AP Eng Lang: what to prep over the summer for next year

[plansrme]

You know how we chat occasionally about kids doing APs for which they are not suited?  Yeah, well my sophomore has been slotted into AP English Language next year at her public high school.  This child cannot write her way out of a paper bag.  I tried and tried for years to teach her to write, but when she was a homeschooled middle schooler, I finally had to all but give up because the fight over writing was killing our relationship.  She went to a small private high school her freshman year, and then she finally realized that I wasn't just being mean--she is a horrible writer, and THEN she was finally open to my helping her.  So, we made some progress last year, and I (I mean, "she") made an A in 9th grade English comp.  She's at a large public HS this year doing okay in 10th grade lit, so they have her going into AP English Language next year.  Help!  I've not taught AP lit or lang at home.  My oldest, the AP Queen, says anyone who can write a lot with good grammar can pass the exam, and this child does have impeccable grammar (thanks, Rod & Staff!).  But she really, really needs to prep over the summer.  Other than just working through a review book, is there something she can be doing over the summer?  I'm thinking she needs some basics.  Most of what I've found online is for students just about to take the exam; we need something more basic than that, like pre-AP English Language.

 

 

[Chanley]

Could you enroll her in some online classes? Or work through a solid english/writing program that has some grammar in it? Can you get her schedule changed or at least ask the teacher about her placement in that class?

 

[plansrme]

Could you enroll her in some online classes? Or work through a solid english/writing program that has some grammar in it? Can you get her schedule changed or at least ask the teacher about her placement in that class?

 

Her grammar is impeccable; that's not the problem at all.  I actually think she can do okay in the class (not necessarily on the exam, though), so I don't necessarily want to move her out of it.  I just want her to get a running start with some prep over the summer.

[OnMyOwn]

How about working through The Lively Art of Writing? Here's a link for more info and the workbook Quark formatted.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/471529-lively-art-of-writing-formatted-workbook-and-key-x-post/?hl=%2Blively+%2Bart&do=findComment&comment=5127705

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lively-Art-Writing-Mentor/dp/0451627121/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362859172&sr=1-1&keywords=lively+art+of+writing

Edited March 3, 2016 by OnMyOwn

[G5052]

Mine is in that course now with AP Homeschoolers.

 

She did The Lively Art of Writing the year before and felt like it was good preparation.

Edited March 4, 2016 by G5052

[MarkT]

My DS is using this at his charter for 10th grade Pre-AP English along with other books:

http://www.amazon.com/Prestwick-House-Pre-AP-Readings-Exercises/dp/193546857X

 

He said that it is good and fairly challenging.

 

 

[plansrme]

How about working through The Lively Art of Writing? Here's a link for more info and the workbook Quark formatted.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/471529-lively-art-of-writing-formatted-workbook-and-key-x-post/?hl=%2Blively+%2Bart&do=findComment&comment=5127705

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lively-Art-Writing-Mentor/dp/0451627121/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362859172&sr=1-1&keywords=lively+art+of+writing

 

 

Mine is that course now with AP Homeschoolers.

 

She did The Lively Art of Writing the year before and felt like it was good preparation.

 

Excellent idea, and I have LAOW lying around.  We could definitely do that over the summer.  I tried it with her before, but I think she was just too immature/unwilling.  Great idea to do it again.

 

My DS is using this at his charter for 10th grade Pre-AP English along with other books:

http://www.amazon.com/Prestwick-House-Pre-AP-Readings-Exercises/dp/193546857X

 

He said that it is good and fairly challenging.

 

Ordered!  Thanks.  I'll see if we can get through this and LAOW.

 

Thanks, all!

[Kinspired]

DD is taking AP Language at home this year (we submitted a syllabus.) She finds the timed aspect of the essays challenging, as she'll need to eventually write 3 essays in 2 hours.What has helped with speed, especially with the argumentation essay, is brainstorming examples from literature/history for different SAT archetypes. Angela in Ohio posted about this method in this thread. Instead of making cards after each reading, she just took one morning to brainstorm with her sister.

 

Rhetorical analysis is another skill she'll need for the class. We used this text for review, as we'd covered some of the devices before .Also, this article on the AP Language site gives a nice summary of the rhetorical analysis expected.

 

HTH!

 

 

eta: punctuation

Edited March 14, 2016 by Mutabilis