Course Syllabus

Instructor: Jeffrey Arrowood
E-mail: arrowoodj@mfldacs.net

Web Sites:

http://cchsmoraltheology.blogspot.com for daily class journal

http://www.schoolnotes.com/54449/arrowood.html for weekly homework schedule

Course Description: this class has a two-fold purpose. The first is the academic aim, to prepare you for college by helping you to develop the skills of a good historian and by helping you to become more intimately familiar with the story of the United States of America. The second purpose is to prepare you for the Advanced Placement United States History exam. This exam, if you choose to take it, could earn you college credit in United States History.

Materials needed:

Textbook: American Pageant – provided

Primary source book: U.S. History and Government Readings and Documents – to be purchased $12.00

3-ringed binder or folder

Notebook dedicated to this class alone

Loose leaf paper

College Credit

Students have the option of trying for college credit through the Advanced Placement United States History exam. They must pay the exam fee of $82.00 and receive an acceptable score on the exam in May. The number of college credits awarded depends on the policy of the college in which you enroll.

Prerequisites

This course is the culmination of a college prep sequence in high school history/social studies. Prerequisites include:

Be of junior or senior status (at the time this course is taken);

Have at least a B grade average overall, and at least a B- grade at semester in history

Obtain the written signature of approval from your history teacher before registration;

Be motivated to work hard;

Agree to and sign the Advanced Placement United States History Student Contract

Teaching Philosophy & Key Concepts of the Course

“History … should above all explain: It should give ‘the how and the why.’ It is the business of history to make people understand how they came to be; what was the origin and progress of the state of which they form a part; what were the causes that influenced each phase of change from the beginning almost to our own time” (Hilaire Belloc, A Shorter History of England).

The goal of this course is to teach you how to think like a historian. In the study of history, the truth requires the knowledge of three distinct facets of historical reality: historical chronology (when things happen), historical mechanics (how things happen), and historical philosophy (why things happen). Historical philosophy is dependant on the first two, but is the most important of the three. If we don’t know why things happened, history remains devoid of meaning; it makes no sense (borrowed from “Past Present” by Joseph Pearce, found in This Rock December 2004 issue).

While knowledge of the objective material of history (names, dates, events, etc.) is important, the final goal of this course is to enable you to develop an historical theory and support that theory using reason and objective fact.

History plays an important role in the understanding of human nature because it teaches us about the good and the evil of the human condition. These ideas are worthy of thought and reflection. To enter into a dialogue with history exercises our intellect in the search for what is true, good and beautiful and in the search to understand ourselves as Americans.

Furthermore, thinking about these great ideas exercises your free will. People who think deeply and carefully do not just passively absorb what is on television, in the movies, or in entertainment literature. They examine their life philosophies and ideas so that they do not unconsciously absorb the philosophies and ideas of those around them. As a result, they do not become products of forces they do not choose. They make up their own minds about what to think and who to become.

A good place to start is to take charge of the ideas that you have about history. Learn to think consciously, deliberately, and skillfully about the ideas and philosophies you find in history. This process can help you to remake your own mind and to understand its inner workings, to take control so that you can make it healthy and fit and fine-tuned.

Whenever you are doing a task in or for this class, ask yourself, “would an independent observer watching me closely conclude that I am engaged in taking charge of my mind, or my ideas about history, or would such a person conclude that I am merely going through the motions of doing an assignment, trying to succeed by rote memorization?”

General Course Plan

A chapter will be assigned. Students will be responsible for reading the chapter and filling out the objective study guide. Some terms on the study guide may not appear in the chapter. Students are expected to research those terms. An Internet or encyclopedia search is fine for the study guide.

We will discuss an important historical issue based on the Thinking-it-Through Questions (TTQ) for the chapter and generate problems and questions as a class.

Students will choose one of the generated questions to research. They will be given the task of a class presentation or a written report.

Class discussion will focus on the student research and primary sources they find.

