AP World History Course Syllabus
Here is a brief overview of my syllabus and classroom norms which have been established through a collaborative effort within the classroom. To view my entire syllabus click here.
Brief Overview
AP World History Course Description
The purpose of an Advanced Placement (AP) Course is to complete a high school course that also qualifies as an introductory college world history course. Successful completion of the AP exam will replace some introductory college world history courses.
My course is based on a global perspective of the world and human interactions from 8000 bce to present day, using the five themes outlined in the AP® World History Course Description consistently throughout the course. Students refine their analytical abilities and critical thinking skills in order to understand historical and geographical context, make comparisons across cultures, use documents and other primary sources, and recognize and discuss different interpretations and historical frameworks. The course imposes a heavy reading and writing load throughout the year, and the demands on students are equivalent to a full-year introductory college course. Continuity and change will be addressed in the themes of each unit.
Topics to be covered will emphasize non-western history by focusing on the interactions of peoples in different places and times. Students will be expected to understand specific content as well as comparisons over time and place.
Students will be treated like college students in that they will be expected to complete the majority of the reading the writing assignments outside of class. Reading assignments from the textbook will serve as a foundation for developing higher level thinking skills. Use of primary sources and some secondary sources will be used to develop and refine analytical skills. Through the use of primary sources students will work to identify point-of-view, bias and content, and then to apply that knowledge to support an argument. These skills will help to prepare the students for the free-response portion of the AP exam, specifically the document-based questions (DBQ’s).
Specifically, the following AP World History themes will be used throughout the course to identify these broad patterns and processes that explain change and continuity over time.
The Six AP World History Themes:
1. The relationship of change and continuity from 8,000 bce to the present.
2. Impact of interaction among and within major societies.
3. Impact of technology, economics, and demography on people and the environment.
4. Systems of social structure and gender structure.
5. Cultural, religious, and intellectual developments.
6. Changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward statesand political identities, including the emergence of the nation-state.
Habits of Mind:
In addition to learning the content of world history, students will also work to develop the following skills:
1. Constructing and evaluating arguments: using evidence to make plausible arguments.
2. Using documents and other primary data: developing the skills necessary to analyze point of view, context, and bias, and to understand and interpret information.
3. Assessing issues of change and continuity over time, including the capacity to deal with change as a process and with questions of causation.
4. Understanding diversity of interpretations through analysis of context, point of view and frame of reference.
5. Seeing global patterns and processes over time and space while also connecting local developments to global ones and moving through levels of generalizations from the global to the particular.
6. Comparing within and among societies, including comparing societies’ reactions to global processes.
7. Being aware of human commonalities and differences while assessing claims of universal standards, and understanding culturally diverse ideas and values in historical context.
Note: Taking the AP World History exam is a requirement of the course.
Resources:
Text: William J. Duiker, and Jackson J. Spielvogel. “World History” 5th ed. Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. Belmont, CA.
Websites:
Class Materials:
Items you will need to bring to class:
1. Book (Bring your book everyday unless instructed to do otherwise!)
2. Pen/pencil (Students, make sure your pencils are sharpened and ready once I
walk into the classroom.)
3. Notebook (Students, make sure you have a notebook specifically for this class)
4- You will need a folder preferably a binder with page separators (for handouts).
5-Looseleaf
Rules and Procedures:
1. NO GUM CHEWING or eating/drinking anything in class!!!!!!
2. Shirts must be tucked in.
3. No sagging pants. Pants will be pulled up at all times.
4. Students will respect one another. There is zero tolerance to bullying or horsing around OF ANY SORT. Students will be reprimanded for ANY level of horsing around.
5. You must get to class on time. If you are late, you must have a pass.
6. Passes: Students are not allowed to leave the class room during the first fifteen minutes and last fifteen minutes of class. This is a school-wide policy. When you do leave the classroom students must have a pass and it must be signed by the teacher of that class room with the date and time written next to the name.
