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AP* Summer Institute

English Language and Composition (New Teachers)

English Language and Composition
for New Teachers



July 14-18, 2008
Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon

Over the course of the week experienced AP* Language teachers will learn strategies that will allow their students to:

    • Discuss intelligently and civilly what they’ve read in large and small groups
    • Understand the format of the AP* Language Exam
    • Use AP * scoring rubrics for self-evaluation and peer-evaluation of writing
    • Understand the rhetorical purposes of documentation
    • Analyze text for author’s purpose, use of language, and effect on audience
    • Craft effective arguments through an understanding of rhetoric
    • Systematically acquire new vocabulary
    • Become better spellers
    • Acquire the language of language (rhetorical terms, literary devices, etc.)
    • Appreciate reading both fiction and non-fiction with greater insight
    • Write with a command of the English language
    • Understand the conventions of analytical writing
    • Think critically
    • Effectively answer synthesis questions
    • Cope with the time constraints of the AP* Exam
    • Feel confident in their preparation for the AP* Language Exam and future college classes

** Before the class begins, please read these two books and bring them with you:

  • Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
  • The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

You’ll also need paper and pen daily for writing. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me at duffeyf@comcast.net.


*College Board, AP, Advanced Placement Program, Pre-AP, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board.  Used with permission.

 

Daily Schedule (Tentative)

Monday, July 14

  • Introduction and community building (The Things They Carried)
  • Scope and purpose of summer homework
  • Equity in AP
  • Basic AP Language Test format
  • Writing the course syllabus
  • Deconstructing the prompt
  • Textual evidence and embedding quotations
  • Daily debrief/Exit slips/Q & A


Tuesday, July 15

  • Community building
  • Deconstructing the 9-point scoring rubric
  • Analysis of analysis free responses
  • Teaching satire
  • More scoring practice with released free response items
  • Personal Spelling
  • Timed Write strategies
  • Daily debriefing/Exit slips/Q & A


Wednesday, July 16

  • Close reading strategies
  • Independent reading/Book reports
  • Multiple Choice on the AP Test
  • Vocabulary study in AP
  • Documentation and the multiple choice test
  • AP Language terminology
  • The synthesis question
  • Correcting writing faults
  • Daily debriefing/Exit slips/Q/A


Thursday, July 17

  • The place of grammar in AP
  • Multiple Choice Slam
  • Continue scoring practice
  • Analyzing syntax/Socratic seminar
  • Argument and persuasion (Dead Man Walking)
  • Daily debriefing/Exit slips/Q & A

 

Friday, July 18

  • Possible texts
  • Plagiarism and documentation
  • Student-led parent conferences
  • Student and parental expectations
  • Question and answer
  • Wrap-up and evaluation