For many high school students, Advanced Placement United States History is often the first class that asks them to argue. You read that correctly.

In AP U.S. History, teachers work with students to learn the context of major events in the nation’s history. So, yes, there is detail to be mastered. But equally important are the skills emphasized by the College Board so that students are prepared to succeed on the AP U.S. History exam.

Students should be prepared, by the time they take that exam in May of the academic year in which they take the course, to:

• Evaluate primary and secondary sources
• Analyze the claims, evidence, and reasoning you find in sources
• Put historical developments in context and make connections between them
• Come up with a claim or thesis and explain and support it in writing

What can students do, before the school year starts, to begin acclimating themselves to a set of academic expectations that may be new to them?

First, obtain a textbook and read the first few chapters before the academic year begins. Do this even if the teacher does not assign one.

Most AP U.S.History teachers will expect students to acquire and, yes, read a textbook. In fact, it is well nigh impossible to succeed in AP U.S. History, whether in terms of the course grade or the exam score, if a student does not regularly read the textbook.

You should ask your student’s teacher during the summer about the assigned textbook.

Even if the teacher does not assign it, I suggest your student read The American Pageant. That is the most popular AP U.S. History textbook in American high school classrooms. And for good reason. It is very readable and quite thorough without overwhelming the student with detail beyond that which is necessary to the course.

Second, use sources in addition to the textbook.

I often urge students to read popular history books about periods of the American past in which they develop an interest.

Another option is to read Professor Alan Brinkley’s book, The Unfinished Nation, which is very good at providing opportunities to develop thinking skills needed to succeed on AP U.S. History essay questions, or the book by Carol Berkin et al. titled Making America: A History of the United States. That volume is very useful for developing a strong understanding of context.

The ulterior motive here, of course, is to encourage as much reading as possible. That skill is absolutely essential in this AP course and many others.

Your student should pay close attention to any summer assignment distributed by the course instructor. Often, it will include some reading expectations.

Third, your student should be sure to obtain an AP U.S. History exam review guide. Ask around for recommendations or look on the Internet for various comments about the merits of the many possibilities.

Fourth, your student should also be sure that she or he knows how to take notes effectively and how to outline book chapters.

Finally, it is extremely helpful for students in AP U.S. History to engage in discussions about historical events.

Your student should be encouraged to talk about events in our country’s past, express an opinion, and defend that opinion. If she wants to do that with a friend, great. If she is willing to have those conversations with her parents, that’s great, too.

It’s important to encourage your child to take a position on questions surrounding our history. That is what she will be asked to do when she is in class next year and when she writes answers on the AP U.S. History exam.