Throwing Open the Doors: How to Make AP English Language Accessible to More Students

AP Language, the most popular exam in the AP portfolio, should be open to all students who are searching for a challenge, but too often teachers are stuck as to how to forge the necessary skills. How can teachers throw open the doors and offer the right kind of support? As more and more schools move away from traditional tracking, the students in AP Language arrive with a wider variety of skills and skill deficits.

This session will introduce techniques and approaches rooted in cognitive psychology and brain science that work with students new to the AP experience, including exiting EL students. Approaches will include logical thinking applications, rhetorical analysis exercises, vocabulary acquisition that works, essay revision approaches, and pathways to deepen discussion and move students into more sophisticated thinking. Participants will be offered workable student-centered solutions to the barriers that prevent students from entering and succeeding in AP Language. Both experienced teachers and those newer to AP Language will benefit from the presentation. The presenter, Rita Thompson, has over a decade of experience teaching AP English Language in a Title I school. Though not required, attendees may want to bring a tablet or laptop to access resources.