Final AP English Summer Session

The final AP English summer session will be held on Monday, August 18 from eight am until lunch in room 2207 at Gloucester High School. This date was set early in the summer. I hope you have planned accordingly.

You must either attend the session or email me before the session explaining why you will be unable to attend.

Finishing the Summer Strong

AP English summer preparations have fallen apart a bit in the past several weeks. The third session had the lowest attendance. The work assigned for the third book has been the slowest to arrive. I understand that completing schoolwork in the summer is difficult for many reasons. I, too, have fallen off the pace a bit. (I spent most of last week in a graduate course in Cambridge where I didn’t have access to a computer.)

But we will not wallow in self-pity. We will not fear the coming of the fall. We will embrace it. Here’s how.

First, you will either attend the session on Monday or send me an email explaining why you cannot be there. This email should also contain some of your thoughts and a few of your questions about Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself.

Second, you will complete the Song of Myself responses on time. One of the responses will be due on Monday, August 25—my daughter’s birthday!—and one will be on Tuesday, September 2—in other words, before the first day of school. (You choose which one to turn in on which date. Revised prompts will be posted on the blog after Monday’s session. Email the responses or post them on the blog.)

Third, you will complete the work you have missed. This is the most important part of the “finishing the summer strong” plan.

I will begin calculating your summer work grade* after the first day of classes (September 3). Therefore, all late work must be in by September 3.

Fourth, after we have completed the four summer readings and eight summer responses, we’ll begin the year with confidence. We’ll have had a lot of experience with the sort of thoughtful reading, writing, and talking that will help you get fours and fives on the AP test next May.

I will see you on Monday or hear from you before then.

Sincerely,

Mr. James Cook
Gloucester High School

*How will summer work grades be calculated?

As most of you know, I have been evaluating your summer responses as homework assignments that “exceed expectations,” “meet expectations,” or “do not meet expectations.” To “meet expectations” your writing must make plausible assertions and support these assertions with accurate evidence from the text. Simple.

What do the phrases “exceeds expectations,” “meets expectations,” or “does not meet expectations” mean in terms of grades?

If you consistently exceed expectations you will earn a grade in the mid to high A range. If you consistently meet expectations you will earn a grade in the B to A- range (depending on whether you occasionally exceed expectations or occasionally fall below expectations). If you consistently do not meet expectations you will earn a grade in the C to B- range.

Students who have attended summer sessions and have handed work in on time can expect a bump up in the summer work grade. So, if you’ve consistently met expectations and have turned in your work on time and have attended the sessions (or have stayed in contact with me) you’re more likely to earn an A- (even if you haven’t exceeded expectations).