When students enter my AP Literature classroom, most of them are coming from AP English Language where they have had very little exposure to poetry. It’s just not part of the course. This means at best, they had poetry over a year ago. But let’s face it, lots of English
One thing that I have observed in recent years is that my students are definitely vocabulary deficient. We all know that the way to improve vocabulary is through reading and exposure to words. But the reality of the current student is that they don’t read. The solution? Teaching them word
One of my favorite units in my college courses was the one where we explored the original versions of fairy tales. And, when I have done this in my high school English classes using fairy tale poems, it is always a hit. 5 Ways Incorporate Fairy Tale Poems in High
The goals for formative assessments are that they are 1. quick and 2. easy to grade which is why today I am sharing 7 formative assessments that you can do in your high school classroom in ten minutes or less. Using Bell Ringers and Exit Tickets for Formative Assessments Both
You want to do a quick check for understanding or a reading check or skill check, but you don’t want it to take the whole class or even half the class. That’s why you need these five formative assessment strategies. What are Formative Assessments? I generally think of a formative
It’s almost May, which means those of us who teach AP® English are wrapping up in preparation for the exams. It doesn’t matter whether that is the AP® English Literature exam or the AP® English Language exam, our core courses are winding down. And for many people, this also signals
The moment our students walk in the classroom, we need to make sure that they get to work. The quicker they get to work, the more effective our use of class time can be. My favorite bell ringer ideas are “Of the Week” bell ringers. What is a Bell Ringer
Only a few years ago, I could count on that one kid to recognize the allusions in literature that we would encounter in our shared texts. But as fewer kids go to church and even few read on their own, students are way less likely to recognize those references to
People thrive on routines. And even more importantly, kids and students need routines to help them feel less stressed and more focused in the classroom. So what is the best way to set up your classroom procedures to create routines? Starting each class with bell work which are also called
On the AP® Literature exam, both the Poetry Free Response Question and the Prose Free Response Question ask students to consider the text complexity of the passages provided. Which means that first they have to be able to dive deep enough into a text to discover just what this means.
I help AP Literature and High School English teachers create engaging classrooms so that students will be prepared college and beyond.
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