Students will take a quiz on the objective study guide for each chapter

At the end of each unit, you will take two tests. One of these tests will be an objective test (multiple choice, true/false) and the other will be an in-class essay based on the TTQs.

Course Goals, Objectives, and Assessments

Goal 1: Students will explore the various philosophies that make up the American identity.

Objective 1: Students will derive meaning from historical works (primary sources) and learn how to extrapolate political philosophies and beliefs.

Objective 2: Students will synthesize a description of American identity from the various philosophies explored in class

Objective 3: Students will analyze how American identity has evolved and changed through the progression of history

Assessment: participation, presentations, essays, informal writing activities, informal and formal analysis activities

Goal 2: Students will gain objective knowledge of American history

Objective 1: Students will memorize key names, events, dates and documents

Objective 2: Students will understand how these names, events, dates, and documents fit into and affect the big picture of US History.

Assessment: quizzes, tests, essays, participation, worksheets

Goal 3: Students will read primary and secondary historical sources both critically and reflectively

Objective 1: Students will be able to formulate interpretive questions about a historical text.

Objective 2: Students will be able to use interpretive questions to analyze and interpret historical texts.

Objective 3: Students will be able to compare and contrast historical texts

Objective 4: Students will be able to articulate and defend their responses to historical texts

Objective 5: Students will grow in proficiency of the intellectual standards in their interaction with each other and with the teacher about historical texts

Assessment: Primary source activities and essays, TTQ discussions and essays, participation, informal writing activities, informal interpretive activities

Goal 4: Students will formulate and defend a thesis statement about a historical theory

Objective 1: Students will be able to synthesize historical knowledge to find patterns and develop theories about motivations behind and effects of historical events and movements.

Objective 2: Students will defend their thesis and minor claims using significant and relevant historical evidence and solid reasoning

Objective 3: Students will show a mastery of intellectual standards in their writing

Assessment: Research papers, TTQ discussions, TTQ essays, essay tests

Goal 5: Students will gain appreciation for history as a study of the human condition

Objective 1: Students will learn that a mature view of history is a complex analysis of human goodness and human evil

Objective 2: Students will learn that historical events are motivated by philosophies and worldviews, thus understanding the importance of these things in modern American culture

Objective 3: Students will explore themes in history that explore the great questions of the human condition, and enter into a dialogue with the historical knowledge regarding these themes

Assessment: Participation, essays, TTQ discussions

Grading system

Grades will be based on the following …

Unit tests: worth 200 points each – 100 points for the objective test, 100 points for the essay test.

Chapter quizzes: worth 10-25 points each.

Research assignments: worth 50-100 points each.

Participation (including listening and completed assignments as well as discussion): worth 25 points each quarter. Participation will be graded based on how well your participation meets the goals and objectives of the course, based on specific outcomes and on student self-assessment.

First semester exam (cumulative): worth 150 points for the semester grade.

Since the AP Exam takes place in May, there is not second semester exam. Second semester will be a simple tally of unit tests, quizzes and assignments.

Grading Expectations: Intellectual Standards

Clarity: When you write something that cannot be interpreted or understood by your reader so that they clearly recognize the ideas you are trying to communicate, you demonstrate that you are writing, and presumably thinking, in a vague way. You should therefore strive to write so that you make clear precisely what you mean.

Precision: When you write sentences or use terms that can be interpreted in many different ways and you do not make clear which meaning you intend, you demonstrate that you are writing, and presumably thinking, in a vague way. You should therefore define key terms and concepts so their specific meanings are clear.

Accuracy: When you do not give concrete examples and illustrations to support your thesis and minor claims, you demonstrate that you do not know how to develop and bolster your ideas. You should therefore give examples and illustrations to strengthen your arguments.

Relevance: When you fail to explicitly show how your thesis and minor claims follow from specific elements of the question at hand, you demonstrate that you may not be truly dealing with the question, but may instead be “free thinking” or misunderstanding the concept. You should therefore make the connection between your ideas and the question explicitly known.

