AP LANG SYLLABUS
DECEMBER INFORMATION.
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SYNTHESIS: Make sure you have sent me a copy of your group BLURB--the part inserted under INTRODUCTION that gives the background of your topic. Some I have seen are problematic and won't work.
THESIS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PAPER: Send to me to update if you make any changes.
New York Times WEB SITE on both EDUCATION and VIDEO GAMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/opinion/05herbert.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
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One more grade remains, and that's a writing folder check FRIDAY Dec. 18. The folder people and other helpers will go through the logs and contents, so make sure that everything is in place and logged in accurately.
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MEDIA RESOURCES: The district school board web site is: www.polk-fl.net. Once there, find ‘students’ on the right side of the page. Under students, click ‘resources,’ and that will take you to ALL links for media. You should find information on current issues without a problem.
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@@@@ NOTE: The TYPED poems you submitted the first time received a blanket 100-point grade for the effort. If they hold contest potential, you will get 100 points each time you revise enough to go on to the next round of competition. That extra grade possibility should be a huge incentive. Keep the revisions coming. I'lll return the 2nd poems this week, and you may be able to work on revisions for them.
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SYNTHESIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT & INDEPENDENT RESEARCH:
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==CREATE AP SYNTHESIS TEST QUESTION with 7 resources
==MAKE COPIES FOR 10 PEOPLE and SCORE with the synthesis rubric
==CREATE a POWER POINT PRESENTATION that covers your Rogerian angle and all the sub-categories of the individual research projects in your group
==WORK ALONE on ONE aspect of the LARGE GROUP SYNTHESIS ISSUE (thesis statements are due Monday DEC. 14. However, you can't do an individual one until your group has a major, workable one).
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Have a 2nd and 3rd choice in case you don't get your first for the independent research project you're doing alone. You must decide in your groups first, then approve the topic with me. Research online (reputable sources only) over the holidays. The group project, as well as the research paper per student, will be due mid-January.
You'll do some quick research over the weekend and have a thesis ready for me by Monday--after you discuss it within your group. Each group should have someone who recently did a research project to help with the wording.
Most students will work in cooperative groups of 3 or 4. for a 300-pt. group grade. The group will decide on an issue; then each group member will bring to the table 2 print sources and 2 visual ones. From the 16- 20 pieces of information, you will have to choose the seven which will provide enough balance to create an argument either way or if you can't come to a consensus, you will continue searching. **This work can continue over the holidays so get e-mail addresses and phone numbers!
Designate duties within each group to decide who does what. Although duties may vary, you will have some basic positions that will need covering in some capacity. The secretary will take notes at each gathering so I can keep up with progress. Each group will need an expert online searcher to help others, if necessary, and to gather charts and graphics. You also will need a leader to keep everything running smoothly, to assimilate everything, a writer, someone to write up the final report, a copy of the AP LANG SYNTHESIS QUESTION MODEL that I will show you; and/or an orator to be the primary oral presenter. (Some of the jobs may overlap!)
We'll look at copies of the synthesis AP Language question so you can see how to put your presentation together. The final version will use Rogerian argument, and part of it will be on Power Point.
Your individual research papers (documented with MLA format) will be typed (12 font, Times New Roman) with about 3-4 pages of text, not including thesis/outline page and Works Cited page. You will take the information from the research paper and also work your topic into a GROUP Rogerian Power Point presentation. **MID-JANUARY DUE DATE.
**ROGERIAN ARGUMENT: Show all sides of the argument, then come to a compromise or create a solution. At no time will you be didactic or officious. You will present what you find objectively without "loaded words" and signals. At the end of your presentation, you may give your own viewpoint, but it still should be done with taste and with a regard to all people's feelings. You may not be disrespectful or discourteous.
**We will fine-tune this project as we go.
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**NEW JOB IDEA: Learn more about the site that follows. It's supposed to be a big help for doing research papers... and since you have one coming up, I would like quite a few people to scope the site out and become pros on it-- if it's worthwhile:
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*****SIGN UPS for GROUP SYNTHESIS PROJECTS: On the SIGN UP PAGE. E-mail me with your groups and with your current issue categories. You'll need to act quickly to get the topic you want. If you don't sign up, you may have to be in a group by yourself or with just one other person. That will be much more difficult.
The projects will be due after the winter holidays, but you have to spend time finding articles, charts, graphs, cartoons, etc., so your group can decide what to include as resources for the question (7 sources). You'll also need time to do your independent research. Both items will be due approximately the middle of January. See more info below.
