Summer Reading Assignment for 2020-2021 School Year

Please click here for the summer assignment.

Just in case that doesn’t work, here is the link in another form: https://bit.ly/LHSAPLitsummer20

Students: After reading and reviewing the summer reading assignment, please acknowledge that you have received this email and document by clicking here and filling out this form.

Have a great summer! I'll see you in September.

Week of June 8, 2020

If you wish to submit the final assignment to raise your grade, you must do so by 11:59 pm on Monday, June 8. Assignments must be submitted to Teams.

I would really love it if you would complete this class survey.

Please review Skyward. To my knowledge, grades are updated and current. If you believe something is missing, please notify me immediately via email.

A note for your final week: As you know, this was my first year teaching AP Lit, and I enjoyed it immensely. It was also by far the weirdest year of school I've experienced in 14 years of teaching. I'm sorry that your senior year was not all that it was supposed to be. But thank you for being such a fun group with whom to read and discuss literature! I loved listening to you all discuss and process your ideas. It brought my teacher heart more joy than you probably know. You are the future and I am confident in what you are going to make and do in this world of ours. 💗

Week of June 1, 2020

Congratulations! We've made it to June!

This week we are continuing optional assignments to raise your grade. If you choose to complete ONE of these assignments, please submit it on Teams.

Stardust book club: finish reading the book and join the meeting at 10 am on Thursday. Details are posted in Teams.

Everyone: please check Skyward and make sure it's accurate. Email me regarding any concerns.

Have a great week!

Week of May 25, 2020

Please click here for the final menu of assignments.

Our book club has already formed, but if you wish to join late, please email me and let me know.

Please double-check Skyward. If you think there are any errors or missing assignments that you believe you submitted, please send me an email that includes the following information:

• Your name
• The exact name of the assignment as it appears in Skyward
• The date of the assignment

Unless otherwise notified, I am operating under the assumption that Skyward is accurate.

Have a great week!

Week of May 18, 2020

Last week I spent a long time making sure grades were accurate and updated, but it's a time-consuming task and I'm only human, so I'm relying on students to double-check Skyward and alert me to any mistakes. If you do find that you have an assignment marked missing and 0, please send me an email that includes the following information:

• Your full name (especially if the name on your email address is different)
• The name of the assignment exactly as it appears on Skyward
• Your class period

For the remainder of the year we will be engaging in optional assignments to raise your current grade. Please read details here.

Week of May 11, 2020

Click here for the week at a glance with this week's assignment.

The AP exam is on Wednesday, May 13, at 11 am. Students must check in online by 10:30 am. Students need to have taken several steps to prepare their home technology for the exam. By now, you should have completed the College Board demo and completed last week's checklist assignment. If you have not done this yet and plan to test, it is crucial that you complete these steps immediately!

Remember that if anything goes wrong and you are not able to start the exam, you will be sent a test ticket for the June date.

If something goes wrong mid-test (internet goes out, computer crashes, household emergency, etc.) and you are not able to submit the exam or you lost time due to a problem, you can immediately submit a request to retest in June. This request will be reviewed and College Board will get back to you letting if you know if your request has been approved. College Board has been clear that they expect some students will have tech issues. While we all hope for the very best possible testing experience and outcome, if something does go wrong, remember that it's a fixable problem. Let me know if you need help resolving anything.

Best of luck to all of you on the exam! You've got this! 💗

Click here for a link to an optional exam prep video.

More information about how to be successful on the upcoming exam

I know that the College Board AP Lit videos have had mixed reviews--some of you find them very helpful and some of you dislike them. The video posted on May 5 features the chief reader for AP Lit exams and discusses a number of helpful topics including:

• What is a chief reader
• Thinking skills that need to happen behind the writing 
• Writing a polished perfect essay in 45 minutes (and the importance of analysis)
• What are the components of a good essay? (And placement of thesis)
• Specific discussion of Silas prompt
• No line numbers on this year's exam and how to deal with that
• Sophistication point
• Importance of evidence
• Will it be harder to score well this year?
• Should I hand write or type?
• How much should I write?
• Exam day advice

Here is a document I've put together with all time stamps. Even if you don't want to watch the whole thing (which is totally fine), you might find that watching just a few minutes where the topic you are concerned about is covered will be very helpful. I've also linked this document in the assignment for optional timed writes this week.

