Happy Holidays and Happy Break!

AP Language

Happy Holidays and Happy Break Everyone! I hope that you enjoyed our gathering today in class. Thank you for sharing treats and bringing some joy to our classroom today. I hope that you all find time to do the things that you enjoy doing over the break. 

If you missed part of the midterm exam, try to find time once we come back to get that made-up. We'll be looking at some feedback from the essays and do some scoring of our practice arguments. From then, we're launching into Invisible Man and Unit 5. It's not required that you read over break, but I'd recommend it because the book is pretty complicated. I've got some videos posted in the new unit folder to help you out. There's also the audiobook on Spotify to help you with reading. I'd recommend reading and listening at the same time.

Can't wait to see y'all in 2024! Have a great few weeks!

Ending the Midterm - Ugh! Technology...

AP Language

I hate AP Classroom sometimes. I'm completely locked out now. I sent a help request, so hopefully it's resolved soon. We finished our midterm today with the FRQx2. We completed the Rhetorical Analysis (FRQ2) and the Argument (FRQ3). Keep in mind that the RA is going to be your summative writing score, and the FRQ3 is going to be a practice score. We're just putting our feet in the water with that task; it's our focus for second semester. I'm looking forward to reading your responses.

This is really our last class - on Friday we're having a party. Sign up for something using the discussion board in the Unit 4 folder. We'll need plates, utensils, napkins, cups, and food. I'd also recommend getting started with Invisible Man. The book is challenging for a lot of reasons, so getting into your reading process. I'll share a video playlist that may be helpful for many of you as we get into break. A good goal would be to try and read the first five or six chapters before we start reading it as a class. Not an assignment, just a suggestion. There's also the audiobook available on Spotify!

See you Friday!

11 December - The Last Week before Break!

AP Language

A bit of a whirlwind day to kick off our last week today in AP Language. Today's class was focused on feedback and preparing for what we have to come next class. Next class you'll be writing two essays in one class period - FRQ 2 (Rhetorical Analysis) and FRQ 3 (Argument). Today we reviewed the scoring guidelines and sample papers to understand the requirements of FRQ 3. We also reviewed scoring guidelines and feedback from your Gatsby essays because these are close to FRQ 2 - you're doing the same task, but not with a non-fiction text. I hope that, as always, you found the feedback and review helpful. 

If you have not yet submitted your Gatsby motif work, that is past due. NHI scores will be entered this week. I would also ask that you submit your reflection letters based on the work that you've done so far. The reflections that we did today on the MCQ and FRQ could be helpful content for you to use as you reflect on your skills.

On Wednesday we'll have our timed writing, and then on Friday it's our end of the year potluck! Hooray! We'll do some signups next class for items. Please sign out your copy of Invisible Man using the book signout form in the Unit 4 Folder. Use your resources to prepare for next class and our essays. I'm excited to see your work.

7 December - Midterm is Halfway Done!

AP Language

Not the most exciting day in AP Language land today, but it was a day we had to do. Today we engaged in demonstrating our skills via the MCQ portion of the examination. These were always my biggest challenges when I was in your shoes as a student. Remember that there is a ton of feedback baked in to AP Classroom. Review your responses. Look at your skills. We'll review and reflect next class on our demonstrations of skills before we move into our final essays of the year.

If you haven't completed tasks from Unit 3 - those need to be completed ASAP. Be sure that you've submitted your reflection letter and your project/questions on The Great Gatsby. If you missed the in-class Gatsby analysis essay, make an appointment to get that settled before you go out on break. 

We will be having our end of the year celebration and potluck on December 15 - that's Friday before we go out. Think about what you'd like to bring! I'll start doing signups next week. You may also want to start reading Invisible Man - the next unit's major text. I've got a link to an audio version here which you may find helpful!

