12th Grade American Govt & Econ & LA Syllabus

First Semester – Government
Second Semester – Economics
AP Literature and Composition

First Semester – Government

Essential Question: What is the Role of Government?

Political Ideologies
- Where are you on the political spectrum?
Examination of 2 Major Parties
The Election Process
- Electoral process
- Campaign finance
- Getting involved in the community- Sunshine Project (Project Based Learning)
The Constitution
- 3 branches
- Contemporary Constitutional Issues
Classroom Based Assessment – Constitutional Issues (CBA -state mandated assessment)
Close examination of current issues (ongoing weekly Friday seminars)
Foreign Policy
- Current policy
- America’s role in the world

Dessert and Politics Exhibition – students will host an evening of dessert and debate over the issues of the day and will invite parents and guardians to attend and engage in political discourse.

Second Semester – Economics

Essential Question: Why do people act the way they do?

Trip to Olympia to meet with elected representatives
Economics – “The Dismal Science”?
- Basics of economic understanding
- Key terms and theories
Environment and the Economy
- Public vs. private stewardship
- Incentives vs. penalties
- Renewable resource management
The Global Marketplace
- International trade
- World poverty
- Labor in the world market
The Stock Market (Project Based Learning)
- mechanics of the market
- how companies go public
Taxation, social responsibility and the national debt
- Where does your money go?
- Types of taxes
Personal Finance (Project Based Learning)
- Career reality – how much will you make?
- Budgeting
- Post college realities
- Credit card use and abuse
- Retirement planning – can’t start too soon

AP Literature and Composition

Essential Question: How do we account for complexity and make meaning in an unpredictable world?

First Semester

Memoir and Personal Narrative
- Learn the elements of narrative
- Read and analyze examples of memoir
- Research components to an effective college entrance essay
- Final Outcome – Memoir and College Entrance Application Essay
The Odyssey
- Learn history and context for ancient Greek mythology
- Learn strategies to read a complex text closely
- Use literary lenses to analyze and frame questions about the text
- Final Products
  1. Create an artistic representation of a symbol or significant image from the text
  2. Write a literary analysis essay in response to the text
Frankenstein
- Learn history and context for Enlightenment and Romantic Eras
- Learn strategies to read a complex text closely
- Use literary lenses to analyze and frame questions about the text
- Apply knowledge of literary devices to analyze the text
- Final Outcome – Multiple in-class writing samples, and one final revised essay

Second Semester

Poetry
- Read and analyze multiple genres and styles of poetry from a variety of eras and places, including contemporary written and spoken word poetry
- Learn multiple common poetry forms, including the sonnet
- Write Poetry in multiple styles and forms
- Final Outcome
  - Poetry Anthology
The Great Gatsby
- Learn history and context for the Modern Era
- Learn strategies to read a complex text closely
- Use literary lenses to analyze and frame questions about the text
- Apply knowledge of literary devices to analyze the text
- Final Outcome
  - Multiple in-class writing samples, and one final revised essay
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- Learn history and context for the Post-War and Postmodern Era
- Learn strategies to read a complex text closely
- Use literary lenses to analyze and frame questions about the text
- Apply knowledge of literary devices to analyze the text
- Final Outcome
  - Manifesto