Advanced Placement
English Language and
Literature
Virtual Teacher
Toolbox
Mrs. Thornton
Mr. Kypta
Websites to Visit
www.khanacademy.org
http://www.excellenceinwriting.com
http://warriorap.squarespace.com/
http://www.instagrok.com/
instaGrok | A new way to learn - great tool
for creating synthesis exercises
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/
writing-lessons/
http://www.englishcompanion.com/classroom/honors.htm
http://teachap.ning.com/?showAddContent=1&xg_source=msg_wel_network
AP English - an open community for AP
English teachers
http://blogs.bedfordstmartins.com/highschoolbits/author/jrice/
Great blogs about AP Language and Comp.
Letters of Note - great resource for primary
resources as well sources for analysis,
argument, and synthesis.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/
AP Eng Lang Teaching Resources - Thanks for Sharing.
http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/RSpriggs/ap.cfm?subpage=1430759
From web.me.com
AP Lit & Lang Site
From sitemaker.umich.edu
From delicious.com
AP Language and Comp shared bookmarks on Delicious.
www.4tests.com
Students can take practice tests on this site;
the scoring is done for you!!!!
AP English Literature Websites
An Internet Hotlist on AP Lit. Websites
created by Mary Filak
Introduction
To help you get started on your AP English Lit. planning, I have combined
resources with Conni Shelnut, Marti Nelson and other members of the
apenglish listserv community to provide a Hotlist of websites that may be
useful to AP English Literature teachers. The links below will get you
started but are by no means the only useful sites. If you have or find others
that are useful, please forward them to me, and I will be glad to update the
list. Happy browsing! This site was last updated 5/3/12.
http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listaplitma.html
Taking the Exam
AP Literature: Titles from Free Response Questions since 1973 Posted and updated by Norma Wilkerson, works are listed
alphabetically with the years in which the work was suggested on
the open question
Applied Practice Units - Although pricey, these units replecate
exam style questions and come with an answer key and
explanations. The units contain both m.c. and essay style formats.
Exam Score Calculator - From AP Pass, a way to calculate a score
using the new scoring method employed by ETS. Just plug in
m.c., three essay scores and it calculates the final score for you.
Miss Effie's AP Site - Has downloadable lists of works used,
questions on past exams as well as a wealth of information useful
to both AP teachers and students. There are units on specific
works as well.
What AP Readers Want to See - Advice from exam readers. Scroll
through tone words (also helpful) to reach this document.
Of General Interest
Bedford/St. Martins Links - Website includes many links to various
authors, works
Close Reading - Definition, directions and a sample of this important
skill.
Edsitement - Government page with many links helpful to language arts
teachers
How to Annotate - A brief instruction sheet on PDF by Mary Filak,
Kristin Thorpe and Nicole Knapp
How to Annotate a Text - Instructions and example from the Bucks
County School District.
Internet Literary Criticism - 'The IPL Literary Criticism Collection
contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works
that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary
period.'
Of General Interest
Literature Circle Roles - Literature Circle PDF with printable roles
Litote Cartoons and Comics - Visual reinforcement of the concept of litote
Short Passages for Rhetorical Analysis –
Socratic Seminar Guidelines - Comprehensive instructions, rubrics from
Cindy Adams; a good way to allow AP English students to explore the
underlying questions raised by great literature
Style Analysis Sheet - Courtesy of Jim Burke's English Companion
Symbolism Dictionary - Locate an entry by clicking the letter it begins
with. A searchable index of all entries is also available, as well as an
alphabetical listing of all entries.
Of General Interest
Teaching Comedy - From the ASCI Convention, 15 articles by Brendan
Kenny on comedy
Teaching Literature - Categories include poetry, Brit. lit., multicultural,
critical lenses and lessonplans/syllabi. Links will take you to chapter
activities, further reading, web links and literary texts.
Teaching Satire - Using literature and art to teach satire.
The Importance of Tone - A College Board publication containing many
stimulating articles by consultants in Lit. Originally issued 2006-2007
The VocabularyReview/Language Links - List of links to vocabulary, word
play, puzzles and the 'The Apostrophe Protection Society'
Virtual Salt Literary Terms - A comprehensive glossary of literary terms
by Richard Harris.
Voice of the Shuttle - A wealth of liberal arts resources
Help with Specific Works
Faulkner Internet Sources - List of Internet sources for Faulkner
Faulkner on the Web - Library, plot synopses, movie connections and
much more
Links to Literature in DiYanni Text - Even if you don't use Robert DiYanni's
text, Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama, you may find the links
to specific works in this comprehensive anthology helpful.
