AP United States History Mrs. O’Shea CHSAS

What are AP courses? Advanced Placement courses are college level courses. The curriculum (what we will study) is designed by College Board – non-profit that administers SAT and PSAT.

Why take this class? Challenge yourself! Push yourself to reach your maximum potential. Many freshman are shocked at the intensity of college courses. This class will get you acclimated to the difficulty levels of college courses before you get there. Prepare you to score at least a 3 on the AP test to obtain college credit. More than 3,600 schools recognize these classes as college level classes. Help you stand out on college applications Grow as an intellectual – debates issues, write persuasively, solve problems

What is involved in the AP testing? Tests are administered in May. Scores range from 1-5 (5 = high score). Most colleges/universities accept scores of 3 and above for college credit or advanced placement.

What is the test like? The test is 3 hours and five minutes long. 55 minutes - 80 multiple choice questions 130 minute free response – DBQs and essays To score a grade of 3 or above, you need to answer about 60 percent of the multiple-choice questions correctly—and write acceptable essays in the free-response section.

What material am I tested on? 20% of the questions = up to the year % of the questions = years 1790 through % of the questions = years 1915 to the present 35% of the questions are on political institutions, behavior, and public policy 40% of the questions are about social and cultural developments 15% of the questions cover diplomacy and international relations 10% of the questions cover economic developments

What are we going to do in class to prepare for the test? READ, READ, READ – college level textbook, articles, fiction Analyze everything – question everything (primary sources, maps, graphs, charts) WRITE, WRITE, WRITE – developing thesis statements, building arguments, using knowledge and documents appropriately Collaborating – building up each other

Weekly Agenda (subject to change with changes in school schedule) Monday – Reading and Discussion Questions (due Tuesday – school or not!!!!) Tuesday – Multiple Choice Test on reading questions DBQs/APPARTS Wednesday – DBQs/APPARTS Thursday – Whole Class Discussion/Small Groups Discussion Friday – Writing Tests