AP Lang Q3 Activities

Summary

In the video, AP Language teacher Beth Hall shares various projects designed to prepare students for AP Language argument essays. The activities include 'Convince the Class,' where students select a topic, conduct research, and present to persuade classmates; 'Teach the Teacher,' where students inform or persuade the teacher on a topic of interest; 'Make the Case,' which involves researching and summarizing a Supreme Court case or a cold case; and 'Famous Figures,' where students research and write about a notable person using them as evidence for a provided Q3 prompt. Hall also incorporates grammar and vocabulary components, emphasizing the importance of advanced punctuation and vocabulary in writing. She provides a structured timeline for completing these projects and suggests resources for current event research. The video concludes with an offer to join Hall's teacher email list for additional resources and tips.

Takeaways

• 📚 **Grammar Component**: The teacher incorporates grammar into assignments, requiring students to use advanced punctuation and vocabulary, which also aids in ACT preparation.
• 🟢 **Highlighting for Clarity**: Students are instructed to highlight grammar (yellow) and vocabulary (green) in their work for easy checking and to remind them to include these elements.
• 🧐 **Convince the Class Activity**: Students select a topic, conduct research, and create a proposal to persuade the class, involving student choice and anticipation of objections.
• 👩‍🏫 **Teach the Teacher Activity**: Similar to the previous activity, but the teacher is the audience. Students research a topic, write source summaries, and aim to inform or persuade the teacher through an essay.
• 📈 **Make the Case Project**: Students choose a Supreme Court case, famous court case, or cold case to research, providing notes with citations and analyzing the case's impact or significance.
• 🧳 **Toolbox Approach**: The teacher's goal is to equip students with a variety of topics they can write about confidently, thus addressing their concerns about evidence and content.
• ⏰ **Time Management**: Projects are assigned at the beginning of the month and due at the end, allowing students to work incrementally and practice time management.
• 📚 **Famous Figures Project**: Students research a famous person, potentially using a book, podcast, or article, and write a developed paragraph using that person as evidence for a provided Q3 prompt.
• 📰 **In the News Activity**: Students select current events, write detailed summaries, and consider broader implications, aiming to connect pop culture and academic analysis.
• 📚 **Independent Reading**: A non-fiction text is chosen by students for reading, with vocabulary practice and rhetorical analysis of a selected passage, enhancing Q2 skills.
• 📝 **Creating Argument Prompts**: As part of the independent reading, students craft their own argument prompts using quotes from the text and write a thesis and body paragraph in response.
• 📊 **Q3 Database**: As a pre-exam activity, students use their accumulated knowledge to populate a Q3 database, helping them feel more prepared for the AP Lang exam.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of the activities shared by Beth Hall in the video?

The primary goal of the activities is to help students prepare for their AP Lang argument essays by enhancing their writing skills, understanding of advanced punctuation, and ability to incorporate advanced vocabulary.

What is the 'Convince the Class' activity about?

The 'Convince the Class' activity involves students selecting a topic, conducting research, and crafting a proposal to persuade the class of their position on various issues, such as school policies or animal rights.

How does the 'Teach the Teacher' activity differ from 'Convince the Class'?

In the 'Teach the Teacher' activity, the teacher, not the class, is the audience. Students select a topic, conduct research, and write source summaries or essays to inform or persuade the teacher about their topic.

What is the 'Make the Case' project and how does it relate to APUSH or APGov students?

The 'Make the Case' project requires students to select a Supreme Court case, a famous court case, or a cold case to research and provide detailed summaries with citations. It is particularly relevant to APUSH or APGov students as it allows them to use their textbook and notes for research.

What is the significance of practicing MLA citations in these projects?

Practicing MLA citations helps students learn proper citation techniques, which is crucial for academic integrity and is also a skill tested in the AP Lang exam.

How does the 'Famous Figures' project work?

In the 'Famous Figures' project, students select a famous person, conduct research using various sources like books, podcasts, and articles, and write a developed paragraph using the person as evidence for a provided Q3 prompt.

What is the purpose of the 'In the News' activity?

The 'In the News' activity aims to have students select current events, write detailed summaries, and consider the broader implications of the events, encouraging them to think critically about the news they consume.