Megan Dye found a great site for current PRO/CON issues: http://www.procon.org/
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*******If you scored a low 5 or below on the King Lear papers (or if you just want a higher grade), revise ASAP and send to me online for one-on-one help. That's the only way to raise your grade--revision. (That's when the SAS Curriculum Pathways site will come in handy for those who have mastered it!!)
@@@@@@ NOTE: I will be editing and commenting on the Lear papers in the order they are received. I have over 70 AP Lang students, and apparently most want to revise. I'm happy about that, but it will take me some time to get all of them done. Please be patient. =)
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KUDOS!!!!
***Sarah Kendall has mastered the SAS Curriculum Pathways revision site. As you start once again revising papers, please contact her for help!!!
(the site is a huge help is cleaning up elementary problems):
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Others who have mastered SAS revision and are ready and willing to help include:
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CAROLINE PAGE--care.1208@hotmail.com
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KANIKA MATHUR--kaykaygolden7@yahoo.com
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***POETRY CONTEST
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Each time you move up to the next level, you will get an extra 100 test-grade points. If you're selected as school finalist, you'll receive another 100. If the school selects you to represent us in the district contest, you will get yet another score in February.
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Your maximum line number is 25, minimum, 6. (You can't go over the 25 for any reason, so count carefully!)
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**Be careful about plagiarism. Anything copied from another source not only will get zeroes. The plagiarist will receive district penalty for a major infraction.
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SYNTHESIS QUESTION and INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECTS--
ROGERIAN ARGUMENT: In brief, you analyze a current issue, showing both sides equally, not taking a position. A Rogerian Argument is open-minded and shows no bias. It leads to a compromise or a solution, not a bashing of an opposite side. "Bashing" and "grand-standing" are not allowed.
You will select groups yourselves (about 4 people to a group in each class) to develop a SYNTHESIS QUESTION. A model is on the general page, and a weak sample is on the download page (see below). Out of this larger category, you will take one smaller area to focus on in a research paper of 3-4 pages. That means you go to a library or trustworthy web sites and garner information within the last THREE years. Old information is not usually helpful in solving current and future problems. Of course, occasionally you might have an exception.
BRAINSTORMING (as you think of ideas, e-mail me. The ones below just have come
to me off the top of my head as I have read the newspaper headlines)
*NOTE: Once something is taken in the classes, it's off limits. First come, first served!!
******SIGN UP PAGE--lists of student groups
--The food we eat--safe or dangerous (TAKEN)
--The way we're educated--pros and cons of testing for teacher merit and student success (TAKEN)
--The punishments we deliver--stringent punishment in jails or equal rights for all (TAKEN)
--The way we heal--new methods in hospitals or the old standards (may need to get more specific here)
--The future for global warming--serious or hype (TAKEN)
--The benefits of outsourcing--cost-efficient or damaging to local marketing (TAKEN)
--The playground of Dubai--a future fantasyland or a potential failure (TAKEN)
--The media and celebrities--intrusion into privacy or rights for public entertainment (TAKEN)
--The Federal Housing Authority--worth the risk in low mortgage loans or not (TAKEN)
YOUR TURN:
==Think of medical strides--new innovations (like the new method for bypassing the lungs with dying swine flu patients)
==Think of other major issues and create similar statements to those above
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OLD SYNTHESIS INFO:
--Be deciding ideas for the @@@@SYNTHESIS project. E-mail me when you have a group together (I may have to add people to a group if we have the usual laggards). I would rather everyone select their own.
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SYNTHESIS group work:. I have posted a sample (non-College Board) synthesis question for you to use as a copy to create your own. General page). Also, I have placed on the download page a weak sample from several years ago. It has only 5 sources (it should have 7), and only one is a cartoon. It has no graphs or charts. The articles are not set up correctly by author last name or with the title in quotation marks. However, it will suffice to show you what to do. We will examine real copies of College Board synthesis questions in class, but I can't post them online.
SYNTHESIS individual work: Out of this group work (the umbrella topic) will come your individual research paper topics. Each group will have no more than 4 people in it. You may pick your own groups, but be careful about proximity of domiciles. (If someone lives in Lake Wales and you live in north Lakeland, you might have a logistics problem) Ideally, you all should be able to work in groups on the computer, sending materials back and forth. We need to find a site that will work for that sort of thing. Any suggestions?
Be looking over news sites and reading newspapers to get ideas for CURRENT ISSUES.
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See AP Language General Page for the SYNTHESIS TEMPLATE (and the download page)
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***SYLLABUS for WEEK of DEC. 14th
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Monday--Bring in a 2nd TYPED college essay draft to share in groups. Star the best ones. Read aloud to the whole class, if time permits.
