AP U.S. History
Maine East High School
Mr. Peters
2011
School Phone: (847) 825-4484 ext.1382
Email: cpeters@maine207.org
Office: Room 332
Office Hours: before school, or by appointment
Course Description:
AP U.S. History is designed to provide students with analytic skills and factual
knowledge necessary to deal critically with the content and sources in U.S. history. This
class will prepare students for college level courses by making demands upon them
equivalent to those made by a full-year introductory college course. Students will learn
to assess historical materials – their relevance to a given interpretive problem, reliability,
and importance – and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical
scholarship. Therefore, this class will focus on the development of 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. In May, students will take the AP
U.S. History exam where they will have a chance to demonstrate the content knowledge,
reading, and writing skills that they will have developed over the course of the year.
Required Materials and Textbooks:
American History: A Survey by Alan Brinkley
Notebook for AP U.S. History
Course Requirements:
-Follow all course policies
-Earn a cumulative minimum of 60% on all assignments, tests, quizzes, and final
-Complete and excel on all district projects (Paper Assessment, Geography Assessment,
Political Cartoon Analysis, and Research Assessment)
-Participate in class
*Take the AP U.S. History Exam in May
Grading:
The total points you accumulate during the semester will determine your final grade.
Points will come from a variety of sources including, tests, quizzes, book notes, papers,
and other activities. Everything will have a predetermined point value. Tests will be
announced about a week in advance. Almost every Friday we will have a quiz on the
assigned chapter for that week. For all readings done book notes should be taken which
will be collected every Friday. Students will be asked to read one chapter every week. It
is imperative that they read each chapter because they will be quizzed on all the content
in the chapter. The Final Exam will count for approximately 20% of your grade. In
addition, there are a few district projects, which will count heavily towards your final
grade.
Scale: 100-90 =A, 89-80=B, 79-70=C, 69-60=D, 59 and below =F
Parent/Student Portal:
For assignments that are turned in on time grades will be updated in a timely manner.
For regular homework assignments a one or two day turnaround can be expected. For
larger projects and papers grading may take a week or more. Assignments that get turned
in late will be graded and the portal update as time permits. Until an assignment is
completed a grade of zero will be placed in the portal.
Expectations:
This is a college level class and therefore the expectations of students in this class are
greater.
-Complete homework and required assignments. All information contained in the
textbook may be included on tests.
-Be respectful at all times.
-Be prepared for and participate in class.
Policies:
-The School Handbook will apply at all times (ie. tardies, cuts, ID’s, cell phones, etc.)
-In order to receive full credit homework must be turned in on time. Missed homework
and tests must be made up in a timely manner. It is your responsibility to makeup all
missed work.
-Missed tests and homework due to cuts cannot be made up.
-It is your responsibility to make up tests if you have missed one.
Academic Honesty:
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Cheating and plagiarism includes but is
not limited to:
-copying another students homework, test, paper, etc.
-allowing another student to copy homework, test, paper, etc.
-presenting information or ideas on research papers taken from sources without
appropriate documentation.
-supplying or receiving specific test or quiz questions.
-copying off another student or using any outside aide to assist in answering test or quiz
questions.
-No credit will be given to any assignment, test, or quiz in which cheating or plagiarism
has taken place.
-School Handbook will be followed when dealing with Academic Honesty.