Advanced Placement US History (APUSH) 2014-2015 Welcome to APUSH! Advance Placement U.S. History is a challenging course that is meant to be the equivalent of a freshman college course. It is a two-semester survey of American history from the age of exploration and discovery to the present. Solid reading and writing skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to homework and study, are necessary to succeed. The ability to adhere to reading schedules and effective note taking are critical to your success. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay writing, interpretation of original documents, and historiography. This course is designed to help students prepare for the College Board Advanced Placement Exam in U.S. History. A.P. U.S. History is an assessment based course where the grade is determined by performance on multiple choice and essay exams. Therefore, assigned homework will be in preparation for exams and not given for points. Materials needed for course: Five subject notebook Five highlighters: blue, yellow, pink, orange and green. Flash drive for projects Unit topics will cover but will not be limited to: Colonial America, A New Nation, Slavery, Westward Expansion, Technology, Immigration, The Civil War, Industrial Revolution, Urbanization, The U.S and War, The Great Depression, The Civil Rights Movement, The Rise of Conservatism, Todays Issues. The focus of these topics will deal with how they impacted what will become America on a political, economic, and social level. Grading scale for exams: A; district scale = 4 mastery B; district scale =3 proficient C; district scale = 2 basic D; district scale =1 below basic E; district scale = 0 no evidence Exams: If you are absent on exam/quiz day, it is your responsibility to reschedule with me. Make-up exams will not be taken during class time. Furthermore, the absent day must be marked as excused. Finals: Students who do not take the final exam in a course will receive an “I” (incomplete) as a grade for that course. The student then has 10 school days to complete the final exam or the incomplete grade converts to a failing grade. Furthermore, students must complete prerequisites to qualify to take the final exam in the course. Students will be required to complete at least 60% of formative assessments and must complete 100% of summative assessments to qualify to take the course final exam. Changes for the 2014-15 School Year: Progress Reports and Report Cards will continue to reflect letter grades. Points will be converted to a grade at the end of the grading period. +/- is eliminated from all final grades. The 0-100 scale will be replaced by the 0-4 scale. Teachers will move to a 0-4 “marks” scale and use a mark of 0-4 for each assignment entered in the grade book. Teachers will have the option to use Standards Based Grading (SBG). Students will need to demonstrate evidence of their learning to reach proficiency. All power points and many handouts will be accessible at www.hasanapush.wikispaces.com. Cheating: Zero tolerance. If you are caught cheating, by any means, you will earn a zero for the exam, project, quiz, etc. and a parent conference will take place as well as notification to your guidance counselor. If you are a National Honor Society member, you will be brought before the NHS faculty committee. Electronics and food: If either becomes a problem, they will not be allowed. Although this will be a trying school year for all of us, I believe that if we build strong networks within our classroom and with our classmates, a great support system can develop so that we can complete this school year successfully. I look forward to working with all of you as well as your parents. Mrs. Hasan 630.370.4700 x 4682 anahasan@u-46.org Class Period_________________________________________________________________________ Student Signature:_______________________________ Print_________________________________ Parent signature:______________________________________________________________________ e-mail: _____________________________________________________________________________ phone:______________________________________________________________________________ Due Friday August 22.