AP* American Themes caters specifically to the experienced teacher who wants to study U.S. history or English language in a subject-centered, interdisciplinary environment. As most students take an AP* class their junior year, "American Themes" will concentrate on AP* U.S. history and AP* English language.

"American Themes in the AP* Classroom" is a four-day seminar that concentrates on the latest trends in American historiography, literature, and composition, and allows experienced U.S. history and English language teachers to hone their skills and keep abreast of trends in their disciplines. It is sanctioned by the College Board*, uses AP* materials, and is taught by College Board* certified instructors.

Given that the two most popular AP exams--AP US History and AP English Language and Composition--are frequently written by juniors in high school, the extent to which skills of one class reinforce the other maximize student learning. To this end, these courses share specific skills with attention to: synthesizing sources in the service of an original argument; understanding an issue's complexity from multiple perspectives; determining critical and rhetorical context; generating original argument. Though the content may differ, the overall goal of both courses remains constant: to better prepare students for informed citizenship.

Here is what previous participants have said about this course...

• Jason and Steve work very well together conversationally and pedagogically. 
• I appreciated the diverse selection of texts, rich discussions, and variety of class activities.
• This was by far the best of the 4 sessions I have attended at Carleton since 1999.
• Excellent course.
• I liked that we didn't focus on practice tests.
• Very impressed by discussion and depth of your knowledge.
• I really enjoyed the thematic discussion approach.  I highly recommend this course to other teachers. 

Jason Stacy taught AP* U.S. history for eight years and has served as
an AP* Reader, Table Leader, Exam Leader, Senior Auditor and consultant.
Currently, he is an assistant professor of U.S. history and social science
pedagogy at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Jason serves as a
College Board* consultant, reader, exam leader, and senior auditor. He
taught AP* U.S. history for eight years.

Stephen Heller is returning for his 5th year with Jason Stacey
in American Themes in the AP* Classroom. Steve Heller teaches
AP* Language and Composition at Adlai E. Stevenson High School.
He also serves on the AP* Language and Composition test
development committee, and has recently authored AP* English
Bound with Peoples Publishing, a series of lesson plans designed to
prepare students for AP* English courses. He is also a College Board*
consultant for English Vertical Teams and AP* English Language.