CHarles hartCharles Hart has been a reader in all three Advanced Placement histories and has been an early table leader in World History since 2004. He has conducted week-long summer institutes in 18 states and 5 countries. He has been a presenter at the annual AP Conference, has contributed to the publication of four different World History textbooks (Strayer, Bentley, Amsco, Curtis), and was a finalist for Illinois Teacher of the Year. His workshops emphasize skills, test-taking strategies, and lesson plans
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Charles can be reached at chazhistry@aol.com
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This four-day World History workshop will explore the seven skills necessary to successfully prepare students for the AP exam. We will dive into pace, balancing skill development with content awareness, multiple choice decoding, note taking (mundane but highly appreciated by previous participants), essay writing and application of historical reasoning skills, essay evaluating, and review ideas. Laced throughout the workshop will be sundry lesson plans to aid in teaching these skills.
AGENDA
Though it is difficult to predict a day-to-day agenda without knowing the needs and experience level of the workshop participants, a "typical" workshop tends to follow the following itinerary:
Day 1: tour of the Course and Exam Description as provided by College Board, discussion of pace and creation of year-long calendar, Equity and Access discussion as required by College Board, introduction of Historical Reasoning skills with accompanying inquiry-focused lesson plans (Garden of Eden, cause/effect on creation of Chinese Communist Party, grouping exercise, etc.)
Day 2: continue application of historical reasoning skills with accompanying lesson plans (thesis creation/evaluation, evidence evaluation), application of note-taking process to advanced placement rigor, introduction of persuasive essay template and application to historical issues with relevant lesson plans (i.e. comparing the evolution of cities over time), sample weekly lesson plan, exploration of multiple choice techniques used by College Board with strategies to successfully engage this type of question (including sundry lesson plans to reinforce this process).
Day 3: deep dive into essay writing and essay evaluating. We will begin with getting comfortable with the Short Answer Question, understanding the question as well as the guideline method of scoring it. After understanding the design of the question, we will practice scoring previous questions. Then we will proceed to the LEQ: understanding and applying each part of the rubric before moving on to scoring several previous test questions. Emphasis will be placed on successful application of context.
Day 4: detailed dive into the DBQ. By looking at the rubric, we can break down the scoring of this essay: thesis writing, context application, evidence mining, sourcing, and display of complexity. We will do all this but emphasize sourcing and finish by reading and scoring student samples. Lesson plans on this day surround the successful application of the rubric points. Time permitting, we will finish the day by discussing review strategies.
Again, I want to emphasize that this schedule is subject to change as the needs of the participants become more apparent while introducing themselves. For example, while new teachers are working on developing a calendar I can pull the experienced teachers who already have a calendar and discuss issues that it would be premature for new teachers to be a part of: issues such as balancing content with skill development in the classroom, ways to get students to be more loyal to the textbook, managing student success while taking multiple AP courses, etc.
This four-day World History workshop will explore the seven skills necessary to successfully prepare students for the AP exam. We will dive into pace, balancing skill development with content awareness, multiple choice decoding, note taking (mundane but highly appreciated by previous participants), essay writing and application of historical reasoning skills, essay evaluating, and review ideas. Laced throughout the workshop will be sundry lesson plans to aid in teaching these skills.
AGENDA
Though it is difficult to predict a day-to-day agenda without knowing the needs and experience level of the workshop participants, a "typical" workshop tends to follow the following itinerary:
Day 1: tour of the Course and Exam Description as provided by College Board, discussion of pace and creation of year-long calendar, Equity and Access discussion as required by College Board, introduction of Historical Reasoning skills with accompanying inquiry-focused lesson plans (Garden of Eden, cause/effect on creation of Chinese Communist Party, grouping exercise, etc.)
Day 2: continue application of historical reasoning skills with accompanying lesson plans (thesis creation/evaluation, evidence evaluation), application of note-taking process to advanced placement rigor, introduction of persuasive essay template and application to historical issues with relevant lesson plans (i.e. comparing the evolution of cities over time), sample weekly lesson plan, exploration of multiple choice techniques used by College Board with strategies to successfully engage this type of question (including sundry lesson plans to reinforce this process).
Day 3: deep dive into essay writing and essay evaluating. We will begin with getting comfortable with the Short Answer Question, understanding the question as well as the guideline method of scoring it. After understanding the design of the question, we will practice scoring previous questions. Then we will proceed to the LEQ: understanding and applying each part of the rubric before moving on to scoring several previous test questions. Emphasis will be placed on successful application of context.
Day 4: detailed dive into the DBQ. By looking at the rubric, we can break down the scoring of this essay: thesis writing, context application, evidence mining, sourcing, and display of complexity. We will do all this but emphasize sourcing and finish by reading and scoring student samples. Lesson plans on this day surround the successful application of the rubric points. Time permitting, we will finish the day by discussing review strategies.
Again, I want to emphasize that this schedule is subject to change as the needs of the participants become more apparent while introducing themselves. For example, while new teachers are working on developing a calendar I can pull the experienced teachers who already have a calendar and discuss issues that it would be premature for new teachers to be a part of: issues such as balancing content with skill development in the classroom, ways to get students to be more loyal to the textbook, managing student success while taking multiple AP courses, etc.