AP U.S. HISTORY COURSE DESCRIPTION
2014-2015
COURSE DESCRIPTION: AP U.S. History is a college-level course designed to provide
students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the
problems and materials in United States history. This course is a two-semester survey of U.S.
History from the pre-Columbian period to the present that can earn a student up to six college
credits. Through in-depth study, students will learn to assess historical materials - their
relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability and their importance - and to weigh
the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. The study of AP U.S.
History is designed to provide a college-level experience and preparation for the AP US History
Examination in May 2015. The AP U.S. History exam evaluates students in multiple choice,
short response, and essay formats and much attention is paid to the writing component in this
course. The AP Program in U.S. History strives to provide the student with the skills necessary
to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and
evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format.
COURSE REDESIGN: Beginning in Fall 2014, the APUSH course has been redesigned and the
redesign test will be launched in May 2015. The study of U.S. history will focus on nine
historical time periods with seven thematic objectives. In addition, concentration will be
focused on the development of seven distinct historical thinking skills. These skills reflect the
tasks of historians and will help you to learn to think and process information as an historian.
You will receive an additional document describing the new course design, the historical time
periods, thematic objectives and historical thinking skills in more detail as well as a detailed
description of the redesigned exam.
COURSE TEXTS AND READINGS: The basic text for students in this course is America’s
History, Henretta, 8th ed., (Boston: Bedford St. Martin, 2014). Inasmuch as this class is designed
to be a college-level class, student textbooks should remain at home. You will interact with the
text at home and we will use class time to process and deepen your knowledge. The AMSCO
“United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Exam” will be used in
conjunction with the Henretta text. This review text will be particularly helpful in studying for
unit tests. This text sources will be supplemented by additional primary and secondary source
readings located in various sources such as the UH digital history site (see link below) and the
“Great Issues” series of documents.
COURSE PROCEDURES:
 Text Assignments: In order to complete the curriculum, students will be required to
read the texts as well as a variety of historical documents and secondary sources.
Students will be acquiring new knowledge from the text throughout the year in different
formats including: informal outlines, Cornell notes, study questions, and IDs. All text
assignments must be handwritten and prepared in a spiral notebook. These
assignments may generally be used on the chapter quizzes and may be graded as a
portion of the chapter quizzes. Students will need a binder in addition to the spiral
notebook to keep additional materials. The BEST thing you can do for your success on
the AP US History Exam is to READ and interact with the text!
 Summary Review Charts: Students will be preparing various summary charts such as
BAGPIPES thematic charts for each period of historical study, President Charts
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summarizing the administrations of most Presidents, and War Charts summarizing the
causes & effects, etc. of major conflicts. These summary charts will be excellent review
sources for unit tests and review at the end of the course.
Classroom Discussion: Students are ALWAYS expected to take notes during classroom
discussions and lectures and add these notes to chapter text work and/or review charts.
Discussions/lectures will expand upon the information provided in the text.
Documents: Students will use the “TOPS” system to analyze and interpret a variety of
primary source historical documents, maps, charts, graphs, statistical tables, pictures,
private journals, etc. for content, meaning and usefulness. We will primarily be using
Edmodo for document assignments and discussions. If you do not have an account yet
please sign up at http://ocps.edmodo.com. If you have not used Edmodo yet, it can
best be described as Facebook for school and we will be operating under the OCPS
subdomain. This means all district policies and code of conduct regarding electronic use
will be enforced. You will get your group code during the first week of class.
Writing: Since 40% of the APUSH Exam is free response format, students will be
writing essays and essay outlines throughout the course of the year. DBQs and FRQs
will be written by hand, in blue or black ink only. As the year progresses, these essays
will be timed. Essays will not always be graded in their entirety. Instead, we will roll
the dice and determine which portion (thesis, topic sentences, support, targeted thinking
skill, synthesis, etc.) of the essay will be graded when an essay is turned in. Essay point
values range from 25 – 75 points.
Chapter Reading Quizzes: Students will take a quiz on each chapter on the date it is
due. Chapter outlines/Cornell notes/study questions/IDs may generally be used on
the quizzes; however, all quizzes will be timed and quizzes will range in value from 2040 pts.
Unit Tests: A unit test will be given for each of the 9 historical time periods. In general,
these unit tests will cover 3-5 chapters of material and will be worth 100 points. These
multiple choice tests will conform to redesigned multiple choice format and will consist
of approximately 55 questions. These tests will be timed in accordance with the timing
of the national APUSH exam (1 minute per question). Unit tests will also be cumulative
and contain material from previous chapters in order to help keep you fresh for the AP
Exam.
