Hey, look at you! You already found the place to get in the know about AP Gov't. The most pressing matter is pre-course assignments and the deadlines involved.
The goal of the pre-course assignments is to build a foundation so that on the first day of class, we are ready to roll. Here are the steps involved:
1. Do the "My Representatives" Assignment.
If you don’t have your schedule, just create the assignment on a google doc and submit it when you do. Here are the directions. Here is a model.
** If you have this class in Spring, be mindful that if you do this assignment before the November elections some of your state and federal elected officials might change. So, you might want to delay working on those positions until after November. Between Christmas break, the flexible week around exams and perhaps a snow day, you would be able to complete the assignments when they would feel more relevant.
Due date: The first Friday of class at 7:25 a.m. It will take about 3-4 hours to complete.
2. Familiarize yourself with the College Board AP Government Website.
There is a LOT of useful info here (test date, format, big picture of the course, resources for helping you prepare for tests in class, etc.). I'm not going to hold your hand and make you prove that you gave this a thorough overview, but you will regret it if you don't. This is an AP class after all, and your teacher is basically a hired gun for the College Board. I won't directly refer to this website in class, but it is in the background all the time.
3. Read and Analyze The Constitution (and amendments!) of the United States in preparation for a quiz. Deadline: 3rd Day of Class.
Use the button below to find the study sheet.
Complete it THOROUGHLY to prepare for the assessment.
We will NOT collect the guide, but completing it will make clear what you need to know and to what depth.
Just FYI, most students do pretty poorly on this assessment right out of the gate and it stresses them out for the first month of school. So, don't underestimate this task. Complete the guide AND review it. Access online quizzes and such to test your knowledge. It's a detailed and "big picture" document, but it IS concrete and "knowable". Just takes time and focus. Do yourself a favor and do it right. A solid foundational knowledge of the Constitution will serve you well ALL semester.
In fact, We're so tired of people doing badly on this we will provide you a "shell" that shows the possible format and some of the stem / answer choices, just so you know what to expect. Here is the link.
The Constitution explains specifically how our government "works" - how the "democracy machine" envisioned by the founders was actually designed; this is the "user's manual" for succeeding generations. If you think about it that way - we've inherited the democracy and this is the "manual" for the way it works - it may help this task feel more relevant and immediate. In fact, we are going back to the Constitution all the time to figure out the way forward in this rocky political climate. There's never been a better time to be a Constitutional scholar!
The goal of the pre-course assignments is to build a foundation so that on the first day of class, we are ready to roll. Here are the steps involved:
1. Do the "My Representatives" Assignment.
If you don’t have your schedule, just create the assignment on a google doc and submit it when you do. Here are the directions. Here is a model.
** If you have this class in Spring, be mindful that if you do this assignment before the November elections some of your state and federal elected officials might change. So, you might want to delay working on those positions until after November. Between Christmas break, the flexible week around exams and perhaps a snow day, you would be able to complete the assignments when they would feel more relevant.
Due date: The first Friday of class at 7:25 a.m. It will take about 3-4 hours to complete.
2. Familiarize yourself with the College Board AP Government Website.
There is a LOT of useful info here (test date, format, big picture of the course, resources for helping you prepare for tests in class, etc.). I'm not going to hold your hand and make you prove that you gave this a thorough overview, but you will regret it if you don't. This is an AP class after all, and your teacher is basically a hired gun for the College Board. I won't directly refer to this website in class, but it is in the background all the time.
3. Read and Analyze The Constitution (and amendments!) of the United States in preparation for a quiz. Deadline: 3rd Day of Class.
Use the button below to find the study sheet.
Complete it THOROUGHLY to prepare for the assessment.
We will NOT collect the guide, but completing it will make clear what you need to know and to what depth.
Just FYI, most students do pretty poorly on this assessment right out of the gate and it stresses them out for the first month of school. So, don't underestimate this task. Complete the guide AND review it. Access online quizzes and such to test your knowledge. It's a detailed and "big picture" document, but it IS concrete and "knowable". Just takes time and focus. Do yourself a favor and do it right. A solid foundational knowledge of the Constitution will serve you well ALL semester.
In fact, We're so tired of people doing badly on this we will provide you a "shell" that shows the possible format and some of the stem / answer choices, just so you know what to expect. Here is the link.
The Constitution explains specifically how our government "works" - how the "democracy machine" envisioned by the founders was actually designed; this is the "user's manual" for succeeding generations. If you think about it that way - we've inherited the democracy and this is the "manual" for the way it works - it may help this task feel more relevant and immediate. In fact, we are going back to the Constitution all the time to figure out the way forward in this rocky political climate. There's never been a better time to be a Constitutional scholar!