Course Description: This course will focus on the development of historical thinking skills (chronological reasoning, comparing and contextualizing, shaping historical arguments using historical evidence, and interpreting and synthesizing historical narrative) and an understanding of content learning goals and objectives around seven central themes. Students should 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 study. The course should develop 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 Expectations: Success in this course requires seriously committed students who are willing to work far above the level required in a regular high school history class. This course is challenging but with potentially great benefits. You are expected to do the following:
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Attend class regularly.
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Be prepared for each class.
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Participate in a constructive and cooperative manner.
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Shoulder the responsibility of the class work in a mature and diligent way.
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Take the AP exam on Friday, May 8, 2015.
Course Goals: Students will:
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Demonstrate a mastery of a broad body of historical knowledge.
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Use historical evidence to defend and support basic arguments and positions.
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Differentiate between various schools of historical thought and interpretation.
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Interpret and draw conclusions from various pieces of historical data including original documents, cartoons, graphs, etc.
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Demonstrate an effective use of analytical skills of evaluation, cause-and-effect relationships, and compare and contrast.
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Work effectively in groups to produce products, make presentations, and solve problems.
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Prepare for and receive a grade of 3 or higher on the AP U.S. History Exam.
Required Materials:
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Large 3-Ring Binder only used for this course
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Pens/Pencils
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Highlighters
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Required text book
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Grading Policies: Grades are calculated as 40% per quarter and 20% for the semester final.
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90-100% is an A; 80-89% is a B; 70-79% is a C; 60-69% is a D; 59% and below is a failing grade.
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Per administration: All students will take Final Exams. Students who have no more than 4 absences (one tardy or sweep counts as one absence) in the class and a grade of 75% or higher, and who are present in class on the final exam day, may choose whether or not to have the final exam calculated into their grade.
This policy does not apply to courses which may require final exams, including but not limited to IB, AP, and Dual Enrollment classes.
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All students are expected to take the AP exam. Failure to do so will result in taking a class final.
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All students must be present in class during the class final exam time.
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Late work will be accepted for up to half-credit one day past the original due date.
Attendance (Please refer to the student handbook on rules too!)
Tardies: Administration, security, and teachers will be sweeping students who are not in class on time. If you
are ‘caught in a sweep’ and you miss a quiz, test, or an assignment is given or turned in the following will occur:
• You must make up the quiz/test after school the same day or that grade will result in half-credit. If you
are unable to attend that same day due to sports, family obligation, or other event then talk to Mrs.
O’Farrell. Arrangements can be made for a different time and day only if truly necessary.
• You must make live contact with Mrs. O’Farrell (an email, note, phone call, or friend does not count) the
day you are swept to find out what you missed and to turn in the assignment that was due. If you do not,
then half-credit will be given for assignments not turned in and for assignments given out while in sweeps.
• If Mrs. O’Farrell sweeps you and you do not go, then your choice will result in a referral and a call home
to parents/guardians.
Excused Absences: (Please refer to the student handbook on rules too!)
• Make-up work is totally the responsibility of the student.
• Please take initiative and check with Mrs. O’Farrell for missed assignments, material covered, and directions.
• For every day you were absent, you have one day to make up the work.
• Test or quiz make-up must be arranged on your own time within two days of returning.
• Work that was due on the day(s) you were out must be turned in immediately the day you return.
• If you have a written assignment completed then you can always email that to Mrs. O’Farrell if you are not
in class.
• If you know you are going to be absent then let Mrs. O’Farrell know. You may be able to complete work
before you are gone so you will not be behind when returning.
Unexcused Absences:
• If you have an unexcused absence and an assignment is due, you will receive half-credit for any assignment
due that day or given out that day.
• If you have an unexcused absence and a quiz or test is scheduled then you will receive half-credit for that
quiz or test.
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CHS Rules and Regulations: All policies and procedures in the student handbook will be followed as a minimum.
Electronic Devices
Mrs. O’Farrell DOES NOT TOLERATE CELL PHONES AND IPODS OUT IN CLASS! Keep them put away in your purse/backpack. All electronic items (cell phones, ipods, games) must be turned off and put away before entering the classroom. If a student needs to use a phone then they will need to talk to Mrs. O’Farrell and ask her permission. Failure to follow these rules will result in the item(s) being confiscated until class is over. For the second offense the confiscated item(s) will be sent to the Assistant Principal’s office in addition to a referral and a parent/guardian will have to pick them up. After the first month of school students are fully aware of the policy.
Each offense with then automatically result in the confiscated item(s) being sent to the Assistant Principal’s office along with a referral. Failure to hand over the item will automatically result in a referral.
