Syllabus - AP World


Honors World History Ridge View High School Dr. G. Michael Bates
Syllabus

Course Description:
This course is presented to freshmen enrolled in the Ridge View Scholars Academy. It is a pre-AP course based on the curriculum established by the College Board for AP World History. The AP World curriculum does not include the study of Europe, and the Honors World History curriculum has been modified to include it. In addition to providing a basic narrative of events and movements that shaped the development of human society, the goals of the Advanced Placement World History Program are to develop:

An understanding of some of the principle themes in world history An ability to analyze historical evidence An ability to analyze and to express historical understanding in writing.
Scope and Sequence:

	I. Foundations (8000 B.C.E. - 600 C.E)
	A. Early Man and His Society
	B. Classical Civilizations
	C. Late Classical Period (200 - 600)
	II. 600 - 1450
	A. Emerging Empires
	B. Islamic World
	C. Interregional Networks
	D. Chinese Expansion
	E. Europe
	F. Amerindian World

Text:
	*Elisabeth G. Ellis and Anthony Esler, World History: Connections to Today, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006.*

Supplemental Text:
	*Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, and William B. Wheeler, Discovering the Western Past, Volume II, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008.*

Teaching Units:
	What is History?	Chapter 28
	This unit is offered as part of the USC Collaborative established two years ago between Ridge View Social Studies faculty and faculty from the USC School of Education.
		Assignments:
	Foundations 8000 B.C.E. - 600 C.E.
		Text: Chapter 1
		Supp: DWP 1
		Text: Chapter 2
		Supp: DWP 2
		Text: Chapter 3
		Text: Chapter 4
		Text: Chapter 5
		Supp: DWP 3
		Text: Chapter 6
		Supp: DWP 4
		Supp: DWP 5
	600 - 1450 C.E.
		Text: Chapter 7
		Text: Chapter 8
		Supp: DWP 6
		Text: Chapter 9
		Supp: DWP 7
		Supp: DWP 8
		Supp: DWP 9
		Supp: DWP 10
		Text: Chapter 10
		Text: Chapter 11
		Text: Chapter 12
		Text: Chapter 13
		Text: Chapter 14

A special note to parents:
Current assignments, course outlines and other valuable information will be posted on the district Blackboard.com website, https://bb.richland2.org/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp.. Please become familiar with this resource. Your student can show you how to access and use Blackboard.

Goals and Expectations:
	Honors World History is one of the core courses required for successful completion of the Ridge View Scholars Academy program. The content is extensive and the work load is rigorous. One of the most important goals of the course is to provide students with the skills necessary to read and understand a wide range of materials including the text, primary source documents, historical monographs, Internet sources, and historical fiction. In order to achieve this goal, students will be held strictly accountable for the completion of all reading assignments. Specific techniques for taking notes on various types of reading assignments type will be taught and students will be required to use these techniques.

	A major focus of the course is to provide students with the study skills necessary to succeed in a rigorous academic program including: note taking, test preparation, organization, the establishment and maintenance of study groups, and the formulation of study questions. As members of the Scholars Academy, students are also expected to acquire the skills necessary to produce a scholarly historical research paper. An additional major goal is to introduce students to the unique features of AP courses and the writing techniques required for success on AP exams.

	As members of a community of scholars, it is expected that all students conduct themselves in a manner that brings credit to their community. Behavioral problems are not expected and will not be tolerated. All students are expected to comply with, and will be held strictly accountable to, the Richland District Two Academic Integrity Policy. All students will be required to write and sign the Honor Code on all major assignments.

	All students will be held accountable to the Richland School District Two Academic Integrity Policy (see. p. 39 of the Student Agenda Book).

Grading Procedures:
	Because this is a pre-AP course designed to familiarize students with the AP program, testing is far less frequent than in many regular secondary courses. Students must learn how to handle larger blocks of material in order to succeed on AP exams. Major tests will only be given when an entire block of information has been covered, making possible the kind of connective and interrelated questioning found on the AP exams. More frequent quizzes based on the text and ancillary material read or discussed in class will be given, but major tests will not necessarily coincide with grade reporting dates used in the district.

	All grades given to students will be recorded in their Agenda Book, and each Friday students will be given five minutes to calculate their current average based upon completed work and record that average in their Agenda Book. All work receiving a grade of 77 or below will be sent home for parent signature, and parents are asked to initial that grade in the Agenda Book.

	Interim grade reports are given to students every three weeks. Interim grades represent grades received during the three-week grading period for each interim.

	Nine week grade reports reflect an average of student work completed during nine weeks. It is a snapshot of student performance based on the various weights of assignments, and not an average of interim grades.

	Students receive two cumulative semester grades over the course of the year. The cumulative grade represents work on all assignments completed over the entire semester. Because different grades carry different weights, grades are not averaged. Below is a representation of the relative weight given to each type of assignment.

	Homework	20%
	Quizzes	20%
	Projects	20%
	NHD	20%
	Tests	20%

	Because this course focuses on skills acquisition, more weight is given to work produced after students have acquired those core skills than to work produced while they are working on acquiring them. Below is a representation of the relative weight given to each grading period.

	First Semester
	1st Nine Weeks	30%
	2nd Nine Weeks	50%
	Exam	20%
	Second Semester
	3rd Nine Weeks	40%
	4th Nine Weeks	40%
	Exam	20%
	Year
	1st Semester	40%
	2nd Semester	60%

	Students will be given five minutes each Friday to calculate their grade and to record attendance in their agenda book.


Special Assignments:
	Parallel Reading:
	Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders, New York, Penguin Books, 2001. ISBN 0-14-200143-0
	Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, New York, Anchor Books, 1994. ISBN 0-385-47454-7
	Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner, New York, riverhead Books, 2004. ISBN 1-59448-000-1
	Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers, New York, Ace Books, 1987. ISBN 0-441-78358-9

	Research Project:
	Students will select and have approved an historical research topic in line with the theme adopted for the National History Day competition. The paper will have the same requirements of the competition. We will use the Chicago Manual of Style, for all bibliographic and footnote entries. You may use Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers, 6th edition, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1996 (ISBN 0-226-81627-3), or you may use Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference, 6th edition, Boston, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. This work would provide a valuable resource that would be ideal to carry away to college. It contains format styles for CMS, APA, and MLA.
	Basic research requirements include:
	Students will identify and have approved an appropriate topic.
	*Students will read appropriate articles in either the Encyclopedia Britannica* or the Americana to familiarize themselves with established historical interpretations.**
	Students will consult a minimum of ten of the most important secondary sources on their topic.
	Students will then identify a research question that developed as a result of their reading of the secondary sources, to be pursued in the primary sources. They are to consult a minimum of ten primary sources in an attempt to answer that research question.
	Students will prepare a 2500 word paper that answers their research question.
	Precise requirements and rubrics for the research and paper are posted on Blackboard.

Materials:
	3 ring loose leaf notebook and paper (college ruled or wide ruled)
	Dividers (4 required)
	Class Notes and Study Notes
	Reading Notes
	Study Notes
	Maps
	Articles
	Three-hole ruler to be kept in the notebook
	Colored pencils
	Pens:
	Black (preferred, but not required)
	Red
	Yellow legal pad (8 ½ x 11, preferably pre-punched)

Parental Assistance:
	If you would like to assist your student with the Reading for Mastery techniques that I emphasize please view this narration that explains what I ask them to do. If you have further questions please feel free to contact me. 4W's Instruction Narration

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