7. When you leave, leave in an orderly fashion (chairs pushed in, trash thrown away, all belongings taken with you).
Consequences for tardiness:
1. Verbal Warning
2. Student Conference
3. Conference/Parent Phone Call
4. Student will lose the opportunity to use notes on currently scheduled test
Behavior Rewards and Consequences:
Rewards Consequences
1. The most important reward is LEARNING. 1. Warning
2. Verbal Praise 2. Teacher / Student Conference
3. Self-Confidence 3. Call to Parent or Guardian
4. The “Jackpot” 4. Referral to the office***
***Immediate Referrals for profanity, fighting, insubordination, etc.
Grades I do NOT give grades. You must earn your grade in this class.
Grading Scale:
90-100% A The student’s work is exemplary and is completed in a timely and independent manner. The work shows
a high level of understanding or performance.
80%-89% B The student’s work is above average and has been completed in a timely and independent manner. The
work shows a clear level of understanding or performance.
70%-79% C The student’s work is satisfactory and may or may not be completed in a timely/independent manner.
60%-69% D The student’s work barely meets requirements and work is not completed in a timely or independent
manner.
0%-59% F The student’s work does not meet the minimum standards of Or unacceptable understanding or
performance or work is not the student’s personal best
Weight in the Grading Scale:
This is how your assignments will be weighed:
Homework: (Worksheets; Work Packets; Outlines; Notes; Class Discussion) etc…………………………………………………………………………………...…........................................10%
Participation: (Do Now, Exit Slips, Book Assignments, Journal Articles,
IndependentWork)………………………………………………………..…………… ................................15%
Assessments: (Quizzes, Tests, Final Exams, Benchmarks, EOC Exams, Final Exams)……………………………………………………………………………...…...................................................35%
Classwork: (Projects, Presentations, Document Analysis, Research Papers, Essays)………………………………………………………………………………......................................................40%
The purpose of an Advanced Placement (AP) Course is to complete a high school course that also qualifies as an introductory college world history course. Successful completion of the AP exam will replace some introductory college world history courses.
My course is based on a global perspective of the world and human interactions from 8000 bce to present day, using the five themes outlined in the AP® World History Course Description consistently throughout the course. Students refine their analytical abilities and critical thinking skills in order to understand historical and geographical context, make comparisons across cultures, use documents and other primary sources, and recognize and discuss different interpretations and historical frameworks. The course imposes a heavy reading and writing load throughout the year, and the demands on students are equivalent to a full-year introductory college course. Continuity and change will be addressed in the themes of each unit.
Topics to be covered will emphasize non-western history by focusing on the interactions of peoples in different places and times. Students will be expected to understand specific content as well as comparisons over time and place.
Students will be treated like college students in that they will be expected to complete the majority of the reading the writing assignments outside of class. Reading assignments from the textbook will serve as a foundation for developing higher level thinking skills. Use of primary sources and some secondary sources will be used to develop and refine analytical skills. Through the use of primary sources students will work to identify point-of-view, bias and content, and then to apply that knowledge to support an argument. These skills will help to prepare the students for the free-response portion of the AP exam, specifically the document-based questions (DBQ’s).
Specifically, the following AP World History themes will be used throughout the course to identify these broad patterns and processes that explain change and continuity over time.
The Six AP World History Themes:
1. The relationship of change and continuity from 8,000 bce to the present.
2. Impact of interaction among and within major societies.
3. Impact of technology, economics, and demography on people and the environment.
4. Systems of social structure and gender structure.
5. Cultural, religious, and intellectual developments.
6. Changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward statesand political identities, including the emergence of the nation-state.
Habits of Mind:
In addition to learning the content of world history, students will also work to develop the following skills:
1. Constructing and evaluating arguments: using evidence to make plausible arguments.
2. Using documents and other primary data: developing the skills necessary to analyze point of view, context, and bias, and to understand and interpret information.
