Introduction to the Poem: AP Literature Unit 2

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

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Using Fairy Tale Poems in High School English

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

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7 Formative Assessments in 10 Minutes or Less

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

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5 Formative Assessment Strategies for High School

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

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The AP English Exam is Over–What’s Next?

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

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Bell ringer ideas of high school English

Bell Ringer Ideas for High School English

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

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7 Ways to help AP students focus on text complexity.

Text Complexity for AP English

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.

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Jeanmarie McLaughlin at McLaughlin Teaches English

Hi, I'm Jeanmarie!

I help AP Literature and High School English teachers create engaging classrooms so that students will be prepared college and beyond.

Learn more about me and how I can help you here 

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