Student/Parent Update and Assignments Week of 5/4/2020

Hello!

Please click here to view all assignments for the week. Note that we will be meeting live on Thursday at 10 am.

All students have an optional assignment this week designed to improve your writing skills and raise your grade. If you are dissatisfied with your current grade, please plan to complete this assignment. (Upload it on Teams.)

The AP exam is quickly approaching and will happen on Wednesday, May 13, at 11 am. There is an additional checklist assignment this week for students who are taking the exam. The goal of this assignment is to make sure you are fully prepared in terms of the technological aspects of the exam. There are several steps students need to take BEFORE the exam, so it's really important that students complete this checklist assignment. This overview is a very helpful document for all parents and students.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Week of 4/27/2020 Parent and Student Update + Assignments

Please complete this form to notify me that you submitted work after it was entered in Skyward. Please do this rather than emailing me so I can keep better track of you work.

Click here for all work for this week.

Click here for information about testing. I will be attending a webinar on Tuesday afternoon with more details, and will be hosting a live class meeting on Wednesday at 1:15 to go over all testing details.

I strongly recommend all students taking advantage of College Board's online lessons about writing this week.

If you missed the class meeting on Wednesday, you can watch the recording of it in Teams.

Please complete this survey after watching/participating in the class meeting.

AP Lit Exam Information and Preparation

I will continue to update this post with information about testing as I receive it. Please check back here in the coming days and weeks.

All students need to take this quick survey regarding testing.

Click here to read my notes from the College Board webinar for AP English teachers.

All students should login to AP Classroom online and make sure that you have your correct and current email address included as part of your profile.

In this video starting at 6:24, the teachers address that this year’s exam prompt will not contain information regarding the title, author, and year of the excerpt (to prevent/reduce cheating). There are good tips here about how to address the prompt without those details! The instructors then walk through refining thesis statements. I strongly recommend watching this video as part of your personal test preparation. 

Click here for a review of the sophistication point.

Week of April 20, 2020 Update and Assignments

Welcome back to required school! I expect this transition to be a little bumpy as we all learn new ways of doing things. I will do my very best to be patient with you while we make the transition, and I ask you do the same for me. I have learned a lot about online resources over the last few weeks, but I imagine there will be mistakes or broken links as we progress. Please bear with me. At the same time, if at any point you have personal or health issues that prevent you from meeting schoolwork deadlines, please communicate with me. This is not a normal life we are all living right now. I understand that flexibility and compassion are needed for all of us.

That being said, we have seven class periods until the AP Lit exam on May 13. Because the test will be a Q2 style prompt (short story or excerpt), I have planned for us a literary movement short story unit that will prepare you for both college and the AP Lit exam by:
1. Covering multiple literary movements
2. Practicing close reading of excerpts and short stories
3. Refining writing skills

Click here are all assignments for this week linked in one place plus information regarding my office hours. (If any links are broken, please notify me ASAP or I won't know there is a problem.) Please note: you will have to go to Teams to access the PowerPoint you need to complete the first assignment. I cannot post this document on my website because of copyrighted materials.
Click here for a link to the week's assignments in PDF form.

If you haven't yet responded to the survey about testing, please do so by clicking here ASAP.

Testing update from College Board {coming soon--please check back later!}

Notify me of late work by using this link.

💗

Week of April 6 Update and Student Tasks

Please click here to read an update about AP testing and this week's work.

STUDENTS: 
Please complete the following tasks this week.