5 December - Let's Get Ready to MIDTERRRRRRRRRM

AP Language

Welcome to the midterm examination my lovelies. Today's class is your reading day it's a day for you to prepare for the examination ahead of you and reflect on where you are in the skills and competencies necessary in this class. So, what are you going to do today to study and prepare? Here's your to do list:

1. Be sure that you've submitted your Gatsby visual and artistic explanation questions. You completed your analysis in-class last time. Apologies for the lack of clarity in the instructions document. If you have a paper visual, give it to the substitute and make sure that it goes in the folder. Remember that I'm grading the visual and your explanation questions as your demonstration of reading skills.

2. Organize and use your notebook as a reflection tool. Look over your rubrics, your skill descriptors, and the feedback that you've received. Use the assignment in Schoology to write me a reflective letter about where you are in your reading and writing skills. Be sure to cite evidence as you write. At the bottom, do a quick PEWCAM analysis (bullet points are fine).

3. Feel free to use the unlocked AP Classroom Progress Checks to prepare for your MCQ. You'll be doing this on Thursday. You'll also be getting feedback on your most recent writing assignment before you write again!

I'll see you on Thursday as we begin our midterm exam!

1 December - Gatsby Assessment Day

AP Language

Today was our assessment day on The Great Gatsby. In today's assessment you curated your own passage from the novel and explained the way in which Fitzgerald creates meaning through language and motifs. I'm excited to read your essays and see the way in which your skills as a reader and writer have progressed. Remember that in this class, everything is practice for our eventual final exam - the AP Examination. On that test, you'll be asked to write an analysis as well, but it'll be cold. So you need to develop the process now in order to do that. 

Over the weekend, spend your time completing your visual representations of the motif and the connected questions explaining your art. Remember that you're just talking to me as you answer these questions, so feel free to be colloquial in style. You may also want to spend some time on AP Classroom preparing for the MidTerm. I've unlocked a few more MCQ Progress Checks to help you.

I'll see you next week - not on Tuesday since I'm at a conference - but Thursday to begin our MidTerm Exam! Tuesday is a preparation and reflection day for you. I'll look forward to reading your thoughts, but more on that later.

29 November - Ending Unit 3

AP Language

We crushed it today. My goodness. We had a fantastic seminar on Sullivan's "What Are Homosexuals For?" and considered key connections back to our larger unit on The Great Gatsby. I was glad to hear connections to the idea of fantasy versus reality, truth, identity, and the power of the past and society to dictate a person's actions. Sullivan's piece is one to keep hold of as we move on into our next novel unit. There will continue to be productive connections and conversations to be had.

We ended our day by looking at our last writing assignment and feedback. It is important that you dive in deeper to your analysis of language in your selected passages. Explain small details, show what they mean, and explicitly connect them to other pieces to show how everything builds on the argument. Revising your writing assignment from Chapter 8 is a great way to prepare for Friday's timed writing! Use the sentence frames provided in the slide deck for today's class.

For Friday, have your passage ready. You'll have to copy and paste the passage into your essay document on Schoology. You will have access to the passage as you write your essay. The passage can be one that we looked at before in class - this may be a great support for you! Consider the work we've done with our precis, formative writing assignment, and discussion board as support. Remember that your visual and artistic questions will be due next week on Tuesday.

Welcome Back! Three Weeks to Winter Break - 27 November

AP Language

What an incredible day to start our three weeks before Winter Break. We focused our work on Chapter 9 and examined two key passages in order to understand Fitzgerald's conclusion and main arguments about his society in the 1920's. All of this work is key as you are considering your final projects with this book. We started to summarize our main takeaways via a precis and considered how effective Fitzgerald was with the text he produced. All of this work will pay off well on Friday when we complete our in-class analysis. For Friday you'll be selecting your own passage from the novel and writing an analytical essay explaining how this passage conveys a significant argument through the use of motifs and other choices. 

Your visual will be due next week. For the visual be sure to answer the accompanying questions, you may find it easier to do that before building the visual to help guide your construction process. As always, come to Lion Time or after school if you need extra assistance.

