Class Information & Syllabus
DMACC 150 & 153/College A.P. U.S. History (APUSH)
Mrs. Canada Snyder
Email:
Class Website: www.historylearner.com
This course is designed to be a challenging, entry-level college survey course in United States History. It is two semesters, or DMACC 150 & 153. The course examines the nations’ political, diplomatic, intellectual, cultural, social and economic history from 1491 to present. The students will be prepared to successfully pass the A.P. United States History Exam, which is given Friday, May 5 at 8am. Having a strong work ethic coupled with solid reading and writing skills are essential to succeeding. An emphasis on critical thinking and evaluating skills, timed essay writing, and interpretation of primary and secondary documents will be evident throughout the year.
Grading Scale-SRG Topics Assessed:
3-4 A(Honors) Chronological Reasoning
2.75-2.99 A Comparison and Contextualization
2.5-2.74 B Historical Source Interpretation
2-2.49 C Creating and Supporting an Argument from Evidence
1.99 or below D Writing for AP/College Level
Key Concepts
Course Objectives:
v Master a broad body of historical knowledge
v Master State of Iowa US history standards
v Master DMACC objectives
v Use historical data to support a thesis
v Interpret and apply data from original documents, cartoons, graphs, letters etc.
v Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, compare and contrast, etc.
v Understand various interpretations of historical events and people through a variety of supplemental readings by historians
v Write, think and act as historians
v Prepare for AP test
Short List of College-level Texts Utilized:
Give Me Liberty: An American History, 2011 by Eric Foner
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
History in the Making by Kyle Ward
Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen
Historical Thinking Skills by John Irish
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Course Organization: During the course of each historical period, students will be responsible for textbook readings, primary and secondary source readings as well as class and small group discussions, long essays, short answer essays and DBQ’s. In addition, students will present a lesson to the class each week based on the current period of study. Students will experience and understand change over time and cause and effect in a variety of ways.
Course Format:
College Credit: Please note that by taking this course you are signing up for college credit. This is a great education and financial benefit to you and your parents! You will earn 8 DMACC hours.
Reading. Each student is responsible for reading the assigned material. This includes selections from the textbook, printed readings, and online readings. Cornell notes will be turned in from the text for points when requested. Notes from text readings must be hand-written. Reading quizzes will be given.
Note taking. Students are expected to take notes in class. Writing what you hear requires paying attention and processing the material. These activities improve your comprehension and retention of information. If you are absent, please copy someone else’s notes. View the note-taking guide on our class website to learn Cornell note-taking. It works well for lectures and text reading.
Homework. Many of your assignments will be reading, but you will have written assignments, i.e., terms, completion sheets, charts, and essays. Some assignments may be overnight; others may be over several days. Copying homework is cheating. This will result in complete loss of points for both parties. Copying from Wikipedia is shortsighted and often results in misinformation and misunderstanding.
Participation. Much learning takes place from the exchanging of ideas. Class discussions are an excellent place for this to happen. Remember, history is analyzing and interpreting the past. Your participation is REQUIRED. Please be prepared to share your thoughts and ideas. Good class participation could boost that B++ up to an A-.
Projects. By definition, projects are greater (worth more points and requiring more effort) than homework assignments. These could be oral histories, group presentations, or papers. All projects are due on the day assigned whether you are present or not.
Testing. Tests will be administered in the AP format (see APUSH course overview). A variety of assessments will be used to determine levels of understanding. Taking tests late is not a good idea, and will be seriously frowned upon. Make-up tests, by nature, tend to be harder. In order to do well on AP exams, students need to be at least at the C level or more learning will need to occur on the student’s behalf.
Quizzes: You will have chapter quizzes and a top 40 events quiz. The chapter quizzes may or may not be announced. You will be able to use your notes on some of the quizzes, but not all. The top 40 events quiz will test your knowledge on important US historical dates. The dates are on our class website. The first time you take the quiz, you can miss 3 to earn full credit (excluding the presidential years). You may retake this quiz once, but you can only miss ONE on the retake. If you miss more than 1 on the retake, it will be a ZERO in the gradebook. You will take 2 top 40 quizzes, one for each semester and the quiz is the same for each semester.
Semester 1 Exam: Please note your semester 1 exam is BEFORE winter break, not in January. Please make sure you are present December 20 & 21 or make arrangements by December 15 to take the exam early.
