AP Seminar (temp) Assignments

Greetings! Throughout this week, I noticed that we need some help with using evidence in the presentations. According to the College Board rubric, to earn a high score, you must "persuasively connect your claims with your evidence" (row 2).

On Thursday, we are going to watch some videos and have a discussion on how to do this effectively. Then, I would like you to plan another short 2-3 minute presentation about a claim related to Valentine's Day, using evidence from the article linked below (you have nothing to find on your own).

These presentations we will give on Monday. Let's get this right so we can do well on the exam :)

Being able to think about and identify positive personality traits that make up a quality friend not only helps us find and keep good friends — it also helps us to become a better friend ourselves. When we think about what we want from others it is only natural to think about what we are also contributing to a relationship. All relationships are two-way streets and learning this early is vital to successful relationships.


Instructions: Write at least 150 words to describe a person who is, in your opinion, the perfect friend. What are they like, and what kinds of things do they do? You should describe an imaginary person, not a real one (unless you truly have a perfect friend). Good luck!

Welcome to the final checkpoint of our practice AP exam! We made it!

Rather than creating the entire individual media presentation (IMP) based on your outline, I am requiring that you create 2-3 slides to communicate your sports-related claim from the section you chose to write up in checkpoint 3. All students will present these slides (2-3 minutes for each student) on Monday, January 16.

Please carefully read through the rubric for the IMP (attached). In addition to creating slides that are relevant and not overwhelming, and incorporating evidence, your presentation must argue for a solution (change) or resolution (belief) related to your topic. Do these things and you will receive a high score :)

Good luck!
Due Date (2-3 slides): Sunday @ midnight
Each day late: -10%.

In this space, please submit a first draft of ONE of the three sections from your IWA outline (checkpoint #2). A portion of this grade is based on your ability to follow MLA formatting rules and create a works cited page, so please review the sample and checklist before starting to write your section :)

Due Date: Wednesday, January 11 @ midnight (10% penalty for each day late)
Minimum Word Requirement: 600 words

Good Morning AP Seminar Class! Today I will be attending the monthly training on literacy and reading levels, and so I will not be with you again until tomorrow (Friday). 

For those who are finished with the outline, I would like you to complete this assignment (instructions below). You may work together. If your outline is not complete, please take this time to complete it as it is now one day late (and 10% of points). Starting this week, grades will be updated in the new Jupiter system every weekend, so please be on top of this!

Assignment Instructions: Before we start to write our sports-themed argument essays (one section), I would like us to take a look at three of the essays from the first practice, or your research reports. The three essays attached here did not score well because they did not do these very important things from the official rubric:
Communicates why the issue is significant (important) or complex (has many sides or perspectives to consider)
Explains not just what the sources have said, but how and why their arguments are correct
Your task is to make these essays stronger by adding new commentary and analysis. Every student has their own copy of the essays so please make your revisions. Whatever the difference is between your classmates' old and new essay scores will be applied to your grade for marking period 3, so let's help each other :)

INSTRUCTIONS: Use this form to collect your final sources and outline your individual written argument, the 2,000 word essay you will be writing (one section) when we return from the break. In this essay, you will argue for a position or a solution related to at least one of the stimulus sources about sports.

Each paper will have a thesis statement, which is your major claim or response to your research question, at least three sub claims or minor reasons, and at least one counterargument (preferably more).

Remember from the silly arguments we made in class (still think hot dogs are sandwiches)- there are two ways to organize this information (the "classic" format and the "analyzer" format), and you will get to choose which outline format you’d like to use.

Due Date: Wednesday, January 5 @ midnight. Each day late: -10%.

INSTRUCTIONS: Use this form to keep track of topics and potential research questions related to the stimulus sources about inclusion and exclusion.

Due Date: Monday, December 19 @ midnight 
Each day late: -10%
Guidance: One of the most important things to know about research questions is that they can either be SOLUTION-BASED (trying to figure out which solution to a problem is best) or POSITION-BASED (trying to figure out which argument about an issue is most valid). The IWA (individual written argument) is an argument essay, and so as long as you have an argument to make, you will likely be okay :)
There have two main issues with our research questions this year. Some were overly broad or not specific enough (helpful examples on how to make a research question more specific at the link below), and some had answers that were clear and obvious, or that no reasonable person would disagree with (i.e. should powerful countries try to limit pollution in the oceans?). If you could focus on avoiding these two common mistakes, your questions will be much stronger!

Greetings! Happy First Snow!

Our next project will involve a (shortened) essay and individual presentation about topics related to sports, and one of the requirements is that you incorporate some of the articles (attached) provided by the College Board (you will also find some of your own).

The first step in this process is to find information from the College Board sources that stands out to us, and so we will split them up. On Wednesday, you and two teammates will make a short (2-3 minutes) slideshow presentation about information from ONE of the three articles attached. On Monday, we'll be splitting them up based on our interest levels.

Use this Jam Board to post what you notice (left side) and wonder (right side) about the pictures in the document called "Hoops".

Use this form to help me better plan for our AP exam in the winter/ spring. Please be as detailed as possible!

What was it like to write the longest essay of your academic careers to this point? Describe the successes you encountered, as well as the difficulties, in as much detail as possible.