Next class we'll be looking at one of our final pieces of this year - Andrew Sullivan's "What Are Homosexuals For?" As you read this text, consider connections to characters such as Jordan Baker, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby/Jay Gatz. Consider how each of them live outside of the normal rules of society and what happens to them because of this. It's an interesting text with creative parallels for us to explore in our final seminar.

Thanksgiving Break - 20 November

AP Language

Happy Thanksgiving AP Language! I hope that all of you have a wonderful break filled with people and things that you love. I'm gone to Oregon to be with my aunts, cousins, uncle, and my grandparents. For class today you have a pretty simple day focused on your project work for the end of The Great Gatsby. The substitute form is posted below. Here's your checklist for your day with the substitute:

1. Be sure that you've submitted your formative assessment. I would like to have feedback for all of you when we return from the break to lead us to our final project days.

2. Have your reading, annotating, and motif trackers done to Chapter Eight. Remember to use the recordings, slides, and earlier key passages. 

3. Decide how best to proceed once these things are done. You have Chapter Nine to read for the class after break. You may want to go ahead and read that now and finish up your motif tracker. Some of you have an idea of what you may want to do for your visual of the motif and/or your writing assignment. If you think your time is better spent on the project, spend time there. Use the materials in the classroom, but remember to clean up after yourself.

Remember that you have reading due for Monday when we return: have the book finished so we can have our final conversations on Nick, Daisy, Gatsby, Tom, and the America of the 1920's. See you after Thanksgiving Break!

Happy End of the Week - 16 November!

AP Language

We had the absolute best time in AP Language today discussing and working through Chapter 8. I'm really excited to read your paragraphs and get you feedback on the writing that you did. I hope that you are seeing the way in which all of our work is coming together to support your tasks here at the end of the book. I hope that you can also see the improvement you're showing in your skills as close readers and thinkers. 

For tonight, read Chapter 9 and finish your motif tracker. Hopefully you're starting to have an idea as to what your visual will look like and perhaps what your thesis is for your writing assignment. Next class, I'll be away from you physically, but I'll be with you in spirit as I check in virtually on Schoology. If you need help with your motif tracker or preparing for your project, please make plans for Lion Time after Thanksgiving Break.

14 November - It's Tuesday!

AP Language

We had a fantastic day today discussing the importance of Chapter 7 in The Great Gatsby. I think of this chapter as the fulcrum of the whole novel, everything rests on this. Past this, the conclusion is pretty much baked in, so we'll move quickly to the end of the novel. I liked seeing the engagement that you all brought to our opening conversation to track changes. I also appreciated all of you trying something new with me today with our annotations assignment. 

We paid all of this reading and thinking forward to start understanding Fitzgerald's main arguments to us at the end of the novel. This is key for your project. The arguments have been building the whole time, so now it's time to show and explain how that happened. Next class we'll be doing a graded assignment to see where our skills are as we're wrapping up and preparing for our projects. For tonight, read and annotate Chapter 8. Pay attention to Gatsby. Understand what happens to him and what it means on a symbolic level. Remember, he's not a real person. Be sure that you have also responded to today's discussion board post from the work we did today in class. 

Always excited for tomorrow! See you Thursday!

10 November - Happy Friday and Veterans' Day!

AP Language

Wonderful end to the week today in AP Language. We explored one of my favorite authors, Joan Didion, and her ideas around truth, memory, the past, and the issue of bias. I appreciated the conversation we were having and the connections that we built back to The Great Gatsby and our narrator. Remember that as we look at these parallel pieces we are building our analysis of non-fiction skills, our analytical writing skills, and our reading skills that are key for the AP Examination.

Over the weekend, read and annotate Chapter 7. Focus on using your motif tracker to follow major ideas in the text. Remember that we're moving to the end of the novel, so it's important start to draw your focus in on key motifs and meanings in the novel. We'll be finishing the project in the week after Thanksgiving Break, so putting in adequate time now is important. As always, reach out with anything that I can do for you to assist.

