English Language and Composition

Carol Elsen
carolelsen@gmail.com
Carol Elsen developed the Advanced Placement* English program in the Montana high school where she has taught for over 20 years. She has also taught composition, literature, and methods courses at the Ohio State University and the University of Montana. In 2001, she became a Reader and Table Leader of the AP* English Language exam and has served as a Faculty Consultant for the College Board* since that time, presenting one-day workshops and weeklong institutes throughout the United States, internationally, and at AP* National Conferences. She also served on the Steering Committee for College Board AP* National Conferences. Carol has been involved as a reader and trainer of trainers in developing the Montana Writing Assessment (a pilot project for the ACT writing assessment). A member of NCTE and MATELA, she also teaches online for UCLA in the summer sessions. In 2004, she became a reader and scoring supervisor for the SAT writing sample and has served as a College Board* Mentor Teacher. Her joy is in helping AP* teachers discover new insights and methods for successful teaching.
Carol Elsen
July 22 - July 25, 2024 

The College Board describes the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Course as one which “engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of reasons.”

Purpose of this Institute:  

My intent for this workshop is to provide materials and models for teaching an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class. When the workshop is completed, you should have a confident plan for designing, enriching and teaching your own Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class.
  
Institute Agenda:
Day 1:
•  The AP English Language and Composition Course and Examination
•  Overview of the AP English Language Course/Exam:
• Changes in the Exam and Audit
• New Instructional Resources
• Course objectives: Rhetorical reading, analysis, argument and synthesis. 
• College Board Equity and Access
• Curriculum Development:
•  Big Ideas »
•  Enduring Understandings
•  Course Skills
•  Essential Knowledge
•  Rhetorical Reading and Passage Analysis
  
Day 2:
• Strategies for teaching Rhetorical Reading and Rhetorical Analysis. 
•  Integrating strategies into the course framework to develop skills in analysis
•  Employing Instructional Resources (AP Classroom, Progress Checks, AP Question Bank, AP Daily Videos)
•  Building a thesis according to the 2022 rubric
• Strategies for assessing free response essays
• Scoring the Rhetorical Analysis Essay on the 2024 Exam
  
Day 3:
• Discussion of participants’ successful techniques for teaching argument 
• Thesis invention and support, claims, evidence
• Developing a line of Reasoning
• Analyzing visual texts as argument
• Scoring the Argument Essay on the 2024 Exam
  
Day 4:
• Techniques for teaching skills and essential knowledge of synthesis writing
• Factoid Friday and Beyond
• Scoring the Synthesis Essay on the 2024 Exam
• Multiple Choice changes and strategies for the composition questions
• Strategies for assessment – a variety of approaches. 
• Wrap-up of ongoing discussions and evaluations.
• Awarding of certificates