Syllabus: A syllabus is an outline of a course and the topics covered—see below. It is my expectation that we will follow this syllabus with few changes. You are expected to have the chapter listed below read by the due date so you can engage in meaningful class discussions and complete assignments.
August 23-25: Introduction to course to include periodization, themes, historical thinking skills, expectations, register for DMACC and summer assignment due.
August 29-September 7: Period 1: 1491-1607 “European Contact”
Text Reading: Chapter 1, due 8-29/8-30
Assessment: 9-7/8
September 11-Sept. 29: Period 2: 1607-1764 “Age of Colonies and Conquest”
Text Reading: Chapter 2 due 9-12/13,
Chapter 3 due 9-19/20,
Chapter 4 (stop at pg 154) due 9-26/27
Terms Quiz: 9/13-A days, 9/20-B days
Assessment: 9-28/29
October 2-October 31: Period 3: 1754-1800 “Creating a New Nation”
Text Reading: from pg. 168 of Chapter 4 due 10-3/4
Chapter 5 due 10-10/11
Chapter 6 due 10-17/18
Chapter 7 and to pg 311 from Chapter 8 due 10-24/25 Terms Quiz: 10/18-B days, 10/25-A days
Assessment: 10-30/31
Nov. 1-Nov. 17: Period 4: 1800-1848 “Half Century of Change and Growing Pains”
Text Reading: Chapter 8 from pg. 311 & Chapter 9 due 11-2/3
Chapter 10 due 11-7/8
Chapter 11 due 11-9/10 (notes not required)
Chapter 12 due 11-14/15
Terms Quiz: 11/1-A days, 11/8-B days
Assessment: 11-16/17
Nov. 20-Dec.21: Period 5: 1844-1877 “Civil War and Reconstruction”
Text Reading: Chapter 13 due 11-28/29
Chapter 14 due 12-5/6
Chapter 15 due 12-12/13
Terms Quiz: 12/6-B days, 12/13-A days
Assessment: Will be included with semester 1 exam.
TOP 40 EVENTS QUIZ 11-20/21!!!!!!!
Dec. 20-21: SEMESTER ONE FINAL EXAM!!!
January 3-Jan. 30: Begin Period 6: 1865-1898 “Putting Ourselves Back Together Again”
Text Reading: Chapter 16 due 1-4/5
Chapter 17 due 1-18/19
Terms Quiz: 1/17-A days, 1/24-B days
Assessment: 1/29-30
Jan. 31 -March 8: Period 7: 1890-1945 “The BIG Unit: War, Depression and More War”
Part 1: WWI-1920s
Text Reading: Chapter 18 due 2-6/7
Chapter 19 due 2-13/14
Chapter 20 due 2-20/21
Terms Quiz #1-2/14-B days, 2/21-A days
Assessment: 2-22/23
Part 2: New Deal-WW2
Text Reading: Chapter 21 due 2-27/28
Chapter 22 due 3-6/7
Terms Quiz #2-2/28- B days, 3/7-A days
Assessment: 3-7/8
March 19-April 13: Period 8: “Another Big Unit: Post WW2-1980s”
Part 1: Cold War-1960s
Text Reading: Chapter 23 due 3-20/21
Chapter 24 due 3-27/28
Terms Quiz: 3/21-A days, 3/28-B days
Assessment: 3-28/3-29
Part 2: 1960s-1980s
Text Reading: Chapter 25 due 4-5/6
Chapter 26 due 4-10/11
Assessment: This part 2 assessment will be incorporated into semester 2 final.
TOP 40 EVENTS QUIZ 4-12/13!!!!!!!!!
April 16-April 25: Period 9: 1980-Present: “Globalization and US Role”
Text Reading: Chapter 27 due 4-17/18
Chapter 28-optional-4-24/25
April 26/27: Cumulative Final Exam!!!!!!
April 30-May 4: See semester 2 exam results and REVIEW!!!
May 7-10: REVIEW!!!
May 11: AP US History Exam @ 8am!!!!!!!!! You’ve done it!!!!!
May 14-May 31 RELAX!!! You are a genius historian!! Field Trip to Kansas City (May 17), mini units on US response to Holocaust, WWI, and Rights