AP US GOVERNMENT & POLITICS 2015-2016
MISS GORSKI
HACKETTSTOWN HIGH SCHOOL
RGORSKI@HACKETTSTOWN.ORG
Course Overview
AP US Government & Politics is a vigorous one-year course investigating several elements of US government and
politics, designed to prepare students for the AP US Government exam in May. The purpose of the course is to prepare
students for college-level history or political science courses, develop analytical thinking skills, and enable students to be
more aware of and comprehend the functions of government.
Course Design
The course material is divided into six units:
1. Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government
2. Political Beliefs & Behaviors
3. Political Parties, Interest Groups, & Mass Media
4. Institutions of National Government
5. Public Policy
6. Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
These topics will be studied in-depth as students work to meet these
course objectives:
 Describe & compare important facts, concepts, and theories
pertaining to US government
 Explain typical patterns of political processes, behavior, and
their consequences
 Interpret basic data relevant to US government and politics
 Critically analyze relevant theories and concepts, apply them
appropriately, and develop their connections across the
curriculum
Grading & Late Work
Grades will be calculated as follows each
marking period:




15% 21st Century Skills
25% Tests & Quizzes
25% Writing Assignments
35% Class Assignments
All late work will be eligible for a maximum
of 70% after the due date has passed.
Students who are absent will have the
number of days missed to make up work
without penalty; for example, if a student is
absent one day, s/he has one day to make up
the work missed.
Course Expectations
Students must meet high expectations to succeed in this course. They are required to participate in class discussions and
prepare themselves for class by completing all reading assignments by their due dates. As this course is designed to
resemble a college-level course, please expect heavy reading outside of class and numerous complex writing assignments
that although are not long (usually 2-3 pages) require advanced analysis and synthesis skills.
All AP students must ensure their work is completed on time. With each unit, students will receive a Unit Planner that
serves as a calendar with all class activities, homework assignments, and due dates listed. My website is also updated at
least weekly with current assignments, PowerPoints, guided reading assignments, etc. Please see the back of this page for
information regarding unit assignments and the AP US Government Exam.
Academic Honesty
It is expected that students will use genuine and fair means for accomplishing tests, tasks, and projects of this course.
Students found plagiarizing, copying, or cheating in any way will receive automatic zeros and have phone calls home to
their parents. For information on avoiding plagiarism, please see www.plagiarism.org
I have read the syllabus and agree to meet or help my child meet the expectations of AP US Government in the 2015-2016 school
year.
Student Signature ________________________________________________________________
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Unit Activities
The following activities and assignment types will be administered regularly throughout the year. Not all units will
include all of these assignment types, however students can expect to complete each type several times.
 Vocabulary Packet – Students will define vocabulary terms related to US Government & Politics.
 Guided Readings – For each chapter, students will answer multiple-choice questions using the online companion to
their textbook and will answer open-ended questions from the reading. These will sometimes be checked, graded
based on completion, and other times collected, and graded on accuracy.
 Current Events Report – Students will locate a current news article related to a concept learned in class and write
a ½ page summary of the article and a ½ page reaction or analysis. Prompting questions for the analysis will be given
based on the topic for the current event.
 Current Events Discussion – Students will explain their report to other students in the class and participate in
small-group and whole-class discussions of the events.
 Persuasive Essay – Students will answer a given prompt persuasively, supporting their opinion with factual evidence
and ideas published by political scientists or respected journalists.
 Data Analysis – Students will interpret information given in charts and/or graphs to analyze trends in American
government.
 Small Group Research Project – Students will work together to research information on given topics (interest
groups, civil rights, etc.) to create a finished product demonstrating their knowledge of the topic.
 Vocabulary Quizzes: Students will identify key terms, places, events, and documents for each unit, as given by the
teacher, and answer multiple choice, short answer, and fill-in-the-blank questions in a quiz.
 Unit Exams: Unit exam multiple choice questions are taken directly from released AP US Gov exams, so they do
predict in some ways how well a student will do on the AP Exam at the end of the year. All exams will feature
multiple choice questions and free-response questions.
 Final Project: After the AP test, students will engage in a research project to present both sides of a controversial
issue and lead a class discussion of the topic.
AP US Government & Politics Exam
The AP Exam consists of 60 multiple choice questions and four free response questions. Therefore, all unit exams will
include multiple choice and free response questions and students will practice answering previous years’ AP Gov exam
questions when relevant.