Many teachers prefer to provide students with a little bit of background before jumping directly into the content in Unit 1; I know I feel that way. This first portion of the class is also very important for students to begin developing their knowledge of where in the world everything is, or was.
I provide students with a few opportunities to develop their knowledge of the planet. I provide summer work for students that is not overly aggressive, but that also provides them with enough content to help them grasp what was going on by the year 1200. Context is important to the College Board, so it is equally as important to me.
Click on the link below to see the Summer Assignment I have used for the last few years. Although I do revise it from time to time, it stays relatively consistent. I took the original idea & format from a colleague, who I'm pretty sure took it from someone else.
I provide students with a few opportunities to develop their knowledge of the planet. I provide summer work for students that is not overly aggressive, but that also provides them with enough content to help them grasp what was going on by the year 1200. Context is important to the College Board, so it is equally as important to me.
Click on the link below to see the Summer Assignment I have used for the last few years. Although I do revise it from time to time, it stays relatively consistent. I took the original idea & format from a colleague, who I'm pretty sure took it from someone else.
The reasoning behind my choices on this assignment is pretty straightforward. I included the maps because the AP Test will occasionally reference specific mountain ranges, rivers, seas, and the like. Students need to have a decent idea where everything is. The same is true for simply knowing the names and general locations of the various regions around the globe. The College Board has a map in the CED with their naming conventions for each region; every teacher should use that map as a regional guide.
Maps
Knowing the locations of the various Post - Classical Civilizations is helpful at the outset of the course for both students and teachers. If they come into the class with a general idea of where China is, it will make discussing East Asia much easier from that point forward. The same is true for understanding major empires and kingdoms such as Ghana, the Abbasid Caliphate, and Srivijaya. These regions have major roles within the entire course; if students can recognize the rise and fall of states as history progresses, we start moving into deep processing and they will have an easier time recognizing and utilizing the Historical Thinking & Reasoning Skills.
Crash Course Videos
I feel that Crash Course Videos are more or less a mainstay of just about any advanced class at the high school level now. I don't usually watch them in class, but I definitely assign them as viewing for homework; this is one of the reasons I use them for this summer assignment. Students have probably already had some experience with them, they are pretty engaging, and they are relatively dense when it comes to historical content. It's like a super food for AP History.
History of the World in 100 Objects Podcast
I'm a big podcast nerd; this is the real reason why I like to use podcasts in class. These podcasts are pretty short (about 15 minutes per) and they provide all kinds of content for students, including contextualization and specific factual information. Students can begin to delve into these pretty easily and knock them all out in a single afternoon or break them over over several days. I have considered bringing in Paul Cooper's awesome Fall of Civilizations Podcast, but the length of many of them is pretty daunting. Many of the run well over two hours. I could use them, but I would have to drop some or all of the ones I have already included.
Assessing the Summer Work
This is easy. I just give them a map quiz over the various regions and they write a short answer the covers a chunk of what they watched and listened to over the summer. There is no requirement for a teacher to necessarily assess these things, so to each their own.
Maps
Knowing the locations of the various Post - Classical Civilizations is helpful at the outset of the course for both students and teachers. If they come into the class with a general idea of where China is, it will make discussing East Asia much easier from that point forward. The same is true for understanding major empires and kingdoms such as Ghana, the Abbasid Caliphate, and Srivijaya. These regions have major roles within the entire course; if students can recognize the rise and fall of states as history progresses, we start moving into deep processing and they will have an easier time recognizing and utilizing the Historical Thinking & Reasoning Skills.
Crash Course Videos
I feel that Crash Course Videos are more or less a mainstay of just about any advanced class at the high school level now. I don't usually watch them in class, but I definitely assign them as viewing for homework; this is one of the reasons I use them for this summer assignment. Students have probably already had some experience with them, they are pretty engaging, and they are relatively dense when it comes to historical content. It's like a super food for AP History.
History of the World in 100 Objects Podcast
I'm a big podcast nerd; this is the real reason why I like to use podcasts in class. These podcasts are pretty short (about 15 minutes per) and they provide all kinds of content for students, including contextualization and specific factual information. Students can begin to delve into these pretty easily and knock them all out in a single afternoon or break them over over several days. I have considered bringing in Paul Cooper's awesome Fall of Civilizations Podcast, but the length of many of them is pretty daunting. Many of the run well over two hours. I could use them, but I would have to drop some or all of the ones I have already included.
Assessing the Summer Work
This is easy. I just give them a map quiz over the various regions and they write a short answer the covers a chunk of what they watched and listened to over the summer. There is no requirement for a teacher to necessarily assess these things, so to each their own.
Staying with the theme of building context up to the late Post - Classical, the first few assignments I assign focus on developing skills more than developing content knowledge. This includes an essay assignment on Harappa to start the class, a DBQ on Ancient Rome, and a comparison of a pair of primary sources on Justinian. All of these assignments I took from the brilliant Jon Henderson; you may know him from his APWorldipedia fame. His site is awesome for reading assignments, or just for your own personal review. He led an APSI I participated in several years ago and the amount of information that man provided us was astounding. He is full of awesome teaching ideas; it was a great experience for me.
Harappan Evidence, Argument Development, & Essay
This is a great activity to start off the year because it allows students to begin recognizing the importance of inferences based on evidence. Moreover, it helps them see that there are myriad ways to organize and argue a topic and that none of them are wrong so long as you can support your claims with evidence and analysis.
