216 Advanced Placement United States History
Level: L 0
Grades: 11 Three Term Block Credits: 1½
Prerequisite: Completion of summer reading as well as a minimum grade of
“B+“ in Honors US History I, or “A“ in US History I (CP-1).
Academic Contract required.
A.P. United States History is a challenging survey course that is designed
to be taught at the level of a college/university freshman-year survey
course.
In accord with College Board guidelines, students will closely examine a
series of problems and topics using a college-level textbook in addition to
a number of supplementary readings. These sources and classroom
experiences will provide the students with an overview of United States
History that will enable them to identify trends and patterns in U.S.
political, economic, social, military, cultural, and intellectual history.
Students use a variety of sources including maps, graphs, charts, cartoons,
audio-visuals, and primary and secondary readings. These materials, coupled
with a challenging textbook, help students to understand the relationship
between unit themes and concepts.
A critical aspect of the course is the student's use of primary source
documents to gain a greater understanding of the context and forces that
shape US History. These developing skills are then utilized by having the
students address document-based questions. To this end, students can
expect to write essays in both the traditional and document-based formats as
take-home assignments and timed writings.
Students will be expected to read an average of 11 textbook pages per night.
The breadth of the course content requires students to do a
considerable amount of independent study. Specific topics covered include:
Colonial America, the break with Britain and the creation of a new America,
nationalism, and sectionalism, Civil War and Reconstruction,
industrialization, the emergence of America as a 20th century world power and
subsequent super power, and America’s 20th century domestic development.
Students will normally be assigned substantial nightly reading.
Students taking this course are expected to take an Advanced Placement
practice examination as their final examination for the course. Students are
also expected to take the Advanced Placement United States
History examination in May.
For an update on the summer reading assignments for the coming academic
year, please visit the Holliston High School homepage and check under
Student/Summer Reading Assignment or Teacher/Class Pages/Social Studies.
Information about the book(s) and the reading assignments will be posted by
June 1st.
