CollegeBoard AP Course Description The AP U.S. Government & Politics course provides an analytical perspective on government and politics in the U.S. This course involves both the study of general concepts used to interpret U.S. politics and the analysis of specific case studies. It also requires familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that constitute U.S. political reality.

AP Course General Outline The multiple-choice portion of the exam is devoted to each content area in the approximate percentages indicated. The FRQs will test students in some combination of the 6 major categories below: I.Constitutional Underpinnings of U.S. Government (5-15%) II.Political Beliefs & Behaviors (10-20%) III.Political Parties, Interest Groups, & Mass Media (10-20%) IV.Institutions of National Government: Congress, Presidency, Bureaucracy, & Federal Courts (35-45%) V.Public Policy (5-15%) VI.Civil Rights & Civil Liberties (5-15%)

The AP Test Section I: Multiple-Choice There are 60 questions. You’ll have 45 minutes to complete this section of the test. This section makes up 50% of your score. Section II: Free-Response Question (FRQ) You'll have 100 minutes to answer the 4 free-response questions. Each question is weighted equally toward your final score. For the most part, the questions require you to integrate knowledge from different content areas. You may have to discuss examples, elucidate or evaluate general principles of U.S. government and politics, and/or analyze U.S. political relationships or events. This section makes up the other 50% of your score.

Spring Time-table First Day of Class – January 5 th First Day of Class – January 5 th AP Exam – May 3 rd (in the morning); this is the first AP Exam of the year AP Exam – May 3 rd (in the morning); this is the first AP Exam of the year

Real Class Time  # of weeks before AP Exam = 17 (not including Spring Break)  # of days = 85 minus ~5 days for holidays and school functions …

Actual Days before AP Exam = ~80 (Don’t freak out – this is plenty of time to cover all the material)

Tips for Answering MC Questions  Remember, you have 45 minutes to answer all 60 questions so don’t rush through them at ludicrous speed (you’ll go plaid)  If you can eliminate 2 answer choices (or more), you should definitely guess  If you can only eliminate 1 answer choice, you should probably still guess, or you can skip it and come back to it if you have time  If you cannot eliminate an answer choice, you should skip the question and move on; however, you should not skip more than ~15% of the MC questions (no more than 9 questions)  Skipped questions count neither for nor against you on the AP Exam  Each incorrectly answered question loses you ¼ point from your score

Tips for answering FRQs  Remember, you have 100 minutes to answer all 4 questions!  Spend about 25 minutes on each question  Be sure to answer EACH part of the question  Its OK to spend more time on questions you know really well than on questions you have less knowledge about, but write something down for all 4 questions.  Write legibly and clearly label each part of the question you are answering  Details and facts are great to have…as long as they are accurate!

Our Class Structure Discussion-centered and student-focused Reading 3-4 times a week Readings will vary between 5-15 pages 1 or 2 quizzes per Unit; Units typically last days Quizzes come from the Readings and are usually questions long

Our Class Structure (continued)… Unit Tests cover all new and old material 60 multiple choice questions on each Test (just like the real AP Exam) Tests are comprised of old AP Questions (and some new questions I create) Unit Tests also include 1-2 FRQs

Class Blog The Class Blog will be an indispensible tool for you during the semester It will include, along with our daily class activities, helpful links, useful power-points, and other material designed to aid your study of US Government and Politics Our Class Blog can be found in the Teacher Blogs link under my name at