AP World Summer Assignment

Any student taking either section of AP World in the fall of 2013 needs to complete the following work before starting the class:

1) Read the first 6 chapters of the textbook Traditions and Encounters, by Bentley and Ziegler.  That's chapters 1-6 inclusive.  There will be a 70 question multiple choice test on that material on the second day of school, and a compare and contrast essay from that material on the third day of school.  The scoring guide for the compare and contrast essay is linked up here.

2) Students must download the app Subtext onto their iPads.  Once they have it downloaded, an electronic copy of the book Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond will be transmitted to them and they will be invited to join the discussion group AP World History (the members code is TANGRXOS). For students who pre-registered for the course, the book will be shared with you.  If you are adding the course over the summer, students must email me at whitten@bpsk12.org and I will facilitate the book's delivery.  Subtext allows us to have a discussion about the book as a large group, so for each chapter there are discussion prompts within the book.  The prompts need to be completed by August 25th at midnight.

End of the year details

Our final exam will be on Thursday.  The "exam" will consist of a silent, written conversation about the role of the individual in world history.  You will be paired with a classmate and given big paper and a marker and a question.  Your task is to have a silent, written conversation about the topic.  In that conversation, you each must correctly and accurately reference 5 (five) leaders from the May Madness tournament as helping to prove the point you are trying to make.  If you correctly and accurately reference 5 leaders, you get an A.  4 leaders gets you a B, 3 gets you a C, 2 gets you a D, and if you only reference 1, you fail.

In order for your final grade to be processed, you must return your textbook and guns germs and steel on Thursday.  The replacement cost for Bentley and Ziegler is $65.  The replacement cost for GG&S is $10.  Don't forget!

Good luck with the rest of your exams!

Class Championship time

Class Championships

This round of the debate will feature a Lincoln-Douglas style of interaction.  The two leaders will face off and address questions from a moderator (me).  They can tag a lackey into the debate, but may only do so once.  They may also “phone a friend” once, which means they may ask a specific lackey to help them answer a question, but the leader him/herself has to answer it, and they may ask for a hint once from a specific lackey they have chosen. (So that’s one tag-in, one phone-a-friend and one hint. These do not have to be used!)

Questions will be asked by the moderator, and from the audience through the moderator.  The audience may ask a question via sticky note, which means that they may write and submit a question to the moderator who will then screen the questions to determine which will be asked.  

There will be a total of 5 questions asked, for a total of 5 rounds.

After each question, first one, then the other leader will have the chance to provide an answer.  After both have answered, there is a period of rebuttal, where the leader may address his/her counterpart, challenging the answer or the leader’s position.

The audience will score the debate.  Lackeys who answer in place of the leader are to be considered the leader for the duration of that answer. Once the answer/rebuttal period is up, the leader resumes his or her place in the debate. For the leader to return prior to that, he or she must be tagged by the lackey to resume the debate.

Scoring will follow boxing’s 10 Point Must System, whereby the winner of each round must have 10 points.  The loser may get up to 9 points in the estimation of the judge. Usually the loser scores between 7-9 points, unless something egregious happens.  For instance, the McSweeny rule could be akin to a knock out, where no points are awarded. The score sheet is linked up here

For this round, a visual and a prop are required only for the leader.  To be clear: a visual can be any two-dimensional representation of something relevant to the ruler, a prop is a three-dimensional representation of something relevant to the ruler. These will be scored under the 10 Point Must System as well.  Costumes are optional, and are not scored. Lackeys do not have to dress up at all, nor do they need a prop.

Round three!

The third round begins now!

This round features questions from the lackeys.  Each ruler has 5-6 lackeys at this point.  He or she will face three (3) pre-discussed, known, friendly questions designed to highlight why the leader is so great.  The leader will then face three (3) unknown, hostile questions designed to detract from his or her greatness.  No topic is off limits, but as before, the questions are not to catch a leader for not knowing minutia. (no questions about the middle names of harem members...)

The first segment will focus on the friendly questions and the second will focus on the hostile questions.

This round requires the use of some visual--a map, a portrait, a two dimensional representation of something.  Rulers may gain a small amount of points for having either a costume (an article of clothing/something worn i.e.: a crown/hat) and/or a prop (a three dimensional object related to his or her rule/life/actions.

This round will begin on Wednesday June 12.

May Madness Update

We are done with the first round!

In the second round, the focus is on the legacy of the rulers.  The rulers have a choice to make: they can incorporate their lackey's legacies or they can focus only on their own legacy.  Each ruler will have three minutes to present on the topic of legacy.  If they wish to incorporate lackeys, then the lackey must come up and speak.  If not, then the ruler is on his or her own.

If lackeys do come up to speak, then they become fair game for the opposing ruler to attack in the second portion, where questions are asked.  If lackeys do not come up to speak, then their legacies are not a part of the questioning; opponents may only talk about or question the ruler's legacy.

Period 3 will have only one set go tomorrow: Emperor Meiji vs. Genghis Khan.  They will start after the class has 25 minutes to work. The remaining three sets: Deng Xiaoping vs. Ho Chi Minh; Victoria vs. Akbar; and Fidel vs. Catherine will go on Friday.

Period 4 will begin with Alexander the Great vs. Napoleon, then Augustus vs. Qin Shi Huangdi, then Charlemagne vs. Mansa Musa and finally Tokugawa vs. Kwame Nkruma.

Remember, the goal of all of this is to help you think about what makes a leader great, and what traits or qualities cause people to shape or influence the path of history.

May Madness Update!

In Period 3, the second round is developing.  Thus far, we will have:

Emperor Meiji vs. Genghis Khan
Deng won by forfeit again
Queen Victoria def. Empress CiXi

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will have:
Mao vs. Akbar (to face Queen Victoria)
Fidel vs. Suleyman (to face the winner below)
Catherine vs. Cyrus (to face the winner above)
Ho vs. Gandhi (to face Deng)

In Period 4 in the second round we will have:
Augustus vs. Qin Shi Huang Di
Alexander vs. Napoleon
Charlemagne vs. Mansa Musa
and we await the results of Tang vs. Kwame to see who will go against Tokugawa.

The second round is all about legacy. The score card is linked up here, and we will review it tomorrow.
In the second round, lackeys can be used.  The lackey score sheet is linked up here. You can either print it up, or submit it to me electronically via the google form linked up here.

Modifying the schedule, we will have the Second Round begin on Thursday the 6th, and the Third Round (minion questions) will be on Monday the 10th.