This is a first day of school presentation for a high school English Advanced Placement class. This includes rules, expectations, two activities, and information about the AP test and course

1. WELCOME TO
ENGLISH III AP
Or, How to Succeed This Year

2. Student Info Card
Full Name (Nickname, if you have one)
Birthday
Hobbies / Favorite Subject
Have you ever taken an AP or Pre-AP class before?
What are you most looking forward to this year?
Anything I should know?
What are your post-high school goals?
Parent/Guardian(s) Name(s)
Phone number and E-mail

3. CLASSROOM RULES &
EXPECTATIONS

4. Come to class prepared; materially, physically, and mentally.
Only use technology when it is allowed by the teacher for educational
purposes.
Understand that they must be active participants in their own education.
Get to class on time.
Always have something to read with them.
Respect themselves and others, and are polite and considerate.
Show respect for themselves and others.

5. When I Come Into Class
1. Come in and turn in any homework.
2. Sit in your assigned seat.
3. Check the board for assignments and/or warm-up and begin working if
possible.

6. Instead of “I don’t know”
May I please have some more information?
May I have some time to think?
Would you please repeat the question?
Where could I find some more information about that?
May I ask a friend for help?

7. Discourse
◦ Speak in complete sentences
◦ Don’t speak when someone else is speaking
◦ Be respectful of the opinions and views of others
◦ Be confident – your ideas are worth sharing
◦ Don’t use foul or offensive language

8. Parking Lot
◦ If you have questions throughout the class, write them on a post-it and place them in the
“parking lot.”
◦ You don’t have to put your name on the question.
◦ I will answer the questions throughout the class or the next period.

9. At the End of Class
The bell does NOT dismiss you.
Make sure that all supplies and materials have been cleaned
up.

10. Supply List
◦ 1in. Binder
◦ 5 Dividers
◦ Pens or Pencils
◦ College Ruled Paper
◦ Highlighter
◦ Post-its (any brand)
◦ Always bring to class:
◦ Charged Laptop
◦ Something to Read

11. Use the MLA Heading for EVERY Paper
Full Name
Ms. Mendoza
English III AP – Pd
Date - Day Month Year
Assignment Title

12. Grade Breakdown
Tests/ Projects/ Essays – 50%
Quiz Grades – 30%
Classwork/ Homework/ Daily Assignments – 20%

13. Late Work
Late work will NOT be accepted. The only exception is an excused absence.
If you cheat, you will receive a zero. Academic dishonesty is excluded from the re-do
policy.
This is a college level course and it will be run in that manner.

14. Redo Policy
The district policy for retakes is followed in my class.
Refer to the student handbook or the EPISD website
for full details.

15. Tutoring
EVERYONE is welcome to come and get extra help
Monday - Friday from 8:15 - 8:45
Monday - Thursday from 3:50 - 4:15
*Extra times available as needed*
You are also welcome to seek help from other English teachers.
Mrs. Lucas – P-11

16. New Bell Schedule
7: 45 – 8: 38 a.m. Zero Period
8:38 a.m. First Bell
8:45 – 10:15 a.m. 1st / 5th Period
10:20 – 11:55 a.m. 2nd / 6th Period
10:20 – 12:10 p.m. (9GC)
(Announcements)
11:55 – 12:40 p.m. Lunch
12:10 – 12:40 p.m. (9GC)
12:45 – 2:15 p.m. 3rd / 7th Period
2:20 – 3:50 p.m. 4th / 8th Period

