AP Language: Sept.11-15

We’ve had a great (busy!) first week in AP Language. Students have done some baseline assessments to give me an idea of their current level and those assessments will be in MiStar early next week.  These scores are to show us where the students are right now. The goal is for them to go UP! Please encourage your student to see those scores as feedback only and to focus on what needs to happen to improve them. Often, students get caught up in scores and have a hard time remembering that it’s the beginning of the year. A student with a C right now can certainly have an A by the end of the semester--that’s the whole point of the class!! I want their skills to grow!  Hard work is the way to do that.

If you’d like more information about the class as a whole and the AP exam we will prepare for, please take a look at the College Board’s overview site. You can also learn more at Curriculum Night on Wednesday. I’d love to meet all of you!

This week we will begin our work with rhetorical analysis and close reading to determine what an author is trying to accomplish with a piece of writing. What does the author want me to do or think or believe? How is the author accomplishing that purpose? Which words make me feel a certain way? How does the structure of the argument lead me to that feeling? This analysis is important for two reasons. First, it helps us think critically about our reading. People who don’t think when they read are often easily duped! Second, it helps us persuade others in our own writing. Later in the semester, after we’ve done this careful work with analysis, we will apply these rhetorical skills to our own writing and arguments.

Students will have their first opportunity to manage and balance their own time this week. On Tuesday I will give them a large chunk of practice work: two essays to analyze, some vocabulary acquisition work, and some writing practice.  Students will have lots of time in class to tackle all that work while I conference with students individually about their summer writing that they submitted on the first day.  Please talk to your students about how they’re using their time!! You’ll know how it went based on how much time they’re working next weekend. If they’re buried in homework for AP Lang, they need to rethink how they’re spending their time in class. If they have “no homework”--give them a high five!

I hope you have a great weekend and I’m looking forward to meeting you all on Wednesday!

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