How does the 'Independent Reading' project enhance students' vocabulary and writing skills?

The 'Independent Reading' project involves students selecting a non-fiction text, identifying unfamiliar vocabulary words, and writing a rhetorical analysis paragraph. This process helps improve their vocabulary and understanding of rhetorical strategies.

What is the duration typically given for these projects?

Beth Hall assigns these projects at the beginning of the month and expects them to be completed by the end of the month, allowing students to work on them incrementally throughout the month.

How does the Q3 database activity help students prepare for the AP Lang exam?

The Q3 database activity allows students to apply the knowledge they have gained from the projects to practice writing for the Q3 essay prompt of the AP Lang exam, making them feel more comfortable with the exam format.

What is the role of student choice in increasing engagement with these projects?

Student choice plays a significant role in increasing engagement as it allows students to select topics they are passionate about, which in turn increases their motivation and investment in the projects.

How does Beth Hall use color-coding in her class to streamline grading and remind students to include grammar and vocabulary?

Beth Hall uses color-coding where grammar is marked in yellow and vocabulary in green. This system helps her quickly check for these elements during grading and serves as a reminder for students to include them in their work.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Preparing for AP Lang Argument Essays

Beth Hall, an AP Language teacher, shares various activities she has implemented throughout the school year to prepare her students for AP Language argument essays. The activities include 'Convince the Class,' 'Teach the Teacher,' 'Make the Case,' 'Famous Figures,' 'In the News,' and 'Independent Reading.' Each activity is designed to enhance students' writing skills, encourage research, and integrate grammar and vocabulary. The teacher also emphasizes the importance of advanced punctuation and vocabulary in writing, and provides a link to a document with detailed explanations of each project in the video description.

05:02

🎓 Engaging Students with Diverse Topics

The video discusses how students were given a choice of topics for their presentations, which ranged from school policies to animal rights issues. This choice-based approach excited the students and allowed them to be passionate about their subjects. The 'Teach the Teacher' activity involved students teaching the teacher about a topic of their choice, which led to a unique grading playlist created by the students. The 'Make the Case' project required students to research and analyze a Supreme Court case, famous court case, or a cold case, enhancing their research and citation skills.

10:04

📰 Current Events and Independent Reading

The video script outlines a project where students select current events from various sources, including social media, and write detailed summaries about them, considering broader implications. Another project involves independent reading of non-fiction texts, where students identify and learn new vocabulary, write rhetorical analysis paragraphs, and create their own argument prompts using the book as evidence. The teacher also mentions a Q3 database activity that helps students prepare for the AP exam by using their knowledge from previous projects.

Keywords

💡AP Lang argument essays

AP Lang argument essays refer to the analytical and persuasive writing tasks that students are expected to undertake as part of the Advanced Placement Language and Composition exam. In the video, the teacher discusses various projects designed to prepare students for these essays, emphasizing the development of reasoning and the use of evidence.

💡Advanced punctuation

Advanced punctuation refers to the use of more complex punctuation marks such as colons, dashes, and semicolons in writing. The teacher integrates advanced punctuation into assignments to not only improve students' writing skills but also to prepare them for standardized tests like the ACT, where punctuation usage is assessed.

💡Student choice

Student choice is the concept of allowing students to select their own topics or subjects of interest for assignments. The teacher mentions that incorporating student choice into projects increases their engagement and passion for the topics, which in turn enhances their learning experience.

💡Multimedia presentation

A multimedia presentation is a method of conveying information using a combination of different content forms, such as text, audio, images, and video. In the context of the video, students use multimedia presentations to pitch their ideas to the class, which helps them practice the rhetorical situation and tailor their arguments to their audience.

💡Source summaries

Source summaries are concise overviews of the main points or arguments presented in a source material. The teacher assigns students to write source summaries after conducting research on a topic, which aids in developing their ability to synthesize information and present it in a coherent manner.

💡MLA citations

MLA (Modern Language Association) citations are a standardized method for referencing sources in academic writing, particularly in the humanities. The teacher uses these projects as an opportunity to remind students of proper MLA citation practices, which is crucial for academic integrity and credibility.

