Our quarter ends next week, which means my AP Lit students have to write a timed writing on their independent reading. Although we’ve done some practice essays and lots of paragraphs, this will be their first summative, on-demand essay. And, I’ll be honest, they’re anxious.
To help them feel prepared, we spent almost three whole days prepping for the first on-demand essay. Here’s a breakdown of what I did and how I worked to prepare them.
Find an accessible text
One of my favorite texts to discuss is Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing.” It is less plot-driven, but easy to understand. And because it is medium length, there is a lot of source material but it’s not too much to read in one night. I asked students to read and annotate the text for homework, warning them that we would have a practice timed writing the following day.
Define complexity
Before this lesson, I try to break the concept of “complexity” down to my students as I see it, since that word is in nearly every AP Lit prompt they’re going to see. To see this lesson, check out this blog post.
The basics of this lesson are that complexity means there are two things happening at once. I love analyzing juxtaposition, and it’s almost synonymous for complexity. But complexity goes beyond contrast and allows the analysis to grow as it compares.
To illustrate complexity, we like to make a complexity web. Here’s an example from a previous text, “Charles” by Shirley Jackson. We use words to describe Laurie’s mom at any point in the text. Then, to make an argument of complexity, we pair two unlike terms. For example, on the bottom right corner it says that Laurie’s mom is both:
- Curious and ignorant
- Dismayed and proud
- Nosy and grateful
- Judgmental but complacent
After doing this, my students started buzzing with different points they could make with these complex pairings and the beginnings of an essay were born.
Draft an essay
On the second day, I gave my students a prompt on “I Stand Here Ironing” (I used the stable wording based on the errata sheet online). Students had 40 minutes to draft a response. I emphasized that this essay was for practice and wouldn’t be graded, so if they didn’t finish it wasn’t something to panic over.
Self-Reflection
On the third day, students got out their essays. They were tasked to follow these instructions:
I do this exercise every year, often multiple times, and it always helps students find where they go wrong in an essay. I didn’t even have to read the essays to learn who had a strong essay and who struggled. These instructions also help to define the line of reasoning to students early in the year so that we can build on that skill.
Self-score with the rubric
When I give the prompt for the first essay, I hand out a rubric as well. Most just set it aside, but on this day, we really look at it. Students read over each section and give themselves a realistic score using the rubric. I find that this step also helps them understand my rationale when scoring the first essay.
Pair & Share
After highlighting and self-scoring the essays, I ask students to pair up. Here are their instructions:
As the students share with each other, I walk around and listen. The post-its are also used to help give me an idea of how students are feeling going into the essay.
Dispel some rumors
Another important thing we do is to dispel some misconceptions going into the essay. Here are some:
- Rumor 1: I must have 5 paragraphs in my essay.
- Rumor 2: I must mention as many literary elements as possible.
- Rumor 3: I must write neatly and avoid crossing out things in my essay.
- Rumor 4: I don’t have time to brainstorm.
- Rumor 5: I can take as long as I want on this essay.
As we dispel each essay, we discuss why people think these statements are true and why they are, in fact, not.
Strategize for the essay
As we wrapped up, I put this slide up:
We discussed our “October goals,” which are different from May goals! I also got some time to talk to students one-on-one and talk about their worries for the day, based on their post-it notes.
Reflection
This. Worked. Wonders. I loved this lesson for the following reasons:
- I feel like I did everything in my power to prepare my students for this stressful assessment. In several simple steps, my students reflected on the rubric and practiced writing. Highlighting the essay helps students practice self-reflection on what they’re writing.
- I got to hear what my students fear as they approach the timed writing. This gave me some ready tips when I spoke to them one-on-one.
- I didn’t have to grade anything. I prepped some instructions and walked students through the lesson but spent no time reading extra essays before I read their final essays.
If you’re looking for extra help with on-demand writing and general test prep, check out my AP Lit Test Prep Unit. I use elements of this unit throughout the year and it can help students feel prepared and empowered when they’re writing on-demand.
If you’re a repeat buyer, first, thank you! And if you are, I recommend that you save money in the long run by checking out my AP Lit Full Course Bundle. This resource contains everything AP Lit-related that I’ve ever made, or ever will make. Consider asking your administrator to cover the cost, as it will serve as your curriculum for the year!
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