Academic Integrity
You are expected to familiarize yourself with proper procedures for collaborating, doing research, and citing sources. Should you have any questions, please feel free to ask Mrs. O’Farrell. Any assignment you turn in that
Mrs. O’Farrell finds to violate academic integrity, either through dishonesty, plagiarism, or unauthorized collaboration will receive a grade of ‘0’ with contact made to the parents/guardians in addition to a referral. Any further instance of violating academic integrity will follow procedures outlined in the student handbook.
Primary Textbook:
The American Pageant , David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A Bailey, 14th ed.
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This college level textbook is supplemented by primary and secondary sources.
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Please consider investing in the AP Test Prep Book.
Themes: The course and exam can be organized under the following seven themes:
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Identity (ID)
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Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
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Peopling (PEO)
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Politics and Power
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America in the World (WOR)
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Environment and Geography (ENV)
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Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture (CUL)
Historical Periods:
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2
3
4
1491-1607
1607-1754
1754-1800
1800-1848
~ 5% (1-2 weeks), July- August
~ 10% (3 weeks), August
~ 12% (3-4 weeks), August-September
~ 10% (3 weeks), September-October
5%
45%
5
6
7
8
1844-1877
1865-1898
1890-1945
1945-1980
~ 13% (4 weeks), November-December
~ 13% (4 weeks), December
~ 17% (5-6 weeks), January- February
~ 15% (4-5 weeks), March- April
45%
9 1980-modern day ~ 5% (1 week) May 5%
Unit 1: 1491-1607- The American Pageant, Chapter 1
Content: Geography and environment; Native American diversity in the Americas; Spain in the Americas; conflict and exchange; English, French, and Dutch settlements; and the Atlantic economy.
Unit 2: 1607-1754- The American Pageant , Chapters 2-4
Content: Growing trade; unfree labor; political differences across the colonies; conflict with Native Americans; immigration; early cities; role of women, education, religion and culture; and growing tensions with the British.
Unit 3: 1754-1800- The American Pageant , Chapters 5-10
Content: Colonial society before the war for independence; colonial rivalries; the Seven Years War; pirates and other democrats; role of women before, during, and after 1776; Articles and a Constitution; and early political rights and exclusions.
Unit 4: 1800-1848- The American Pageant , Chapters 11-13
Content: Politics in the early republic, parties and votes; reforms and social movements; culture and religion; market capitalism and slavery; growth of immigration and cities; women and Seneca Falls; and Territorial expansion and Mexican War.
Unit 5: 1844-1877- The American Pageant , Chapters 14-21
Content: Tensions over slavery; reform movements; politics and the economy; cultural trends; Transcendentalism and Utopianism; the Civil War, rights of freedmen and women, Reconstruction, and freedmen’s bureau; and the
KKK. Focus on white supremacy before and after the Civil War.
Unit 6: 1865-1898- The American Pageant , Chapters 22-28
Content:
The rights of freedmen and women; Reconstruction; freedmen’s bureau, and the 1877 Railroad strike; rise of labor unions and the Populist Party; general themes of industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and imperialism; and Indian wars, the Spanish American War, and conquests in the Pacific.
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Unit 7: 1890-1945- The American Pageant , Chapters 29-35
Content: The formation of the Industrial Workers of the World and the AFL; industrialization and technology, mass production and mass consumerism, and radio and movies; Harlem Renaissance; Native American culture and boarding schools; political parties and the transition from classical liberalism to New Deal liberalism with the capitalist crisis of the 1930s; and WW II, demographic shifts, the role of women and nonwhites, and battles for economic rights.
Unit 8: 1945-1989- The American Pageant , Chapters 36-39
Content: The atomic age; the affluent society and suburbs; discrimination, the Other America, and the African
American Civil Rights movement; Vietnam and U.S. imperial policies in Latin America and Africa; the Beats and the student, counterculture, antiwar, women’s, Chicano, American Indian, and gay and lesbian movements; summer riots and the occupation of Alcatraz; LBJ’s Great Society and the rise of the New Right; Ronald Reagan and the rise of poverty; and the Cold War and U.S. role in the world .
Unit 9: 1980-present- The American Pageant , Chapters 40-42
Content: Summary of Reagan’s domestic and foreign policies; Bush Sr. and the end of the Cold War; Clinton as a
New Democrat; technology and economic bubbles and recessions, race relations, and the role of women; changing demographics and the return of poverty; rise of the prison industrial complex and the war on drugs; 9/11 and the domestic and foreign policies that followed; and Obama: change or continuity?
ALL POLICIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE UPON TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATION’S DISCRETION.
I have read, understand, and will abide by the syllabus for Mrs. O’Farrell’s American/Arizona history class:
Student Name (Printed): _______________________________________________________________________
Student Signature, ID #, Period: _________________________________________________________________
Parent Name (Printed): ________________________________________________________________________
Parent Signature, Date: _______________________________________________________________________
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