AP World students close the curtains studying for final exam: Photo of the Day 5/15/19
Madi Tranchitella, Emily Digiovanni, Maya Apau, and Valerie Ducos work on their shower curtain project.
May 15, 2019
This week, plenty of students were stretched out in the hallways with giant plastic shower curtains and markers. Students worked on their shower curtain project to review for the AP exam.
Students were assigned to purchase a shower curtain and divide it into 6 sections (1 section for each unit). They were also provided with a slideshow that had information required. From there, it was time to fill their shower curtains with study information. Students must know dates and also include a map for each unit. The project is meant to help students remember information so that they are prepared for their AP exam on Thursday, May 16.
Some units covered in the class include: classical period, post classical period, and modern period.
They have been working on their shower curtains for about five weeks.
AP World History teacher Michelle Richardson is part of an AP World History group for teachers across the nation. One of her friends from the group told her about this project and she thought it was a great idea so she started incorporating the activity with her students. Richardson has included the project in the class’s curriculum for about 6 years.
Josh Todd and Valerie Ducos discuss the project.
“Kids that have done really well on the AP test in the past, have always told me that this was one of the things that have helped them the most” Richardson said.
Students had five class days to work on their projects during class, spread out over a month. After those class days, they had to take it home and continue working on them or during PREP.
“This gives students a chance to review all the material from each of the 6 units we have covered” Richardson said. “Sometimes it’s hard for them to remember information from the beginning of the year, so it forces them to write it down and memorize it.”
“I do not like the project. It is stressful and it gives me anxiety,” said Madi Tranchitella.
“I believe that the shower curtain actually helps with the writing part of the AP test because visually looking at the information and constantly writing it down really helps,” said Valerie Ducos.
