AP US Syllabus

United States History Mr. Crooks
Advanced Placement Fall 2007
Course Description:
The Advanced Placement Program in United States 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. Students should learn to assess historical materials – their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance – and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An Advanced Placement United States History course should thus 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.
(From the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program Course Description)

Major differences between AP and other classes:
1. This is a college level course and as such, each student has the opportunity to earn college credit by earning a score of a three or better on the National Advanced Placement Exam offered in May.
2. Because students are potentially earning college credit for their work, A.P. U.S. History is designed to be taught on the college level and many students find the pace and work load difficult.
3. Each test will cover a significantly greater body of information than students may be used to.
4. Homework will consist primarily of reading assignments and reviews of daily notes in order to master the large body of factual information.
5. There will be very few “simple” assignments where the student can improve his or her grade merely by completing the work. Furthermore, there will be very little extra credit offered.
6. There are relatively few graded assignments each semester, which increases the need for adequate preparation every day.
7. Responsibility for mastering the material rests primarily with the student.

Objectives:
As part of the AP course in United States history students will:
1. examine the political, social, economic, and cultural influences in United States history.
2. investigate the issues that have caused either conflict or consensus within the nation.
3. explore the various historiographical approaches and interpretations of United States history.
4. gain insight into current trends and problems in modern society through an examination of past experiences.
5. develop higher levels of written and oral expression.

Texts:
The primary text is The Enduring Vision, Fifth Edition by Paul S. Boyer, Clifford E. Clark, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, Neal Salisbury, Harvard Sitkoff, and Nancy Woloch; published in 2004 by Houghton Mifflin ($76.17).

We will also use The American Political Tradition by Richard Hofstadter; published in1989 by Vintage Books ($45.00) and After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, Fourth Edition by James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle; published in 2000 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ($40.85)
Expectations:
1. This is a college level course and as such, each student has the opportunity to earn college credit by successfully completing the assigned work and earning a 3 or better on the National Advanced Placement Exam in May.
2. Each student is expected to keep up with the workload. This will include readings in the text, outside readings, position papers, Document Based Questions (DBQ), homework, class work, and quizzes. Each student is required to keep an organized notebook.
3. Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions, group work, and activities.
4. Students will complete approximately 5 exams, combining multiple choice and essay questions. Each student will also complete a comprehensive final exam at the end of the semester.
Major Units: Grade Scale:
The Colonial Era
The Revolutionary Era 90-100 =A
Growth of Nation 80-89 =B
Jacksonian Democracy 70-79 =C
Expansion and Civil War Below 70 =F
Reconstruction and the West

Course Requirements:
Each unit will conclude with a two day exam. Part I will involve a day of multiple choice questions. Part II will involve the Essay sections. Each will count as a major grade.

The Final Exam will be comprehensive and worth 20% of the student’s final grade.

Each student will be required to complete at least 2 Document Based Questions (DBQ) and two summaries of historical articles this semester. These will count as a major grade.

Quizzes in this class are designed to force students to read the chapters thoroughly. Unit tests usually cover 3 chapters (about 100 page) and "cramming" on the last night may be hazardous to your grade. If you learn the material for the quizzes this allows for better class discussion and less stress on test days. These quizzes are agonizingly picky but success on the quizzes is an excellent indicator of success on the tests.

From time to time there will be homework that need to be handed in for a grade. There is little time in this course for busy work thus all homework is educationally valuable, but only if completed correctly. Some homework requires more work than others and may count double.

For each chapter you will receive a "Review Sheet" of terms that may or may not be important. I suggest, but do not require, that you fill these out as you read. It may help with the quizzes but more importantly they are excellent review sheets for Unit Tests, Final Exams, and the AP Exam. In May you can study 1000 pages in the Book, or 33 well-done Review Sheets.

The AP Exam will be administered in May, 2005. I expect all students that remain in the class to prepare for and take this exam. If you can survive this course, you will do well on the exam.

Grade Breakdown:

Tests and Papers……........65%
Quizzes and Homeworks...15%
Final Exam...........………..20% (Comprehensive)

Make-Up Policy:
It is the student's responsibility to see the teacher about any work missed while out with an excused absence. If you are in school but not in my class on any given day, it is the student's responsibility to hand in any work due that day and pick up any homework assignments for the next day.

The following policy will apply to all make-up work:

Tests: Tests will be made up on the day that a student returns from an absence. If the student is absent for several consecutive days, the student must make arrangements to make it up in the mornings, during lunch, or possibly after school. If you are absent the day before a test, you will still be required to take the test that day. I reserve the right to change the format of make up tests to all essays.

Homework: missed homework is due the day after the student returns.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be made up the day a student returns.

Major Papers: These will be due on the day assigned whether you are in school or not.

** If you complete the semester without having to take any make-up tests or DBQs, and no late papers, I will drop your lowest major grade. (This does not include the final exam.)

Cheating and Plagiarism:
The Social Studies Department considers academic integrity a top priority. Any copying or sharing of answers on homework, classwork, assignments, tests or projects is cheating. The only exception to this rule is if the teacher has explicitly stated that the work is a “cooperative learning” experience. If in doubt, ask the teacher.

Plagiarism is also a form of cheating. Plagiarism is defined by The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as the “act of stealing and using the ideas or writings of another as one’s own.” Although the direct copying of another’s work is the most blatant example, any time a student takes another’s ideas and passes them off as their own it is plagiarism. A student must note the source even if he or she “rephrases” the material.

The consequences for cheating or plagiarism on any assignment are the awarding of a zero grade and an honor code referral for all parties involved. Allowing one’s work to be copied is also considered cheating.

Discipline:
I will abide by and enforce the guidelines as set forth by the Fulton County Board of Education. The most important thing to remember is to respect the rights of others. This is an AP class but that does not change the policy on tardies or classroom behavior. NO FOOD OR DRINK IS ALLOWED IN THE CLASSROOM EXCEPT WATER.

Recovery:
Since this is an AP class recovery for failed tests and assignments is not available. If you cannot pass the work you need to drop back to regular US History. In addition, we do not generally give extra credit assignments. I will be more than willing to work with students who are having problems but this is a challenging class and requires both time and ability.

Important Information:

School phone # - 770 521-7600 Voice mail: extension #228

Home Phone # - 770 205-8153 (please do not call after 10:00 PM unless emergency)

Email: crooks@fulton.k12.ga.us

Fax # - 770 521-7659