Week of November 6

Great job getting through the first quarter!! We have completed our review of ancient history and have introduced most of the components of the AP exam. Looking forward, we will now transition into the early modern period. Our first major writing assignment of the second quarter will be the document-based question. We will begin to talk about the various components of those essays this week, and the first essay will be due sometime next week.

Monday
  • Read: Strayer 397-399, 403-409
  • Lecture: Intro to Modern Period
  • Workshop: the document-based question
  • Due: none
Wednesday
  • Read: Strayer 409-417
  • Lecture: American colonialism
  • Due: comparative chart
    • Compare North American and Latin American colonial societies using the 4 analytic categories that you think are most useful
  • Workshop: DBQ PoV & grouping

Week of October 30th

We will be taking the second quarterly exam on Wednesday of this week. You'll have an opportunity to ask questions about some items you may be unsure of on Monday. In order to make the review session most effective you should complete your review sheet as best you can in advance. I will check these for a homework grade in class. See you then...

Monday
  • Read: none
  • Ancient Mesoamerica lecture/film
  • Due: completed exam review sheet
Wednesday
  • Exam 2

Week of October 23rd

Good job with the review of ancient history that we have been working on. We are now finished with that reading material, so we can focus solely on our longer written assignments over the weekend.

Tuesday
  • Read: none
  • Due: detailed outline of change-over-time essay
  • In-class: essay workshop
Thursday
  • Read: none
  • Due: change-over-time essay
  • In-class: exam review
*our next regular exam will be held on Monday, October 31st*

Week of October 16th

Great job on the exams last week. I will hand these back on Monday and discuss them briefly. Thanks for the feedback you shared with me last Thursday. I feel really good about where we are with the process of ancient history review. Over the next week or week-and-a-half we will bring our review up to about 1450 and begin to transition into the modern period. Our pace will slow a bit and we will be going into greater depth with some of our subjects. I think this marks an important transition for us, and I hope you share my confidence in your abilities. I think we have already laid a substantial foundation of skill-sets around which we can build our body of knowledge.

Here are the assignments for the week. I know this is a lot of material to cover in one week, but that's the nature of review. Try to get through the reading before class, and assemble the id terms as you go as best you can. I will not collect them each day, but rather collect the entire set on Friday. I'll touch base with you as the week progresses and depending on how you're feeling we can push our schedule back if need be.

Monday
  • Read: packet 134-138 (on Islamic empires); 164-165 (on religious expansion)
  • Homework: id terms
    • Mecca
    • Medina
    • Five Pillars
    • Jihad
    • Caliph/Caliphate
    • Sunni/Shi'a split
    • Umayyad
    • Abbasid
Wednesday
  • Read: packet 148-154 (on Asia); 162-164 (on trade)
  • Homework: id terms 
    • T'ang/Song comparison
    • Yuan/Ming transition
    • tribute system
    • meritocracy
    • neo-Confucianism
    • Shintoism
    • Shogun
    • Daimyo
    • Bushido
    • Delhi Sultanate
Friday
  • Read: packet 154-162 (Mongols, Africa, Latin America); 167-168 (women)
  • Homework: id terms
    • Genghis/Kublai Khan
    • Hordes
    • Tamerlane
    • Kush
    • Axum
    • Swahili Coast
    • Mali/Mansa Musa
    • Benin
    • Tenochtitlan
    • Quipu 

Week of October 9th

This week we will be completing our first of two review units on ancient history with an examination on Tuesday. Their purpose has been two-fold: 1) to ensure that you have a solid grounding in the most important aspects of ancient history, and 2) to introduce the skills required for the AP exam alongside content that you already have some familiarity with. I am very pleased with our progress on those fronts, and anticipate that our second unit will proceed more quickly than the first. Good luck on the exam - I know you will do well.

Looking ahead, we will proceed with a review of the period from 600-1450 CE. Our next writing assignment will be a change-over-time essay that I will hand out on Thursday and have due the following Monday.

Tuesday
  • In-class: exam
  • hand out: 2nd review packet
Thursday
  • Read: review packet 2, pp 138-148.
  • Due: first set of term ids (the ones on Europe)
    • note-don't worry about defining the terms, just id the people, places & events

Week of October 2nd

We're making rapid progress through our review of ancient history. You are building a body of knowledge that covers the largest span of time in our course, about 10,000 years of human history. I know that can seem overwhelming but I think you're developing some good habits of mind to bring order to that knowledge. We will take our first major exam this week, which will be an all-written format. I know this is a new method of assessment for many of you and as such may seem intimidating. Keep in mind that any time you do something for the first time there is an adjustment period. I want you to know that I recognize this and we are going to work in class to ease the transition. It will be a busy week and a major milestone in the course.

Tuesday, Oct.4
  • Read: packet 117-127
  • Due: Ids & definitions for terms on 117-127; comparative chart for Han, Maurya/Gupta & Roman empires
  • In class: workshop essay introductions
Thursday, Oct. 5
  • Read: none
  • Due: Comparative essay
  • In class: review for Tuesday's exam on ancient history (to 660 CE)

**Next week - our first exam will take place on Tuesday, Oct.11.

Week of September 25

Tuesday Sept. 27
  • Read: packet pp 90-103
  • Homework: write definitions for the "Important Terms" and identifications for the "People, Places and Events" from p 128 that are mentioned on pages 90-103(see note below for explanation)
Friday Sept. 30
  • Read: packet pp 104-116
  • Homework: definitions for the terms, and ids for the people, places & events (pp104-116)
**How to write definitions and identifications**
  • Defs - write simple one line definitions that capture the meaning of the term. Ex: Agriculture - "the practice of growing food"
  • Ids - write 2-3 sentence explanations that include 1)a simple definition, 2)context in time and space, and 3)a brief statement of its historical significance (why it's important)