Mr. Ferguson
AP World History
This is a class where the maxim is true, how much you put in is how much you get out. But it is also true that what you bring with you can be a hindrance. Negative attitudes, disdain for learning and ethnocentric superiority of culture should be left behind. Students should come to this class with an open mind, an exuberance to learn and a desire to reach a greater understanding about how the human world came to exist in its current state. Some of the information learned may disagree with your current world view, challenge preconceived notions of other societies and expand your current word view. That is to be expected with most learning though, and always expected with historical learning. History is a sophisticated quest for meaning about the past, beyond the effort to collect information. History is the way we understand the human world around us, just as science is the tool for understanding the physical universe in which we exist. Historical analysis requires familiarity with a great deal of information — names, chronology, facts, events and the like. Without reliable and detailed information, historical thinking is not possible. Yet historical analysis involves much more than the compilation and recall of data; it also requires several distinctive historical thinking skills. The historical thinking skills presented below, along with the descriptions of the components of each skill, provide an essential framework for learning to think historically.
1. Appropriate Use of Relevant Historical Evidence
2. Historical Argumentation
3. Historical Causation
4. Patterns of Continuity and Change over Time
5. Periodization
6. Comparison
7. Contextualization
8. Interpretation
9. Synthesis
AP World History assesses habits of mind as well as content. Students will take multiple-choice tests and write essays, which will include studying maps, using graphs, analyzing art works, and interpreting primary sources. Other aspects include assessing primary data, evaluating arguments, handling diverse interpretations, making comparisons, and understanding historical context.
CLASS STRUCTURE AND EVALUATION:
Students who take this course should realize that AP Word History is a rigorous class with higher standards for success, more emphasis on conceptualization of larger trends and connections, as well as a demand for increased reading and writing requirements. Consequently, the course exceeds the demands and expectations for typical high school courses.
Students will be expected to take lecture notes. We do this for several reasons. It helps facilitate discussion, it is an excellent preparation for university, and it is a quick method for the initial dissemination of information which can be later explored at a more in-depth level.
Students will be expected to do outside reading and note-taking. This is nonnegotiable. They will also read primary source documents on a weekly basis. This is how historians study history and learn, and so it shall be for you.
Students will use the Cornell Style of note-taking by adding and reviewing to their lecture notes with their text and other resources as a supplement. They will also add the relevant vocabulary to their notes. This is an expectation and absolutely necessary for mastery of the material.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR AND EXPECTATIONS:
Students should come to this class with an open mind, prepared to learn, and actively refrain from being a hindrance to the learning of others.
Students will actively participate in class, including being a contributing member to any group assignment, taking notes, completing assigned tasks and readings.
Students will keep a notebook. It should be a three-ring binder with loose-leaf paper.
Students will follow the rules and guidelines of the school, as defined in the student handbook.
GRADING POLICY:
25% Quizzes
15% Daily Grade
60% Major Grades
ABSENCES:
If you are absent it is entirely your responsibility to seek out your make up work when you return. You should make a friend in class with whom you can exchange notes, study with and bounce ideas off of.
If you miss an exam, you will be given five days to schedule a time with me to make it up. After the week has past, you will receive a zero for the exam. Do not expect your make up to be the same test given in class.
EXAM FORMAT:
All tests are chronological in progression and will contain questions based on older but related content and new but untested content.
Each exam will take place over a two day period. Your first day will consist of the multiple choice portion and the second day will be the essay/DBQ portion. Each portion is fifty percent of your test grade.
According to school policy you are allowed to retake failed exams for credit up to, but not exceeding, seventy percent. I would encourage you to study and do well the first time as the retakes will be more difficult than the original exam. You have 5 days to get complete this or the grade will stand.
SETTING UP YOUR NOTEBOOK:
Your notebook should be organized chronology by unit. Within each unit, you should have various entries. Below are the common kinds of entries that may be found within a unit:
•Outline notes from assigned readings (usually from textbook chapters)
•Vocabulary from readings
•Lecture notes from class
•Notes from group discussions and problem solving
•Responses through journaling, diagramming, and brainstorming to formulate new questions, possibilities, interpretations, and insights about the history content. Often they will be questions posed and prompted by the teacher.
•Summaries of class discussions and readings. This is a good skill to incorporate into the study of world history, and will help you make connections to global patterns as we move through the course.
SUPPLIES:
Textbook: Checked out and can be left at home, unless otherwise instructed.
Notebook 1-1/2” with loose leaf paper, college ruled.
Pen
A red pen
CONTACT INFORMATION:
You may email me at: brent.ferguson@comalisd.org
My classroom phone extension is *****
You may also see me during my conference period (4th), during morning tutorials, or after school at a prearranged time.
HISTORICAL PERIODS, KEY CONCEPTS, AND CLASS TIMELINE:
PERIOD 1 TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS TO 600 B.C.E. 1 WEEK
Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth
The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
Development/Interactions: Early Agricultural, Pastoral, Urban Societies
PERIOD 2 ORGANIZATION AND THE REORGANIZATION OF HUMAN SOCIETIES, C. 600 B.C.E. TO 600 C.E. 4 WEEKS
Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions
The Development of States and Empires
Emergence of Transregional Networks: Communication and Exchange
PERIOD 3 REGIONAL AND TRANSREGIONAL INTERACTIONS, C. 600 C.E. TO C. 1450 5 WEEKS
Expansion, Intensification of Communication and Exchange Networks
Continuity and Innovation of State Forms and Their Interactions
Increased Economic Productive Capacity and Its Consequences
PERIOD 4 GLOBAL INTERACTIONS, C. 1450 TO C. 1750 5 WEEKS
Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production
State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
PERIOD 5 INDUSTRIALIZATION AND GLOBAL INTERACTION, C. 1750 TO C.1900 5 WEEKS
Industrialization and Global Capitalism
Imperialism and Nation-State Formation
Nationalism, Revolution and Reform
Global Migration
PERIOD 6 ACCELERATING GLOBAL CHANGE & REALIGNMENTS, C. 1900 TO THE PRESENT 5 WEEKS
Science and the Environment
Global Conflicts and Their Consequences
New Conceptualizations of Global Economy, Society and Culture