Start by having the students look at the map and the image of the well. This is the basic starting point of the activity. Next, move on to the pieces of evidence about Harappa. I like to start as a whole class with this one and have us all determine a legitimate inference for the wells. After this I put them into small groups and have them determine inferences for at least two or three of the other pieces of evidence. We come back together and discuss.
Finally they move on to the final sheet; this one is meant to help them organize their argument and develop a system for explaining their position. Because so many of my students are sophomores, very few have yet to have written a historical argumentative essay. And although many are strong writers, organizing your argument effectively is incredibly important for an AP History class; students need to make the argument, support it with evidence, explain how or why the evidence supports their thesis and move on. Timing is always key in an AP History course.
Usually I will have them develop the essay in class so that I can walk around and make sure they aren't lost or moving in the wrong direction, then I have them complete the essay for homework. I have been able to knock this assignment out in a single 50 minute class period; it matters how easily they understand the concept. I usually pair it with a brief discussion on Ancient River Valley civilizations for a block.
Start by having the students look at the map and the image of the well. This is the basic starting point of the activity. Next, move on to the pieces of evidence about Harappa. I like to start as a whole class with this one and have us all determine a legitimate inference for the wells. After this I put them into small groups and have them determine inferences for at least two or three of the other pieces of evidence. We come back together and discuss.
Finally they move on to the final sheet; this one is meant to help them organize their argument and develop a system for explaining their position. Because so many of my students are sophomores, very few have yet to have written a historical argumentative essay. And although many are strong writers, organizing your argument effectively is incredibly important for an AP History class; students need to make the argument, support it with evidence, explain how or why the evidence supports their thesis and move on. Timing is always key in an AP History course.
Usually I will have them develop the essay in class so that I can walk around and make sure they aren't lost or moving in the wrong direction, then I have them complete the essay for homework. I have been able to knock this assignment out in a single 50 minute class period; it matters how easily they understand the concept. I usually pair it with a brief discussion on Ancient River Valley civilizations for a block.
Ancient Rome DBQ
I don't usually do this assignment back to back with the Harappan Essay; I like to work a little bit of review of content leading up to 1200 to give them a short break on essay development, but it isn't too long. Writing is the backbone of any AP History class; plus this one adds in what is probably the second most important aspect: document analysis.
The formatting of this DBQ is absolutely brilliant; I likely would have never thought of creating a space for students to take notes and write about the documents, nor would I have though to ask questions and organize a means to easily develop the essay. This is all Jon Henderson. Brilliantly done.
This one is less complex than the last. Simply provide the prompt, the docs, and the organizational page to the students and have at it. I normally have a class read through the first document so it make sense and everyone understands what their responsibility toward each doc is. After that, I let them work in pairs, or alone if they prefer. I move around the class and monitor their progress and help when needed.
As they get to the end, I begin to explain the organizational page, but it is really pretty self explanatory. This is usually a pretty quick breakdown and then I once again move around the room and answer questions as needed.
Just like the Harappan Essay, I have them take their notes home and develop the full essay to turn in when they return. An assignment this size can sometimes take two 50 minute classes; on a block it can pretty easily get done in one.
This one is less complex than the last. Simply provide the prompt, the docs, and the organizational page to the students and have at it. I normally have a class read through the first document so it make sense and everyone understands what their responsibility toward each doc is. After that, I let them work in pairs, or alone if they prefer. I move around the class and monitor their progress and help when needed.
As they get to the end, I begin to explain the organizational page, but it is really pretty self explanatory. This is usually a pretty quick breakdown and then I once again move around the room and answer questions as needed.
Just like the Harappan Essay, I have them take their notes home and develop the full essay to turn in when they return. An assignment this size can sometimes take two 50 minute classes; on a block it can pretty easily get done in one.
Justinian: POV, Purpose, Audience
This is a great activity to add onto the back end of the Rome DBQ. I don't usually require students to explain sourcing & situation on that first DBQ, so I begin to develop the skill with this activity.
I don't recall if Jon Henderson developed this activity himself or if someone else did it for the APSI Teacher Binder. Either way, it's a great activity.
I usually cut this page in half and give half of the students one doc and half the other, but you could give all students both docs if you chose to do so. After reading it, students discuss what the meaning of their respective doc is in small groups, then we come back to whole class and discuss. We figure out that one guy says he is awesome and the other thinks he sucks. It's a great lesson on recognizing how the audience, pov, and purpose can really impact the meaning of two docs discussing the same person.
Toward the end of class I give the big reveal that both docs were written by the same person. I then have them begin to consider how this impacts the meaning of each document. I usually have them write a five to ten sentence essay using the docs to answer the question at the top and explain why each doc is or is not a reliable source as part of their argument.
I usually cut this page in half and give half of the students one doc and half the other, but you could give all students both docs if you chose to do so. After reading it, students discuss what the meaning of their respective doc is in small groups, then we come back to whole class and discuss. We figure out that one guy says he is awesome and the other thinks he sucks. It's a great lesson on recognizing how the audience, pov, and purpose can really impact the meaning of two docs discussing the same person.
Toward the end of class I give the big reveal that both docs were written by the same person. I then have them begin to consider how this impacts the meaning of each document. I usually have them write a five to ten sentence essay using the docs to answer the question at the top and explain why each doc is or is not a reliable source as part of their argument.