I’ve been teaching AP Lit for twenty years. For almost nine of those years, I’ve been crafting AP Lit resources for other teachers to use with my TpT store and this blog. I like creating no-prep materials and often claim that resources can be used with a sub as well. I’ve said these things conceptually, hypothetically…until now.
Last week I fell down the stairs of my home. It wasn’t anything traumatic or medical, I just slipped on a top step due to slippery socks. The fall broke my leg, dislocated my ankle, and tore several ligaments in my ankle. I’m getting surgery tomorrow, requiring at least two weeks of bedrest with my leg elevated to avoid blood clots.
Suddenly, needing sub plans in a pinch was no longer conceptual. However, I did in fact have an arsenal of materials to hand off to a sub and still prepare my AP Lit students. It’s not ideal to be gone one month before the AP Exam, but I can rest knowing my students are still doing meaningful work while I’m gone. Here’s a roundup of activities and resources you use with a sub, whether it’s planned or not.
No-Prep Materials That Are Sub-Friendly
AP Lit Skill Task Cards
I use these task cards to help students dive deeper into poems and short texts. Usually, I select the card to pair with each text. However, if you’re gone, you can flip the task and ask students to select 3-5 cards that match with the text. Once selected, ask students to justify their answer in writing or teach it to their classmates in a jigsaw discussion activity. All your sub needs are the skill cards already printed and a text to study. For more ideas for how to use these task cards, check out this blog post!
Poetry Collection Study (Free Resource)
Over the years I’ve been using some of my school’s curriculum money to buy poetry collections. For poetry unit III, you could assign each student a different poetry collection. I created a unit (found in my free resource library) where students study a poetry collection and teach a 20-30 minute lesson about that poet. It requires 1-2 weeks of reading and prep work before presentations begin, so it’s perfect if you’re looking to be out for weeks, rather than just days. This blog post highlights some of my favorite poetry collections. If you want to do this resource but don’t have the collections, require your students to visit their local library over a weekend instead.
Skill Graphic Organizers
Several years ago, I created a graphic organizer studying each AP Lit Essential Skill. These worksheets coax students from surface-level findings towards more intense analysis. Like the skill task cards, pair them with any text to isolate skills. I usually reach for these as we get closer to the exam and learn that my students need help with a certain skill, such as unreliable narrators (4.D) or the function of structure in a text (3.C). Because there are so many skills, this is another activity that you can jigsaw or split up to offer students a variety of choices.
AP Lit Daily Videos (Free Resource)
During Covid, College Board teamed up with some master AP Lit teachers to create videos that help students write better essays and tackle each AP Lit skill. Although Covid was years ago, many teachers still use these videos in their classroom or as homework. When they released the videos, I created printable worksheets that pair each. These are great sub plans in a pinch, especially if you have absolutely no prep time. In fact, I’ve heard of teachers who print these ahead of time and keep them in a sub folder “just in case.” You can access the free video worksheets on my website here.
Literary Movement Study as Short Fiction
Another twist on short fiction is my unit about literary movements. Literary movements (Romanticism, Harlem Renaissance, Gothicism, etc.) are not required knowledge on the AP Lit exam. However, I have found that success on the test is all about recognizing patterns. If you can recognize a work as being part of a literary movement, it helps immensely with analysis and establishing a line of reasoning. When out for a few days, assign your students to study a particular literary movement with these no prep materials. Simply post to your school’s LMS and print out the student handout and you’re set for 2-3 days.
What I Chose
For my absence, I chose a variety of these ideas. My students are doing a poem collection study (in pairs, so presentations don’t take forever). They’re writing using my AP Lit skill task cards and skill graphic organizers to complete some formative work and will do presentations as soon as I return from my absence. These presentations should take us up until about a week before the exam, where we will shift to essay prep and multiple choice strategies. For more test prep ideas, check out my blog posts on the topic or my AP Lit Test Prep resource.
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