Class Shirts

The results of the poll find that the majority of Langers are interested in a class shirt this year! To begin the first phase of shirts, we need designs to vote upon to represent AP Lang as a whole (not shirts by hour). Submit your designs (can be one side or two sides) in the Shared Drive in the T-Shirt folder. Currently, Zoe's submission resides there. Do not worry about shirt color as we will eventually vote on that element later. The most important considerations are images and words at this point. Submissions will be accepted through Tuesday, so my artists and my digital designers, here is your opportunity to create!

P.S. The shoe vote for AP Lang will begin next week! A tradition that you can read more about in the Shared Drive under Shoe Voting Updates! While this is completely optional, just like the shirts, it's a fun activity to balance out all of the rhetorical analysis and discussion.

Shoe Voting Is Almost Here

If we were in Room 404 now, there would be a colorful display of shoes lining my board, and you would be voting each day for the pairs you would want me to purchase to represent AP Lang. This fun activity, not required, but definitely a little levity in a time of end-of-year assignments and AP tests, allows you to do something completely free from rhetorical analysis, argumentation (unless you want to convince other classmates on their voting choices), and synthesis!

Obviously, we're not in Room 404, so the vote has gone digital. In the upcoming days, you will receive a form for voting. You have the chance to vote for a maximum of 5 pairs of day. You are able to submit a form once a day until May 20, so those passionate about AP Lang shoes will have their choices counted. 

In the meanwhile, all of the past shoes and the current 88 candidates can be found in the Shared Drive in the Shoe Voting Updates Folder. 

This is an AP Lang & Lit tradition, so do participate if you have the time and inclination :) 

Timed Digital Prompts

We enter new territory in AP Lang this week with a complete timed digital prompt on AP Classroom. Last week, you tried a close reading and reflected on the process, hopefully garnering some ideas of how to approach your next prompt and prepare for the writing portion of this task. This week, you have a full essay to do, and it is the main assignment this week for AP Lang as I want you to designate time to complete this assignment and give it your full attention. 

Normally, we would have this in class, hard copy, with my eyes watching the clock for you. Now, you have this at home, digital, your own timer. 

I want to reinforce that the directions I am giving you for this prompt, clearly outlined in the lesson plans, is the best means of ascertaining your abilities not just in writing rhetorical analysis but also in the ability to write a digital prompt in the specified time frame. 

Ergo, this is not just a prompt to be evaluated (which I will be doing); this is also a prompt to help you build strategies for the next one. If you do not follow the guidelines/rules/instructions, you may have stronger feedback, but you may not have the base to form strategies for improvement. 

Reminders, observations, and thoughts to read PRIOR to writing the essay: 

• I want to remind you how important it is to be honest with your work, especially with timing situations, while you are digitally on the clock. 
• Whether you are taking the test or not, the ability to respond to a timed prompt is a skill for the AP curriculum, college curriculum, and course curriculum. The justification "I'm not taking the AP exam" is not valid here as this is an assignment for all of you.
• With the fact that you are not receiving a percentage grade, this is the opportunity to test out what you are able to produce in a timed situation and prepare for future activities and actual exams online.
• This prompt has a time limit of 45 minutes, which will be the same for the AP exam. This includes close reading and writing the essay. You then have 5 minutes of time for submitting the exam. 
• You are to take this prompt in one sitting - not look at the prompt, think about it, and come back another day. I am trusting you to do this. 
• If you wifi goes down, stop your timer and then resume with the same time remaining. Do not work on the prompt during this down time. This is why I'm not presetting the timer for the prompt myself (yes, I can do that) as I know tech issues might occur. 
• Yes, do your best, but be prepared to make sacrifices with your close reading and writing to finish on time. And, if something goes wrong, bring that into your strategy for next time.
• As many of you are noting in your reflections, close reading for 3 strategies and writing the essay probably won't be as successful as when in hard copy. Close reading for 2 umbrella strategies and/or shifts is probably the way to go here.
• During close reading, jot down minimal notes to help set up your essay. Do not write out full thesis statements and detailed outlines. Notes could include the strategies you note, references to evidence you may use. 
• If you are given line or paragraph numbers, use those for citations. If you are not given anything for citation, don't worry about it. Yes, I wrote that down. Digital rules.
• The biggest points are for evidence, i.e. the body paragraphs, so that is where you should spend the majority of your time. Don't waste time on writing a long introduction. Set up the context, have a fast analogy, but get into that thesis and the body paragraphs. You can always go back and add more if time permits. 
• If you need to review how to write a rhetorical analysis essay and what to do in timed situations, your classmates did a superior job on our April 7 meeting. 
• As AP has noted, they cannot stop people from "open notes" on these tests. For AP Lang, the only "open notes" could be a thesaurus/dictionary/rhetorical toolbox list. You don't have time to constantly be looking up words, so use this sparingly as to not take away from your writing. 
• We will have one more full timed prompt in a couple weeks, so that you can take this experience and feedback and do better the next time around. 
• We worked on rhetorical analysis almost all of first semester and have been highlighting it during our fourth quarter work. You know how to do this. Put yourself in the writing mental space, welcome the paper fairies into your mind and fingers, and do your best.

