Course Description:
This workshop is designed for those teaching AP English Language and Composition for the first time and for those seeking refresher training. We will examine methodology and content, share ideas, study released multiple choice items, develop analytical strategies, and review sample essays from the 2008 AP Exam. The purpose of the workshop is to further acquaint you with the AP program and its demands and to help you continue to grow professionally and serve students more effectively.
Course Syllabus:
Course participants will focus on the following areas in the 2008 summer AP Language and Composition class:
| 1. |
Understand the role of advanced placement in the high school curriculum. |
| 2. |
Develop criteria for placement and acceptance into the course. |
| 3. |
Discuss vertical teaming ideas for smooth transitions into AP Language and Composition. |
| 4. |
Develop a course outline. |
| 5. |
Choose appropriate textbooks for the course. |
| 6. |
Discuss how to teach AP Language within the curriculum confines at your high school |
| 7. |
Develop monthly syllabi which will effectively cover rhetorical and literary analysis, research skills and synthesis essays, and effective communication of the writer’s ideas. |
| 8. |
Study student samples of different essay types (argument, synthesis, and prose analysis) in 40-minute timed essays |
| 9. |
Develop multiple choice test-taking skills |
| 10. |
Review released AP exams and rubrics |
| 11. |
Develop a research-based writing project which supports the AP Language synthesis essay |
| 12. |
Examine how style, figures of speech, tone, and other rhetorical devices shape an audience’s response |
| 13. |
Discuss summer reading benefits and options |
| 14. |
Examine importance of peer revision groups. |
| 15. |
Discuss differentiation of instruction within the AP class |
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Participants should leave the course with a general syllabus for the year, a starter set of teaching strategies and materials, and a network of teacher-collaborators. |
Instructor: Patricia Vandever Charlottesville, Virginia |
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| Patricia Vandever is a veteran teacher with 28 years of teaching experience. A resident of Charlottesville, Virginia, she has taught at both the high school and community college levels. She is currently chairperson of the Charlottesville High School English Department. She developed the AP Language and Composition course at her high school 11 years ago and served as an AP reader for five years. She is a peer mentor, a member of the Curriculum Advisory Committee, and a member of the Scholarship Committee at her high school. In addition, she belongs to Delta Kappa Gamma, a philanthropic educational sorority, and has served on the state testing review committee for the Standards of Learning, as well as the state textbook adoption committee. She also enjoys her role as the schools academic competition team coach and the student newspaper sponsor. |
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