Pacing Calendar Unit 5

Unit 5: Engaging in Debate                                                                                           Time Frame: 4 Weeks
Objectives Skill Focus Instructional Strategies Activities/Assessments
·         Students will practice developing their own writing style and voice.

 

·         Students will refine original arguments, counterarguments, and concession.

 

·         Students will refine commentary skills.

 

·         Student will practice revision and reflection about their own composition.

 

·         Students will practice multiple- choice skills.

 ·       Close Reading

 

·         Developing Authorial Voice and Style

 

·         Refining Original Argument

 

·         Refining Counterargument and Concession

 

·         Building Archival/Outside Knowledge

 

·         Synthesizing Information

 ·         Assign nonfiction that supports deep understanding of argumentation.

 

·         Model strategies that developing writing style and voice.

 

·         Model counterargument and concession strategies.

 

·         Model revising/refining composition skills.

 ·         Close Reading Exercises

 

·         Synthesis Exercises

 

·         Researched Writing Assignments

 

·         Argumentation Exercises

 

·         Moral/Ethical Dilemma Exercises

 

·         Counterargument and Concession Exercises
Texts
  • Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
  • The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
  • Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich
  • Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human, Elizabeth Hess
  • The Good Soldiers, David Finkel

o Mature Language and  Situations

Unit
  • The American Consumer
  • The Effects of War
  • Nature vs. Man

Lessons and Resources

Below is a list of possible lessons for a unit that focuses understanding building student voice, style, and argument.

  • Ask the Ethicist Lessons
  • Counterargument/Concession Exercises
  • Researched Writing Assignment
  • Synthesis Deconstruction Lesson
  • Multiple Choice Rationales and Error Logs
Multiple Choice 
  • Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville (14 Questions)
    • Key and Rationales
  • “Speech to Parliament,” Queen Elizabeth I (13 Questions)
    • Key and Rationales
Free Response Questions.
Rhetorical Analysis

2004 Form B, Question 1

Argument

2002 Form A, Question 3

Synthesis

2011 Form B, Question 1

  • Green Living
    • Area of Focus: Should the Government Foster Green Practices?

Student Samples and Commentary

AP Language Unit Five Calendar

The following calendar offers one approach for structuring an AP Language course. The activities below are not exhaustive, but they are suggestions to help teachers think about how to sequence the skills and content students need for AP English success.

 Weeks Five and Six (in a nine-week grading cycle): Understanding the Debate

  • Ask the Ethicist Assignments
  • Close Reading Exercises and Argumentation Exercises
  • Argument Prompt Deconstruction and Writing
  • Composition Strategies and Prompt Deconstruction Lessons
  • Multiple Choice Assessment
Weeks Seven and Eight: Engaging in the Debate
  • Researched Writing Assignments
  • Argument Prompt Exercise
  • Synthesis Prompt Creation
  • Close Reading Exercises and Argumentation Exercises
Assessment

Rhetorical Analysis

2004 Form B

Argument

2002 Form A