European History
Susie Gerard
AP* By The Sea:
University of San Diego, August
AP* European History: Susie Gerard, Presenter
Course Description
This institute will provide many resources to help both experienced and new teachers confidently teach a course in AP* European history. The following are some of the goals for the week:
1. To understand some of the basic elements involved with teaching the AP* European History course:
Curriculum
Student enrollment
Textbook selection
Supplemental readers
Resources
Test development
Test taking strategies
Document Based Writing
Free response writing
Equity
2. To understand the content and structure of the AP* European History exam, and to develop appropriate strategies for maximizing student scores and to examine ways to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in AP* European History.
3. To achieve an understanding of necessary course content by analyzing the most recent AP* European History exam and looking at how the test was scored.
4. To examine a variety of ways to structure the course so that students will be prepared to score well on the AP* exam.
5. To acquire many resources from the instructor and from other participants to help make the teaching of the course more manageable. These will include:
Sample tests from previous AP* exams
Free response questions and rubrics
Document Based questions and rubrics
Instructional handouts
An instructor-prepared CD of Power Point presentations for review and other resources
Publishers' Textbooks
Publishers' Supplemental readers
Materials provided by College Board
AP* By The Sea: University of San Diego, August
AP* European History: Susie Gerard, Presenter
Daily Summer Institute Schedule
Monday:
Curriculum, Acorn Book, how is the curriculum changing?
Test Content: Analysis of the 2007 test (Essay sections) & 2004 Multiple Choice Section
Curriculum ideas: films, literature, documents, simulations, etc.
Using art to teach social history
Supplemental materials: books, primary sources, etc.
Skills and Content: What do students need to know to be successful on the AP* exam?
Tuesday:
Free Response Essay Writing: How to teach kids to write a good essay (thesis development, structuring supporting evidence, organization of essays, transitions)
Grading of Free Response Questions (Samples from the 2006 & 2007 tests)
Internet Document Archives (time in computer lab)
Overview of important content pieces defined by the College Board curriculum
Wednesday:
Document Based Question Writing: How to teach kids to write a good DBQ response (teaching point of view analysis, document grouping, thesis development, question analysis, and supporting an argument with the documents)
Document analysis (SOAPS and APPARTS), authorship, and attribution
Grading of the DBQ: 2007 Core Scoring Rubric (New for the 2006 Exam)
Grading of samples from the 2006 & 2007 test
Thursday:
More work on the DBQ (if needed)
Multiple Choice Strategies for Students
Choosing a Textbook
Mapping out the year
Content focus
Hub dates
Development of a unit (time in computer lab)
Friday:
Strategies for teaching writing and analysis of visual sources
Strategies for increasing student learning in your AP* European History course
Sharing of developed units
Questions/Answers
Roundtable of best practices
