AP Language: Oct.23-27

The upcoming two weeks are important assessment weeks in AP Lang. Students have been practicing a number of skills, and this is their chance to show me what they know!

Tuesday, they will write a timed, constructed response on James Baldwin’s A Talk to Teachers. They have already written two that I’ve scored, and we have since written a number in class for feedback only. Students have been encouraged to read the piece carefully and take notes on the piece in their notebooks. They will have time in class to compare notes with peers on Monday. Please ask them to tell you about this piece and their preparation.

For the rest of the week, we will work on reviewing and preparing for the other two assessments coming up.  Their Synthesis essays on education will be due on Monday, October 30.  Students are working on developing an authentic, research based argument as well as a strong argumentative voice. We used this and this as our models. At this point, I’ve talked to almost every student (I’ll talk to the last 4 Monday) about their rough drafts and given them some feedback about revising and strengthening those drafts. Students can come to AA this week to work with former AP Lang students on revision; we will also do some revision work in class. If you’re lucky, they might even share their essays with you!! They’re chosen some excellent, education related topics.

We will also be prepping for a second try at an annotating assessment. On Wednesday, November 1, students will receive a new text in class that they will read and annotate for a score.  They did this in the last unit--and they were pretty successful!--but now we are going to see how they do with a slightly more challenging (older) text. To prepare between now and then, students should be reviewing their annotation notes carefully, coming to see me before school if they feel they need extra help, and engaging fully in the practice time in class.

With all of these assessments, please encourage your students to come see me and ask for help if they are unsure of their skills. I want those assessment days to feel like victory laps--they’re just showing me how they’ve improved!

I hope to see many of you at conferences this week.  Meeting parents helps me learn so much about my students.I know I still have conference times available. If you can’t make it, always feel free to reach out to me via email.

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