Rethinking Summer Work

[Eddie Evans]

I've been contemplating changes to my summer assignment for AP US but I'm not sure if it's a good idea.  I typically focus on content coverage, having the students read the early chapters of the textbook and an outside book(s) such as Mayflower and/or Revolutionary Characters. I'm wondering if I should instead focus the summer assignment on the skills the students need to find success at the AP level and the class.  I find that most of the content covered over during the summer months is almost forgotten when May comes, and I reckon it's because focus is lost during the summer months and the content goes in and out pretty quickly.

Why not create summmer work that includes a book on how to study history, mastery of Google Docs and Livebinders, and reading and writing activities not focused on the content so much as building the reading and writing skills up to the necessary level of sophistication for the AP content pace beginning in September? I would need to make up the roughly three weeks of content I've "covered" in the past over the summer, but that could be made up simply by not having to focus so much on skill building in the middle of explaining Dartmouth v  Woodward.  Any feedback from the group would be most appreciated.

[Carlos Fernandez]

Summer Work can do a couple of positive things. It's training your students for the intense and rigorous work that is to come. It's letting them know that your AP class will not be a piece of cake and they are going to have to be serious about the class if they want to be successful.
Summer Work can also spark interest in the class before you even meet. Lastly, it can help you get ahead by assigning the right readings and assignments.
Having said all of that is summer reading and work might not be the difference between a 4 and 5 in your students AP exam but it may be the difference in how easy the students transition from the previous non AP course to your AP Course. Like anything else in life it is only as good as what you make it.

[Jamie Josephson]

This was my first year teaching AP US and I'm definitely going to follow up with our AP English teachers to see what they are doing and if we couldn't make the assignment carry over. 

 

I'd love to give kids a list of trade non-fiction they could read, from any time period, and have them analyze it by the skills we want them to have by the end of the year in historiography, analysis and writing skills. That way they would get a chance to read about something that interests them in American history, but also practice the skills they're going to need. 

 

[Pamela Carter]

I collaborate with the AP English teacher. We both teach juniors and his focus is persuasive writing. One assignment we do is to have students read 10 columnists and analyze the pieces for the use of evidence to back up their opinions. We also have the students read chapters 1-22 of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Students referenced it frequently during class discussions on a wide range of topics, not just the Gilded Age. I like the idea of getting students to focus on skills and love the way technology has expanded our classrooms. I agree that the content is not remembered by April or May and it is not productive to turn students off before they even start the class. We are constantly adjusting our summer assignments to try to prevent this.

[Jeff Silva-Brown]

I'm right with you in updating my summer assignment.  I'm thinking on simply giving none because, seriously, does anyone really think the summer assignments will make the students that much more likely to pass the exam?  Will it really be the difference between a 4 and a 5? 

I'm strongly leaning towards no summer APUSH work and reworking my plans to make the content more interactive.  I'm still ending around Vietnam and not being about to get all the way to the end.  Furlough days, school events, and now a week forward school year are killing me.  But I just see no benefit in summer working that ends up having little benefit and actually detracts students from taking the class.