Mail time: How should I adjust mid-year now that AP Physics 1 covers fewer topics?

Matt Freeze writes, in the comments section of the post about how AP Physics 1 will cover mechanics-only from now on:

I read your material here and other places often, though I rarely post. I'm the stereotypical "Long time listener, first time caller," guy. Anyways, before the news, I had gotten through the basics of motion, kinematics, force (including centripetal fore), and energy. So as I look at things, all I have left is momentum and collisions, and rotational dynamics. Any commentary on whether I should finish those units as scheduled and then have extra extra time to study for the test, or should I slow those units down significantly, or should I delay starting them, and for the first 3 weeks or so discuss the previous units? I suppose this is a good problem to have....

Thanks for the question, Matt!  I'm sorta in the same place - only difference is I've done momentum but not energy.  

My plan for now is to move through the first contact with energy at a bit slower pace than normal - say, three weeks rather than two.  The new pace will mean spreading out the problem sets so there's generally only one short question per night, and probably doing an extra full-on linearization experiment with springs.  

I'll move quickly through harmonic motion, as always.  No need to belabor a simple concept.

Then, I'll move into rotation.  Usually I introduce the concepts of rotation very quickly - like in the week before spring break - and then let the students do a lot of independent learning after break in the context of reviewing linear mechanics.  This year, I'll spread the rotation discussion out over three weeks or more.  I'll assign more problems, we'll do some in-class lab exercises with rotation that I didn't previously do with the whole class.  

Throughout, we'll spend even more time than usual emphasizing fundamentals with daily quizzes and the 4-minute drill.  After spring break - like, starting about March 25 - I'll be in full-on "putting it all together" mode, except with even more independent experimental work than normal.  

My goal will be to bring as many students as possible up one score.  Those who earn 5s will still do so, and they won't be bored because of the plethora of experimental work.  Everyone else will benefit immensely from the extra time to learn and remember their fundamentals, and from more but less intense practice.

Once we've reached the latter part of the year, pretty much all of my class has learned the necessary skills for success in the course.  Usually, the big difference between the 5-level students and the 3-level students is their performance on recall quizzes.  If someone doesn't remember that the area under a force vs. time graph is impulse, or if they still can't articulate the difference between impulse and momentum, then that someone has no chance when asked advanced questions involving a force vs. time graph.  The more my students can learn their facts through use, through active study, through games, through corrections, the more likely they are to improve their exam performance.