Significance: When you do not focus on the most important concepts or evidences, you demonstrate that you do not understand the ideas that make the question important, and are therefore not reflecting on these ideas. You should therefore identify and think about the most important universal ideas related to the question rather than getting lost in the specific details or less important ideas.

Logic: When you fail to make the connection between your minor premises, or between your minor premises and your thesis, you show that you do not understand your own argument and are unable to defend it. You should therefore make sure that you are explicitly showing how your argument is built and how the parts of the argument fit together to support your thesis.

Breadth: When you fail to acknowledge other possible ways of looking at your thesis, or possible contradictions to your arguments, you show that you do not fully understand the idea you are reflecting on. You should therefore consider and analyze all ways to see your thesis and arguments against it.

Depth: When you fail to consider the complexity of the idea you are reflecting on, you reveal that you do not fully understand it. You should therefore think carefully and completely about the idea and consider all aspects of it.

Scope & Sequence

Units will break down into the following chapters …

Unit 1: Early Settlement (chapters 1-5)

Unit 2: French-Indian War and the American Revolution (chapters 6-8).

Unit 3: Forging a New Nation (chapters 9-12).

Unit 4: Jacksonian Democracy (chapters 13-17).

Unit 5: Drifting Toward Disunion (chapters 18-21).

Unit 6: The Civil War (chapters 22-24).

Unit 7: The Gilded Age and the Industrial Revolution (chapters 25-29).

Teacher obligations for this class

To know the subject material and prepare handouts and lectures that will help students understand that material

To organize the course in a meaningful way so that knowledge builds over the semester leading to an increased sophistication and sensibility

To consider student concerns regarding time management when assigning reading and constructing requirements for the class

To guide classroom discussion so that each student has an opportunity to participate, and to welcome student participation with respect for all students as learners and persons

To grade fairly and to meet with students in conference to answer questions about grading or instructor comments on papers

Student obligations for this class

To read and agree to the Advanced Placement United States History Student Contract

To read all assigned material and come to class prepared to discuss that material

To participate in all class activities. This includes being attentive when other students are speaking or making oral presentations

To complete all assignments on time, and to provide drafts and revisions of assignments as requested by the instructor

To respect all members of the class as learners, teachers, and as persons. To enter into respectful reasoned discourse in response to disagreements. As Christians, we are called to treat each other with dignity and charity. Common courtesy, awareness of each other’s needs, caring communication, and observance of the safety and comfort of those around us are all part of this call.

To enter fully into the learning process and to do your own work. Since the goal of this course is for you to become your own thinker, it is imperative that you do your own thinking and your own work. Essays need to be completely your own thought process. Plagiarism in part or in whole will result in a zero, not just a failure, for the paper. Suspected plagiarism that cannot be proven will be brought to the attention of the student, who will be given a chance to assert his or her thought process in dialogue with me. Quizzes and tests are meant to train you to become better readers, and must therefore be conquered through your skills in reading and thinking. Copying or cheating on these quizzes or tests will result in a zero, not just a failure, of the quiz or test. The same is true for any assignment given in the course of this class.

To take pride in your work as a learner and scholar. Please type all assignments except informal in-class assignments. Please make all assignments neat and presentable before handing them in. Use only loose-leaf paper for collected assignments.

If you are absent, the best way to make up what was missed is by checking the daily journal Internet site and the weekly homework schedule. All necessary notes and any discussions notes recorded for the day will appear there, along with homework assignments. If Internet is not available, request an assignment sheet from the office. You must take the initiative to make up missed work!

Communication

My preferred method of communication to students and to parents is e-mail and Internet communication. If you have access to a computer, please take advantage of the daily class journal and weekly homework schedule. You may also choose to have grade reports sent to you by e-mail and put onto an Internet grade report that you can access whenever you wish.

posted by Jeffrey @ Tuesday, September 06, 2005