School may be the furthest thing from the minds of many students, but for those adding AP courses to their fall schedule, the work has already begun with the assignment of summer readings.

While many students may question the need for class work during summer vacation, teachers assign specific readings in the effort to prepare students for the rigor of an AP course.

“There is a huge difference between a Pre-AP class and an AP class,” AP World History teacher Kevin Finn said. “The AP textbooks are written on a college level, and students need to be able to read, understand, and comprehend the text to a level where they can answer questions and write essays about the subject.”

The assignments are intended to give students a head start on their coursework.

“Teachers are trying to prepare you for the year,” junior Emily Teague said. “It’s not fun, but it’s understandable and makes sure that you’re ready for an AP class.”

Summer work is given by the instructor that will be teaching the course and is not mandated by College Board.

“(In AP World History) the purpose of the summer reading is to give the students a chance to do what they will in class on a lower level of reading than the textbook, and to help the teacher evaluate whether or not there are any deficiencies they need to work through with the student to get them caught up at the beginning of the year,” Finn said.

Most students realize the intended purpose of summer work for AP classes with many appreciating the push it gives them.

“The teachers want to get you ready for the course,” sophomore Austin Henning said. “It’s an AP class and they want to hit the ground running the first week.”

However, this does not stop the procrastination that comes with assigning high school students homework, especially over the summer.

“I waited until the last week of summer (last year),” Henning said. “The assignment I had to do didn’t take that long and was easy, but I’m taking AP Lang next year and I’ll have to prepare differently than I did for an art history course.”

Teachers hope that students will quickly and effectively complete their work, and show up to school prepared and ready to expand on what they learned over the summer.

“My advice to students is just to do it before the end of August,” Finn said.

Summer Assignments for AP Classes:

• AP English IV: Read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and one additional book and annotate
• AP English III: Read and annotate 1984 by George Orwell, then The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman and study
• AP Government: TBD
• AP World History: Read A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein, and complete the assigned questions
• AP US History: Read American Colonies: The Settling of North America Vol. 1 pages 1-274, take notes, and complete the assigned questions
• AP Human Geography: Read Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America by Harm de Blij (2005 edition), create a dialectical journal and the given assignment
• AP Spanish IV: Read given passages, complete 12 hours of authentic Spanish listening, write a 200 word essay over the given topic, and answer given questions
• AP Art History: Complete vocabulary, study and print Chapter 2 and 3 image cards
• AP Music Theory: Complete the given reading, listening, and worksheet
• AP Studio Art 3-D: See link
• AP Studio Art 2-D Design: See link
• AP Studio Drawing: See link
• AP Computer Science: See link