|
Advanced
Placement World History Course
Syllabus 2007-2008 www.historyhaven.com Jonathan
Henderson |
|
Course
Description
AP
World History is an advanced level course designed to prepare students for the Advanced
Placement exam administered by the College Board in May of each year. Final test scores are reported on a 5 point
basis; students who score a 3 or better may earn college credit, advanced
placement, or both, depending on their college.
This
course will be much different than the traditional high school World History or
Western Civilization course. European
History will comprise only about 30% of the course. American History is considered only to the
extent of its involvement in global processes.
In short, the approach will be truly global, analyzing and comparing
developments in many different regions through five time periods. To manage the daunting scope of the subject
material, this course has been developed around six organizational themes.
Course Themes
The
themes round which this course will be taught are:
·
the impact of interaction among major societies
·
the relation of change and continuity from 1000 to the present
·
the impact of technology and demography on people and the environment
·
systems of social and gender structure
·
cultural and intellectual movements among and within societies
·
changes in functions and structures of states
Time Periods and Exam Dates
Chronologically,
the course will be broken down into the following time periods with unit exams
following each. All of the following dates are tentative except the May 15 AP Exam.
I.
Foundations 8000 B.C.E. to 600
C.E. September 25
II.
IV. 1750-1914 March
12
V.
1914-the present May
5
APWH EXAM May 15
Requirements
This
is a college-level course and will be treated as such in every respect. Students should be aware that college
courses require inordinately more reading and writing than their high school
counterparts. It is impossible to
cover all the material for the AP test in the 79 days we have this
semester. Consequently, it is imperative
that you read all the assigned material.
Class discussions and lectures are designed to compliment the text
readings, not reinforce them. Please
understand that I will test you on reading material not covered in class and you will
not be successful in this class without reading the assignments. One of my goals for this class is to create
an atmosphere of relaxed alertness, intellectual freedom and analytic
discussions. This cannot be accomplished
if you come to class unprepared.
All
students must have an email account (see me if you need one.) Internet access is highly recommended.
Reading Quizzes
The
most frequent grade in this class will be quizzes on assigned readings. These will count as formative assessments
(40% of total grade).
Essays
Every
one or two weeks you will write a timed in-class essay in the format of the
essays you will write on the APWH test in May.
These will count as summative assessments (60% of total grade). Students
will need three highlighters (yellow, green and blue) for self assessments.
Exams
The
five Unit exams in this class will follow the format of the AP exam you will
take in May. Each exam will be comprised
of multiple-choice questions and an essay question. These count as summative assessments (60%).
Projects and writing
assignments
There
will be a group project on the 5 APWH units of study. The class will be divided into groups and
each group will research the six APWH themes for the given period and report it
to the class as a PowerPoint presentation at a specified time.
Notebook
Every
student is also required to keep a notebook.
The notebook will contain this syllabus, class notes, papers and
handouts, essay rubrics, and all documents used in class.
TEXTBOOKS
The
primary text for this class is:
Bently,
Jerry H., et al, Traditions and
Encounters, 3rd edition (
Other
required reading:
Documents
and primary sources available in class, on my website, or on reserve in the library.
The class
website is:
www.historyhaven.com
GRADING
The
semester and quarter grades for this class will be calculated according to the
following guidelines:
Summative Assessments 60%
Formative Assessments 40%
Note: Unit Exams will be graded on the College Board
guidelines for AP test, not on an exact percentage.
Make-up work / missed work:
All policies included in the
South Forsyth Student Handbook apply in this class. Students will have 5 school
days to make up work missed due to an excused absence. If there is an issue
with make up or missed work, please notify me prior to the event if possible.
Decisions about make-up work will be made on a case-by-case basis.
It is the responsibility of
the student on the day of his/her return to school to speak with me to arrange
for make-up work, either before or after class. No make-up work will be done
during class time. It is the student’s
responsibility to get class notes missed during an absence and the lack of
notes due to absences will not excuse the student on test days.
All tests and projects are
announced several days in advance. A student who is absent the day of a test
will be expected to take the test within five (5) school days of
his/her absence. Projects, such as book reports, are scheduled far in advance
of the due date and, as such, are expected to be submitted the day the student
returns to class.
Cheating - Parents
and Students please note:
Academic integrity is a cornerstone of the educational
process at SFHS Any student caught cheating, which is any form plagiarism on submitted
work, or, during quizzes and tests, any form of communication, including, but
not limited to, talking, wandering eyes, the use of hand signals / gestures,
the use of electronic devices or pre-written material will result in a zero on
the assignment and an automatic disciplinary referral. If you are not sure what
constitutes plagiarism, see me before submitting your work.
– NO
EXCEPTIONS.