MRS.

GARZA ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY 2012-2013

May 2012

Future APUSHers, My name is Mrs. Garza and I will be your Advanced Placement United States History teacher for the 2012-2013 school year. Within this packet, you will find a class syllabus, notes, and a summer assignment. The syllabus gives you an overview of what to expect from APUSH, as well as a calendar of topics, assignments, and due dates. Please use it to your advantage. You will need to read over the material within the syllabus with a parent or guardian and have them sign and return the back page. The back page will be your first grade for the school year. You will notice that I have provided notes for Chapters 1-3 of our class text. You will be expected to read and review these notes over the summer so that we can start the year off on schedule. Please note, that there WILL be a quiz over these first three chapters the first week of school. I am expecting to be on maternity leave towards the end of November and most of December. During this time, the website will be utilized in order to guide students through topics and assignments that need to be covered during this timeframe.

AP United States History 2012-2013 Course Description

Keeli D. Garza keeli.garza@fwisd.org 817-815-4000 www.highlanderapush.weebly.org

Eastern Hills High School Course Description This course is designed to increase the students understanding of United States History from its colonial beginnings to today. The goals of the class are to develop 1) an understanding of important themes and ideas 2) an ability to analyze historical evidence (documents, pictures, political cartoons, etc.), and 3) the ability to display understanding through writing and other communication tools. AP U.S. History is designed to be the equivalent of freshmen year U.S. History in college. It is fast paced, and demands commitment to study and outside reading. Students must understand that they are responsible for assigned readings and what is covered in class. Students will be asked to display a knowledge of U.S. History content as well as demonstrating analytical skills, ability to read critically, making analogies, interpreting historical evidence, as well as connecting past and present. Any AP class requires hard work and commitment to intellectual growth. All students are strongly encouraged to dedicate themselves to the goals of AP U.S. History and are required to take the AP Exam at the end of the school year. Course Objectives Master a broad body of historical knowledge Demonstrate an understanding of historical chronology Use historical data to support an argument or position Interpret and apply data from original documents, including cartoons, graphs, maps, letters, etc. Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, compare and contrast Work effectively with others to produce products and solve problems Prepare for and successfully pass the Advanced Placement Exam

One of the principal objectives is to sharpen the students thinking skills. Students must be able to analyze evidence and interpretations presented in

historical scholarship. Reading assignments and lectures by themselves do not ensure improvement of critical thinking skills. Many students listen and read passively, simply absorbing information. They do not reliably challenge thinking of the writers they are reading or of the teachers they are listening to. Nor do they reliably use the material they read to challenge their own ideas. During the course of this class, we will focus a great deal of attention on learning how to analyze and interpret a wide variety of primary sources, reflect carefully on all the different resources used in our study, in order to sharpen thinking skills and analytical processes. Major Themes of the Course American Identity Ideologies Economic Transformations Diplomacy Demographic Changes Reform and Reformers Political War and

Success and Failures in Foreign and Domestic Policy

In addition to these broad themes, each unit has specific themes and ideas. By the end of each unit, students will be familiar with those themes and will be able to complete Multiple Choice questions and DBQ/FRQ writings on these themes. Fall Semester Course Outline Pre-Columbian Colonialism American Revolution Early Republic Antebellum America Manifest Destiny/Sectionalism American Civil War Reconstruction

Second Semester Course Outline Gilded Age Progressivism World War I Roaring Twenties Great Depression World War II Cold War Post Cold War America

General Information Attendance: Academic success begins in the classroom. Class time cannot be duplicated at home with worksheets. It is imperative that students be present every day. Students who are absent miss valuable instruction and have a difficult time keeping up with assignments. Assignment and Assignment Make-up Policy: Work will NOT be accepted late. Students have two free homework passes to use for any two assignments they chose for each semester. Lost passes will NOT be replaced. Students must realized the importance of meeting due dates. They should develop the habit of using the calendar to organize their time and assignments so that work is completed on time. If an assignment is not turned in on time, then the student will receive a 0. If a student returns to school with an excused absence, it is the students responsibility to find out what work was missed and complete the work in a timely fashion. For instance: two days of class absences means two extra days to complete the work. Work will not be accepted otherwise. Students may come after school to rewrite an essay in which they received a 70 or below on. It is important that writing improves so that the student will do well on the DBQ and FRQ sections of the AP U.S. History Exam in May. In addition, students may come in to correct six weeks exams. The student will receive half-credit for each question they correct on a multiple choice exam. This opportunity will only be given after school on an assigned day. Grading: Preparation(30%) o Class work, outside readings, practice writings, and cooperative group assignments Reading/Vocabulary Quizzes (20%) o Planned quizzes will be given once per week o Other pop-quizzes will be given periodically to measure student progress on TAKS and AP content knowledge Unit Tests/Formal Essays/Projects (50%)

o Examinations are a combination of multiple choice, short answer, and free response essays and will be given at the end of each six weeks o Document Based Question/Free Response Question Essays Course Material. Text and Readings Class Material: -

Textbook 10 folders with pockets and brads to separate units of study College ruled paper Pencils with erasers Blue or black ink pen 4 GB Flash Drive Determination and a sense of humor

Class Website: Students will need to visit www.highlanderapush.weebly.com regularly. This website will house calendars, videos, supplemental notes and much more! At times, students will be asked to print items from the website and bring them to class for our discussions and assignments. Required Reading: The textbook listed below will be provided to each student by Mrs. Garza. A reading schedule will be provided to each student to make sure that they stay caught up with material being discussed in class. Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. 12th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. Supplemental Material: Materials listed below will help students throughout the year in a number of ways. They are great study aides to prepare for the exam and also help students gain a better understanding of material being discussed in class. All

of these can be found, in good condition, on websites such as www.half.com and www.amazon.com at very reasonable prices. The school and local libraries also keep copies of these materials, but they cannot be written in. Epstein, Mark. FAST TRACK TO A 5: Preparing for the AP United States History Examination. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. Meltzer, Tom and Jean Hofheimer Bennett. Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam. New York: Random House Inc, 2008. Tutoring: Tutoring will be made available to students if they need extra help on class topics or assignments, or if they wish to work on re-writing an essay. Tutoring is not for making up zeros. A tutoring schedule will be provided to each student on the first day of classes. Tutoring time can also be made by appointment. Tutoring can be an invaluable tool for success, therefore, extra credit will be given to students for each time they come to 3 tutoring sessions.