How to read an AP Textbook (or any for that matter)
1) Textbooks are NOT pleasure reading. Textbooks don’t read like a novel, so it’s more
difficult to get through. They are designed for fast reading and organization. While
the APUSH book is better, it’s still a college-level textbook!
2) With this in mind, tackle your reading assignments. Look for any headings, usually in
bold or different colors than the rest of the book, and make sure to spend time on
these small sections. They usually give key information.
3) Read the assignments twice. The first time is when you do the homework and it will
help give you some background for when you take class notes. The second time is to
refresh your memory before the test.
4) Do the second reading the night before the test. This is an great way to help you
study.
5) If you are having trouble understanding the material, after reading the textbook the
second time, try summarizing each section of the book in your own words. That will
help your mind grasp the material.
6) Actually READ the book! Students from past years have said in great numbers that
this truly helps!!! If you want to do well in this class, you MUST read! This will be
for your homework too!
7) These tips work for college too!
How to read an AP textbook
The AP Test
The AP Test
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The test is May 6th, morning session.
Cost is $91 (this might change, but I’ll let you know if it does).
You’ll most likely take the test in the gym.
There are 55 multiple choice questions, and you’ll have 55 minutes to do them.
There will be 4 short answer questions (SAQs) on the test and you’ll have 50 minutes to
complete them.
6) There is one DBQ (document based question) with only one prompt (question). You will
be given 6-7 documents and you must write the essay in 55 minutes. Don’t worry – we’ll
practice these a lot!
7) There is one long essay, formally known as the FRQ. You will have two prompts to choose
from and you’ll have 35 minutes to write the essay.
8) The multiple choice portion is worth 40% and the written portion is worth 60%.
Specifically, the SAQs are worth 20%, the DBQ 25%, and the long essay 15%.
9) You may earn the following scores on the test: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 3 and up is passing. Generally
speaking, most colleges only accept a 4 or 5 to receive college credit. Some colleges do
accept a score of 3.
10) Colleges frown not only on taking an AP class and not taking the test, but also on failing
the AP test! So keep that in mind!
Notebooks for APUSH
1) These are seriously your life. EVERYTHING in this class will go into
these two notebooks.
2) They both must be a 5 subject, college ruled, spiral notebook. The
ones with pockets are preferable. You may NOT use a three-ring
binder. The bigger (more paper) the better as we will use these
the entire year.
3) On the front, put CLEARLY and in BIG LETTERS:
a) Your name.
b) Your period.
c) Label it either “APUSH NOTES” or “APUSH Class Work”
APUSH
NOTES
APUSH
Class Work
Joe Schmo
Period 1
Joe Schmo
Period 1
4) In both notebooks, use some sort of sticky tab to separate your
chapters.
• Notebooks will be collected on the day of the unit test and I
must be able to EASILY find the unit I’m grading and see the
separations.
• Choose sticky tabs that you can write on so you can clearly
label each chapter.
• You will put a sticky tab and label for the BEGINNING of each
chapter
5) You will use the tabs for BOTH notebooks.
6) If you lose your notebook, it is up to you to replace everything
that was lost. You will turn in your notebooks at the end of first
semester, and again after the AP test. You will receive an overall
completion grade for both of them. So if you lose it, your grade
will suffer if you don’t work hard to replace everything.
7) Also remember, NOTHING else should be in these notebooks.
They’re exclusively for APUSH. So your notes shouldn’t have math
in it and your class work notebook shouldn’t have AP Bio stuff in
there. They are ONLY for AP Euro.
How to do Homework and Take Notes in APUSH
There is a very specific way to take notes in APUSH.
Your homework notes are your lifeline. You are allowed to use them
on quizzes and they’ll provide a foundation for the notes we take in
class. Ultimately, the whole point is to see the information twice in a
short period of time and then, hopefully, remember it better.
**Remember – the better notes you take as homework, the better
you’ll do on quizzes AND you’ll have an excellent set of notes for
when you start studying for the AP test. Take good notes now and
you’ll thank yourself later.
There are specific steps you must follow to receive credit:
1) You will start your homework/notes on a new page for every
chapter and for every night’s homework.
2) On the upper right hand corner of the start of that night’s notes,
you need to put the following: unit number of the notes, chapter
number of the notes, which part of the notes it is, AND the page
numbers assigned. Don’t just put it the first time. Put it on every
single page. Make it clear and big. Example to follow.
3) You will put any key terms assigned BEFORE the homework notes.