Student Syllabus: A syllabus with all assignments will be posted on the classroom web
page. Students will be responsible for continuously checking the web page to get the
latest revised version of the syllabus. Remind will be used to notify students of any major
short-notice change to the syllabus.
Make-up Assignments: Students will always know their assignments in advance and
should continuously check the student syllabus on the web site for updates. Since
students will always have a syllabus of work due, students who miss a class should
come prepared for the next class regardless of an absence. There simply is no reason to
get behind.
Grading Policy: Grades will be continually updated on Progress Book and students and
parents should refer to Progress Book for all questions on grades. Grades will be
determined on a weighted category system as follows:
o Tests/Projects
35%
o Quizzes
20%
o Writings
35%
o Assignments
10%
Late Assignments: Since students have a syllabus of upcoming work, there is no reason
for a late assignment. However, we will conform to AHS grading policy on late work:
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late work must be completed and turned in within three school days of the due date
regardless of student absences and will be assessed a maximum penalty of 30% off the
earned grade. No late work will be accepted once a quarter has ended or semester
exams have begun. Please note that late assignments may be a different assignment than
the work that was originally assigned.
Test Corrections/Test Retakes: Inasmuch as all assignments and class PowerPoint notes
are posted for students on the class web page, a student who is absent the day before a
test will still be required to take the test on the assigned day. For each unit test,
students will have the designated opportunity to do either test corrections or a test
retake. Neither test corrections nor retesting will take place during classroom time; all
test corrections/retesting will be done after school on scheduled dates and must be
completed within one week of the time the graded test was returned.
o When retesting is offered for a unit test, retesting will require a “ticket” – a
remediation assignment to help prepare for the retest. The retest will not be the
same as the original test and may vary substantially in length.
o When test corrections are offered for a unit test, students may earn up to ½ pt. for
each corrected answer and explanation.
Materials Needed: a large spiral notebook for text outlines/notes and a binder or
section of a binder for additional notes, handouts, summary charts, etc. We will
generate a lot of paper in APUSH! If you choose to do your IDs on note cards instead of
your spiral notebook, you will also need 3x5 index cards. In addition, stock up on blue
or black pens for essay writing!
Academic Honesty: ALL academic work is expected to be the legitimate, truthful work
of each student. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Cheating or plagiarism
will result in a zero on the assignment, parent contact, a disciplinary referral and a loss
of respect. Students who allow others to copy their work are equally guilty of cheating
and will receive equal consequences. Please note that AHS policy provides that
“students with a documented record of cheating, as evidenced by the disposition of a
discipline referral, are not eligible for recognition as one of Apopka High School’s “Top
Ten Seniors” or membership in the National Honor Society. If already a member of the
National Honor Society, such a disposition is grounds for removal.”
THE AP EXAM: The AP Exam is three hours and fifteen minutes long. There are 55 multiple
choice questions which take 55 minutes to complete, and account for 40% of the final exam
score. In addition, there are 4 short-answer questions which must be completed in 45 minutes.
The essay component consists of a DBQ, document-based question, that accounts for 25% of the
exam and one long essay (chosen from a pair of prompts) that accounts for 15% of the exam
score.
PRACTICE EXAM: Students will take an AP practice exam, which will also count as the
semester final exam, near the end of April.
ONLINE RESOURCES:
throughout the year:
Following is a list of resources that will be helpful to students
 Classroom Web site: http://teacherpress.ocps.net/pamelamontague - contains syllabi,
forms, assignments, powerpoints, e-mail link, Progress Book link, etc. There are multiple
links on this web page to assist with multiple choice quiz review, etc.
 Textbook Site: will be provided once we have a textbook and access.
 Primary and Secondary Sources: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu
 Self-Grading Review Quizzes by Time Period: an incredible web site developed by Sue
Pojer, an AP teacher in NY: http://www.historyteacher.net/USQuizMainPage.htm
 Power Points on every topic in AP U.S. History at http://www.pptpalooza.net
 Tutoring: see me when you need help and we will make it happen! I am happy to assist
and set a time to work with you and your schedule.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Please feel free to contact me with questions or for assistance from
me or other tutors at any time through one of the following means:
Email:
School Phone:
Home Phone:
pamela.montague@ocps.net
407-905-5500, ext. 6002533
407-886-0944 (no later than 9 pm please!)
FINAL THOUGHTS: My goal is to help each and every student achieve the best American
history education that one could hope for, and in the process, give each student the confidence
that will be needed to perform well on the AP Examination. If you find that you are questioning
your abilities, falling behind in your work, or you just need to talk, please make sure you take
time out of your busy schedule to talk to me.
Good Luck!