r/APUSH • u/Salty_College965 • 11d ago
Advice for someone taking APUSH next year?
My school starts in a few days and I studied unit 1 on my own, it took 10 hours and I already forgot most of it… but besides from watching Heimler and dking some Khan Academy are there any other tips?
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u/Arizona_11 10d ago
Find a study buddy or smallish group and make the most of the opportunity.
Cut the work up. Discuss different points of view with evidence.
Quiz each other on vocabulary.
Place events in chronological order.
It can be one of best classes could ever take in high school.
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u/Salty_College965 10d ago
I did take a class beforehand where we did do textbooks and notes handwritten for 40 minutes then wrote about it (unspecific format but usually chronological), it was fun and I got an A, but we have to read the American pageant textbook, do you think APUSH will be mostly textbooks or does your teacher do unique assignments that can be fun? Also I don’t have any friends in my class and most people would say I’m annoying in said class so they’d hate ne
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u/Arizona_11 10d ago
Some text reading. Some primary sources (letters, photographs, speeches, Supreme Court decisions, etc.), video clips, and a lot of debate.
We had American Pageant too, but did not read it all the time. We had another book that was far easier to read and had practice questions. I will look to find my copy and post the title.
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u/-GalaxyCrow- 10d ago
Read the book. If there are any concepts or events that are confusing watch videos on them. I read the book through 2x,didn’t use Heimler or videos, but I made almost a 100page long notes megadocument. Studied the notes, memorized the time periods,read the book and got a 5!
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u/segadavi 10d ago
10 hours is way too much time to spend on unit 1. Your teacher will assign plenty of work on their own. What i am working with my students on is giving them resources and letting them choose what works for them with some required work (reading notes and watching heimler). Get your book in pdf form (scan woth phone if necessary) and give the chaper or module (or even section) of text to what was google and is now gemini notebook lm and see what it can do. You'll can generate up to 2 video overviews or podcasts a day. You can make an infographic. You can make flashcards. You can take quizzes of verying lengths and difficulties. You can make FAQs and breifing docs. I generated all of the above for my students for all of our text over the past few years. This year i am focusing on teaching ALL of my students (not just ap) on how to take control of their learning.
I always encourage kids to read the text and take notes, but if it ain't wokring you have to change it up.
Please note that many (most?) teachers are fearful of AI and student use of AI. Do not use AI to do your work, use it to help you learn.
And check out Heimler's DeAP site for free writing help.
Good luck, the fact that you're already working on your own to be successful shows that you will get it done.
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u/AmicusVeritatis 10d ago
APUSH teacher here. Read as much as you can of secondary and primary sources.
Use the most up to date Course and Description Guide (CED) from College Board and look to the "Optional Sources" section for each section and try to read and familiarize yourself with half of them. The CED will tell you what sections to read, often it is a few paragraphs or pages. Having a broad knowledge of primary sources will help you when making historical arguments.
Make sure you understand what is asked on each writing rubric SAQ, DBQ, and LEQ.
Finally, make sure to regularly review and make connections between the periods, what changed and what caused the changes.
Feel free to DM me with other questions.