1. Complete this form to help me see how we are doing and plan for the future. IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE THIS WEEK, PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM.
2. Choose at least two College Board online learning videos to watch. After watching both videos, please complete and submit this form. [link is live!] 
3. Work on revising your Frankenstein timed write and resubmit that work to raise your grade. 
4. If you haven’t yet chosen an independent reading book, please consider doing so. Use this week and next (spring break) to read another book of your choosing. Being a well-read student will prepare you for college next year by keeping your reading skills sharp, add to your ability to recognize and analyze allusions, and will provide a window into other aspects of humanity. 

Week of March 30 Student Tasks

Hello! Please read this document to review your tasks for this week.

I hope you are doing OK. Please reach out if you need anything. Take care. 💗

End of the Week Update: March 26, 2020

I hope you are doing well! I definitely miss interacting in class.

For today and Friday, please do the following:

1. Watch the College Board videos.
2. Post to Flipgrid. By now you should have posted your own research video. Thanks to those of you that have! If you haven't yet done so, please do so ASAP. I'm really enjoying hearing you speak about your research and the insights you bring to the text with this information.
3. It's now time to post your response to your group members' videos. Please do so today or tomorrow.
4. After finishing your work on Flipgrid, complete and submit your reflection to Teams.
5. I've added the last collaborative document to your book group's channel on Teams. Please visit your Team's channel and add to the collaborative document.

Thank you, and have a great weekend! Stay safe and stay home. 💗

Tasks for Wednesday, March 25, 2020

By now you should have posted your video on Flipgrid. If you haven't done so, please do so ASAP. I am really loving watching your videos. It's so wonderful to see your faces again.

Here are your next tasks:

1. Go to Teams and complete today's tasks in conjunction with the College Board's online review video. (It's called CB Online Video #1.)
2. Post your responses to your groupmate's videos in Flipgrid.

Please reach out to me if you need help with anything. Take care of yourselves!

Update for Parents and Students March 23, 2020

I tried to send this to you as an email through Skyward, but apparently I had too much to say and it wouldn't let me send such a long message!

Please find my update here.

Thank you, and take care!

Virtual Activities week of Monday, 3/23: Finish book group discussions

Over the next week we will wrap up our book group discussions using an online video platform called Flipgrid. This platform can be accessed from almost any device, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Please go to Teams to read the directions for directions and deadlines, and do not hesitate to contact me via email with any tech issues.

Please note that I will be entering this work in Skyward as a way of communicating to parents if their student is participating, but because this work is supplemental in nature, work will be marked with a code indicating completion (not graded) and all virtual assignments will be checked no count. I hope you will join me in this work, but please take care of yourself and do what you need during this time.

Here is a list of the tasks you are completing this week (check Teams for detailed directions):

1. Make sure your research paper is submitted to Teams
2. Make sure you can access Flipgrid
3. Film a Flipgrid video about your book group novel research
4. Respond to your group members' videos
5. Write and submit a reflection to Teams (by Monday, March 30)

Please also plan to hop online and watch the following help sessions:

Wednesday, March 25, 9-9:45 am

Thursday, March 26, 9-9:45 am

Friday, March 26, 9-9:45 am

If you can't watch at these times, the videos will be available after.

Virtual Assignment #1 (Friday, March 20, 2020)

Please join our online discussion forum and post on the check in thread. This is a test of the online discussion group for future supplemental academic work. You will likely have to create an account to join. You do not have to use your full name, but make sure I can recognize who you are.

AP Test Changes (updated 3/22/20)

Please read this document* about the changes to the AP test. I will continue to provide updates as I receive information. In the meantime, following College Board on Instagram is a great way to be alerted to new information. Students should be checking AP Classroom (online) for updates.

*The information in red in the document was updated on 3/22/20.

Class Update

We will be back in session next week!  I'm continuing to work on planning what exactly that will look like since we'll be working remotely. I will start rolling out new supplemental work next week, but in the meantime...

