Course Expectations
Advanced Placement United States History
Mr. Matt Tangney
tangneym@northandover.k12.ma.us
978-794-1711 ext. 52008
Course Overview
The Advanced Placement Program in United States History is designed to provide students with the
analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in United
States history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making
demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. We will use a
college level textbook in this course. The course starts with exploration and continues on to present day.
We will then review all information and take the national exam on Friday May 7,2010.
Textbook(s)/Supplementary Materials
The American Pageant Kennedy, Cohen, and Bailey (Primary textbook)
United States History Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination Newman & Schmalbach
A People’s History of the United States Zinn
Various primary source documents
Necessary Materials Provided by Students
Three ring binder
Loose leaf paper
Writing utensil
Grading Policy
Tests, projects, and major papers 70%
There will be some kind of assessment about every other week. Sometimes quizzes will be unannounced. A test will be counted as two quizzes. Essays will sometimes be assigned as quizzes or tests
depending how much time you are given to prepare. There will be one research oriented project that counts
as a test grade each term. There will be a major research paper due in the 4th term after the AP Exam.
Homework, class work 20%
 Most homework will be reading assignments and students are expected to take notes on everything
they read. These notes will be checked in class about once per week early in the year and less
frequently as the year goes on.

Most but not all of your homework reading will be from our textbook, in general you will be
reading about 1 chapter per week.

Your notes should be analytical and not simply a list of names and facts. Focus on the key
arguments and ideas being expressed in the readings along with what evidence is used to support
the arguments. For example: treat each subtitled section of the book as an individual essay.
Identify the main point the author is trying to make (his/ her thesis) then identify the key facts
needed to understand the thesis but only insofar as they relate to the main idea. Avoid making
your notes into a Trivial Pursuit game.

From time to tome pop quizzes will be used to check homework. It is essential that you not only
take notes but that you know what is in your notes. Sometimes homework will be checked by oral
quizzes which will consist of asking randomly selected students questions that they should know
from the reading. Students should be prepared to USE their notes to quickly identify a person or
topic from the reading and explain how the person / topic fits into the context of American
History.
Class Participation 10%
Discussion and interaction is an essential part of studying history. It is not enough to sit like a sponge in
class, you are expected to contribute meaningfully to the discussions of historical episodes in class. You
WILL learn more by asking and answering questions out loud than by sitting quietly and listening.
Guaranteed!
Homework Policy
There is a considerable amount of reading. Each student is expected to read all text material because you
will be tested on it. Due to the nature of this course we cannot discuss all the information in the readings.
However, if it is assigned, it is fair game for exam questions. The amount of time required for homework
for this class will vary with your reading speed. Assignments vary in length. Watch for the topic
assignment sheets and plan ahead for long assignments. Time management is an essential skill and you
must take the responsibility for budgeting your time. Late homework is not accepted for credit.
Attendance/Make-up Information/Extra Help
Please see the student handbook for the detailed school policy regarding Attendance and make-up
privileges.
Students will be responsible for their own make-up work ~ in keeping with the school policy, students will
have 5 school days to make up any missing assignments. Unless students make special arrangements with
me, failure to make up the work in said time will result in a zero.
I am available for extra help before or after school. I ask that you let me know ahead of time that you would
like to meet so that I can make sure I can give you the time you deserve.
Class Behavior
Treat yourself, fellow students and teacher with respect at all times.
Arrive to class on time.
Come to class prepared with all materials, including homework. Late homework will not be accepted for
credit, however it should be completed.
Never lie to me.
All school rules apply in this class.
Other
Academic Honesty and Integrity
It is expected that each student maintain a high level of academic integrity and honesty in this class. Any
form of plagiarism or cheating will not be tolerated and according to the NAHS Student/Parent Guide
“…will result in loss of credit and a zero for that assignment/test.” Plagiarism and cheating take on many
forms as outlined in the NAHS Student/Parent Guide and include copying homework and/or submitting
work from on-line sources such as paper mills and cheat sites as well as copying and/or pasting information
from online sources or submitting any work “…that is not truly the product of your own mind and skill.”
Please do not sell yourself short. Every one of you has the ability to be successful in this course with the
proper amount of time and effort.