Biography Mr. Geil​
is an Orange County local from Fountain Valley. He attended UC Berkeley where he majored in History and Native American Studies. It was there that he realized he wanted to be a teacher. After completing his B.A. he moved back down to Southern California to earn his teaching credential at Cal State Long Beach. He did his “student teaching” at Pacifica High School and has been teaching at La Quinta since 2013. He still resides locally and enjoys surfing, reading, travel, music, camping, rock climbing, trying new foods, and spending time with his family (which includes Mr. G. Geil, who you may have had English with). Mr. Pratt​
was born and raised in Orange County and loves the area. He attended Arizona State University and graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and a certificate Global Studies. After completing his undergraduate studies, Mr. Pratt traveled extensively throughout Asia. Upon returning he enrolled in UC Irvine’s Masters in the art of teaching program and began student teaching at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove. He loves traveling, eating spicy food, camping, hiking, being out of his comfort zone, and of course…. all things history. Disclaimer The instructors reserve the sole and complete right to modify this syllabus at any time and in anyway they see fit.
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(please email me if you have any questions
please email: Mr. Geil - dgeil@ggusd.us or
Mr. Pratt - cpratt@ggusd.us)