Once again, the expectation is you take this prompt as you would in class. Find a quiet place, a timer, and the best connection to wifi and write it. Submit the work, receive the feedback, garner what you can from your experience to better strategize the next time. 

The Tudors

Having historical context of our kings and queens can only help you as you delve into their speeches from centuries ago. There are countless films, television series, and plays that deal with our Tudor father-daughter combo of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. I highly recommend The Private Life of Henry VIII starring Charles Laughton. It probably created the stereotypical picture of the turkey leg chomping monarch, and it gives some humor to the cycle of wives in which Henry attempted to produce an heir and substantiate his legacy. The whole movie is on Youtube even. For Elizabeth I, my favorite portrayal is Cate Blanchett in 1998's Elizabeth (the sequel isn't bad either). The film further sets the context of Elizabeth's adjustment from "illegitimate" daughter to mighty ruler and further exhibits why Cate should have won an Oscar for that role. While each film probably plays with historical accuracy - as does every historical film - I always find I learn a great deal of historical figures from films. Happy watching if you have the time and inclination!

Digital Week 4/14

Our meetings went so well last week with the review of how to write a rhetorical analysis essay, how to create scintillating hooks, thesis statements, and body paragraphs, and how to analyze the purpose of rhetorical devices composed by your own brains that this week will further our review of this essay style.

I hate to be redundant, but everything is in the lesson plans that you need to do! Go there and prosper in your rhetorical analysis! I apologize for the corniness - coffee drinking big time!

Before I continue on, I just wanted to offer a little math for those of you so inclined. In normal circumstances, physically present in Room 404, you would have had 8 full essay prompts (including 2 full timed tests) and 2 mini essay prompts this quarter. With our circumstances and the AP test shortened and focused, we will have 3 full essay prompts and (maybe?) 2 mini essay prompts this quarter. All right, mathematicians, that is quite the difference in essay writing! To make up for that, we will be composing thesis statements and/or body paragraphs to keep up with the skill and not overwhelm you with so much rhetorical analysis!

This week will feature the 2 areas of focus, which can be found in the lesson plans that are posted on the shared drive and linked in Google Classroom: Kings & Queens speeches for rhetorical analysis and a team essay rhetorical analysis.

The Kings & Queens speeches were actually part of a multi-draft synthesis essay that AP Langers normally do, but not this year :( However, those speeches, and their difficult syntax and tone and spelling (no orthography rules back then) are perfect for rhetorical analysis and practicing writing body paragraphs! Hence, you have 5 speeches from King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I to peruse and take light notes on those purposes and strategies. Those speeches are also the basis of our Webex meetings this week: Tuesday will be the biography days for our two speakers (we need to get to know them and their milieu to further understand how they present themselves, their tones, and their purposes), Wednesday will be Henry VII speech analysis day, and Thursday will be all Elizabeth. While you are responsible for what you sign up for (biographical or body paragraph device rhetorical analysis), I still expect you to read through all of the sources. We are going to tie all of those speeches together at some point! And, of course, you can also take notes during meetings to help you pinpoint those devices and purposes.

