+Social Science Syndicate My biggest issue with this class is managing my time. It takes me nearly two hours to read one chapter in my Pageant book. How do you manage to do the reading? And how did you study for class tests?
+Alia Nelson Hello Alia. The American Pageant is a college-level text, and, with its array of confusing metaphors, I'm not surprised that reading the chapter is taking you that long. I'll list some methods to make your reading more efficient, but the general idea to keep in mind here is that each hour you spend reading is an hour well spent! With each chapter you read and process, you become a better critical reader. Strong critical reading skills will help you not only with all English and History classes (and a little with science classes too), but will also increase your SAT score and make your future academic endeavors smoother. So reading is good! (It also improves the quality of your writing, but don't get me started on that) If you want to make your reading more efficient, here's what I suggest. Do you find yourself zoning out when you read (maybe because your tired, sleepy, or just simply bored)? If so, try reading while STANDING UP. This works well for me and it keeps me more focused than when I sit down. Also, don't try to read entire chapters in one sitting. Human attention spans simply aren't that long. I suggested breaking the reading up into 2-4 chunks. Furthermore, you can also watch our videos (or read an outline) before you read each chapter. If you know the general ideas and key concepts of the chapter before you even start reading, you're reading will be quicker since you know what to expect and look for. If you think watching videos or reading outlines takes too long, you can settle for simply reading over the bold terms from a Quizlet set or the online glossary (college.cengage.com/history/us/kennedy/am_pageant/14e/assets/students/glossary/kennedy14eglossary.pdf). As for studying for class tests, it's hard to give advice since each teacher tests differently. Frank and I usually advocate starting to study 2-3 days before the test (unless it's a final or midterm in which case you should start earlier). You should reread the textbook sections that you will be tested on at least once so that you've read it a total of at least two times. If this is your first AP History class, I recommend reading the section THREE TIMES until you get more into the groove of things. On the final day before the test, you should go over all your highlights again (only highlight main ideas or important details you might forget) and also go over all the bold terms. We also recommend you watch our videos on the sections you're being tested on as we hit all the main points and help you keep focus of the big picture. Hopefully that helped! Let us know if you have any more questions! -Abe
+Austin Alexander Hello Austin. Great questions. Here are my tips for primary source based questions: READ THE SOURCE CAREFULLY (or study it carefully if it's a picture). Trust me. You can read it on auto-pilot mode and get through the whole thing without processing any of it. Make sure you understand/process what you read. If you don't, go back and read it again. 2) The info at the top/bottom that tells you the origin or author of the source is also VERY IMPORTANT. As long as you studied for the test, if you came across a document written by Andrew Hamilton, you'd already know what to expect (advocating federalist/strong government ideals, supporting the creation of a national bank, supporting assumption, etc.). So just by looking at the author you'll be able to predict the content of the primary source, and you'll be able to read through it and comprehend it much more quickly. 3) Here's a good strategy: when you decide upon one of the choices of a question, go back and find/underline/circle the specific sentence/portion of the source that supports the choice you chose. If you can't find the sentence/portion, then that answer choice is likely WRONG! I hope that these 3 tips are helpful. Let me know if any of them are confusing. I highly suggest you BUY A PREP BOOK now since PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT and the prep book will have lots of practice questions (you can practice reading carefully and stuff with the prep book questions. And the prep books have answer explanations that will help you learn how to think like the test). As for pacing, it's difficult to give advice. I suggest you don't dwell on any of the questions you find difficult. If you're stuck on a question, try to cross off as many answers as you can, then just move on and return to the question at the end. Your mind will continue contemplating the question in the back of your thoughts as you move through the other questions. I've found that it is often easier to decide on an answer when I return to the question at the end of the test. So the basic idea is to just keep moving, marking the ones you skip and returning to them once you've worked through the entire test. Let us know if you need any more help! -Abe
Great video and breakdown, but you lost me at Democrats having the supports of Catholics in the South. Is this New Orleans Acadians/Cajuns? During Grants presidency the number of Catholic voters in the USA was minuscule. French Carholics in New Orleans and Mexicans who had been living in Texas and California for generations. And the Irish and some Germans in the Northeast. I’ve watched a few of your videos. For the most part they are fantastic. I am Catholic, I teach APUSH at a Catholic school, and I’m always open to learning new things. Please tell me how you have come to the conclusion that Catholics were a core component of the Democratic Southern electorate.
Y'all are my absolute favorite channel for APUSH help, thank you thank you thank you
+Alia Nelson Thank YOU for your encouragement, Alia!
-Abe
+Social Science Syndicate My biggest issue with this class is managing my time. It takes me nearly two hours to read one chapter in my Pageant book. How do you manage to do the reading? And how did you study for class tests?
