Multiple Choice Practice Activities
Multiple choice practice is a staple of any AP class but can quickly become routine and dull and thus less effective for students. As teachers strive to provide opportunities for low-pressure practice,...
View Article#thisisAP
Registration for next year has begun at my school. Students have so many options in today’s education system. Dual enrollment, virtual school, and non-AP English classes are all options offering...
View ArticleUsing Sample Essays to Improve Student Writing
One of the most underused resources in AP Literature are the sample essays (or anchor essays as I call them) on the College Board AP Lit exam page. College Board provides sample responses for Question...
View ArticleEssay Organization – Three Common Methods
Writing a timed essay for an AP exam is stressful for even the most confident of students. The job of an AP teacher (or any writing teacher honestly) is to provide as many tools as possible for the...
View ArticleNational Poetry Month Resources
Started in 1996 by the American Academy of Poets, April is set aside as National Poetry month. The purpose is to encourage the reading of and celebrate poetry in the classroom as well as society as a...
View ArticleWriting about Complexity
complex [adjective, verb kuh m-pleks, kom-pleks] 1. composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite: a complex highway system. 2. characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement...
View ArticleBuilding Confidence for the AP Exam
You take the test; the test doesn’t take you. This is something my students and I talk about a lot. The last thing I want them to do on exam day is walking in feeling powerless to an exam. I want the...
View ArticleReminders from AP Readers
Below are short videos for Questions 1, 2, and 3 with some general reminders for writing. These observations are not an exhaustive list by any means but can be used for a quick review or a to start a...
View ArticleQuick, Reflective Activities for Finishing High School
While many of our students continue to be in the thick of AP exams, AP Literature is over to a certain extent. I only have 10 days with my seniors before exams and graduation. Friends of mine have...
View ArticleMy Commencement Address to the AP Lit Class of 2017
Today’s post will be the last post for the 2016-2017 school year. Graduation at my school is Friday, and I am wanting to take a little time off before the AP reading. After the reading, look for...
View ArticleWhat? How? Why?
Welcome to AP Lit Reading Week! You may have seen us on day one of the AP Lit reading in our shirts and wondered who we are. The best way to explain is using a method of how we instruct our students to...
View ArticleWhen You Find Yourself in a Pickle
Students may have found themselves in a pickle after the initial reading of the Smollett passage, but according to Trevor Packer, students scored highest on this essay. Here are a few observations from...
View ArticleTaking the Mystery Out of Question 3
Thanks to Sarah Soper and Melissa Smith for sharing their thoughts from the AP Lit reading this year on Question 3. The prompt can be found here at AP Central. Reflections by Sarah Soper: When my...
View ArticleConsiderations for AP English Exam Scores
The following thoughts were originally posted on the College Board AP Lit list serve and are being posted here with permission. Dear Colleagues, We have been having a very good discussion about AP...
View ArticleAP Lit Resources
Sweet summer time which means rest, sun, and family time, but as teachers, we are always thinking about next year. In addition to the Listserve through College Board’s Teacher Community page, here are...
View ArticleProfessional Development Reading
Summer means family, rest, and for most teachers, professional reading. Here’s what some people in our community have been reading this summer: 52 Things I Learned in 52 Years (2017) by Shanna Peeples...
View ArticleAP Lit Framework
There are two types of grocery shoppers; those who shop by a list and those who wing it. I’m a hybrid of these two types making and taking my list but falling trap to the end cap displays and piling...
View ArticleSlow and Steady Literary Analysis
Maybe you can relate to me. Type A. Monitor for the quickest moving rather than the shortest check out line. Get things done. A minimum of five tabs open at a time on the computer. Don’t sit still...
View ArticleFor the Teachers Who Want to Teach Modern Poetry
AP Lit teacher confession: I have never taught an entire poetry collection. Single poems – lots. A collection – never. But when #APBKCHAT introduced me to Counting Descent coupled with Melissa Smith’s...
View ArticleTeaching on the Theme of Power
Are you considering teaching a unit on power? Or perhaps you are looking for some resources to pair with a major text with a theme of power? Look no further. The following list is compiled from a...
View Article