Tuesday--**SECOND IN-CLASS SYNTHESIS GROUP MEETING.
At this point, you should have some suggested resources to share with each other so you can start assembling your question as soon as you return from break. If you still have loose ends, assign duties. Each person within the group should select a sub-topic for individual research. Each group will turn in a sheet of plans a list of possible research topics for me to approve. As soon as you're approved, you can start your own researching, using only reputable sites online--no blogs, no Wikipedia, no .com sites that don't have valid credentials. (You will have to turn in printed copies of all sources you use, so keep copies printed in gray-scale to preserve ink)
In this 2nd meeting, help each other brainstorm ideas for the individual RESEARCH PAPER that will be due soon after the holidays: THESIS, OUTLINE, 3-4 PAGES OF TEXT, and a WORKS CITED page. Look at the ONLINE samples on both download sites.
After you assemble your SYNTHESIS QUESTION, you will make copies for some members of the class to take. You will score their papers, using the synthesis rubric I'll provide. You also will present a power point of your overall findings at the end of the unit. Those dates will come later.
Wednesday--**COLLEGE ESSAY PORTFOLIO DUE (Directions and sample online). Set up as directed with the best of the 3 papers *'ed for 100 points. The other 2 will receive an averaged 100-pt. grade, for 200 points total. You will have time today to work on the synthesis question again.
Practice AP work the next 3 days. Make up in advance if you'll be out.
Thursday-- We will have an AP persuasive essay **TIMED WRITING in class. If you will be absent, make it up in advance. Start planning your REHUGO files now... ideas you can pull from your head on command.
Friday-- RUBRIC EVALUATION. All classes will evaluate more than 2 papers each, then trade. Fifth period has a Harrison meeting, so other classes will rubric their papers. I'll grade them over the holiday break.
One more grade remains, and that's a writing folder check FRIDAY Dec. 18. The folder people and other helpers will go through the logs and contents, so make sure that everything is in place and logged in accurately.
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**If you'll be out of class Friday, you can come in and do the work in advance. Just schedule with me please. Let me know your research paper individual topic this week before you leave for break.
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PORTFOLIO DIRECTIONS: Each of the 3 essays will have a cover page with the full prompt on it--stapled to the essay. The one that you think is best will be STARRED and placed in the LEFT pocket (100 points). The other 2 will go in the RIGHT pocket (100 points averaged). Follow directions for STYLE on the handout sheets on the download page.
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Work on your research paper topic and keep fine-tuning any poems that are under contest consideration.
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**WHENEVER YOU NEED CLARIFICATION, TRY A STUDENT FIRST. THEY NEED THEIR JOB POINTS!
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SAS PATHWAYS REVISION INFORMATION & EDITING OFFER by Michael Towles (3rd period) -- See the Announcement page. I can't format his message for this page. Mastering this page and sharing with others would be a mega-JOB!
Alexa U and Mark B, senior tutors, have used it for their papers and now are hooked. Contact them for tutoring help and advice on how to make the most of this valuable site. See their distributed tutor contact information! DO NOT ask me to help on this. **Now Sarah K. (AP Lang) has mastered the site and also is willing to help you. See above!
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****GREAT SITE FOR REVIEWING/ LEARNING HOW TO SET UP QUOTATIONS:
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/lirvin/WGuides/quotes.htm.
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** SENIOR TUTORS are available to help you almost every day--before and after school--but you must schedule with them. I have sent out e-mails with their full names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. Some will work with you online. Please take advantage of these scholars' time! AP Language TUTORS also are available. (Megan E. has made and mailed out a master list of all tutors for your convenience. It also is tacked up on my wall near the hall door. If you've misplaced the list, ask one of the diligent scholars to print you out another or e-mail it to you again.)
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Transition Words and Phrases
| Sequence: | again, also, and, and then, finally, first, second, third, next, still, too |
| Time | after a few days, after awhile, afterward, as long as, as soon as, at last, at that time, before, earlier, immediately, in the meantime, in the past, later, meanwhile, now, shortly, soon, then, until, when |
| Comparison | again, also, in the same way, once more |
| Contrast | although, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, instead, on the contrary, on the one hand, on the other hand, still though yet |
| Examples | after all, even, for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, such as, to illustrate, the following example |
| Cause and Effect | as a result, because, consequently, for this purpose, so, then, therefore, to this end |
| Place | above, adjacent to, below, beyond, closer to, elsewhere, far, further on, here, near, nearby, opposite to, there, to the left, to the right |
| Summary or Conclusion | as a result, as has been noted, as I have said, as we have seen, as mentioned earlier, in any event, in conclusion, in other words, on the whole, therefore, to summarize |
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JOB POINTS:
The method for receiving job points is as follows:
1) You will send me a JOB UPDATE message ON an e-mail, not as an attachment.
