Key AP Skills Applying Critical Thinking to History

Key AP Skills

Applying Critical Thinking to History

Historical Essays This is an important skill. Essays are part

of your unassisted grade. 2 types you will use

Document Based Questions Free Response

The DBQ is a free response essay with historical documents used to support your thesis

Both types require an introduction, body, and conclusion

Outlines To structure essays

Traditional type Venn Diagram

Best for compare/contrast questions Spoke or Wheel Diagram

Your essay will receive a zero if you do not include an outline

Once you learn to rapidly construct outlines, your essays will improve without sacrificing writing time

I.

a.

b.

c.

II.

a.

b.

P.E.R.S.I.A. Political Economic Religious Social Intellectual ArtisticA method to group information in essays

& define the number of paragraphs

S.O.A.P.S.

Subject Occasion Audience Purpose Speaker

Drawing Inferences

Historical documents often reveal more than the info stated in the item itself

Historians can draw inferences from them

Read into the document to see what it suggests about the author, the social environment, or the “big picture”

Thesis Statements Always in the introductory paragraph A good intro paragraph will introduce the concepts

in the thesis statement before presenting it The thesis is your answer to the question posed in

the prompt It MUST be thorough and directly respond to the

prompt A thesis could concede that there are arguments

contrary to your own Think of the thesis as the opening argument of a

lawyer in a court of law The body will present the evidence The conclusion will summarize the case presented

Your thesis must make a judgment

Be prepared to provide support for both sides of an argumentAGREE (YES) DISAGREE (BUT)

Here you write evidence in support

Here you write contradictory evidence

Dialectical Journal Active Reading of Text Divide Paper into two vertical columns Text/Response Record important points in “Text” Record questions, comments, ideas in

“Response (Questions)” Used to clarify material Helpful for writing assignments

Dialectical JournalText Response / Questions

Chapter 5

•The Stamp Act was an internal tax on the consumption of goods.

•Colonists boycotted items requiring stamps

•Parliament gave in and revoked the Stamp Act but issued the Declaratory Act.

•American colonists were angry because internal taxes were usually imposed by the colonists themselves.

•Why didn’t colonists think that Parliament had the right to tax consumption?

•Why did Parliament revoke the Stamp Act?

•Boycotts cost English producers too much money

•D.A. meant to emphasize Parliament’s right to govern colonies

Dialectical Journals Dialectical journals of your textbook are STRONGLY

recommended for this course You should make full use of your D.J. in class by asking

the questions that arise from it Although this might seem like extra work, this active

reading of your text will greatly assist you in retaining the material

Because this takes time, you will need to plan your schedule wisely and accomplish tasks over a broad period

Don’t try to do it the night before a quiz or test. It takes time! You may use your text notes for most quizzes. Text

notes will not be as beneficial with some quizzes such as timeline or presidents assessments. Such assessments are mastered with memorization and logic.

Vocabulary

Mastering the vocabulary related to each chapter and unit is vital.

Each chapter has a list of key terms Your teacher may supply vocabulary

lists during a unit of study Your understanding should be

thorough and recognize the significance of the term to our study.

Course Notebook Large 3-ring binder recommended 5 tabbed sections

Notes (class notes, text notes, handouts) Essays (tutorials, completed writing

exercises and essays including DBQs & FRQs)

Primary Source Documents and exercises Chapter worksheets, assignments,

vocabulary Other assignments