School will be starting in a little over a week. I'm looking forward to meeting those of you I don't already know and working with all of you throughout the year. I hope you've had a wonderful summer despite all the rain.
This is just a reminder about doing the summer work (which counts as 25% of the 1st marking period grade):
1. Read two books on the 11th grade reading list. All 11th graders will be getting a critical lens essay assignment in class to do. I strongly recommend The Time Traveler's Wife, The Color of Water, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I really enjoyed these books.
2. Read/review The Elements of Style and Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. Both the SAT and the AP English exam have multiple choice questions on grammar and style. You need to be writing with excellent grammar, punctuation and style throughout the year.
3. Read 5 essays from the recommended lists on the summer work handout or from the link on the website (you can pick short ones to read, but try to vary your choices between the old and the new writers). Write 5 essays of your own analyzing the essays you've read using SOAPStone as a model for analysis (you don't have to follow the pattern exactly). SOAPStone is a tool that is recommended for AP English Language to give you practice for the questions on the exam. We're going to be SHARING and DISCUSSING your work on these essays in groups in class during the first weeks. You'll get practice with the 1-9 point grading scale of the AP exam. Be sure to have copies of the essays you read and wrote about on hand as well.
Write and turn in 5 essays well-written and you'll get an A on the assignment. Write and turn in 5 essays extremely well-written and you'll get an A+. I'm counting on all of you to do well.
4. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it's work that will pay off. It will provide a baseline for you during the year and give you an idea of what you need to do to get a 3 or higher on the exam in May. It's also 25% of your first marking period grade, so it really helps.
5. Please feel free this week to sign in to the website for your class and post comments, questions or share essays for the class to read. That's why each class has a blog. It's not hard to sign in or become a follower. The blog will ask you for an email address to use to post comments. The blogs will have important links and assignments for you during the year, so try to become familiar with them.
The websites again are: apenglish5.blogspot.com and apenglish9.blogspot.com
6. We'll be reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye during the 1st marking period. So once we get past the summer work and review, we'll be reading and discussing literature and life in class (and isn't that what an English class is designed to do?).
So enjoy the rest of the summer, but make time to complete the summer work. See you soon.