Clearly number and underline the term, and then explain in a
brief sentence or two (no more) what it was, making sure to
include overall importance. If there are no key terms, you MUST
STATE THAT.
a) Remember – the more you put into this class, the more you’ll
get out of it. So actually take your time and define the words
and DON’T BE LAZY.
4) You must READ the book to take these notes. They will not be
effective if you cheat and copy them from someone or somewhere
else. If you are concentrating and focusing, they should not take
you that long and they’ll help you in the long run.
5) You MUST do your homework notes in pen. There is not a specific
color requirement but they all must be the same color throughout
the homework.
6) You may take your notes however you’d like. BUT, to receive credit
and a stamp, you must have at least 1 page front and back and AT
MOST 1 page front and back and another front of a page. That’s it.
The minimum starts AFTER the key terms. Meaning, you need a full
page front and back from where the key terms end. Key terms
don’t count for the length requirement. You may NOT take more
notes than that per night. The idea is that you learn how to
summarize the information and write down the important stuff.
7) Don’t worry – if you miss anything, you’ll get it in class. We’ll get to
that in a minute.
8) While taking your notes for homework, leave room somewhere,
somehow. This all depends on your style. You may want to use
Cornell style, or skip lines, or whatever. You have to leave room
though because the other half of your homework grade comes
from the class notes.
9) So to summarize the homework:
a) Unit number, chapter number, which part of the chapter it is,
and page numbers on the upper right hand corner of every
page.
b) Start a new chapter and a new night’s homework on a new
page.
c) Make sure to clearly label the key terms.
d) Homework must be done all in one color pen. No pencil and
no multiple colors.
e) Homework must be at least 1 page front and back and at
most 2 pages front and back.
11) So to get credit, you come to me BEFORE class starts and show
me your work. If you’ve done enough and not too much, you’ll
get a stamp.
12) Tardy students don’t get a stamp without an excused pass!
13) You’ll take your notebook back and take the class notes.
14) You’ll have me stamp it every time you have a reading/notes
assignment.
15) Both notebooks, notes and class work, will be turned in on the
test day. They’ll be graded right then and handed back by the
end of the period.
16) Now for the class notes. Using a DIFFERENT pen color from
the one you used for homework, you’ll take notes. No pencils.
You may only take class notes within the space you have used
for homework. You can’t write more and go onto another
page.
17)This is where it’s critical that you plan out your homework
well. You have to fit it onto the required space but also
leave space for class notes.
18)You have to show that you’re adding to your homework
notes. The different color of pen will do that so fill in
information, underline, circle, whatever. When you turn in
your notebooks, all of your notes should be completely filled
with two different colors.
A few things to remember:
1) You may use the back of the paper in your notebook.
2) The back of a paper can count as a new page if you want to
start there.
3) Nothing else should be in your notebooks. Your
homework/notes notebook should only have APUSHnotes in
there. Nothing else. Period.
4) You need to use one color pen for the homework notes and
a different color for the notes in class. No pencils. Any color
works (even pink!)
Unit 1
Chapter 1
Part 1
Pages 2-14
Key terms:
Key term #1: explanation
Key term #2: explanation
II. Peopling the Americas
There is controversial evidence that the earliest Americans arrived here up to
35,000 years ago, using the frozen oceans to travel by land and by boat (stuff
you would add from class notes)
About 10,000 years ago when the Ice Age ended, the land bridge was
swallowed up and pretty much no more humans came to the Americas until
thousands of years later, leaving the humans here isolated for the most part
(stuff you would add from class notes)
By the time the Europeans came to America, it is suggested that 54 million
people inhabited the land, but this number is debated
The Incas in Peru, the Mayans in Central America and the Aztecs in Mexico
developed very sophisticated civilizations (more stuff from class notes)
Lots of stuff from class notes
Unit 1
Chapter 1
Part 1
Pages 2-14
II. Peopling the Americas
There is controversial evidence that the earliest Americans arrived here up to
35,000 years ago, using the frozen oceans to travel by land and by boat (stuff
you would add from class notes)
About 10,000 years ago when the Ice Age ended, the land bridge was
swallowed up and pretty much no more humans came to the Americas until
thousands of years later, leaving the humans here isolated for the most part
(stuff you would add from class notes)
By the time the Europeans came to America, it is suggested that 54 million
people inhabited the land, but this number is debated
The Incas in Peru, the Mayans in Central America and the Aztecs in Mexico
developed very sophisticated civilizations (more stuff from class notes)
Lots of stuff from class notes
More homework notes… more homework notes…More homework notes…
more homework notes… more class notes, more class notes