AP^® Lang teachers: looking to help your students improve their rhetorical analysis essays?

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I'm a high school English teacher with a passion for helping students and teachers master rhetorical analysis.

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AP^® Lang teachers: looking to help your students improve their rhetorical analysis essays?

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You can improve your Rhetorical Analysis essays by

You can improve your Rhetorical Analysis essays by analyzing words and details within the quotes you’ve chosen. 🙌

According to the AP Lang rubric, essays that earn a 3 or 4 in evidence and commentary “focus on the importance of specific words and details from the passage to build an argument” - so if you’re trying to break into those higher scores, it’s important to focus on this skill.

Here’s how to get more comfortable with this skill -

Step 1️⃣ - Select a short quote (3-10 words). It usually helps if the quote isn’t a complete sentence so you can embed the quote into your own words.

Step 2️⃣ - Identify the “keywords” (significant or important words).

Step 3️⃣ - Analyze the “keywords”

Most importantly, it’s important for students to participate in a lot of practice to improve commentary throughout the school year as you prepare for the upcoming exam.

You can get help with tips for how to do each of these things (as well as specific examples using past prompts) in this helpful YouTube video 📺:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB2nJ5y1GPg

Today I’m sharing my best tips for writing a rhe

Today I’m sharing my best tips for writing a rhetorical analysis thesis statement that’s:
1️⃣ defensible and
2️⃣ earns the point according to the rhetorical analysis rubric on the AP Lang exam

Your rhetorical analysis thesis…
✔️ must be defensible (be able to be proven)
✔️ can be placed anywhere in the essay (many students put it in the last sentence of their introduction)
✔️ must contain rhetorical choices (typically expressed as verbs)

Some phrases to avoid:
🚫 SPEAKER makes several rhetorical choices, such as…
🚫 SPEAKER makes several good rhetorical choices. The ones I’m going to write about are…

Instead, try this sentence frame:
In his/her TONE speech/letter/article (to AUDIENCE), SPEAKER CHOICE 1 and CHOICE 2 in order to MESSAGE/ARGUMENT/PURPOSE.

To get a full explanation of my best tips for writing your rhetorical analysis thesis statement, an additional sentence frame, and more example thesis statements, be sure to watch the full video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDKPLfjK-yo

Wondering what AP Lang is all about? Check out thi

Wondering what AP Lang is all about? Check out this updated video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1xLEhhzj0

When I launched my Teaching Rhetorical Analysis co

When I launched my Teaching Rhetorical Analysis course a couple years ago, I had several people ask if I would do another course for argument writing.

I’m excited to announce that it’s finally ready! The Teaching Argument Writing mini course has 3 modules and tons of bonuses!

For those interested in a combo offer for both courses or just the Teaching Rhetorical Analysis course, check out https://bit.ly/TeachingRhetoricalAnalysis

For those interested in ONLY the Teaching Argument Writing course, check out bit.ly/TeachingArgumentWriting

Not sure which one is the right fit for you? Send me a message and we can chat 😀

Are you looking for a new activity that’s low pr

Are you looking for a new activity that’s low prep and easy to adapt to your existing curriculum to help introduce argument?!

Today I’m sharing the “Sticky Note Tug-of-War”!

It will…
✔️let students practice making claims and providing reasons
✔️help students practice determining which ideas are more convincing
✔️provide practice time for students to consider counterarguments

Supplies needed: sticky notes (that’s it!)
Class Setup: put students in groups of 2-4

You’ll start by posing a question (to start, it’s usually a good idea to have a yes or no question)

Students will brainstorm ideas for “yes” and “no.” Students will write one reason per sticky note.

Students will organize their reasons in a tug-of-war style.

A possible extension activity is to have student groups share out their reasons. Students can then organize their evidence into categories and sub-categories.

To get the full explanation of how to do a sticky note tug-of-war with your students, watch this week’s YouTube video!

The best way to prevent the back to school jitters

The best way to prevent the back to school jitters is to prepare in advance! 🙌

If you intend to start the year with Rhetorical Analysis, here are some suggestions:

➡️ Commercial Analysis - commercials are short, so it’s a great way to introduce rhetorical situations and rhetorical choices

➡️ Summaries - usually I have students write a summary of an article to help understand a student’s writing ability or comprehension. I usually only give them about 10 minutes to complete the task just to give a little low-stakes practice at a timed assignment. I tell them it’s a completion grade and it’s ok not to finish. I then have students peer edit or revise for word choice, syntax, etc.