Instructions: Over the course of this next week, you will use your outline from Checkpoint #3 to write a 1,200 word essay (research report) in which you communicate important information about your team's problem or issue that is related to your specific lens. Attached is the College Board rubric for the IRR, as well as a perfect scoring sample that we will review together on Monday. On Tuesday, we will together review the sample introduction.

Here is the schedule for IRR Writing week:
Tuesday: Reviewing and presenting on high scoring samples from our previous analysis activity
Wednesday: Reviewing a perfect scoring IRR sample
Thursday: Writing day (section 1)
Friday: Writing day (section 2)
Monday: Writing day (section 3)
Tuesday: Writing day (introduction and revisions)


Please keep in mind that if you've completed a thorough outline, your essay is mostly complete! I have been following your writing since last year and I believe in all of you 😃

Due Date: Sunday, November 27 @ midnight. Each day late: -10%.

Directions: Read the passage below and then respond to the following three questions. 

1. Identify the author’s argument, main idea, or thesis. (3 points) 

2. Explain the author’s line of reasoning by identifying the claims used to build the argument and the connections
between them. (6 points) 

3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the evidence the author uses to support the claims made in the argument. (6 points) 

Instructions: Use this form to collect your final sources and outline your practice individual research report, the 1,200 word essay you will be writing next week. Last year, many of my students struggled with deciding which ideas or concepts should be the focus of each of your sections. I strongly encourage you to ask yourself the following questions while making your sections:

Are there any connections between the sources I’ve found? Grouping sources with similar ideas together in your sections is a great way to organize your paper.
Are there any major ideas/ concepts that came up in your research? These ideas/ concepts can form the sections of your paper.
Are there specific perspectives that you are investigating in your research? If so, consider devoting each section to a different one of these perspectives!

The important part, no matter which of these options you choose, is that you have a paper with three distinct or unique sections. This makes it much easier for the person reading to follow and understand your ideas!

Due Date: Thursday, November 17th @ midnight. Each day late: -10%.

Instructions: Use this form with your team to select and refine your overall topic!

Due Date: Sunday, November 6 @ midnight (team score). Each day late: -10%.

Each group member must have their own responses! (you may copy and paste)

Now that we've gone over how to determine whether information from websites is credible or trustworthy, now it is time to focus on the credibility of the academic journals you find on the ebsco host database! We'll be using the RAVEN strategy to do this (see the document below). 


Instructions: Individually, choose one of the three academic journals below about PMA (positive mental attitude) and use the sentence stems we go over in class (at least four of the five) to describe whether the information in your academic journal is credible. You may do this in paragraph form or bullet points.


Side Note: To score high on the AP Seminar exam, they want to see you DISCUSS the credibility of your sources inside of your essay. Today's activity will be good practice to do so 😃
I believe in you!!

After today’s lesson, how will you approach the collection of information from online source differently? Please give examples.

Greetings! 

Now that you are all experts on perspectives, lenses, research questions, analysis, and all of the wonderful things that will help you to succeed in AP Seminar, it is time to focus our attention to one small, but very important topic.

How do you know if the information you find online is CREDIBLE? In other words, how do you know what to trust?

After we talk about the questions on the document here (which is for websites only, not academic journals), you and a partner will explore ONE of the websites below, and prepare a short (1-2 minute) spoken presentation on the credibility (or trustworthiness) of the website's information.

Good morning Class!

On Monday, we're going to take our claims and analysis about cell phones and turn them into a mini documentary. How exciting!

To prepare, I would like you and your partner to create two slides related to your project, each supporting a different claim about cell phones.

Please remember what makes a good slide (see the rubric below). Do not be overwhelming with words or images, and make sure not to leave much empty space. Your slides should guide and focus your audience, not teach them.

I will be out for the first half of the day because of a doctor's appointment. However, if you have any questions, just come to see me later in the day!

Also, if anyone knows a good camera crew..

During the past week, you and your partner have-
Created questions about cell phones relating to the different lenses (below)
Performed preliminary or before research to find a magazine article about one of your questions
Used the Ebsco Host database (below) to find an academic journal with further information
Now, I would like for you and your partner (together) to create 2-3 body paragraphs (minimum 300 words) in which you attempt to respond to your chosen research question, using evidence from both articles you found (the magazine article and the academic journal).

As you do this writing, please be sure to keep in mind the two trends that I noticed from Writing Assignment #1:
Some of you are not engaging directly with the source. Can you explain why or why not you think the source's reasoning is valid?
Some of you are not making it clear what information is your own, and what information comes from the text. Let's practice using the strategies on the document (below) I shared this week!

In class on Friday, we will create a list of research questions related to body image and social media (see the jam board below). Over the weekend, you must respond to one of these research questions with a short response of at least 250 words. Please use evidence from both of the articles we discussed in class (below).

Next week, we will be taking the MAP reading exam (100% test grade for all who finish without guessing, rushing, etc.). Then, we'll talk about ways to strengthen our writing and analysis :)

Note, please see the rubric to earn a 3/3!

In a well supported paragraph in which you describe your reasoning, explain the easiest and most difficult parts of our first team presentation. You may choose to focus on the presentation, planning, and or group work aspects. Good luck!