8 November (A Bit Ahead)

AP Language

Happy Wednesday (or whatever day you see this, but this post is for Wednesday, November 8) Everyone! 

I'm away today for some yearly medical appointments today. You've got a pretty straightforward day in class to catch-up and process Chapters 1-6 of The Great Gatsby. The slides posted here and in Materials - Current Lessons will guide you through what you should do and the conversations you should have. Here are the steps for today's class:

1. Get your notebook and have your laptop ready. Open up your Motif Tracker Chart. You may want to access the earlier key passages or the online text to search easily for where motifs are activated.

2. Complete items from the To-Do List (Slide 4). Try to get through 2-3 items. There are some Progress Checks open for you if you want to practice on AP Classroom. The main focus should be your motif trackers. Work with your classmates and use your resources!

3. After spending a bit less than an hour with the text, start to process what you're seeing and think about meanings. Draw connections between motifs and the characters, settings, conflicts, and symbolic objects. Consider the question - Who/What is winning and why? This will take you right into the final slide about Fitzgerald's arguments on American society. Use the DADS structure - and remember to be as specific as you possibly can be!

Next class we'll be looking at the article by Joan Didon. Didion is an amazing author and a bit of a favorite of mine and Mr. Friedman's. As you read, consider our conversation a few days ago related to the past, memory, and truth. This is a great piece to use as you consider Nick and the way in which he operates as a viewer and as a narrator.

2 November - End of the Quarter!

AP Language

Really good time today in AP Language to round out the week. We focused on Chapter 6, which is really the beginning of the end of the novel. I appreciated your engagement in the discussion and in the close reading. I'm especially impressed by the depth that you went into on our last passage - it was just two sentences! As we hit the back half of the novel, consider the major ideas that you're seeing and the arguments that Fitzgerald is making about this world, these people, and this society.

For the weekend, you should be sure that any final resubmissions are in. Remember that I need your rubric to rescore your project. If absolutely necessary, you can send me a photo of the rubric. I should have all grades updated by the end of the week. If you are interested in reassessing on your writing, there is an opportunity to do that today - Thursday - after school. If you can't make this, we may have a time slot on Tuesday, this is TBA.

Feel free to read ahead into the rest of the novel this weekend, focus on your project, or take a bit of a break if you're all caught up. I'll be out on Wednesday, so pay attention to Schoology for your lesson and listen for the substitute's instructions. All the best!

31 October - Happy Halloween!

AP Language

Solid day today in AP Language as we had some really big conversations about the power of the past, memory, truth, and identity. I appreciated the way in which you were closely reading the chapters to understand the way in which our motifs are interacting with each other to create arguments in the text. We're hitting the back half of the novel, so it's important to see how things are shifting to create key meanings. Remember, the characters aren't really characters - they're ideas. It's time to pay attention to who's winning, who's losing, and why. 

For next class, focus on reading Chapter 6. There are some major changes that occur in Chapter 6, so pay close attention and see the shifts as they occur. Don't forget that as we are working in class, you should be filling out your motif charts. As the ideas are activated in conversation note the ideas in the chart. Remember, you don't need quotes or page numbers, just collect the data. Next week we'll have a bit of a catch-up space to work on projects, draw some big connections, and collaborate together. I'm really enjoying the energy that I'm seeing in class around Gatsby and the increasing depth of analysis and reading. Keep practicing! Keep writing!

27 October - Feminism and Weekend Time!

AP Language

What a great day to end the week in AP Language. We dug into Deborah Tannen and looked at the marking of women, the ideas of power, politics, and access, and of course feminism. This is another article that we're going to come back to a few times this year as we consider the roles of women in the texts that we read and the roles of women in our American society. We flexed our precis muscles at the end to get ready for our next round of FRQ 2 - Rhetorical Analysis. Remember how our work in class will always support the development of our skills.

