Iām going to tell you why I think comments on essays are a bad ideaā¦ but first a quick story. About five years ago, my Sunday nights were spent at a mostly-empty Starbucks. For hours I would read and comment on all the papers and pages I accumulated over the week. By Monday afternoon, many … Continue Reading
This year, I found myself on the sample selection team for the digital FRQ3, and while no responses (to my knowledge) referenced Sheryl Crowās hit, the vast majority of students found this prompt about reinvention very accessible: In many works of literature, characters choose to reinvent themselves for significant reasons. They may wish to separate … Continue Reading
For the 2022 reading, College Board asked me to read for AP Seminar, and I happily accepted because I didnāt want to miss out on the ~*experience*~ of an AP reading. While it certainly broadened my horizons on the work that goes into AP Seminar, I was much more excited when I got my invitation … Continue Reading
As Susan said about Q1, the operational Q2 passage, āThe Rock Eaters,ā and prompt were definitely accessible for most students this year. I still looked at a few drawings, read a few song lyrics (āIn the Heightsā), and even saw one person who wrote out the numbers from one to one hundred (!), but for … Continue Reading
And thatās a wrap on another reading. This year I read for Q1 – “The Barren Moors.” In general, the prompt and poem were accessible and students tended to write a lot. Compared to prior years (with the possible exception of āShavingā), there were few blank responses to the poem. So letās break this down. … Continue Reading
Teaching tone is a difficult thing, especially to high schoolers. Since it is such a challenge, it doesnāt get its due diligence but it is one of the most important literacy skills a reader needs to possess. Here are some common problems I have run into in my classroom when teaching tone: They donāt know … Continue Reading
Susan’s note: I typically have Brian Hannon join my APSIs for session to show us around LMS Voice Curriculum, a site filled with poetry resources. Not only does the site have poetry lessons that are ready to go in the classroom (with a writing workshop lesson, a literary analysis lessons, an essay prompt for the … Continue Reading
Names and numbers. I say that to my students over and over again ā their college application is just a series of names and numbers. Names Numbers And while all those names and numbers will be a record of what they have done in high school, it will not show who they are. Their only … Continue Reading
This post written by Gina Kortuem in the fall of 2019 originally appeared on APLitHelp.com. When I was a newer AP Lit teacher I attended a one-day AP training, as many teachers do. During one of my trainings a brilliant veteran AP teacher was going over a writing skill, then mentioned offhand that she had … Continue Reading
Here’s the first of 3 posts from this year’s reading. I asked two readers for each question to answer a few questions and share their thoughts. Thanks to David Choate and Gina Kortuem for today’s post. You can read more about them following their reflections. APĀ® Literature Free Response Questions 2022