💡Rhetorical situation

The rhetorical situation refers to the context in which communication or speech occurs, including the audience, purpose, and constraints. The teacher emphasizes understanding the rhetorical situation to help students craft effective arguments that are appropriate for their target audience.

💡Evidence

In the context of argumentative writing, evidence refers to the information and sources used to support a claim or an argument. The teacher is concerned about students' confidence in using evidence and designs projects to provide them with a range of topics they can become knowledgeable about, thus equipping them with evidence for their essays.

💡Independent reading

Independent reading involves students selecting and reading texts on their own, often outside of direct classroom instruction. The teacher assigns non-fiction texts for independent reading and asks students to identify and learn new vocabulary, as well as to analyze rhetorical choices made by the authors, which helps develop critical reading and analytical skills.

💡Q3 database

The Q3 database is a tool or activity that the teacher uses to help students prepare specifically for the third question on the AP Lang exam, which typically involves writing an argumentative essay. The teacher suggests that this activity helps students feel more comfortable with the format and expectations of the Q3 essay.

💡Current events

Current events refer to recent and significant occurrences in the world. The teacher assigns students to select and write detailed summaries about current events, encouraging them to consider broader implications and the significance of these events. This helps students practice academic writing and think critically about real-world issues.

Highlights

Beth Hall shares innovative AP Lang project ideas to prepare students for argument essays.

Activities include a grammar component to align with state tests like the ACT.

Students are encouraged to use advanced punctuation and vocabulary in their writing.

The 'Convince the Class' project allows students to select a topic and persuade their peers.

Student choice is emphasized to increase engagement and passion for the topics.

Multimedia presentations are used to reinforce understanding of the rhetorical situation.

In 'Teach the Teacher', students inform or persuade the teacher about a topic of their choice.

Students create a grading playlist for the teacher, adding a humorous element to the grading process.

'Make the Case' project involves researching and presenting a Supreme Court or famous court case.

Students learn MLA citation skills and synthesis through these projects.

Projects aim to build students' confidence in evidence and writing about various topics.

Assignments are designed to be completed over a month to enhance time management skills.

In 'Famous Figures', students research and write about a notable person, practicing citations.

A book tasting event in the library is used to kick off the 'Famous Figures' project.

Students are encouraged to use a variety of sources including podcasts and articles.

The 'In the News' project has students analyze current events and their broader implications.

Independent reading is incorporated with a focus on non-fiction texts and vocabulary development.

Students write a rhetorical analysis paragraph and create their own argument prompt based on their reading.

The Q3 database activity is used as a考前复习 (pre-exam review) to help students with Q3 essay preparation.