3. Assessing issues of change and continuity over time, including the capacity to deal with change as a process and with questions of causation.
4. Understanding diversity of interpretations through analysis of context, point of view and frame of reference.
5. Seeing global patterns and processes over time and space while also connecting local developments to global ones and moving through levels of generalizations from the global to the particular.
6. Comparing within and among societies, including comparing societies’ reactions to global processes.
7. Being aware of human commonalities and differences while assessing claims of universal standards, and understanding culturally diverse ideas and values in historical context.
Note: Taking the AP World History exam is a requirement of the course.
Resources:
Text: William J. Duiker, and Jackson J. Spielvogel. “World History” 5th ed. Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. Belmont, CA.
Websites:
- Best of History Websites
- CNN Website
- Time Magazine Webiste
- AP World History Complete Course and Exam Information Website
Class Materials:
Items you will need to bring to class:
1. Book (Bring your book everyday unless instructed to do otherwise!)
2. Pen/pencil (Students, make sure your pencils are sharpened and ready once I
walk into the classroom.)
3. Notebook (Students, make sure you have a notebook specifically for this class)
4- You will need a folder preferably a binder with page separators (for handouts).
5-Looseleaf
Rules and Procedures:
1. NO GUM CHEWING or eating/drinking anything in class!!!!!!
2. Shirts must be tucked in.
3. No sagging pants. Pants will be pulled up at all times.
4. Students will respect one another. There is zero tolerance to bullying or horsing around OF ANY SORT. Students will be reprimanded for ANY level of horsing around.
5. You must get to class on time. If you are late, you must have a pass.
6. Passes: Students are not allowed to leave the class room during the first fifteen minutes and last fifteen minutes of class. This is a school-wide policy. When you do leave the classroom students must have a pass and it must be signed by the teacher of that class room with the date and time written next to the name.
7. When you leave, leave in an orderly fashion (chairs pushed in, trash thrown away, all belongings taken with you).
Consequences for tardiness:
1. Verbal Warning
2. Student Conference
3. Conference/Parent Phone Call
4. Student will lose the opportunity to use notes on currently scheduled test
Behavior Rewards and Consequences:
Rewards Consequences
1. The most important reward is LEARNING. 1. Warning
2. Verbal Praise 2. Teacher / Student Conference
3. Self-Confidence 3. Call to Parent or Guardian
4. The “Jackpot” 4. Referral to the office***
***Immediate Referrals for profanity, fighting, insubordination, etc.
Grades I do NOT give grades. You must earn your grade in this class.
Grading Scale:
90-100% A The student’s work is exemplary and is completed in a timely and independent manner. The work shows
a high level of understanding or performance.
80%-89% B The student’s work is above average and has been completed in a timely and independent manner. The
work shows a clear level of understanding or performance.
70%-79% C The student’s work is satisfactory and may or may not be completed in a timely/independent manner.
60%-69% D The student’s work barely meets requirements and work is not completed in a timely or independent
manner.
0%-59% F The student’s work does not meet the minimum standards of Or unacceptable understanding or
performance or work is not the student’s personal best
Weight in the Grading Scale:
This is how your assignments will be weighed:
Homework: (Worksheets; Work Packets; Outlines; Notes; Class Discussion) etc…………………………………………………………………………………...…........................................10%
Participation: (Do Now, Exit Slips, Book Assignments, Journal Articles,
IndependentWork)………………………………………………………..…………… ................................15%
Assessments: (Quizzes, Tests, Final Exams, Benchmarks, EOC Exams, Final Exams)……………………………………………………………………………...…...................................................35%
Classwork: (Projects, Presentations, Document Analysis, Research Papers, Essays)………………………………………………………………………………......................................................40%
Click the on link below to view my course syllabus in its entirety:
ap_world_history_course_syllabus_2019.doc | |
File Size: | 235 kb |
File Type: | doc |