My APUSH Content Delivery System
And how it can prove of value for those wanting to teach the course more efficiently.
In my AP US History class, I work to:
- Have a large percentage of my students receive a score of 3 or better on the annual, end-of-year AP US History exam.
- Provide all of my students with the time needed (every Friday, at least) to produce in-class the kind of high-quality PBLs that are sure to open the eyes of college and university admission officers.
To accomplish both of these goals, I must deliver the content efficiently . . . which means that I have to put before my students that which they need to know in as little time as possible. To do this, I lecture, though my lectures aren’t your stereotypical lecture.
For a relatively detailed explanation as to how my lectures differ from the stereotypical lecture, see below, but if you’re an APUSH teacher, don’t want to read the below, and would rather simply receive a link to my Period 5–9 lectures, tests, quizzes, etc., click here; then respond as requested. Links provided free of charge.
In any event, here’s how my lectures differ from the stereotypical lecture:
- My lectures are presented in slideshow format and align 100% with the APUSH Key Concepts and the APUSH Pacing Guide. So there is no fluff. To view my Period 1–4 slideshows, click on the below.
- My lectures begin with me providing every student in the class with a digital and somewhat detailed outline of my slideshow. I then encorage my students to add to their outline as I lecture. I also encorage my students to use this outline to study for any/all tests. Every question on my P1-P9 tests and all the questions on the annaul AP exam will flow logically from these outlines, I tell me students. If not, I say, consider the question invalid. Click here to view my Period 1 (1491–1607) slideshow outline.
- My lectures don’t just consist of me doing all the talking. To the contrary, my lectures include many high-quality, content-rich, relatively brief, Youtube videos produced by APUSH teachers Tom Richey, Adam Norris, Keith Hughes, Matthew Beat, and Daniel Jocz. My lectures also include videos produced by the folks at Reading Through History, TED-Ed, HISTORY, Sound Smart, Gilder Lehrman, etc.
- My lectures give students a chance to get out of their seats. I will in fact periodically invite my students to leave their seats during a lecture and come to the front of the room to do a “quadrant analysis” of some image I’ve projected onto the screen.
- My lectures also provide students with a chance to get out of their seats for the purpose of engaging in various Six Degree of Separation activities and/or Continuity and Change Over Time activities
- My lectures contain excerpts from many primary sources — which when appearing on the screen located at the front of the room lead to a whole-class, close-read of the excerpt.
- My lectures contain many 3–4 page articles for the students to read. Most readings are drawn from the Constitutional Rights Foundation Bill of Rights in Action website and/or the History.com website and provide the students with an opportunity to take a “deep-dive” into one or more of the APUSH Key Concepts.
- My lectures have built into them ample opportunity for students to discuss, debate, engage in a Socratic seminar, and even participate in various APUSH TODAY Talk Show simulations.
- My lectures should prove of great value for AP US History teachers wanting to flip the learning.
- My lectures can be edited as you wish. Once provided the link, feel free to customize and/or make it your own.
