AP English Language & Composition
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
District Pacing Guide
Year at a Glance 2022-2023
Course Codes: A90 & A91
AP English Language and Composition course focuses on the development and revision of evidence-based analytic and
argumentative writing, the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts, and the decisions writers make as they compose and revise. Students
evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Additionally, they read and analyze rhetorical elements and their
effects in nonfiction texts—including images as forms of text—from a range of disciplines and historical periods.
RECOMMENDED PREREQUISITES
There are no prerequisite courses for AP English Language and Composition. Students should be able to read and comprehend
college-level texts and write grammatically correct, complete sentences.
The course skills are organized into nine units that scaffold student development of the analysis and composition skills required for
college credit. For each unit, the teacher selects a theme or topic and then chooses texts, typically short nonfiction pieces, that enable
students to practice and develop the reading and writing skills for that unit.
Each unit culminates in a Personal Progress Check. made up of 1) a free-response question and scoring rubric for the teacher to
administer in class or online and 2) online multiple-choice questions that provide each student with personalized feedback and the teacher with a
class summary of skills.
The following big ideas serve as the foundation of the course, enabling students to create meaningful connections among concepts.
Each big idea correlates with an enduring understanding, a long-term takeaway related to the big idea:
■ Rhetorical Situation: Individuals write within a particular situation and make strategic writing choices based on that situation.
■ Claims and Evidence: Writers make claims about subjects, rely on evidence that supports the reasoning that justifies the claim, and often
acknowledge or respond to other, possibly opposing, arguments.
■ Reasoning and Organization: Writers guide understanding of a text’s lines of reasoning and claims through that text’s organization and
integration of evidence.
■ Style: The rhetorical situation informs the strategic stylistic choices that writers make.
Course Skills
The following skill categories, tied to the big ideas, describe what skills students should develop during the course:
■ Rhetorical Situation – Reading: Explain how writers’ choices reflect the components of the rhetorical situation.
■ Rhetorical Situation – Writing: Make strategic choices in a text to address a rhetorical situation.
■ Claims and Evidence – Reading: Identify and describe the claims and evidence of an argument.
■ Claims and Evidence – Writing: Analyze and select evidence to develop and refine a claim.
■ Reasoning and Organization – Reading: Describe the reasoning, organization, and development of an argument.
■ Reasoning and Organization – Writing: Use organization and commentary to illuminate the line of reasoning in an argument.
■ Style – Reading: Explain how writers’ stylistic choices contribute to the purpose of an argument.
A Letter from The College Board:
Deanne Getreu, TERRA Environmental Research Institute, 2022-2023
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AP English Language & Composition
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
District Pacing Guide
Course Codes: A90 & A91
In light of recent policies, we've been hearing from AP teachers across the country who are concerned about the integrity of their classrooms.
Thousands of Advanced Placement teachers have contributed to principles we share today. These principles aren't new; they are , rather, a reminder of how AP already works
in classrooms nationwide. The following principles are designed to ensure that teachers’ expertise is respected, required course content is understood, and that students are
academically challenged and free to make up their own minds.
We're sharing these principles today to support the academic freedom of AP teachers and stude nts, a cornerstone of the program for 65 years.
What AP Stands For
1. AP stands for clarity and transparency. Teachers and students deserve clear expectations. The Advanced Placement Program make s public its course frameworks and
sample assessments. Confusion about what's permitted in the classroom disrupts teachers and students as they navigate demanding work.
2.AP is an unflinching encounter with evidence. AP courses enable students to develop as independent thinkers and to draw the ir own conclusions. Evidence and the scientific
method are the starting point for conversations in AP courses.
3.AP opposes censorship. AP is animated by a deep respect for the intellectual freedom of teachers and students alike. If a s chool bans required topics from their AP courses,
the AP Program removes the AP designation from that course and its inclusion in the AP Course Ledger provided to colleges and universities. For example, the concepts of
evolution are at the heart of college biology, and a course that neglects such concepts doesn't pass muster as AP Biology.
4.AP opposes indoctrination. AP students are expected to analyze different perspectives from their own frame of reference, an d no points on an AP Exam are awarded for
agreement with a viewpoint. AP students aren't required to feel certain ways about themselves or the course content. AP courses instead develop students' abilities to assess
the credibility of sources, draw conclusions, and make up their own minds.
As the AP English Literature course description states: "AP students are not expected or asked to subscribe to any one specific set of cultural or political values but are
expected to have the maturity to analyze perspectives different from their own and to question the meaning, purpose, or effec t of such content within the literary work as a
whole."
5.AP courses foster an open-minded approach to the histories and cultures of different peoples. The study of different nationalities, cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities is
essential within a variety of academic disciplines. AP courses ground such studies in primary sources so that students can ev aluate experiences and evidence for themselves.
6.Every AP student who engages with evidence is listened to and respected. Students are encouraged to evaluate arguments but not one another. AP classrooms respect
diversity in backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. The perspectives and contributions of the full range of AP students are sought and considered. Respectful debate of
ideas is cultivated and protected; personal attacks have no place in AP.
7.AP is a choice for parents and students. Parents and students freely choose to enroll in AP courses. Course descriptions are available online for parents and students to
inform their choice. Parents don't define which college-level topics are suitable within AP courses; AP course and exam materials are crafted by committees o f professors and
other expert educators in each field. AP courses and exams are then further validated by the American Council on Education an d studies that confirm the use of AP scores for
college credits by thousands of colleges and universities nationwi de.
Sincerely,
The Advanced Placement Program
*** The AP Program encourages educators to review these principles with parents and students so they know what to expect in an AP course. Advanced Placement is always a choice, and it should
be an informed one. AP teachers should be given the confidence and clarity that once parents have enrolled their child in an AP course, they have agreed to a classroom experience that embodies
these principles.