1. Submit any missing work. Email me with questions or concerns.
2. I will be mailing (yes, like in a paper envelope and through the post office) your Frankenstein timed write. If your address is incorrect in Skyward, please notify me ASAP.
3. Make sure you've finished reading your book group book. I will be setting up a way for us to discuss those next week.
4. I have received clarification that the research assignment can still go in the grade book because the due date was set before the schools were shut down. Please complete and upload that assignment as soon as possible. You will need that work to be complete for activities I have planned for next week.
5. Continue watching the College Board website. They are supposed to announce an update regarding AP testing on March 20.
6. Practice multiple choice questions by a) completing the Frankenstein questions in Teams (some people seem to be having trouble seeing the first question and don't know what to write in the blank--all I need there is your name!) and b) complete the open practice tests in College Board AP Classroom.
7. Complete the limerick challenge.

The work in the next few weeks will be supplemental and optional, but I highly encourage you to participate in order to prepare for the AP test, prepare for college, to keep your mind active, and to connect with your peers in meaningful ways.

If you need help obtaining a laptop, wifi, or meals, please visit this link.

I'll be back on Monday with more information. Please stay safe, stay home, and wash your hands. 💗

Missing Work from Before School Closure

If you have missing work from before the school closure, I have attempted to set up ways to submit that work via Teams. When you submit missing work, please send me an email stating which assignment(s) you submitted so I can find them and update Skyward. Teams does not notify me when you turn in work. Thanks!

Multiple Choice Practice

The following has been done to enable independent and ungraded multiple choice practice:

1. Frankenstein MC practice in TEAMS
2. Units 1-3 are open in AP Classroom

Stay safe and wash your hands! Let me know if you have questions or concerns.

Independent Reading

Thank you for picking up your copy of Beloved from me (on Thursday) or the main office (open through Tuesday). Please hold on starting that novel.

In the meantime, if you are wanting to read, I've put together a list of suggested titles. The public libraries are closed, so I'd recommend downloading the Libby app. This free app lets you borrow books digitally from the library. You can also borrow audiobooks and listen to them on your phone. It's a great app--very user friendly and easy to navigate. The only downside is that sometimes, if there are limited copies, you might have to wait a bit.

Stay safe, wash your hands, and happy reading!

"Out, Out--" (3/9/20)

1. Complete the warm-up in Actively Learn
2. Complete a TP-CASTT of "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow." 
3. Complete a TP-CASTT of "Out, Out--". You do NOT have to complete the back of the "Out, Out--" handout.
4. Homework: Complete the essay outline of "Out, Out--"
5. Due Wednesday: all of the above work + novel/book group reading + setting analysis

If you missed this work due to an absence, please go to Teams and upload the work there so I can score it. When you submit it, you must include a note to me explaining that you were absent (or the reason your work is late).

Thursday, 3/5

Today:
Book group meeting #1
Poem study

Homework: Three Actively Learn video assignments. (Don't worry--they are short.) Due by 11:59 pm Sunday, March 8.

Ozymandias (3/3/2020)

Unfortunately I had to be out today to stay with a sick child.

We studied the poem Ozymandias. Please go to Teams to find the full lesson there.

Book Groups Round 2: In Times of Crisis

1. Friday, 2/28: We checked out books and groups established reading schedules
2. Thursday, 3/5: Meeting #1; Reading Log due 3/4 by 11:59 pm + bring a hard copy to class
3. Wednesday, 3/11: Meeting #2; Setting Analysis due 3/10 by 11:59 pm + bring a hard copy to class
4. Tuesday, 3/17: Meeting #3; Research due 3/16 by 11:59 pm + bring a hard copy to class

Please review the assignment sheet(s) in Teams. You are responsible for:

• Attending every meeting or making the appropriate arrangements and completing the makeup assignment in a timely manner
• Staying current on your reading
• Arriving prepared to discuss at each meeting

Sophistication Point + Q3 Grading Workshop

If you were absent on Friday, 2/28, please check the assignment in TEAMS. You will also need to come by to pick up your book group novel so you can start reading!

Homework for Friday, 2/28

Please complete this assignment in Actively Learn before class on Friday.

