From the AP Literature CED: "The highest performing essays on the exam typically recognize and account for contradictions and complexities in the text being analyzed. Students who reduce a complex setting or character to only a single detail or moment where a shift or change occurs may ignore or fail to consider other details that […]
Many works, like Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer prize winning play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" have been banned, censored, or otherwise restricted at times from high school classrooms. Join us for a discussion of Williams' play and best practices on how to handle controversial texts in the classroom. We will also focus on authorial intent and adaptations including the […]
Students are smart. Students make great observations. Students say things that cause us to see ideas or texts differently. Too often, they try to put these things in writing and miss the mark. Too often, we know what they are trying to say, and we want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but we […]
If literature as a field of study is going to survive, then it falls on us as teachers of it to make it matter. Not for us, but for the students sitting in our courses. We know the field, but we also know that - like any artform - it is constantly evolving. How can […]
Many, if not most, students struggle with reading and writing at grade-level. As teachers, it's our responsibility not only to teach grade-level content, but also provide scaffolds to make up for skills that may not have been learned in earlier years. And, though it's important to allow students to search for their unique voices--especially when […]
Description: There is no reason why everything, especially in the English classroom, needs to be new for students. In fact, most students already have a strong understanding of rhetoric, argumentation, research, and literary analysis, they just don’t realize it yet. This session will look at how fictional realities, creative opportunities, high school drama, and common social […]
“You’re much stronger than you think you are. Trust me.” – Superman Recent events have taken a toll on our students and have revealed not only academic but emotional and psychological conflicts as well. As educators we now find ourselves more than ever on the front line teaching not only reading and writing but also helping […]
This session will examine some released student samples from the 2021 AP exam. We will workshop how to help our students revise drafts to add in commentary and evidence to improve scores in Row B of the rubric. Facilitator: Celine Gomez Celine Gomez teaches at Plano West Senior High School in Plano, TX. For the […]
"Think, Feel, Believe and/or Do...How to Extend Rhetorical Analysis Line of Reasoning" Students often struggle to extend their commentary. Help students find more to say about their text evidence within their rhetorical analysis. Facilitator: Kacie Smith Kacie Smith has been an educator for the past nineteen years. Teaching AP® Language and Composition for over ten years, […]
As English teachers, we are known for using books to make connections to universal themes and current events. Our classroom doesn't have to be limited to written texts to make these connections. In this session, we will look at how podcasts and documentaries can be used to supplement our texts in order to increase our […]
Offered in partnership with Mass Insight Education and Research One of the best things we can do for all students is to take their thinking seriously. In this interactive session, we explore ways to cultivate students’ critical reasoning abilities through the study of written arguments. We examine strategies for helping students collect and organize information, […]
Offered in partnership with Mass Insight Education and Research Literary study provides students with rich opportunities for developing transferable literacy skills, including the ability to make connections across contexts, read closely and critically, assess the rhetorical situation, analyze genres, and negotiate different voices. Participants will experience how using activities like “Descriptive Plot Outlining,” “Rhetorical Précis […]
