This is a blog-version of my presentation in the online Mosaic conference on July 19, 2021. To view the presentation from that night, click here. Three years ago, I began teaching How to Read Literature Like a Professor in class for the first time. While I saw its potential in an AP® Lit class, I ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Similes in Prose
Some may be surprised to see a seemingly poetic skill such as a simile in Short Fiction III for AP® Lit, but it does make sense. Advanced readers need to notice a writer's comparison and be able to analyze its significance as well. While this spotlight lesson zeroes in on similes, it can include all ...
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Go-To Resources for ELA Teachers
Congratulations! You've gotten a new class or maybe even a new job as an English teacher! Once the initial euphoria settles, the anxiety usually takes its place. What most non-English teachers don't realize is that ELA teachers often have more grading and even more prep work than other types of ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Function of Setting
AP® Lit Skill SET 2.B piggy-backs off of 2.A in terms of identifying and analyzing setting. While most students can identify a story's setting (the only task in 2.A), many struggle with analyzing the function of the setting (2.B). The AP® Lit CED asks students to connect the text's setting with ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Sequence of Events
AP® Lit Skill STR 3.B asks students to explain the function of a particular sequence of events in a plot. This is settled between 3.A (how plot orders events in a narrative) and 3.C (function of structure in a text) and there's clearly some overlap. In thinking about this skill and what it wants ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Point of View
Point of view is one of those essential understandings that is easy for students to identify, but harder to analyze for function. The key in teaching point of view to AP® Lit is to consider WHY the author employs the point of view, and what is illuminated (or omitted) because of it. *AP® is a ...
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