AP Seminar: April 16-24

Hello, parents and guardians!  I haven’t checked in for awhile, but I wanted to let you know what we are up to in AP Seminar. Students have completed their essays for the second performance task--a 2000 word Individual Written Argument--and have moved on to developing the presentation (6-8 minutes) of that argument.  This Thursday we will do initial run-throughs of those presentations, and then students will have until next Wednesday (April 24), to practice.

The more you can do to encourage your students to practice for you this weekend, the better!! Very few students want to practice, but they’d all benefit from it.  There’s something about practicing a presentation out loud that completely changes the game. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary. If they won’t practice for you, encourage them to practice out loud in front of the mirror, or for a younger sibling, or even the dog!!

We will video presentations all day Wednesday, April 24, and then upload the videos and the papers the following day. Many of you have already had a chance to read your students’ papers, but if you have not, now would be a great time to offer to read those as well.  Students have had lots of practice giving and asking for feedback from one another. You may want to ask them what you should be looking for as you read; they should be able to give you a specific focus!

Attached here are the rubrics on which both pieces (the essay and the presentation) will be graded. There is also a rubric for the Oral Defense section of the task. Students will be asked two questions (sample questions here pages 54 and 55) and scored on their ability to answer.

What happens when we’re done?  The kids are hoping that the answer is NOTHING, but, unfortunately, we still have more to do! The week after our presentation filming will be spent preparing for the End of Course exam on May 7.  For this 2.5 hour exam students will read and analyze a number of sources. They are ready for this; they’ve been doing it all year.

After that exam, we will shift gears a little toward phase two of the AP Capstone program, AP Research. The pace will slow down and be much more relaxed, but we will start mining our curiosities and determining research focus areas for senior year.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I’ve been so impressed by how well they are handling these large tasks, but sometimes you see something different at home. If you’re concerned about your student’s progress, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Have a great weekend!