Help with reading comprehension in High School AP US History?

Question

My daughter is in AP US History and for the first time ever is really having a difficult time in a class. She reads the same paragraph 3 times and still does not understand what she read. She takes notes as she reads, she uses a few different methods such as flow charts but still doesn't seem to retain the information. The teacher says he wants to be helpful, but his degree is actually in Psychology and is teaching AP History because he has to (he said this to the class and to parents at back to school night). The strategies he's given my daughter and told me to give to my daughter when I asked for help again are the same things he's repeated over and over again and are not helping her. We cannot afford a tutor. Any other suggestions? Her grade is slipping fast and she feels like she's drowning. I don't know what I can do to help her. Staying after school with this teacher seems to be making things worse because he doesn't help her understand.

My daughter is definitely not alone in having difficulty. Only the same 5 kids out of all 35 in class participate in discussions. The text is suited to the class, it’s just difficult. It’s a college text, but it’s an AP class so it’s to be expected. I did just yesterday look up a subject she was reading about and thought would it be so terrible if she read it on Wikipedia in addition to or instead of her text book? Hmmmmm… This teacher prides himself on not giving A’s and he grades the kids very harshly on everything. I’ve never had to be in contact with a teacher by October regarding my daughter not doing well in class. It seems like he’s discouraging them from taking higher level classes or making them prove that they belong there.

My daughter is an A student other than this class, She most certainly belongs there. We're looking for stretegies to make it work, not to give up.

Answer 1

I'm taking APUSH this year also. At first, I read the chapter while taking elaborate notes. Then, I reviewed my notes instead of rereading the chapter. I got a 13/20 on the first quiz. Since then, I've changed my strategy to reading the textbook chapter twice, the AMSCO book twice, and going online and taking the practice quizzes there. That really helps. If her teacher is a psychology teacher, then he should not be teaching that class. If she cannot get help from her teacher, she should try to ask other teachers, such as previous history teachers or teachers in the history department. They should be more than happy to help. If your daughter cannot understand a paragraph after reading it many times then maybe she should try to get the information from another source, study that, and then go back and read the textbook. Most teachers use the American Pageant book for their class. My teacher is using Enduring Vision, so I don't really know the layout of the American Pageant book. However, since so many teachers with history degrees use it, then students should be able to understand it. If her friend/classmate understands it, then they could get together once a week to study the textbook. Dont forget that a positive attitude helps!

This site has lots of practice quizzes. Click on your textbook.
http://college.hmco.com/history/students/course_ushistory.html

These sites have lots of practice quizzes
http://www.course-notes.org
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/history/usa/brink/solc/
http://www.polytechnic.org/faculty/gfeldmeth/quizzes.html
http://home.att.net/~betsynewmark/Quizzespage.html
http://home.att.net/~betsynewmark/1APUSHquizzes.html
http://www.historyteacher.net/USQuizMainPage.htm

hope that helps

Answer 2

History Reading Comprehension

Answer 3

Hi!
This sounds really difficult. First, are other students having the same difficulty? If so, perhaps more parents can get together and see if the text is not suited for the class, if the teacher can't manage the material, etc.
If your daughter alone is having trouble, then one trick I learned in studying history (to a Master's degree 4.0) is to get an alternate textbook at a library or articles about the particular issue or period on the Internet, etc. Try children's books, too, for preteens and teens. Often these books offer a lot of information in a summarized and more easily-understood format, so that once the basic facts and concepts about some event are understood, the reader can go back to the assigned text and probably understand it.
This is labor-intensive. See if it is something for you.
By the way, an alternate text is a good idea for any class--math, physics, etc. You get the ideas from another perspective and an alternate "explainer".
Best of luck.

Answer 4

Take her to the public library and check out a few books on the next unit in the class. She can browse each and then read the text. Some authors make things very complicated. I highly recommend the series titled The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in... which gives a really great account of what was happening during important eras in American history. It includes information on what events were important and what people knew about them at the time. She should probably get at least three books for each period but she shouldn't stress out about reading them all word for word. It's more about getting a general idea of what the authors agree is important. Hopefully she won't struggle so much with the text once she has an idea of what is important and what is just the author being verbose.

Answer 5

There is a possibility that she doesn't belong in the class in the first place. I understand she'll have to finish this semester, but perhaps you should consider a change at the break.

In the meantime, one of the best things to do is work with a study group and she can then pick up much of the information orally.

Here are some sites that may also help:
http://www.historyteacher.net/USQuizMainPage.htm
http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20US%20History%20II/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html

BTW: It is not at all uncommon for a psych major to be teaching history, or the other way around! I feel that's unfortunate, but the way things are right now. They are SOCIAL STUDIES teachers, not history teachers. I don't think this trend is good for our kids!

Answer 6

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Answer 7

lots of kids in my apus history who were to lazy to read the text read an abridged version called AMSCO. i read it as a supplement to the text and felt it helped smooth over parts i wasn't so sure about. that's horrible that her teacher doesn't even have a degree in history tho

Answer 8

Maybe she should switch to honors. I need more details, what is it she is not understanding? is it what the people did or the definitions?