+Alia Nelson Hello Alia. The American Pageant is a college-level text, and, with its array of confusing metaphors, I'm not surprised that reading the chapter is taking you that long. I'll list some methods to make your reading more efficient, but the general idea to keep in mind here is that each hour you spend reading is an hour well spent! With each chapter you read and process, you become a better critical reader. Strong critical reading skills will help you not only with all English and History classes (and a little with science classes too), but will also increase your SAT score and make your future academic endeavors smoother. So reading is good! (It also improves the quality of your writing, but don't get me started on that)
If you want to make your reading more efficient, here's what I suggest. Do you find yourself zoning out when you read (maybe because your tired, sleepy, or just simply bored)? If so, try reading while STANDING UP. This works well for me and it keeps me more focused than when I sit down. Also, don't try to read entire chapters in one sitting. Human attention spans simply aren't that long. I suggested breaking the reading up into 2-4 chunks. Furthermore, you can also watch our videos (or read an outline) before you read each chapter. If you know the general ideas and key concepts of the chapter before you even start reading, you're reading will be quicker since you know what to expect and look for. If you think watching videos or reading outlines takes too long, you can settle for simply reading over the bold terms from a Quizlet set or the online glossary (college.cengage.com/history/us/kennedy/am_pageant/14e/assets/students/glossary/kennedy14eglossary.pdf).
As for studying for class tests, it's hard to give advice since each teacher tests differently. Frank and I usually advocate starting to study 2-3 days before the test (unless it's a final or midterm in which case you should start earlier). You should reread the textbook sections that you will be tested on at least once so that you've read it a total of at least two times. If this is your first AP History class, I recommend reading the section THREE TIMES until you get more into the groove of things. On the final day before the test, you should go over all your highlights again (only highlight main ideas or important details you might forget) and also go over all the bold terms. We also recommend you watch our videos on the sections you're being tested on as we hit all the main points and help you keep focus of the big picture.
Hopefully that helped! Let us know if you have any more questions!
-Abe
+Social Science Syndicate Thanks so much! I definitely will
Hey guys, whats your approach to excerpt-based questions and how do you pace yourself during the test?
+Austin Alexander Hello Austin. Great questions. Here are my tips for primary source based questions:
READ THE SOURCE CAREFULLY (or study it carefully if it's a picture).
Trust me. You can read it on auto-pilot mode and get through the whole
thing without processing any of it. Make sure you understand/process
what you read. If you don't, go back and read it again. 2) The info at
the top/bottom that tells you the origin or author of the source is also
VERY IMPORTANT. As long as you studied for the test, if you came across
a document written by Andrew Hamilton, you'd already know what to
expect (advocating federalist/strong government ideals, supporting the
creation of a national bank, supporting assumption, etc.). So just by
looking at the author you'll be able to predict the content of the
primary source, and you'll be able to read through it and comprehend it
much more quickly. 3) Here's a good strategy: when you decide upon one
of the choices of a question, go back and find/underline/circle the
specific sentence/portion of the source that supports the choice you
chose. If you can't find the sentence/portion, then that answer choice
is likely WRONG! I hope that these 3 tips are helpful. Let me know if
any of them are confusing. I highly suggest you BUY A PREP BOOK now
since PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT and the prep book will have lots of
practice questions (you can practice reading carefully and stuff with
the prep book questions. And the prep books have answer explanations
that will help you learn how to think like the test).
As for pacing, it's difficult to give advice. I suggest you don't dwell on any of the questions you find difficult. If you're stuck on a question, try to cross off as many answers as you can, then just move on and return to the question at the end. Your mind will continue contemplating the question in the back of your thoughts as you move through the other questions. I've found that it is often easier to decide on an answer when I return to the question at the end of the test. So the basic idea is to just keep moving, marking the ones you skip and returning to them once you've worked through the entire test.
Let us know if you need any more help!
-Abe
the dude on the right kinda looks like mr. bean lmao
+idk idk I feel I feel
-Frank
Congrats guys on the halfway mark!!!!
Thanks bro! Congratz to you too!!!
Great video and breakdown, but you lost me at Democrats having the supports of Catholics in the South. Is this New Orleans Acadians/Cajuns? During Grants presidency the number of Catholic voters in the USA was minuscule. French Carholics in New Orleans and Mexicans who had been living in Texas and California for generations. And the Irish and some Germans in the Northeast.
I’ve watched a few of your videos. For the most part they are fantastic. I am Catholic, I teach APUSH at a Catholic school, and I’m always open to learning new things. Please tell me how you have come to the conclusion that Catholics were a core component of the Democratic Southern electorate.