Unlocking Key Concepts in English Literature Instruction

Recommended For:
AP® English Literature Teachers
(Grades 11-12)

Time:
12 hours (2 Day Workshop)

Overview:
Dissecting complex passages and identifying key ideas like the author's meaning and important information is an important skill for all. But being able to perform this skill under the pressure of an exam is where students are often set apart. Equip your class with the appropriate set of skills by training them in key concepts to help them feel confident and make strong choices during their AP® coursework and exam. This two-day workshop will focus on teachers developing strategies, techniques and proficiency to support students in acquiring and demonstrating key skills.

Learning Objectives:
● Methods in teaching citing strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text explicitly says as well as inferences drawn from the text,
● Determining two or more themes or central ideas and analyzing their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account, ultimately providing an objective summary of the text,
● Teaching students how to analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of the story or drama,
● Generating strategies to help students identify author’s choices concerning how parts of a text contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact,
● Determining the connotative and figurative meaning of words and phrases used in the text, and the impact of specific word choice on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful,
● Participants will analyze text,
● Develop techniques for analyzing multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem, evaluating how each version interprets the source text, and
● 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 or topics.

Testimonial:
“We were given instructional strategies to motivate my students, especially my underrepresented students.” AP® English Language Teacher – Riverside, CA