Ms.+Roper's+Page


 * //AP/Honors American History//**
 * //Summer Assignment//**
 * //2010-2011//**

Congratulations! You are a member of the lucky few taking the AP/Honors American History course. Due to the quick pace, much of the work will need to be completed independently. The following are major assignments you will need to complete by Thursday, September 9, 2010.

1. Detailed outlines of Chapters 1-5. **500 Points (100 points per chapter)**

As mentioned, we are going at a very quick pace in this course. While I will be covering as much as I can in class, you are still responsible to fill in the gaps. These outlines will be critical in our staying on track. These outlines must be emailed to wchsroper@yahoo.com no later than 7:50 AM on Thursday, September 9, 2010.

All subsequent chapters will also be turned in the morning we start that chapter via email. Further discussions concerning timing will be explained in September.

2. Read The History Channel’s 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America

In 2006, the History Channel gave historians a rather daunting task – come up with 10 pivotal events in American history that changed it’s course. Sounds like a very overwhelming idea. Well, the historians made a decided effort not to choose events that people didn’t know a great deal about. These choices show how the smallest event can have a big impact on the world at large.

We will be discussing this book throughout the year, and hopefully at the end work out a project where the class has chosen it’s own 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America.

3. NHD Project based on the theme – Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences

You undoubtedly remember this project from Freshmen year. You can choose any topic you want, so long as you can connect it back to the theme – Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences.

You may choose one of five types of projects: exhibit, documentary, paper, performance, or website. If you are interested in composing a website, I strongly urge you to go to [] over the summer and get used to how the program works.

Now, here is the twist – you will need to work in groups of as close to 5 as possible (unless you can really, really, really convince me that you can right a stellar historical paper). The reason – as a precaution against illness, tests, inability to leave the building, etc. – you can still have your hard work presented at the competition. We will be working on these projects throughout the year, but I do want you to consider who you would be willing to work with over the summer so we can jump right into projects in September.

If your group decides on a topic over the summer, start researching early. One of the biggest complaints we get at the local and state competitions is that we don’t do enough research – and I don’t mean using the Internet. See if you can find any primary resources over the summer so it doesn’t eat up your time on weekends during the school year.

I can’t wait to see how creative many of your projects are going to be.