Last week I posted an idea on my social media which received a lot of attention. I shared a picture of two small sheets of paper with literary elements or guiding questions for students to look for when reading a short story. I called it an annotation guide and explained that my sophomores’ ...
Read More about How to Create and Use an Annotation Guide for Focused Analysis
The Essay Autopsy: My New Introductory Writing Assignment
I first heard of the concept of an “essay autopsy” a few years ago in the AP Lit Facebook group. Teachers used it when a student wrote a poor essay and wanted to earn some points back. I liked the idea, but didn’t really use it. Then I heard about using it when a whole class struggled on a writing ...
Read More about The Essay Autopsy: My New Introductory Writing Assignment
Introducing Interpretation: The AP Lit Olympics
This last week was my first week back at school. In my AP Lit class, I usually begin with a lesson I call “Literature is a Verb.” However, my class this year is kind of small and, frankly, I was in the mood for a change. I’ve been toying with the idea of a gentle competition to introduce the text ...
Read More about Introducing Interpretation: The AP Lit Olympics
Assess, Pair, Share, Score: My New Favorite Multiple-Choice Strategy
If some of your teaching aims for tests like AP, ACT, or SAT, you know that multiple choice is a CHORE. Improving multiple-choice performance is about much more than giving students more practice questions. Students need to learn how to slow down, return to the text, examine the question, eliminate ...
Read More about Assess, Pair, Share, Score: My New Favorite Multiple-Choice Strategy
AP Lit on the Block: Strategies for Getting the Most from a Block Schedule
One of the most common questions I get from other AP Lit teachers is about scheduling for a block schedule. This blog post shares my limited insights, as well as practices and strategies from AP Lit teachers who teach on a full block schedule.
My Experience - the Modified Block Schedule
I ...
Read More about AP Lit on the Block: Strategies for Getting the Most from a Block Schedule
Trends in AP Literature: 2026 FRQ New Titles & Trends
The 2026 AP Lit Reading happened just two weeks ago and I’ve had some time to study the prompts. Every year, I'm always the most interested in studying the titles used on the open question. While students are not limited to these titles in any way, the ones chosen as suggested texts can be ...
Read More about Trends in AP Literature: 2026 FRQ New Titles & Trends
