AP English Literature
Presenter – Sharon Johnston

Course Description:
This session will focus on teaching strategies essential for facilitating a successful AP* English Literature and Composition course. Participants will interact with the 2017 AP* Exams, investigate approaches to teaching prose, drama, and poetry, and practice the holistic evaluation of writing.

Note: Bring your syllabus (or a colleague’s) for any high school English class, preferably AP* or honors.  Read and bring at least three of the following novels: Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad), Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte), Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver), and The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri).
Read and bring a copy of these short stories:
“A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell
“Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman
“Where Are You Going, Where Have Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates
“The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Day 1

  • Orientation/introductions for participants in AP® Institute
  • Overview/goals of workshop, equitable access
  • Characteristics of AP® teacher, AP® students
  • College Board resources, composition tips, diagnostic portfolio, syntax
  • AP® literature questionnaire
  • Tips for surviving as an AP® literature teacher
  • Writing and scoring of essays, 2017 exam, Question 1.
  • Evening opportunity (homework): practice holistic grading/student samples

 Day 2

    • Holistic grading, 2017 exam, Question 2
    • Tips for teaching fiction (genres, literary terms, tone, style, comparison/contrast, critical approaches)
    • Instruction/assessment (seminars, dramatic interpretations, timed writings, portfolios, journals, multimedia presentations, online discourse)
    • Application: approaches to short stories (small group process)
    • Approaches to satire: Horatian/Juvenalian
    • Lab: select resources for curriculum
    • Evening opportunity: prepare short story presentation

Day 3

      • Share resources selected for your classroom
      • Tips for multiple-choice
      • Tips for teaching poetry
      • Holistic scoring, 2017 exam, Question 3
      • Short story presentations

 Day 4

      • Tips for teaching drama
      • Discussion of AP® literature questionnaire
      • Mini seminar on novels and plays
      • Reflections/evaluation

Sharon Johnston – AP English Literature

Sharon Johnston has taught English on both the high school and college levels for over 30 years and has taught AP English Literature and Language for over 20 years. Currently, Dr. Johnston teaches for Spokane Falls Community College. Since 1996, she has collaborated with Florida Virtual School, Spokane Virtual Learning and other school systems in the creation and delivery of student-centric AP* courses; her research on the effectiveness of AP* online was published recently in the American Journal of Distance Learning. She has participated in College Board’s AP* Programs as an Exam Reader/Table Leader and as an AP* consultant.

She also served as a Steering Committee member for the 2008 and 2009 College Board AP* National Conferences and again for the 2015 and 2016 Conferences.  As a consultant for the National Math Science Initiative, she conducts Saturday Study Sessions for students in California and Alaska.

Dr. Johnston, a National Board Certified Teacher, earned a doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction, Masters of Arts in English, and Bachelors in English & History Ed. In 2004, she received the Florida Council of Teachers of English Honor Award for outstanding service to advance the teaching of the language arts.