2) In this message, you will describe to me all that you have done during this grading period to help out APE, Inc., being very specific so I know exactly what you did, whom you helped, when and where, etc.
3) Request the job points you think you deserve for your time and effort (from 1-20, as a rule).
4) I will respond to you before entering your points on Pinnacle.
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. CLASS JOBS--AP LANGUAGE *NOTE: Some of these still are tentative, and you can cross over in performance of your duties. Let me know if you can add on any of the places with a "N/A."
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4th PERIOD:
POLITICO--N/A
SOCIAL WORKERS--Hailey D. and Emalee W.
FOLDER PERSONS--Oliver O. and Angel L.
LIBRARY/SIGN-OUT--Amanda C. and Brittany K.
COPIERS--Bethany G, Brittany K, and Brooke N.
PRINTERS for student needs--Same as above
HYGIENISTS/ORGANIZERS--Kat V, Marissa W, Sarah K.
INTERNET RESEARCH--N/A
WEB PAGE ASSISTANTS--Olivia G. and Marissa W.
BULLETIN BD.--N/A SCRAPBOOK--Megan E.
TECHNICIANS/COMPUTER GURU--Clint D.
PHOTOGRAPHER—Megan E.
TUTOR--Oliva G.
ERRANDS--Matt N. (Jahlinda J. as back up)
MAINTENANCE PERSONS--Clint and Raymond C.
JACKS OF ALL TRADE--Jahlinda J, Oliver O, and Amanda C.
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5th PERIOD:
POLITICO--Jennifer B.
SOCIAL WORKER--Megan D. **Liaison for all 4 classes ???
FOLDER PERSONS--Katie W. and Emily Wh.
LIBRARY/SIGN-OUT--Emily Bow. and Liz T.
COPIER--Lauren A. PRINTERS for student needs--Same as above
HYGIENISTS/ORGANIZER--Morgan C.
INTERNET RESEARCH--N/A
WEB PAGE ASSISTANTS—N/A
DOOR GREETER/EVENT PLANNER--Valerie J-B
BULLETIN BD.—Shay T
SCRAPBOOK—Morgan C
TECHNICIANS/COMPUTER GURU—N/A
PHOTOGRAPHER—Morgan C
TUTOR--N/A
ERRANDS--Shakira S.
MAINTENANCE PERSON--Parker O.
JACKS OF ALL TRADE--Leah G, John S, Kevin L, and Bethany Sch,
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6th PERIOD:
POLITICO--N/A
SOCIAL WORKER--Caroline P
FOLDER PERSONS—Audra J.
LIBRARY/SIGN-OUT--Brooke G.
COPIERS--Emily A
PRINTERS for student needs—Emily A
HYGIENISTS/ORGANIZERS--Emily A.
INTERNET RESEARCH--Erika W.
WEB PAGE ASSISTANTS--N/A
BULLETIN BD.--Julia D.
SCRAPBOOK—Rhia A.
TECHNICIANS/COMPUTER GURU--Jeremy S.
PHOTOGRAPHER--Julia D.
TUTOR--Kenneth P.
ERRANDS--Caroline P.
MAINTENANCE PERSONS--Sam S.
JACKS OF ALL TRADE (will help folder person and librarian)--Summer K, Kiki B, Rhia A, Corinne T
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7th PERIOD:
POLITICOS--Maria C. and Alexia R.
SOCIAL WORKERS--Amalia F. and Colleen A.
FOLDER PERSONS--Keidra L. and Roman R.
LIBRARY/SIGN-OUT--Sophia H. and Janean B.
COPIERS--Kanika M, Olivia C, and Mary H.
PRINTERS for student needs--Same as above
HYGIENISTS/ORGANIZERS--Courtney M, Lindsey S, Trey I, and Brooke D.
INTERNET RESEARCH--N/A WEB PAGE ASSISTANT--Russell M.
BULLETIN BD.--N/A
SCRAPBOOK--Emily Bour.
TECHNICIANS/COMPUTER GURU--Russell M.
PHOTOGRAPHER—Laura H, Courtney M.
TUTOR--Laura H.
ERRANDS--Alyssa W (Trey I. as back up)
MAINTENANCE PERSONS--Tommy D. and Ajay M.
JACKS OF ALL TRADE--Nathan C, Mary H, and Kaitlyn Mc.
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