English Language
Information on the Course
This institute is designed to assist anyone teaching the AP* English Language course for the first time or for those with several years of experience who wish to update or retune their curriculum. We will work together— sharing our experiences, ideas, and issues— to build an effective approach to teaching this course and toward improving student performance on the exam.
Participants in this institute will:
- Gain a fuller understanding of the nature of the English Language course and exam
- Develop a working syllabus for the year
- Learn the basics and more advanced techniques of rhetorical analysis and argumentation
- Learn how to teach the synthesis prompt, including non-textual materials
- Learn more about critical thinking and logic
- Become acquainted with applicable course texts and materials
- Put together a set of activities and assignments for use throughout the year
- Review the results of the latest AP* exam
- Become aware of the whole College Board* support system
- Log on to an active online network of teachers for the exchange of ideas and information
- Address particular local issues, such as meeting state requirements and the incorporation of literature into the course
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Address issues of access and equity
STAFF
Consultant - Bob Kuhn
Bob Kuhn has been in the teaching profession for 31 years. He is a graduate of Pfeiffer University (BA) and Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English (MA). He has taught all levels and grades of high school English over the course of his career. For the past 20 years he has been an Advanced Placement English teacher exclusively, so he has seen the changes in testing and course philosophy over time. He has been an exam reader since 1993 (first in Literature, then in Language) and a table leader since 2005. Bob has been a consultant for the English Language program for College Board’s Southeastern region since 1998, doing daylong workshops, teaching and learning conferences, and summer institutes. Bob is married and lives with his wife Cathy and cat Louie in High Point, NC.
"This institute was extremely informative and beneficial. I learned so much more than past AP* conferences. Great instruction and great information. " (English Language participant, 2008)
UNC Faculty
Jeri Kraver is Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). At UNC she teaches courses in American Literature and Cultural Studies as well as methods courses in both composition and literature. Jeri has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kentucky. Her diverse background, which also includes a career as a commodities analyst in New York City and a teacher in an inner-city high school in Los Angeles, fuels her advocacy of social justice, her devotion to teacher preparation, and her love of literary study. She has published in both education and literature. In terms of literary study, Jeri 's has written on canonical figures like Henry James and Katherine Anne Porter as well as contemporary figures like Southern poets Davis McCombs and Nikky Finney. In education, she has considered how to create teachers who are critical pedagogues and how to incorporate popular culture in the classroom. Her work has appeared variously, including Pedagogy , Southern Literary Journal, LIT: Literature Interpretation and Theory, Studies in American Jewish Literature, and the College English Association Critic .
Director: Jeri Kraver, English Language and Literature
(970) 351-1477
email: jeraldine.kraver@unco.edu
"This institute was excellent! The materials, skills, and ideas will help me to help all my students - not just AP* students." (English Language participant, 2008)
"*College Board, AP, Advanced Placement Program and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used with permission."