Daily Assignments

Daily work may be in the form of writing prompts, 9-point responses, worksheets, AP Practice Quizzes, or other practice excercises that are designed to help increase proficiency of meeting the course objectives. Most written activities will be collected into a semester portfolio that will comprise 50% of the student's grade. Other assignments, quizzes, and exams will be assigned a point value based on the complexity and time given necessary to complete the assignment. These points will be added together and divided by the total points available for the quarter. That percentage will comprise the other half of the student's grade. Please refer to late work and group work policies in connection with daily assignments.

Daily Writing Prompts

I will give students approximately ten minutes almost every day to respond to a daily writing prompt. These responses will be collected into their portfolios and evaluated on a weekly basis. Daily prompts may be found on this website so that, in case of absences, students have the ability to complete their response before the weekly evaluation.

9-point Responses

9-point responses are informal essays that are typically assigned as homework. These assignments are not required to be typed; however, they should be about one-handwritten page long. These assignments should also follow a proper essay format, which includes at minimum an introduction paragraph, one body paragraph, and a concluding paragraph. Strong topic sentences are required for each paragraph; and, each paragraph should be focused on that topic sentence. Do not use the word "you" in any assignment turned into me unless it is part of a direct quote. Finally, proofread for spelling and grammatical errors. Be especially careful of pronoun agreement errors. These assignments will be graded on a scale of 1-9 using the guidelines provided by the College Board for essay grading. Students need to strive for a score of 5 or better on these assignments to demonstrate their ability to succeed on the AP Language and Composition exam.

Book Responses: Reading Check / Identifying Fact (IF)

When assigned Reading Check or Identifying Fact questions (type of question depends on the textbook we're using), they may be answered in a single, complete sentence with no unclear pronouns. Be sure to respond to all parts of the question. Do not respond in fragments or second person.

See Examples of Reading Check / Identifying Fact Response

Book Responses: Shaping Interpretations / Interpreting Meanings (IM)

Most Shaping Interpretation and Interpreting Meaning (IM) (type of question depends on the textbook we're using) questions require at least one full paragraph to have an adquate response. Be sure to respond to all parts of the question. This may cause your response to have mulitple paragraphs. Do not respond in fragments or second person. Be sure to begin paragraphs with a strong topic sentence. All sentences in the paragraph must support the topic sentence. Excellent responses will include an example from outside the material being questioned.

Book Responses: Extending the Text / Challenging the Text / Applying Meanings (AM) / Critical Writing Responses

All of the above types of questions (type of question depends on textbook and/or assignment) require multiple paragraphs to adequately answer the question(s). These responses could easily fall under the category of "Journal Response" above; however, the primary difference is that I do not require an introduction or conclusion paragraph. As with all other responses, be sure to have strong topic sentences. Each sentence in the paragraph should be focused on the topic sentence. Do not respond with fragments or in the second person (no "you"). Be sure to fully respond to the question. Strive to include many examples from both the material being questioned as well as personal examples.