Transcripts

hey AP Lang teachers Beth Hall from

coach Hall rights here in today's video

I want to share with you some of the

projects I've been having my students do

this year to help them prepare for their

AP Lang argument essays the activities

that I'm going to be telling you about

today are ones that I've been doing

throughout this school year however if

you're watching the video at the time I

upload this in March of 2024 you might

be able to choose one or two of these

activities before the exam or you might

want to save these activities for next

school year I'm going to link a doc that

has an explanation of each of these

projects in the description box below so

please make sure you look for that and

also I'll include a link to my teacher

email list I promise I won't fledge your

inbox but my email list is a great way

for me to share tips tricks and other

resources with fellow aping teachers so

if you're interested please make sure

you sign up for that as well so here is

a quick teacher tip that I apply to many

of my larger assignments in my class and

that is I try to add in a grammar

component for our state test my students

take the ACT and so I go over the

different types of advanced punctuation

like colons dashes

semicolons and while it's important for

me that they understand how to identify

whether the punctuation is used

correctly in a multiple choice situation

I also want them to apply this

understanding to their writing so I

typically require that they include

Advanced punctuation in their responses

I also sometimes include an advanced

vocab

requirement and as part of the

assignment requirements I have my

students highlight these so in my class

typically grammar is yellow and vocab is

green it makes it easier for me to

double check this as I'm grading and if

students have to highlight the grammar

or the vocab it reminds them to include

it as well I found that the more I

require my students to do this it not

only enhances their writing skills but

it also helps with that ACT prep as well

the first activity I want to tell you

about is convince the class this one was

one of my students favorites this year

basically what they did was they

selected a topic they conducted research

and then they crafted a proposal so

essentially they were trying to convince

the class of whatever their position was

this year we had a range of topics

everything from schools should have a 4

week to Orcas should not be held in

captivity one of the things that I like

about this is that it involves student

choice so my students were really

excited about the topics that they got

to choose I gave them a list of some

pre-approved topics and then I also let

them suggest topics of their own this

was an excellent idea because they had

some wonderful topics that they were

passionate about that I had not

previously considered I had my students

create a multimedia presentation and

they had to pick pitch their idea to the

class this also helped reinforce our

understanding of the rhetorical

situation because they knew that their

classmates were their target audience

and so tying this back to AP Lang this

activity helped students create a line

of reasoning I also had them think of

possible objections to their argument

and they had to refute those objections

in their presentation as well and one of

the things that I liked about that

component was that some students

anticipated the objections refuted them

quite early in their presentation

depending on their topic whereas others

saved it for the end because it was more

convincing that way another one that my

students liked was teach the teacher so

this was kind of similar to convince the

class except this time the class was not

the audience I was so basically they had

to select a topic that they were

interested in they conducted research

and they wrote Source summaries you

could also have them do research notes

keep in mind that you can adapt these

instructions for your students needs so

if you look in the description box for

that doc please know that you're able to

adjust the assignments to what your

students need and what's appropriate for

your school after conducting their

research my students had to write an

essay in which they tried to either

inform or persuade me about their topic

one of my classes was so into this that

they actually made me a grading playlist

meaning that they took a poll of all the

topics in the class and they decided

which order I should grade them in for

maximum comedic effect and given the

range of topics they had it was really

interesting for them to put an order

together now this was not a requirement

this was something that they thought

would be funny and they took upon

themselves but it was really interesting

because normally I just grade things in

alphabetical order by last name on

Google classroom but this time I had a

pre-selected list that my students put

to together and it actually did make the

grading process more interesting and of

course when they were trying to figure

out the funniest order for me to grade

things in they tried to go from one

extreme to another when it came to

topics my students did make the case

last month and admittedly I wasn't sure

how they were going to respond to this

but I posted it to their Google

Classroom a day before I intended to

talk about it I just kind of put it

there and they came into class that day

wanting to know if they could do this

particular case or that case or they

wanted to add cases to the list so I

would say they were pretty hyped about

it especially because I hadn't even

officially assigned it yet so basically

with make the case they have to pick a

case it can be a Supreme Court case my

students in APUSH or apgov were able to

use their textbook and their notes if

they chose this option I also allowed

them to choose a famous court case or a

cold case now with the Cold Case you

need to be careful with your school's

rules about that kind of thing but I

have a lot of students who are

self-proclaimed crime junkies and they

loved this idea so students conduct

research and they provide research notes

with citations I've been using these

projects as an opportunity to remind my

students of how to do MLA

citations that also kind of ties into

synthesis as well so for this one I had

my students write a detailed summary of

the case I believe I required a two

paragraph summary for this and then a

third paragraph in which they analyzed

the impact or significance of the case

basically trying to get them to think of

the broader context kind of like that so

what moment that you might see in

commentary or in a conclusion of an

essay now I'm not sure if any of my

students will get to use the information

that they researched for this in their

Q3 essay on the aping exam but the

reason why I like these projects is

because it gives students Tools in their

