Dear AP Lang Teacher (Week 8),

Back for a short week! Yay teachers' convention!!

​I won’t lie. I have a little bit of anxiety about the fact that this week is the first time we’re even digging into test materials. In theory, it’ll be smooth sailing because of all the critical reading prep, but I’m pretty sure the usual rhetorical analysis panic will soon be upon us.
(There's a horror film in there somewhere).

Week 8

Here’s how I approach the RA essay...

1. Modeling - I walk students through prompt analysis, claims and assertions, evidence integration, and analysis. I demonstrate each of these with the Adams prompt (2004).
   
2. Draft Development - After I model each of these students, they practice using another prompt (Kelley).
   
3. Collaborative Writing - In small groups, they write collaboratively on the Kelley prompt. I give detailed feedback on these.
   
4. Scoring and Sample Study - We go over the rubric, look at high samples, and practice scoring essays. They score their Kelley essays.
   
5. Independent Assessment - After feedback and any necessary reteaching, the students do an authentic FRQ. Feedback is simple an area of focus for the next time and a score.
   

And that’s the pattern I follow for all three with a few extra lessons thrown in for synthesis and argument.

So this week, it’s modeling - task and passage analysis, writing claims and assertions, and evidence integration. (Oh my!)

Update!

Here are some images to support your modeling. I have my annotation of the Adams passage as well as my outline.

As we begin our exam prep, I always find myself thinking about teaching authentically, or Teaching Sincerely. AP teachers are always conflicted by the “teaching to the test” feeling - and I am no exception.

Here’s how I stay true, or sincere, to my own goals as an AP teacher…

1. Allow kids to read and write things that matter. One of my BIG rocks is that students read and write to discover what they are passionate about… and I am SERIOUS about this one. In the past I have struggled to balance life and test prep - or, fought the urge to drill them on test content all year long. This year, I’ve made a huge push in adding authentic writing throughout the year. Yes, for the next few weeks, we’ll be knee deep in released exam prompts and the three essay styles, but I’ve surrounded this necessity with meaningful tasks - a speech about their dream for this country and debates on resolutions of their choosing. In other words, it’s give and take. Once I have the essay styles down with them, we can move toward meaningful work - like a thematic unit on civil unrest!
2. Keep things authentic to college and work. One thing I truly appreciate about being an AP teacher is that I can frame things for a college bound mindset and it will (almost) universally engage them in the content. I care about them doing work that is authentic to their life, and so I compare the FRQs to my own college experience, explain that the time limit is practice for those days you forget you had a written reflection due and have to bust one out in 20 minutes, and emphasize how being a critical reader helps you through tough textbook passages.
3. Take risks and adapt, even if the test isn’t changing. I value risk taking as a teacher, and moreso, a school that supports that. However, risks and change are hard to justify when the test hasn’t changed much in the last 10 years. The biggest way I try to adapt as an AP teacher is to keep content current and relevant. For instance, this year I am including a thematic unit on civil unrest. While this is something that always fits, the conflict changes every year. I can still use my selected prompts (Chavez, Memorials, and Wilde) but the documents and activities surrounding them are flexible... and often, risky.

Teaching Sincerely is about finding the best way to adapt to your teaching situation because that will never stay the same from year to year (or let’s be honest, PD day to PD day). So for me, AP is not about teaching to the test, but using what’s best in the test to teach what I sincerely care about. Make sense?

Lesson Plans