Taught by Terri Susan Fine, Ph.D
Workshop objectives
- Understand the mission and goals of the College Board®
- Develop teaching objectives, content, techniques, and strategies for AP® U.S. Government
- Develop a successful and effective AP® U.S. Government syllabus
- Ascertain strategies for successful test taking
- Understand multiple choice and free response question evaluation
- Review course content, skills, and assessment
- Share best practices
Daily schedule
- 8:00am-11:30am - Work Session
- 11:30am-12:00pm - Lunch
- 12:00-4:00pm - Work Session
- 4:00pm Complete and submit end-of-day assignment, with workshop evaluation on the last day
Monday, Day 1
Agenda:
- Introductions and workshop overview
- The mission and goals of the College Board
- The Course and Exam Description (CED) and course overview
- Exam design and overview
- Teaching with primary source documents
- Unit 1 overview and resources
- Multiple choice questions-development and success strategies
Activities:
- Ice breaker
- Scavenger hunt
Assignments:
- Teaching Unit 1 (develop and submit one guided practice using the template provided); submit through CANVAS by 4:00pm
- Day 1 exit slip
Tuesday, Day 2
Agenda:
- Course pedagogy and lesson development
- Unit 2 overview and resources
- Formative assessment
- Teaching about government institutions
- Unpacking and scoring the argument essay
Activities:
- The National Constitution Center (NCC) website, including the NCC: Interactive Constitution, Rights Around the World, Writing Rights
- The U.S. Constitution and the formal powers of the president and Congress
- Unit 2-Powers and required foundational documents
- The Pledge of Allegiance signing statements
- Judicial review overview and discussion
- Developing formative assessments
Assignments:
- Teaching Unit 2 (develop and submit one guided practice with the CSPAN materials and the template provided); submit through CANVAS by 4:00pm
- Day 2 exit slip/Google form
Wednesday, Day 3
Agenda
- Unit 3 Overview
- FRQ task verbs, scoring and strategies
- Unpacking and scoring FRQ Type 3 (SCOTUS Comparison)
Activities:
- Civil liberties and civil rights scenarios
- OYEZ/Streetlaw/Justia/Burkowski resource demonstration
- The Voting Rights Act (Unit 3/Unit 5)
- Brown v. Board of Education mini-lecture with resources
- AP® Classroom Overview: formative and summative assessment
Assignments:
- Unit 3 (develop and submit one guided practice or exam preparation activity using one of the templates provided); submit through CANVAS by 4:00pm
- Day 3 exit slip/Google form
Thursday, Day 4
Agenda:
- Unit 4 Overview
- Unit 5 Overview
- Unpacking and scoring FRQ Type 2 (Data Analysis)
- Unpacking and scoring FRQ Type 1 (Concept Application)
Activities:
- Essentials of political ideology, public opinion, political attitudes and survey research
- Unit 4 lesson: Ideologies and Party Platforms
- Gallup Interactive Presidential Approval
- Developing class openers using Pew Research or Gallup public opinion data
- Preparing for the national exam
- The civic engagement/political science project
- Unit and course planning/Developing a course syllabus/syllabus audit
- Teaching Citizens United v. FEC (2010) using Streetlaw
Assignments:
- Unit 4 or Unit 5 “dealer’s choice”; submit through CANVAS by 4:00pm
- Complete the College Board workshop evaluation
Planning and teaching resources
- The AP® U.S. Government and Politics Teacher Community
- 2018 Curriculum Map
- Course and Exam Description