17. Other Topics
◦ Restroom/Library/Nurse
◦ New Attendance Rules
◦ Crisis/Fire Drills
◦ Classroom Library

18. Shameless Plug
Franklin’s UIL Academic Teams have openings!
Literary Criticism
Spelling & Vocabulary
Ready Writing

19. WEBSITES & TOOLS

20. Classroom Website
http://mendozaenglishfranklin.weebly.com

21. Remind
Text the class code to 81010
5th period - @apeng5th
6th period - @apeng6th
7th period - @apeng7th

22. CONTENT
So, what is AP Language and Composition?

23. Equity and Access
This class is for everyone willing to take up
the challenge.

24. Syllabus
English III AP
Ms. Mendoza
1st
Semester Foundations (beginnings to 1800)
Readings: Native American stories, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and other early explorers, accounts of
The Lost Colony, William Bradford, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anne Bradstreet, Mary
Rowlandson, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Jonathan Edwards, Olaudah Equiano, Phillis Wheatley
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Abigail Adams, various contemporary connective
pieces of fiction and non-fiction works
Romanticism and Transcendentalism (1800 to 1860)
Readings: Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe,
Accounts from the Trail of Tears, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Emily
Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, various contemporary connective pieces of fiction and non-fiction
works
2nd
Semester Realism (The Civil War to 1914)
Readings: Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Civil War accounts,
Ambrose Bierce, Stephen Crane, Chief Joseph, Mark Twain, Kate Chopin, The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain , various contemporary connective pieces of fiction and non-fiction
works
The Moderns (1914 to 1939)
Readings: Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, ee cummings, Dorothy Parker, Robert Frost, Edgar Lee
Masters, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner,
Flannery O’Connor, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, various contemporary connective pieces of
fiction and non-fiction works
The Contemporary Period (1939 to present)
Readings: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Tim O Brien, immigrant literature, Things Fall
Apart by Chinua Achebe, The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene, various contemporary connective
pieces of fiction and non-fiction works
The readings for the year will include, but are not limited to, the above. Assessments of the readings will include, but are
not limited to, quizzes, essays, research projects, group activities, class work, and homework assignments. Finally, each
student is expected to participate in class discussion. Almost exclusively, the reading is done outside of class and is
handled in a college preparatory manner.
In preparation for college, the SAT/ACT, and the AP exam, this class has a heavy focus on advanced vocabulary and
writing. All writing will adhere to the MLA format. There will be an emphasis on rhetoric, both analysis and application.
Throughout the year, we will do focused AP exam prep; however, it is imperative that you spend time outside of class
readying yourself for the exam as well.
Grades are figured in the following way: 20% Classwork/Homework/Daily Assignments
30% Quiz Grades
50% Tests/Projects/Essays
Materials needed: 1 inch thick binder used exclusively for this class
College rule notebook paper
5 pack Dividers
Pencils or pens
Highlighters
Post-it Notes (any brand)
I use Remind and my website to post specific guidelines for assignments and to alert you of upcoming quizzes, tests, or due
dates. If you need to communicate with me, you can send messages via Remind or email me at mskaiser@episd.org .

25. What Will We Be Doing Here?
• Zoom in on an author’s craft by identifying and examining rhetorical devices
• Analyze individual parts of a text and understand how they fit into the whole
• Write with more intention by choosing from a variety of strategies to best suit
your purpose
• Gain familiarity with the types of questions on the AP exam through repeated
practice
• Share your writing
• Read thought-provoking material and discuss your ideas in class regularly
• Develop and practice close reading skills

26. Current Events
◦ It is essential to be caught up with what is going on in the world. This
will help you make connections in your writing and discussions.
◦ Some suggested news sources
◦ New York Times
◦ The New Yorker
◦ The Atlantic
◦ BBC
◦ TIME
◦ NPR

27. AP Central
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/home

28. Exam Breakdown
Multiple Choice
◦52-55 questions
◦60 minutes
◦45% of Score
Free Response (Essays)
◦3 prompts
◦2 hours, 15 minutes
◦55% of Score

29. Prompt Types
◦ Synthesis
◦ Students read several texts about a topic and create an argument that synthesizes
at least 3 of the sources to support their thesis
◦ Rhetorical Analysis
◦ Students read a non-fiction text and analyze how the writer’s language choices
contribute to his or her purpose and intended meaning for the text
◦ Argument
◦ Students create an evidence-based argument that responds to a given topic.

30. AP Scores

31. QUESTIONS?

32. INTERVIEW

33. Time to Know Your Classmates
Step 1: Pick 3 questions to ask your classmates
Step 2: Get in groups of 3
Step 3: Take turns interviewing each other
Step 4: Share-out

34. Questions/Stems
◦ What I love most about life is…
◦ My three all time favorite movies are…
◦ If I could develop a new skill, it would be…
◦ Outside school, I’m good at…
◦ My favorite food is…
◦ My favorite book is…
◦ A perfect day for me would be…
◦ The best vacation I ever took was…
◦ If I could be anyone else for a day, I would be…
◦ The thing I am most looking forward to this year is…