The second area of focus is the team rhetorical analysis essay. I would love to say we will have this finished this week, but we that will not be happening - start this week, end next week is the plan. By Thursday, make sure to sign up for what passage you would like (maximum 3 per passage). If you don't sign up, guess who will sign up for you? Yep, me! After you claim a passage, you will individually close read the passage and take notes regarding purpose and strategies (you can make a chart if that helps you). Then, hold. Wait for Thursday afternoon's instructions that will break down the team essay and the expectations. While you can probably guess how it will work, don't collaborate until the all clear has passed.

Well, that was verbose. Keep up the work, Langers. I'll tell you those meetings last week were something else with quality of thought and engagement. Those of you who are putting in the effort are noticed and will continue to be so :)

Digital Week 4/7 (yes, we don't start until Tuesday, but it is a Sunday tradition!)

As said in Mystic Pizza, "you don't monkey with tradition"! Ergo (it's becoming a problem with that transition, I'll tell you), I'm dropping the weekly plans on Sunday so that you know what is up for the rest of the week. The same info has already been announced on Google Classroom, and I will be sending you an e-mail too. That's 3 places for you to go for the same information! Plus, the shared drive is still available with just about everything too!

The work week starts on Tuesday, April 7, but I highly recommend claiming your date and topic for the verbal meetings a.s.a.p. so you have your spot (of course), and you will know what work you have to do this week (that's right - lots of individual choices at your fingertips!).

Copied and pasted so font change:

This week’s work will involve a lot of the previous work you have done first semester, prior to spring break, and the past two optional weeks.

Ergo, if you have been keeping up with notes, assignments, and practices for the entire class, you won’t have too much additional work to do this week. However, if you have not put as much effort into the course prior to this week, don’t worry! You have this week to do the same stuff and it’s for credit!

As noted by the district, your third quarter grade is currently a place marker for what your semester grade MAY be. The “may” is an important caveat as students are expected to maintain their level of effort and participation to have the same grade at the end of this quarter. I will be noting the completion of your activities and giving feedback with AP scores (1-6) on essays and specific writing assignments to make sure you are improving with your essays. Do your job, you will keep your grade. Don’t do your job, your grade is subject to drop.

I have also been told that students who show the effort and participation beyond what they did third quarter can have their grade bumped up.

*By the way, and this is for a small number of you, if you have extenuating circumstances that preclude you from technological completion, result from health or familial reasons, or other issues that may occur, communicate with me! There are always ways to maintain your involvement J

A little adjustment to my work hours: regular office hours will be 1-3; dedicated work hours will remain the same beyond that: TWR 10-4; M,F,Sun sporadic.

Also, the district has requested we use WEBEX instead of Zoom for meetings, so you will receive new invitations to join those meetings. Check the sign-up sheet for more info and times (only one meeting time has been adjusted).

And one more area – it does not matter if you are taking this course for the AP Lang test, college credit courses, high school credit, or a hybrid of the aforementioned reasons. All of those curriculums involve rhetorical analysis, argumentation, and synthesis. Ergo, I might be turning into Abby W. with that transition, and all of these assignments are for all of you and not just those taking the AP exam J

OVERALL WEEK’S ASSIGNMENTS FOR 4/7:

1.     PHASE 2 RA PREPARATIONS, #4, WEBEX MEETINGS PLUS RHETORICAL ANALYSIS REVIEW & RHETORICAL ANALYSIS PARAGRAPHS (AS DETERMINED BY YOU) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1N2rmBLxhLYDTl2doPHxXnLuXeGzrIEdZRLzAStEX25o

2.     PHASE 1 SYNTHESIS, #5/6 (if you already did it, you don’t have to do it again!)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pCcMXOSW6BDtzzlOeyDuAUfb9jiEsZIPg0Y2HfPm9uI

Suggested Daily:

·        Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

o   Sign up for your WEBEX meeting/topic

o   Prepare notes, answers, reflections, and/or paragraphs for your participation in WEBEX Meeting

o   Verbally participate in at least one meeting

o   Fill out completion/absentee form on Google Classroom – this will not be available until Tuesday, and you shouldn’t fill it out until after your meeting or after all meetings have occurred

·        Friday

o   Write synthesis essay in AP Classroom if not already completed