Over the weekend, there are two chapters to read because they work together very well. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 give us the opportunity to learn a LOT about Gatsby, Daisy, Nick, and the world of the 1920's. Pay attention to the idea of the past. We'll be building a timeline, so you may want to pay attention to what happens when in the lives of the characters.

Remember that revised projects are due by the 31st of October. I can give a bit of flex time if needed, but the majority should be submitted by then. Remember to focus on your audience, purpose, and message slides. Accomplish the goal of the rubric. Come to Lion Time or after school to conference. 

25 October

AP Language

Solid day today in AP Language as we had our first synthesis day. As we keep reading through The Great Gatsby we will gather our thoughts every three chapters. Today we discussed most of the major ideas in the book and the key arguments that Fitzgerald is presenting to us. Keep using our key passages, our annotations, and our conversations to track these major developments.

We also discussed our final project on The Great Gatsby and the tools you'll use to complete it. Track the motifs as you keep reading. Notice how the ideas build on each other in order to accomplish a full argument. Work with friends to track ideas - it makes life easier. At the end, we'll build a visual of the motif and write about a key passage in which the meaning is developed. 

For next class, read and annotate Deborah Tannen's article "There Is No Unmarked Woman". Think about the women we've met in The Great Gatsby. Consider their roles and the way in which they're marked. Don't forget that project revisions are due by 10/31. Remember to give me your rubric and resubmit the project on Schoology.

23 October - Party at Gatsby's!

AP Language

Great times today in AP Language as we experienced our first party at Gatsby's house. I was glad to see the way in which you were able to discern the meaning of key details to see the messages that Fitzgerald is providing about the world and people of the 1920's. Keep paying attention to patterns. Consider what cars and characters are really symbolizing. 

If you've fallen behind, take today as an opportunity to get caught up. Next class we'll be having a day to pull ideas together and focus on skills. No reading is assigned for next class. Focus on revising your What's the Situation projects based on today's feedback session. Remember to focus on purpose and message as you guide your revisions. If you would like to conference, please reach out! As always, I'm here to support you.

19 October - End of HoCo Week

AP Language

Wowza! What a day in AP Language as we discussed Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby. I loved the depth of your analysis and your reading and the way in which you reflected that in your discussion. Keep in mind that everything we're doing right now is about strengthening your analytical reading and writing skills. This is the key work to do in order to improve the skills assessed in your rhetorical analysis - FRQ 2. This is also a great skill that will apply in your other classes; remember, it's always about close reading and deriving patterns. Apply our reading strategies as you read on your own to deepen annotations and remember more of what you read. Annotating is making your thinking visible, so do it!

Over the weekend, read Chapter 3. You're going to get into your first party at Gatsby's house. Look at who comes and what happens. Pay attention to the imagery, the words, and the choices. Keep developing your list of big ideas in the back of the book and see how these ideas are developed in the body of the narrative.

If you're struggling with analytical writing, come in to Lion Time next week. I'm here to support you and provide more practice and feedback with your skills. We'll discuss more feedback and reassessment options next week!

17 October - Away at a Conference

AP Language

Sorry to be "away" today, but learning calls! I'm spending the first part of the week at an Instructional Coaching conference. It's been a good opportunity to work really closely with Mrs. Hanson and to get more into the learning part of my new role in the school. I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday in class and to see the fruits of your labors from today.

Today's class is focused on Chapter 1. You're working totally focused on Chapter 1 today in order to understand the structure of the chapter, the way in which tones fluctuate, and key elements of the narrative like conflicts, setting, and character. At the end of class, you're focused on analysis of a Chapter 1 Key Passage. As we go through this book, we'll be doing a lot of analysis of key passages. Focus on using the given sentence starters and the earlier conversations to put together a deep and focused analysis. Use the sentence starters I've given you! You're struggling with depth of commentary, and these will help get you there.

If you missed the timed writing, please schedule a make-up. I'll be hosting a session on Wednesday after school. As always, reach out with any questions or concerns. Enjoy Chapter 2 for Thursday's class!