toolbox if you will one of the biggest

struggles that students have told me

about over the years is that they're not

confident in their evidence they're not

sure what to write about so my goal with

these projects is to give students

something to write about to help them be

experts on a few different topics and I

really like the student Choice element

because I feel like that increases their

buyin in case anyone's curious before it

explain the next one I guess I should

explain how long I give my students to

do this and basically what has worked

well for me has been to assign it at the

very beginning of the month and then

it's due at the end of the month that's

easier for them it's also easier for me

that being said we're working on time

management because when I designed these

projects I intended for students to work

on them a little bit each week either in

class or out of class but as fellow

teachers I'm sure you can understand

that sometimes what we intend with the

time management doesn't always happen so

please pick a time frame that is

appropriate for your

students this month we're doing famous

figures so I had my students select a

famous person it could be someone who is

living or someone who is deceased and I

had them conduct research if you have

the opportunity to I would encourage you

to have your media specialist help with

this I put together a list of different

figures that I wanted my student

students to possibly consider and she

not only pulled books of those people

but she also had some other books that

she recommended and basically we did

kind of like a book tasting type thing

in the library to kick off this project

she had the books laid out and students

got to look at them and Sample them

because I wanted them to actually read a

book about their famous figure now you

don't have to require a book but that

might be something that you consider

especially if you feel like your

students aren't reading longer texts

this can be a great way to incorporate a

level of independent reading I also

wanted my students to have different

types of sources so I suggested podcasts

and articles as well the idea behind

this is that students will take notes as

they research and again they'll practice

citations I had my students write a

developed paragraph using their famous

person as evidence for a provided Q3 Pro

prompt so basically what I did is I

chose three prompts from past exams that

I felt were pretty versatile and my

students got to look at those prompts

and then figure out which one their

person would be good evidence for I know

a lot of teachers try to incorporate

current events so here is my version of

it for in the news have students select

three to five events that are in the

news and write a detailed summary about

the event personally I'm okay with

students using news from Tik Tok and

other forms of social media I like to

meet my students where they are and

those are the platforms that they tend

to be on that being said I also give

them other resources that I encourage

them to check out so there's all sides

there's procon.org there's the donut CNN

in 10 there's probably others that I

have forgotten to list here as well but

you can tweak the assignment

instructions for whatever fits your

students but the idea behind this

particular one wasn't just that I wanted

students to write about current events

but I also wanted students to realize

that they are exposed to different news

maybe different stories in pop culture

that they might be able to use for a Q3

so I want to kind of take the news that

they get for fun as they're scrolling

through social media and try to get them

to think about it in an academic way so

with this one for the summary I have

them not only summarize the event and I

tell them to make sure that they're

summarizing it as if the person reading

it doesn't know about the event that way

they're appropriately detailed I also

have them think about the broader

implications of the event so why does

this matter what do we learn from this

event why is this event or incident

important to the general public now I

saved independent reading for last

mostly because this one was probably my

students least favorite mostly because

it was probably the most time consuming

but I do think it was valuable first

they selected a non-fiction text now I

provided a list for them of what we had

available in my classroom library and

also the school

library so as students read they

identify vocab words that they're

unfamiliar with I had my students write

the word the part of speech the

definition and a sentence of their own

because I wanted them to practice using

the word correctly I also had students

select a a short passage one to two

pages usually usually one page worked

better but there were a couple cases

where students wanted a longer selection

of text and I had them write a

rhetorical analysis paragraph about a

choice that the author makes in order to

achieve their purpose convey their

message or develop their argument so

even though these assignments tend to be

helpful for Q3 there are times when I

try to incorporate Q2 skills as well for

part three of this assignment I had them

create their own argument prompt so I

told them they could either use a quote

from the text or they could look up a

quote that was thematically linked and I

had them write a thesis and body

paragraph that used the book as evidence

and it had to be in response to the

prompt that they created now I will say

I did this in the first semester and

that might have been too early they

still did very well with it but I did

have to help students construct their Q3

prompts because they weren't as familiar

with the wording and there's nothing

wrong with that but I think next year

I'm going to save this for the second

semester I think I did it just a tad too

early this year and I think that might

have also contributed to why my students

like this one the least they really

loved convince the class teach the

teacher and make the case so one thing

to consider is just the order of these

as well you could also scale back on the

assignment but I do think it's important

to note that I did give them a month to

do this if you're looking for an

activity to give students right before

the exam check out the description box

for my Q3 database that's something that

I've given my students the last several

years before the exam and I'm going to

do it this year as well I'm going to

have them take their knowledge from

these projects and use it for their Q3

database but even if you haven't done

these projects you can still have your

students do that Q3 database there

aren't many ways for students to cram

for the aping exam but this activ has

helped my students feel more comfortable

with Q3 so again I'll leave the links

for that in the description box below

and until next time happy teaching