Literature on the Web - Hyper-Concordance for the works of the Brontes,
Austen and other Victorian writers as well as works by British, American
and Irish authors of other periods.
Name Significance in As I Lay Dying - 'What's in a Name? Etymology and
As I Lay Dying by Faye Friesen and Charles Peek'
PowerPoints for Literature - PowerPoints on Shakespeare and other
literary subjects at bottom of page
Teaching Faulkner - Five critical essays on As I Lay Dying plus other
essays on various Faulkner novels and short stories.
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature - 'The
Cambridge History of English and American Literature An Encyclopedia
in Eighteen Volumes. The set encompasses a wide selection of writing on
orators, humorists, poets, newspaper columnists, religious leaders,
economists, Native Americans, song writers, and even non-English
writing, such as Yiddish and Creole.'
Poetry
How to Explicate a Poem - Step-by-step
instructions on understanding a poem.
Poetry Archives - A collection of classical
poems searchable by author, title or first
line
Sonnet Central - 'An archive of English
sonnets, commentary, and relevant web
links and a forum for poets to share and
discuss their own work.' This site sponsors
new poetry and has a searchable data base
of famous and not-so-famous sonnets.
Rubrics, Games, Grammar, Web tools
Character Facebook Project - Template for a Facebook project
Dante's Inferno & Infernal Grammar - Uses The Inferno to teach grammar.
In this case grammar IS hell.
Filamentality Web Pages - The site you're now viewing was built with
Filamentality, an easy to learn system for creating various types of Internetbased assignments.
Grammar Bytes - There's no ignoring this 500 lb. gorilla. There are terms,
handouts, exercises and more.
Guide to Grammar - Comprehensive grammar explanations and interactive
quizzes.
Jeopardy Template - To create your own review game before the exam.
Nicenet - A place to share files,conference, post assignments and create classroom Internet
activities.
Owl at Purdue - All things MLA and grammar. A very comprehensive explanation in clear
terms of grammar rules.
Rubrics - Another create-your-own-or-use-ours site.
Template My Lit. Space - Template for an Internet Lit. Space project courtesy of Broward
County, FL.
The Awesome Library of Grammar and Usage - Lots of grammar help and a link to 'The
Language LIVE Home for Abused Apostrophes'
Vocabulary puzzles, games - 'Separated into 3 levels of difficulty, these free interactive
vocabulary puzzle and activity sessions use Latin and Greek 'roots and cells' to help decode
words.'
WebQuest Construction - This site hosted by San Diego State was created by Bernie Dodge, a
pioneer in WebQuest design. There are samples and a template for building these Internet
activities.
Wikispace - A free public space to create web pages for the teacher or for a class to use for
projects.
del.icio.us - A no-frills space for 'social bookmarking' where you can share links.
Teacher Web Pages, AP Lit. Syllabi
'The Still Side of Garner High' - Ronald Still's AP Lit. syllabus, lesson plans and links for specific
AP works.
Dawn Hogue's AP English Literature - A website with syllabi, summer reading and a section for
AP teachers
Jim Burke's English Companion - Creator of the EC Ning, Jim offers his own page plus links.
M.S. Stultz's Homepage - Both Lit. & Lang. sections as well as material for individual works.
Hunger Games material aplenty.
Mr. Pogreba's AP Lit. Syllabus - Scroll the menu to AP IV.
Mrs. Renneisen's Syllabus - Detailed thematic approach
On-Line Syllabus - An on-line course.
Resources for Language Arts Teachers - Cindy Adams'comprehensive list of contact information
and summaries of what is offered by numerous publishing companies who create study guide
materials. Worth perusing.
Study Guide.org - Cindy Adams' comprehensive site for teachers. Her Socratic Seminar page is
especially helpful as are her directions for Poetry Circles.
The Pathology Guy - Yes, Ed Friedlander is a pathologist and Chairman,
Dept. of Pathology, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences,
but a doctor with keen insight into literature. Scroll the main page to
'literature' and find material on several Shakespeare plays, 'The Lady of
Shalott,' Oedipus and Blake's poetry.
Web English Teacher - The AP/IB page from Carla Beard lists many links
for syllabi and other AP related pages. Annotation explained at 'How to
Mark a Book' site.
Best Practices
Teacherspayteachers.com
A quick, engaging and fun activity elicits students' critical thinking
skills to practice making claims, using data and establishing warrants to
support arguments. It is a role-play, a pair and share then a critical
thinking discussion using quotations from Henry David Thoreau and
Ralph Waldo Emerson. The quotes can easily turn into persuasive
writing prompts. Repinned from HS English teachers by Maggie
Thompson
EVERYONE needs a good collection of comprehension questions listed in
plain sight!!!