If you intend to start the year with Argument, you might consider starting with:

➡️ Mini Debates - I use topics that aren’t controversial (for example: What is the best snack cake? What is the best cereal? - you can check out the posts in the Facebook group for some great examples)

➡️ Speed Debating - Select a series of friendly debate topics and set up the desks in rows so that students can face each other (similar to speed dating). Place a different debate question on each pair of desks. Give students 1 minute each to share their side, then have them rotate.

If you intend to start the year with Synthesis, you might consider starting with:

➡️ Synthesis Dinner Party - This helps students learn how to put the sources in conversation with each other. After students have read the sources, this activity is a great way to introduce the topic of having the sources have a “conversation.” Have students arrange the sources as if they were dinner guests. I have them write an explanation regarding why they arranged it the way they did. (You can find files for this activity in the Facebook groups.)

➡️ High School Drama Synthesis - This is a very popular activity with students. This activity was developed by Timm Freitas and Kaytie Storms and introduces the concept of synthesis in a student-friendly way.

You can find more details about each of these ideas in this helpful YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5iFJEAPiKk

Today we’re talking about how to teach our stude

Today we’re talking about how to teach our students how to write more sophisticated essays.

In past years, approximately 5-9% of students have earned the sophistication point. Although it’s rare, it’s not unattainable. 🙌

Last year, I started focusing on consistently incorporating elements of sophisticated writing into my lessons and assignments.

The result? More students earned the sophistication point. ✨

What I noticed was that even my students who didn’t earn the sophistication point were able to write essays with stronger commentary.

Here are a few tips to teach students to write more sophisticated essays:

1️⃣ Know the bullet points - there are different ways for students to earn the sophistication point, so students only need to focus on one bullet point.

2️⃣ Work it into your lesson - this was a game changer for me last year. Be sure to check out the link below for lesson ideas.)

3️⃣ Use exemplars - show students sample essays that earned the sophistication point

4️⃣ Quick Writes - these help students practice writing in a sophisticated way by focusing on a specific skill - they’re a game changer for teachers because they cut back on grading!

I’ve included a lot of lesson ideas and more information about how I’ve helped students work on sophisticated writing in this YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2OEfm2vDEk

What’s your favorite way to help your students work on sophisticated writing? Let’s make a list in the comments! 👇

🎓 Hey seniors! 🎓 As you’re enjoying your

🎓 Hey seniors! 🎓

As you’re enjoying your summer, here are 5️⃣ things to do before your senior year officially begins:
1️⃣ Make a college list of at least 3 schools you might be interested in
2️⃣ Plan a college visit
3️⃣ Make a resume (you can use this to give to teachers when asking them to write you a letter of recommendation)
4️⃣ Write a personal statement if you know you are going to be using the common app
5️⃣ Read for fun because some college applications will ask you about a book you’ve read outside of class

Be sure to check out this YouTube video for more details about each of these ideas! 📺
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OODoNsoWxus

Today I’m sharing 5️⃣ Rhetorical Analysis Ac

Today I’m sharing 5️⃣ Rhetorical Analysis Activities that will help reinforce the concepts of important AP Lang skills without adding a ton of grading to your plate. 🙌

Activity #1 - Thesis Statement and Topic Sentence Frames to help students develop a line of reasoning. You can check out an activity for this here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Coach-Halls-AP-Lang-Sentence-Frames-Bundle-6171627

Activity #2 - Line of Reasoning Chains - this is a great way to reinforce the concept of a line of reasoning and is more interactive than a regular outline. (There’s nothing wrong with a normal outline. I assign those too.)

Activity #3 - Is it Defensible? - this is a great activity to use for bellwork. I like to use it when I’m introducing (or wanting to reinforce thesis statements). You can learn more about this activity here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thesis-Statement-Activities-8552556

Activity #4 - One-Pagers - This rhetorical analysis activity is great if your students need a “brain break.” It’s a way for them to be creative and decompress while still engaging with the text.

Activity #5 - Rhetorically Accurate Verb Sort - The premise of the rhetorically accurate verb sort is simple: students work in pairs or small groups to sort the verbs into groups. You can grab this free activity resource here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhetorically-Accurate-Verbs-Sorting-Activity-8611514

You can get all of the details for each of these activities on this blog post: https://coachhallwrites.com/5-rhetorical-analysis-activities-for-ap-lang/

Do you have a favorite Rhetorical Analysis activity you use with your students? Want to share it? Drop it in the comments!

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