Improve Your Quiz Grades

Read The Chapter

The most common reason for failing a quiz is that you simply didn't read the chapter.  That's the truth.  You know it and I know it.

Read the chapter.  Moving on...

Read The Chapter Smartly

It's not enough to simply pass your eyes over the text in the chapter and then call it quits.  You need to be engaged with the text in order to get the most out of it.  Here are some suggestions for engaging with the text by reading smartly.
  • Preview the chapter.  Think about the meaning of the chapter title and the epigraph (quote at the beginning).  Look at the subheadings throughout the chapter and begin to build a narrative structure in your mind.  Glance over the pictures and their captions as well, trying to guess which subheading they might relate to, and how.
  • Read the chapter carefully, section by section.  Pause briefly before continuing on to the next subheading to reflect on what you have just read.  Try to summarize the main idea and relate it to the subheading.
  • Take time to examine the pictures, captions, primary source documents, quotes, etc.  These are not just "extras" slipped in to amuse you or break up the monotony.  These features are essential to your understanding of the chapter.  The old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words" is true, but pithy quotes and colorful maps can often tell us just as much in just as small a space.
  • When you are finished, reflect on what you have read.  Follow much the same procedure you did when you previewed the chapter.

Course Notes

I encourage you to use all the resources at your disposal.  This includes ready-made outlines from Course-Notes.org.  These notes should be used to enhance, not replace, your assigned chapter readings.

Take Notes on Classroom Presentations

Whenever possible, I will preface the assigned chapter reading by giving some sort of coverage of the topic in a classroom presentation.  Pay attention, because it's likely that you may glean a few answers to the next day's quiz. 

On the other hand, classroom notes can't cover everything in the chapter.  Additionally, I will write some quiz questions that you could only know the answer to if you have also done your assigned reading.

Quiz Questions

In making quiz questions, I try to select the most important themes and terms from the chapter.  I generally create one question per subheading, spreading the questions apart from throughout the chapter.

Though I am partially checking for to see if you read the chapter thoroughly and completely, the quiz won't contain "gotcha" questions asking about a minute, easily overlooked detail.

Many quiz questions will have multiple correct answers, asking you to provide a supporting historical detail for a main idea.  For example, I may ask, "Identify one of the four major compromises agreed up at the Constitutional Convention of 1787."

Unit Vocabulary

The most recent edition of the American Pageant textbook includes some bold text in each chapter of words that have been selected as key terms.  This is the first time in recent memory that American Pageant has included key terms, but the publishers have made some questionable selections in their choice of key terms.  This new edition of the textbook highlights some obscure terms while failing to draw attention to larger, more important ideas.

Therefore, please do not  rely on the bold key terms and people at the end of the American Pageant chapter as your definitive vocabulary list.

Instead, read each chapter with the Unit Vocabulary Sheet I have provided you at the ready.

The Bonus Question

Each quiz will include a bonus question, allowing you to score a possible total of 110 points.  Pay special attention to the "Makers of America" features in many of the chapters.  Chances are good that if your assigned reading contains a "Makers" section, the bonus question will focus on that group of people.  If there is no "Makers" section, I will probably ask a question about a different feature or document outside the main textual narrative of the chapter.