Phillips APUSH

Welcome to APUSH!  

 A rapid-paced, two-semester, college-level course, Advanced Placement United States History surveys the major themes and events that comprise the broad sweep of American history, from the eve of European colonization to the modern day. By design, this course is both reading and writing intensive, with students' routine use of college preparatory practices as well as historical thinking skills/methods inextricably tied to their overall success. The AP U.S. History course is designed to provide students with the skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in U.S. History. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students should learn to assess historical materials—their relevance to a given interpretive problem, reliability, and importance—and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship (From the Advanced Placement Course Description for AP United States History, published by the College Board). Primary goals of the course include developing a student’s (1) understanding of the principal themes in American history, (2) ability to analyze historical evidence, and (3) ability to analyze and to express historical understanding in writing and other forms of communication. Emphasis is placed on class discussion, the use of primary and secondary sources, critical reading, and analytical writing. Mastery of content is essential, but of equal value is the development of:

* study and analytical skills * constructing and evaluating historical interpretations

* critical reading of primary and secondary sources * using historical knowledge as a guide to present understanding and action

* making historical analogies * empathizing with the past & its people

Every AP course requires hard work and an unwavering commitment to intellectual growth. All students are therefore strongly encouraged to dedicate themselves to the goals of AP U.S. History, to embrace its college-level rigor and routine, and to take the College Board Advanced Placement United States History examination at the end of the school year (May), which offers the possibility of earning 6 hours of college credit. 

Email: brent.phillips@leanderisd.org

Room #- 2021, Phone Ext.# 41923

We use Google Classroom for most of our assignments. If you would like access to your child's Google Classroom account, please send me an email requesting access and I will enter your email into Google Classroom.