I first taught AP Lit in 2006, immediately after graduating college. Admittedly, mine is a unique (and rather foolish) situation. Many teachers work for years, even decades, before applying their expertise to this advanced course. However, I was at a private school that found themselves in a ...
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Classic and Contemporary Text Pairings by Theme
This is the third and final installment on classic and contemporary text pairing. The first post matched up contemporary and classic texts by plot and the second by character. This last post matches old with new books based on theme. I hope you enjoy!This post contains affiliate links which can earn ...
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Classic vs. Contemporary: Novel Pairings by Character and Archetype
This is the second installment in a series of text pairings. My first installment, found here, was about novels with similar plots. Many of the contemporary texts are an homage to the classic text. In this installment, I pair books with similar character types. This post contains affiliate links ...
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Classic vs. Contemporary: Novel Pairings by Plot and Story
Pairing books for novel studies, book clubs, or thematic units is a growing trend in ELA classes. There are many different ways to pair books. They could be paired by common theme, by similar characters, or even as retellings of the same story. One of the best ways to pair novels is by picking one ...
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This Graded Discussion is Perfect for Emerging Learners
This week marked my second week of school with my sophomores. With my Honors students, I want to push them towards close reading and Socratic style discussions as early as possible. That’s why I do a graded discussion in the first week of school.Graded Discussion vs. Socratic SeminarA Socratic ...
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Excerpts: Why they’re overlooked and how to use them to raise your AP scores
When College Board redesigned the AP Lit course and exam in 2019, they introduced a new kind of unit to the course called Short Fiction. Most people assume that short fiction refers exclusively to short stories. However, you won’t find a short story on the AP English Lit exam. In addition to short ...
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