AP US History

[tennisgrlcc]

This year I'm taking AP US Hisotry. The teacher told us the first day of school pretty much all of us would fail the first couple quizzes and tests just because we aren't used to the depth of thinking we have to use in order to answer the questions and most of the questions have multiple right answers. Well as predicted I failed my first two quizzes with a 40 and 58 then on my test I made a 50. Thankfully the tests and quizzes are only 30% of our grade and homework is 40% with all off the homework my average so far is a 79.21, and of we have an 80 or above at the end of the quarter we get six points added to our grade. Lets just say that is not where I want it to be! All of my other classes I have A's in so for me this is just not good enough. Right now I read the pages assigned to us each night and take notes on that, then during the class I take notes on what the teacher says and writes on the board. The night before each quiz and test i read over my notes and skim the chapters again. Obviously this isn't doing me well. We were informed that things that are on our quizzes and tests aren't always out of our reading or class discussions. So what are some more effective ways I can prepare for the tests and quizzes?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Hillo]

Do you know http://www.course-notes.org/US_History/Notes?

There are a lot of AP USH quizzes out there too.

And apparently http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Comp...17390&sr=1-1&keywords=essential+content+apush and http://www.amazon.com/United-States...?ie=UTF8&qid=1378917378&sr=8-1&keywords=amsco are pretty helpful.

If I were you, I wouldn't stress about reading and taking notes on the textbook (basically high school grades) and focus on the AP exam.

 

[whynot7]

I took the class soph year and did pretty well. The most important thing is to make sure you have the right books. I didn't figure this out until halfway through the year, otherwise I would have had way better grades.

Anyway, the best best books are:
Amsco and Crash Course

In my school, almost all the quizzes were based off of Amsco. Some of the practice questions in the book actually ended up word for word on the quizzes. However, it is a little too in depth for the AP exam, so Crash Course is the best review book at the end of the year.
I'm pretty sure there are lots of threads of College Confidential about the best books for AP classes, check it out.

Good luck!

 

[runningaround]

Im in the same boat with Ap Calc. I always have one class that I bomb at the start of the year and have to work like crazy to get it up to an A before the quarter ends.

Back to your problem, you just have to get used to how your teacher makes his tests. Are they all from the text? Does he focus on certain areas? Stuff like that. Better understanding what he expects from you will allow you to study more effectively.When I took APUSH the teacher took questions from practice quizzes he made online so all we had to do was cram those questions the night before to get an A.

 

[PapaGuava]

I loved taking AP U.S History. I was also a fan of the teacher I had. He would lecture and give us almost two quizzes a week but they weren't too hard. I'd suggest studying your notes well and take more if need be

 

[pyrrion89]

This year I'm taking AP US Hisotry. The teacher told us the first day of school pretty much all of us would fail the first couple quizzes and tests just because we aren't used to the depth of thinking we have to use in order to answer the questions and most of the questions have multiple right answers. Well as predicted I failed my first two quizzes with a 40 and 58 then on my test I made a 50. Thankfully the tests and quizzes are only 30% of our grade and homework is 40% with all off the homework my average so far is a 79.21, and of we have an 80 or above at the end of the quarter we get six points added to our grade. Lets just say that is not where I want it to be! All of my other classes I have A's in so for me this is just not good enough. Right now I read the pages assigned to us each night and take notes on that, then during the class I take notes on what the teacher says and writes on the board. The night before each quiz and test i read over my notes and skim the chapters again. Obviously this isn't doing me well. We were informed that things that are on our quizzes and tests aren't always out of our reading or class discussions. So what are some more effective ways I can prepare for the tests and quizzes?

I'd talk to the teacher after school and told him what you told us. If the things on your test "aren't always out of [your] reading or class discussions," then from where do they come? Find out.

 

[tennisgrlcc]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I talked to my APUSH teacher and told him my concerns and asked him what I could do to help me improve on tests and quizzes. He said really it just takes a while to get used to the class and the demands of it, since it's practically like a college level class. He also recommended that I go buy an APUSH study book and go through questions through the book since they are set up the same way as our tests and quizzes. So we had a quiz last Thursday, I went through my notes, skimmed the chapter again, and did some questions from the study book. Well I made a 78% on it. So my average is now an 80% plus six points which in the end would be an 86% Honestly it's not where I want it to be right now, but it is still the beginning of the year and I have time to get it up. Just have to stay focused!! Thanks again everyone.

 

[pointystar]

Taking AP World History right now (10th grade), and at my school, you can only take 1 AP in sophomore year. In our class, H.W. is 25% and tests/quizzes are 75%. So homework isn't that important, I spend most of my time studying for the super hard tests.