Teaching Writing through AP® Lit Essay Writing Anchor Charts

When it comes to for writing the AP® Lit essay, there are so many balls in the air for our students. In the AP® Literature CED, the College Board has designated 5 essential skills related to writing in AP® literature. So the question is how do we help our students succeed on the AP® Lit exam writing?

Using anchor charts to teach writing in AP® Lit essay.

AP® Lit Essay Writing Anchor Charts

Using writing anchor charts in AP® might seem out of place, almost elementary. It’s time to rethink this position. Anchor charts that are sized to fit in student notebooks become the perfect reference guide.

When we do target practice in class (like claims or thesis writing, or line of reasoning), my students often flip to their anchor charts to help them think through their responses.

What Kinds of AP® Lit Essay Anchor Charts Should You Have?

Claims for AP® Literature Questions

The first skill that the College Board has designated is that of claims writing. Helping guide students through claims can help them build stronger thesis statements.

You can grab a set of Claims AP® Lit Essay Writing Anchor Charts and know that not only will your students have a student-friendly reference guide, but that you have quick exercises that you can simply print and use.

AP® Literature Thesis Anchor Charts

Once students have nailed claims, they can move on to writing thesis statements. Since the thesis is one point on a six-point rubric, it is critical for students to understand what counts as a thesis. However, once they understand this, we want to guide them to writing more sophisticated thesis statements that really hone in on the complexity of the topic.

This AP® Literature Thesis Anchor Chart helps students understand what makes a thesis and what makes a sophisticated thesis. There are examples which provide students with a frame that they can use for any text. And of course, there is practice.

A List of 7 Writing Anchor Charts that High School English Teachers need for teaching writing.

Text Complexity in the AP® Lit Essay

It doesn’t matter which AP® Lit prompts students are writing about; the key to the question is that they will write about something that is complex. Questions often ask students to consider the “complex relationship” or the “complex attitude” or the “complex situation.” I found that students were lacking the vocabulary to describe these complexities. This Anchor Chart for Text Complexity, helps students to name the complex ideas.

Students can practice with both prose and poetry, but they have to learn to identify the layers.

Text Evidence Anchor Charts for the AP® Literature Questions

We don’t want our students to fall into the trap of summary when they are responding to AP® Lit prompts. One way to do this is to focus on how to use evidence in response to a complex thesis. This anchor chart helps students to think about how much evidence to use and how to balance it with commentary.

The best way to encourage students to improve their writing is by looking and and evaluating models which is exactly what the practice included in the Essay Evidence Anchor Charts does.

Help Your Students to Focus on a Line of Reasoning in the AP® Lit Essay

Once students have developed a sophisticated thesis, the next most complicated idea for them to grasp is the line of reasoning. An anchor chart that uses the metaphor of a game board really helps them to see how to focus their writing.

The practice includes developing a line of reasoning from short passages. For additional ideas on how to help students develop their line of reasoning, check out 3 Activities to Help Students with the Line of Reasoning.

Essay Coherence in AP® Lit Essays

The final aspect that helps students develop their responses to AP® Literature questions is a look at essay coherence. This anchor chart again uses a metaphor to help students consider all the parts that bring an essay together including transitions, repetition, parallel structure, pronouns and synonyms. It helps students by naming the aspects of coherence and giving them examples of its use.

The practice includes annotating a student model for aspects of coherence. See it in another student’s work will help them to focus on those aspects in their own writing.

Teach the AP® Lit Essay with Ease

Using AP® Literature Anchor Charts throughout the year will help students to build their writing foundations. These skills while important to the AP® Lit Exam are simply good writing skills. They are skills that students can utilize in other classes and take with them to college. A solid foundation in sophisticated thesis statements, developing evidence, commentary and a line of reasoning and essay coherence are exactly the skills we want to send our students off to college with.

Grab the whole AP® Literature Writing Anchor Charts Bundle. Save when you do.