Unlocking Key Concepts in English Language & Composition

Recommended For:
Pre-AP® & AP® English Language Teachers
Pre-AP® & AP® Composition Teachers
(Grades 10-12)

Time:
12 hours (2 Day Workshop)

Overview:
Sometimes writing can be a daunting task for students. From forming unique ideas to structuring an essay, learners face incredible responsibility with not only understanding text, but also creating writing samples, statements and more. In this two-day workshop, we will focus on teachers developing strategies, techniques and proficiency to support students in acquiring and demonstrating stellar writing skills.

Learning Objectives:
● Citing strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain,
● Moving beyond objective summary of a text; determining two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyzing their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account,
● Analyzing the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of the story or drama,
● Analyzing how an author’s choices concerning the structure of a text and how it contributes to its meaning as well as aesthetic impact,
● Determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; the impact of specific word choice on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging or beautiful,
● Analyzing how an author’s choices concerning the structure of specific parts of a text contribute to the overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
● Analyzing text in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated from the author’s intent,
● Analyzing multiple interpretations of a story, drama or poem, evaluating how each version interprets the source text,
● Demonstrating knowledge of eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes, topics or essential questions, and
● Analyzing poetry via an inductive approach in order to move beyond objective overall comprehension.

Testimonial:
“I appreciated Pete’s rapid-fire barrage of resources and ideas. I am more interested in presenting a course of study to students rather than a test-prep course and these sessions have given me some practical ways to do both in a more integrated and natural way.” AP® English Language Teacher, Riverside, CA