1. APUSH ‘themes’ (B.A.G.P.I.P.E.)
B = Beliefs (culture & society)
A= America (in the world, global context)
G= Geography (& environment)
P= Peopling (migration & settlement)
I= Identity (American & groups)
P= Power (political & popular)
E= Economy (work, trade, technology)

2. APUSH ‘thinking skills’
HISTORICAL CAUSATION
PATTERNS OF CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
PERIODIZATION
COMPARISON
CONTEXTUALIZATION
HISTORICAL ARGUMENTATION
APPROPRIATE USE OF HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
INTERPRETATION
SYNTHESIS

3. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Analyzing Primary Sources
Be able to explain the relevance of the author’s point of view, author’s purpose, audience and/or historical context to demonstrate understanding of the significance of a primary source.

4. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Analyzing Primary Sources
Be able to evaluate the usefulness, reliability, and/ or limitations of a primary source in answering particular historical questions.

5. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Analyzing Secondary Sources
Be able to analyze a historian’s argument and their analysis of relevant historical evidence.

6. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Analyzing Secondary Sources
Be able to analyze diverse historical interpretations.

7. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Comparison
Be able to compare diverse perspectives represented in primary and secondary sources in order to draw conclusions about one or more historical events.

8. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Comparison
Be able to compare different and similar historical developments and/ or interpretations in order to draw historically valid conclusions.

9. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Contextualization
Be able to situate historical events, developments, or processes within the broader regional, national, or global context in which they occurred in order to draw conclusions about their relative significance.

10. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Synthesis
Be able to make connections between a given historical issue and related developments in a different historical context, geographical area, period, or era, including the present.

11. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Synthesis
Be able to make connections between different themes and/or approaches* to history for a given historical issue.
*i.e. political, economic, social, cultural, or artistic history.

12. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Causation
Be able to explain long and /or short-term causes and/or effects of an historical event or process.

13. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Causation
Be able to distinguish between causation and correlation by showing an awareness of historical contingency.

14. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Patterns of Continuity and Change over Time
Be able to identify patterns of continuity and change over time and explain the significance of such patterns.

15. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Patterns of Continuity and Change over Time
Be able to explain how patterns of continuity and change over time relate to larger historical processes or themes.

16. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Periodization
Be able to explain ways historical events and processes can be organized into discrete, different, and definable historical periods.

17. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Periodization
Be able to evaluate whether a particular event or date could or could not be a turning point between different, definable historical periods, while using historical evidence.

18. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Periodization
Be able to analyze different and/or competing models of periodization.

19. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Argumentation
Be able to articulate a defensible claim about the past in the form of a clear and compelling thesis that uses multiple, diverse, or contradictory pieces of evidence.

20. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Using Evidence to Support an Argument
Be able to develop and support a historical argument in a written essay while framing the argument around a specific historical thinking skill (e.g., comparison, causation, patterns of continuity and change over time, or periodization).

21. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Using Evidence to Support and Argument
Be able to evaluate evidence to explain its relevance to a claim or thesis, providing clear and consistent links between the evidence and the argument.

22. APUSH ‘thinking skills’ Using Evidence to Support and Argument
Be able to relate diverse historical evidence in a cohesive way to illustrate a historical situation or relationships.