DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUMMER WORK!  

The summer assignment has THREE REQUIRED elements:  READING, WRITING, and MAP WORK, as well as a few optional CHALLENGES for those who are eager to dig deeper into the various topics. 

READING:  Incoming Freshman at Berman will read Part One and Part Two of the book, 1493: From Columbus's Voyage to Globalization (for young people). 1493 takes the reader on a fascinating journey alongside Columbus as he first encounters "the Americas." This unexpected encounter begins, what the author Mann claims, is a "new era in the history of life." 1493 introduces important themes, questions, and ideas that we will discuss on DAY ONE of American Studies. The total reading from 1493 is four chapters, reading from page 16 to page 133. (If possible, I recommend buying the book, so students can take notes directly in the book - highlighting important concepts, vocabulary, and any writing directly in the book any questions students may have as they read. This will allow students to readily access both the information from the book and their questions when our August discussion of 1493 begins.)

WRITING: The writing component occurs in two ways:  READING SELF QUIZ and GUIDED QUESTIONS. 

READING SELF QUIZ:  For each chapter, students will find a linked reading self-quiz. Students are REQUIRED to take this quiz after reading each chapter. The purpose of the self-quiz is for the students to check that they are reading carefully enough and that they are understanding the basic details of each chapter. The quiz is a self-graded quiz that allows the students to take and retake it up to THREE times. These quizzes will be recorded and demonstrate that the student has completed the reading.  STUDENTS MUST JOIN  "GO FORMATIVE" TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS - HERE!

GUIDED QUESTIONS:  For each chapter, I have curated a few questions for the students to ponder as they read. Some questions are chapter specific, and other questions are broader, asking the student to think about and apply information across many chapters. These questions can be found at the tabs above, where each chapter has its own tab with the questions that things to think about. Students are asked to write responses to these questions and submit those responses to Ms. Johnson before class begins in August. STUDENTS MUST JOIN SUMMER 2025 GOOGLE CLASSROOM TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS - HERE!

MAP WORK: One of the first challenges that students often encounter in the fall, is the rate at which we move in American Studies I. The better prepared students are in terms of their foundational knowledge, the better prepared they are for success. One of the key areas where students can prepare in advance is in their own foundational geographical knowledge. The American Studies I course begins in the era of Columbus's journey across the Atlantic. While much of the history is new for the students, what does not have to be new is the geography of the world - which features prominently in these early classes. We begin by jumping back and forth across the globe, discussing the early international traders and explorers as they journey first around Europe and the Mediterranean, then Africa, then the Atlantic. The more students come to class knowing geography of the globe, the less they will have to learn and more able they will be to follow the unfolding drama that is the age of exploration. I have provided (in the tab above) a RECOMMENDED LIST of places students should arrive knowing and recommended Geography Games and Map Exercises for those who want to brush up on their geography. 

CHALLENGE: For those who wish to push themselves a bit (these are not required)! 

I have posted a few Challenges for students.  These are not required but for the right student, looking to get off to a good start, these might be just the ticket.  I may update throughout the summer depending on my time, but there are three options posted from the beginning. 

Completing the summer assignment and optional challenges is the first step toward success in American Studies! The more you allow yourself to "get into" the summer work, the better your experience doing the work will be. This work is not meant to be onerous, rather it is designed to help put you into the right frame of mind for starting the year out strong.