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AP* Summer Institute

English Literature

English Literature



July 19-23, 2010
Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon

The workshop will help teachers explore the organization of an AP* Literature & Composition course, including structuring the year’s readings and activities, integrating test preparation, and coping with students who bring to AP* classes an increasingly wide range of skills and habits. We will work specifically with some readings to explore some of the best practices in instruction. The focus will stay on areas teachers of AP* consistently identify as ‘the rough spots’: helping students to understand tone, read poetry with insight, befriend Early Modern English, and best use their knowledge and skills on a high-stakes examination.

Teachers will take away a full course outline and AP* Audit syllabus—provisional for teachers new to AP, strengthened for veteran AP teachers –as well as new approaches, strategies, and techniques, a library of teaching materials, and a stable network of supportive colleagues.


Course Outline
1. Planning the AP* course: Demographic, social, political conditions • Equity and inclusion issues • Scheduling: year-long calendar and summer reading • Choosing textbooks and literary works

2. The AP* Audit: Writing the syllabus and meeting the requirements

3. The AP* English Literature Exam: Test development, administration, and scoring • The Multiple-choice section • The Essay section • Question writing and student practice

4. Teaching Literature: The firm foundation •Shifts • Tone • “The meaning of the work as a whole”

5. Teaching the Types of Literature: Selecting, scheduling, and pacing novels • Building student confidence with poetry • Giving students “the gift of Shakespeare”

6. Teaching Writing in the AP* Course: Writing definition • Improving style and fluency • Revision • Vocabulary development


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Instructor

Skip Nicholson will be the 2010 AP* English Literature Instructor.