Lit Circles Round 2

These are the books included in the next round of book groups. Please do some research into these novels and consider which you might like to read. We'll form groups the week after midwinter break.

Lit Circles Round 2: In Times of Crisis

Here are your book choices for our second round of lit circles/book clubs:

1. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Roundhouse by Louise Erdich
4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
5. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

All of these books and/or authors have previously appeared on the AP Lit test for Q3.

Please review the related assignments here.

Frankenstein End of Book Homework

Please complete these TWO assignments in Actively Learn before class begins on Thursday. Note that these assignments are linked thematically and conceptually, but logistically I had to make them two separate assignments. Make sure you complete both. Remember: when you log in to activelylearn.com you MUST login by clicking Office and sign in with your ISD credentials (NOT your personal email) or I will not be able to see your work!

Actively Learn Assignment #1
Actively Learn Assignment #2

Also:

1. Finish reading the novel
2. Finish Notes & Quotes for ch 24
3. Prepare for the Socratic Seminar (summative) on 2/24. These directions are posted in Teams!
4. If you were absent today, you can make up the assignment by writing a written response to each of the six questions found here. 
5. Click here to find the list of pages that must be complete in your work packet when you turn it in on 2/26.
6. Save the date: Q3 timed write (summative) on 2/26.

Q3 Essay Feedback

Please review this document for general feedback about Q3 essays.

Frankenstein Schedule and Resources

Frankenstein Reading and HW Schedule

Please stay on top of the reading and homework schedule regardless of snow, illness, field trips, etc.

Bank of Resources:

Quizlet to review related literary terminology

Traits of Romanticism

Video about Romanticism

Specifically for Monday, February 3: Watch this about Prometheus and this (targeted to a younger audience) and this (shorter and more detailing of the brutal details) before Monday's class. Also read this (it's very short) taking note of the last sentence. You'll also need to know a little about Pandora. All these resources are also linked here.

Elements of Gothic Literature and here

Background on Milton's Paradise Lost

End of Semester

We wrapped up the end of the semester by...

1. Completing the Global Poetry Project. Your video must be uploaded by 2:30 on Friday, January 24. Hopefully you submitted it during class, but if you had tech issues, this is your final deadline. All directions are posted in Teams.
2. Submitting the feedback form in Teams about the poetry project.
3. Completing a timed write on our book group books. 

If you were absent today, it's extremely important that you see me to arrange to do your timed write next Wednesday in the student support center.

Thursday, January 16: Poetry and General Wrap Up

Due today: assignment about two poems; color marked poem from last class period. See Teams for info on both assignments.

Click here to read grading notes on Hamlet in class write scores.

Click here to learn more about our finals week activities. Note that some details in this document are tentative due to disruptions caused by snow.

In class activities:

1. Color marked poem from last class period
2. Two poems
3. Discuss two linked documents above

Week of Jan 6: End of book groups + poetry

Monday, 1/6:
We reviewed the terms diction, denotation, and connotation, and practiced our diction analysis skills. We then read and discussed the poem Metaphors by Sylvia Plath.
HW: read and analyze three poems. Upload your work to Teams and bring a printout Friday.

Wednesday, 1/8:
Book group meetings
HW: MOWAW and Q3 prompts

Friday, 1/10:

1. Finish discussion of book group work
2. Meet with students who chose to analyze the same poem as you
3. I quickly introduced a new strategy (Color Marking) and students color marked a new/clean copy of the poem. IF YOU WERE ABSENT: you need to print out a new/clean copy of your assigned poem and color mark it according to the directions. Please color mark a clean copy of the poem according to these groupings. Arrive with this done on Tuesday.

HW:

• Complete the book group feedback form in Teams
• Finish color marking your poem and bring ALL your poetry work back on Tuesday to continue discussing

Book Group Meeting 12/19

If you were absent, for our meeting, please complete the alternate assignment.

Your final book group meeting is on Wednesday, January 8.