English Literature – Agenda

AP English Literature and Composition APSI
Course Description and Agenda
Susan Frediani

Welcome! This AP English Literature and Composition session will cover the Advanced Placement* course as well as additional resources such as AP Classroom*. We will review the structure and grading of the exam, appropriate assignments and texts, and the relationship of these materials to the preparation of students for college-level work. This course is designed to benefit both new and experienced AP* English Literature and Composition teachers. We will explore instructional strategies and assessments using a variety of texts. We will examine course syllabi, structure, and pacing. We will also explore the exam and instructional approaches for long works, short stories, and poetry. We will review teaching literary analysis and argument, developing close reading skills, preparing students for the exam, and managing the workload of an AP* course. Participants will engage in writing and reading activities designed to cultivate the critical thinking skills necessary for student success in the AP* class and beyond. We will participate in mock scoring sessions of the exam using current rubrics. Teachers with experience in the AP* program will review a variety of approaches to course structure, and they will gain numerous teaching strategies to add to their toolboxes. New AP* teachers will learn about the course requirements as well as various instructional strategies and techniques that will assist them in offering students a successful AP* English Literature and Composition course.

What to Bring:
Many of our materials will be delivered in electronic format. Please bring a computer to class every day.
Participants should have texts they will utilize in their AP class available to them as they work to develop lessons, units, and year-long plans aligned to the curricular requirements and the AP* English Literature Course and Exam Description (CED).
Goals:

Day 1

Morning Afternoon
●     Introductions and Questionnaire

●     Making a Difference for All Students

●     Welcome to AP English Literature and Composition

●     Course and Exam Design

●     Unit I Overview and Exploration

●     Unit I Demonstration

 

●     Nuts and Bolts

●     Writing to the Poetry Prompt

●     Questions and Answers

Day 2

Morning Afternoon
●     Reflection

●     AP Central and Other Resources: Personal Progress Checks, Question Banks

●     Pre-AP

●     Poetry in the AP Literature Classroom

●     Review Poetry Responses and Score

●     Developing Students’ Analytical Skills with Poetry: Lessons and Sample Poems

●     Designing an AP Unit

 

●     Defining Literary Merit

●     Close Reading and Scaffolding Techniques

●     Prose Question: Deconstructing the Prompt

●     Writing to the Prose Prompt

●     Questions and Answers

Day 3

Morning Afternoon
●     Reflection

●     Answer and Score Prose and Poetry M/C Passages: Discuss Structure and Implications for Teaching

●     Short Story: Questioning and Scaffolding Techniques

●     Work on AP Units

●     Drama in the Classroom

●     Review Prose Responses

●     Prose Scoring

●     Importance of Tone

●     Syllabi Discussions

●     Questions and Answers

Day 4

Morning Afternoon
●     Reflection

●     The Literary Argument Question

●     Thesis Statements and Introductions

●     Open Question Scoring

●     Work on Lesson/Unit/Syllabus

 

●     Additional Resources

●     Next Steps

●     Questions and Answers

●     Closure

Suggestions for preparing for our time together:

I will also be conducting several close reading activities using short stories and poems. If you would like to bring favorites to share, please do so. I would appreciate you bringing enough copies for approximately 30.