Deanne Getreu, TERRA Environmental Research Institute, 2022-2023
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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
District Pacing Guide
AP English Language & Composition
Course Codes: A90 & A91
AP English Language Guide to Resources and Strategies
Student Resources
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Schoology LMS
AP Classroom
Digital videos and tutorials
PDFs of various texts and materials
Skills Reinforcement Videos
Graphic Organizers
AP Exam Rubrics and Models
Differentiated Instruction
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Extended time/ accommodations for
students with 504/IEP
Enhanced activities and projects for
gifted students
Gradual Release Method
Reteaching and Practice
High-Interest Readings
Multimodal teaching materials
Deanne Getreu, TERRA Environmental Research Institute, 2022-2023
Assessment and Reporting
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Quizzes and Tests
Projects (individual and collaborative)
Class Discussions
Analysis/Notes
All aspects of the writing process –
outlining, writing, revision, reflection
Reflections
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AP English Language & Composition
Q1 8/17 – 10/21
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
District Pacing Guide
Q3 – 1/24/23 – 4/6/23
Q2 10/24 – 1/20/23
Course Codes: A90 & A91
Q4 – 04/10/23 – 06/07/23
August 17– September 9th
October 31st – November 30 th
January 24 th – February 17 th
April 10 th – May 5th
Unit 1: The Basics of Rhetoric
Unit 4: Argument, Analysis, and
Methods of Development
Unit 6: Argument Essays
Unit 8: Using Style
Strategically/Test Review
This unit will review the basics of
composition and rhetoric (SPACECAT)
before going forward to analyze and
write complex texts.
In this unit we will analyze different methods
of development, argumentative frames, and
the importance of a mic-dropping
conclusion.
Review Summer Reading Texts
Texts:
Excerpts from Thank You for Arguing;
RHS 1.A; CLE 3.A; CLE 4.A
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
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Progress Checks
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Notes and Analysis
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Group Assignments
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Projects
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Composition
September
12 th
– September 30th
Unit 2: Argument, Audience and
Intros
This unit will continue to explore
elements of rhetoric (SPACECAT) and
practice writing introduction paragraphs
for rhetorical analysis essays.
RHS 1.B; RHS 2.B; CLE 3.A; CLE 4.A;
CLE 3.B; CLE 4.B
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
▪
Progress Checks
▪
Notes and Analysis
▪
Group Assignments
▪
Projects
RHS 1.A; RHS 2.A; CLE 3.B; CLE 4.B; REO 5.C;
REO 6.C
Thanksgiving Break 11/21 - 11/25
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
▪
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
▪
Progress Checks
▪
Notes and Analysis
▪
Group Assignments
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Projects
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Composition
December 1 st – December 23 rd
In this unit, we will focus on creating the
free response essay from previously
administered College Board prompts.
We will discuss how to structure an
argument and how to make appropriate
choices as writers based on the
rhetorical situation.
CLE 3.A; CLE 4.A; CLE 3.B; CLE 4.B; STL
7.A; STL 8.A
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
▪
Progress Checks
▪
Notes and Analysis
▪
Group Assignments
▪
Projects
▪
Composition
February 21st – March 17 th
Unit 7: Synthesis and
Counterargument
In this unit, we will focus on stylistic
choices based on audience and
different perspectives, as well as their
effect on an argument.
RHS 1.B; RHS 2.B; STL 7.A; STL 8.A; STL
7.B; STL 8.B, CLE 3.C; CLE 4.C
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
▪
Progress Checks
▪
Notes and Analysis
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Group Assignments
MAY 9TH – AP EXAM
May 10th – June 7th
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TBD
Unit 5: Line of Reasoning
In this unit we will learn to develop the most
important part of an argument: the line of
reasoning.
REO 5.A; REO 6.A; REO 5.B; REO 6.B; STL 7.A;
STL 8.A
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
▪
Progress Checks
▪
Notes and Analysis
▪
Group Assignments
In this unit, we will focus on how to
integrate sources, demonstrate multiple
perspectives, and counterargue or
qualify an argument.
RHS 1.A; RHS 2.A; CLE 3.C; CLE 4.C; STL
7.B; STL 8.B; STL 7.C; STL 8.C
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
▪
Progress Checks
▪
Notes and Analysis
▪
Group Assignments
Deanne Getreu, TERRA Environmental Research Institute, 2022-2023
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AP English Language & Composition
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Composition
October 3 rd – October 28 th
Unit 3: Argument, Claims and
Evidence
In this unit we will continue to analyze
how authors develop claims and
evidence to support their arguments,
and we will practice developing
arguments of our own.
CLE 3.A; CLE 4.A; REO 5.A; REO 6.A; REO
5.C; REO 6.C
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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
District Pacing Guide
Projects
Composition
Winter Break 12/26 - 1/6/23
January 9 th – January 20 th
Midterm Review and Mock Exam
Students will return from Winter Break
and review strategies for the exam,
then take their second full mock exam.
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Course Codes: A90 & A91
Projects
Composition
Review and Mock Exam
Students will return from Spring
Break and review strategies for the
exam, then take their third full mock
exam.
Grammar Bellringers and Membean.com:
▪
Assignments due weekly.
Assessment
▪
Skill Topic Quizzes
▪
Progress Checks
▪
Notes and Analysis
▪
Group Assignments
▪
Projects
▪
Composition
Deanne Getreu, TERRA Environmental Research Institute, 2022-2023
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AP English Language & Composition
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
District Pacing Guide
Deanne Getreu, TERRA Environmental Research Institute, 2022-2023
Course Codes: A90 & A91
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