Writing assignments will be both informal and formal and will include in-class essays and larger, extended out of class, typed essays. The in-class essays are similar to the AP exam poetry essay and the at home essay is similar to the kind of assignment students will encounter in college.
For the in-class essays, students can take the entire block period to write them until January. Once they are accustomed to thinking and planning on their feet, they will have 35 minutes to write their essays. Since they get 40 minutes per essay on the exam, this prepares them for the time constraints. I use a few AP preparation books to help my students prepare for the essays including Amsco’s AP prep book,
5 Steps to a 5
, and the Arco AP exam prep book. Students can look at examples, and the workbooks break down the writing process into parts so the students can master each step as they go. Further, we look at released exams.
