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Advanced Placement World History Course Syllabus 2008-2009 Jonathan Henderson
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Course Description
AP World History is an
advanced level course designed to prepare students for the Advanced Placement
exam administered by the College Board in May of each year. Final test scores
are reported on a 5 point basis; students who score a 3 or better may earn
college credit, advanced placement, or both, depending on their college. Success in this course can be extremely
advantageous to your college application.
Despite the fact that
Forsyth County Schools offer this class primarily to sophomores, this is a college-level course and will be
treated as such in every respect. Students
should be aware that college courses require inordinately more reading,
writing, and analytical skills than their high school counterparts. It is impossible to cover all the material
for the AP test in the time we have this year.
Consequently, you must read all the assigned material. Class discussions and lectures are designed
to compliment the text readings, not to
reinforce them. Please understand that I will test you on reading material not
covered in class and you will not be successful in this class without reading
the assignments. One of my goals
for this class is to create an atmosphere of relaxed alertness, intellectual
freedom and analytic discussions. This
cannot be accomplished if you come to class unprepared.
This course will be
different than the traditional high school World History or Western
Civilization course. In short, the
approach will be truly global, analyzing and comparing developments in many
different regions through five time periods.
To manage the daunting scope of the subject material, this course has been
developed around five themes.
Course Themes
- The Interaction between Humans and the
Environment
- The Development and Interaction of Cultures
- State-Building, Expansion, and Conflict
- Creation, Expansion, and interaction of
Economic Systems
- Development and Transformation of Social
Structures
Time Periods and Exam Dates
Chronologically, the course
will be broken down into the following time periods with unit exams following
each. All of the following dates are tentative except the May 14 AP Exam.
I. Foundations 8000 B.C.E. to 600 C.E. September 26
II. 600-1450 November
13
III. 1450-1750 January 21
IV. 1750-1914 March 11
V. 1914-the present May 5
APWH EXAM May 14
Requirements
Supplies
Every student needs a separate
folder or notebook for this class. It should contain notes, handouts from
class, this syllabus, and all grading rubrics for the essays. Everyday students
will need something to write with and something to write on. On Unit test days students will need a pencil for scan-tron
tests. And finally, each student will need a yellow, blue, and green highlighter (one of each) for
self-assessments on the essays.
Reading Quizzes
The most frequent grade in
this class will be quizzes on assigned readings. These will count as formative assessments
(40% of total grade) and will occur on average about once per week.
Essays
Every two or three weeks
you will write a timed in-class essay modeled on the essays from the APWH test
in May. These will count as summative assessments
(60% of total grade).
Exams
The five Unit exams in this
class will follow the format of the AP exam you will take in May. Each exam will be comprised of
multiple-choice questions and an essay question. These count as summative assessments (60%).
Review Project
There will be a major
review project in during the 5 review days immediately preceding the AP Test in
May. This project will not only give each student an opportunity to improve his
or her grade, but it will also serve as a much needed review for course
content. The grade from this review will count as the students’ Final Exam
grade.
TEXTBOOKS AND RESOURCES
The primary text for this
class is:
Bently, Jerry
H., et al, Traditions and
Encounters, 3rd edition (
The cost of this textbook is
$89.00 and must be paid by the student if lost.
Other required reading: Documents and primary sources available
in class, on my website, or in the library.
Technology
Please let me know if you
have any limitations concerning internet access so I can make accommodations
for you. Unless notified at the
beginning of the year, I will assume that all students have access to the internet.
In addition to class notes, my class website (www.historyhaven.com)
will be used for essay help and review materials. Also, we will use Angel
Learning for homework, discussion forums, and review exercises.
GRADING
The semester and quarter
grades for this class will be calculated according to the following guidelines:
Summative Assessments 60%
Formative Assessments 40%
Note:
Unit Exams will be graded on the College Board guidelines for AP test, not
on an exact percentage.
Each grading period
students will get a participation grade. The default value of this grade is a
100 percent for everyone. Points from that grade are deducted only as students
come to class unprepared, excessively tardy, or become disruptive, incompliant,
or off task in class. Thus no student will lose participation points for being
naturally quiet.
Makeup and Late Work
Makeup Work: All missed work and assessments
are the responsibility of the student when they are absent from school. A student who is absent on the class day
before a regularly scheduled assessment will be responsible for completing the
assignment on the regularly scheduled day and time. Students who have been absent more than two
consecutive days (including the assessment day) will be given five (5) school
days to make up the assessment and/or other assignments. This does not include major projects,
research papers, etc., where the deadline has been posted in advance. The teacher has the discretion to grant a
longer period of time to make up work if there are extenuating circumstances. Unit Exams and in-class Essays must be made
up in at least 5 class days. Although make-up work cannot be done during
class time, the Instructional Focus included in this year’ schedule is a
perfect opportunity for this.
Late Work Policy:
Late work from unexcused absences or negligence will drop 15 points per
day and must be made up within 5 days. Because you are enrolled in a
college level class the burden of responsibility falls upon you to get it done.
I will not chase you down.
If
need be, I will work with you on an individual basis, either before or after
school, to help you master this class; my goal is your success. But part of
that success is learning responsibility. Thus I do not offer gratuitous bonus
or extra credit projects to repair your grade from the effects of habitual
tardiness or laziness.
Cheating - Parents
and Students please note:
Academic integrity is a cornerstone of the
educational process at WFHS. Any student caught cheating, which includes any
form plagiarism on submitted work or collusion with students in other sections
of APWH, will result in a zero on the assignment and an automatic disciplinary
referral. If you are not sure what constitutes plagiarism, see me before
submitting your work.
Please
feel free to contact me for any reason.
Jonathan
Henderson
Address (at
school)
Room# 2836
Phone: 770-888-3470
ex 332836
email (at school) jhenderson@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Alternate email: henderson678@yahoo.com