A packet of materials from the 2011 AP® exam provides scholars with an opportunity to examine scored sample essays for the three free-response questions. Included are the prompts, the rubric, scoring guides and sample papers. 

Learners are introduced to media literacy and deconstruction. They analyze the media's use of gender roles and body image. They voice their opinions about media messages and how to change them.

Have your young television viewers discuss popular shows among their peers. After choosing one show to analyze, middle and high schoolers read about the 2007-2008 network television lineup with the New York Times article "Gauging...

Learners investigate different balls' abilities to bounce. They conduct a Ball Bounce Height Comparison and Ball Bounce Time Comparison, complete a worksheet, graph the results of their experiment, and answer investigating questions.

Different media sources portray news in a variety of ways. In groups of three, learners look at different news sources, bringing in all the findings the next day. Three handouts help scholars compare sources, define specific terms used...

Invite your class to consider how to respond to a conflict. Designed to be used alongside Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado, a lesson plan focuses on a set of terms: conflict, escalate, deescalate, conflict resolution, denial,...

Fourth graders analyze posters that communicate an "active living" message, otherwise known as a public service announcement. Children identify techniques that are used in creating media texts including topic, purpose, and...

Design a plan for finding the best health insurance for your money. Learners compare two health plans by writing and graphing piecewise functions representing the plan rules. Using Excel software, they create a technical report...

Investigate and analyze Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation using primary and secondary sources. The sixth installment of an eight-part series analyzes the meaning of Lincoln's document in relation to its impact on the Civil...

Students examine historical images of the Alaskan Gold Rush and complete a worksheet to better explain this era. They create a PowerPoint related to the images.

Students compare different types of media.  In this media comparison instructional activity, students will assess the where all types of media gets its information by viewing a video of a news story and critiquing it.

Students examine inkblot images. In this visual arts instructional activity, students consider perception as an element of art as they partipate in activity that requires them create and analyze inkblot art. Students analyze several...

Students analyze how one national company responded to the tragedy incorporating special message into its advertising. They are to attain knowledge of advertising as it relates to current events.

Learners examine how films and media affect their body image. They identify their own definition of body image and research the topic. They discover the importance of using both fact and opinion sources.

This lesson focuses on analysis including defining analysis and listing the essential skills of analysis.

This PDF lesson plan prepares students for multiple portions of the AP Language and Composition exam (specifically, the multiple choice section and the rhetorical analysis prompt) by analyzing a brief text which students will be able to...

A learning module asking students to analyze different types of texts, connect literature to events and experiences, use various writing skills, deconstruct media, practice grammar and vocabulary skills, and analyze point of view,...

How can we help students to move beyond summary and toward interpretation? A combination of digital popular culture modeling, heuristics, and choice - along with digital composition - can initiate that process. Interpretation combines...

This site has the definition of "Infomercial," and includes explanations of the infomercial equivalent in print media and on the internet.

Here are nine common critical approaches to the study of literature based on X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia's Literature: An Introductionto Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.

Defines various critical approaches in brief. Click the Critical Theory link at the bottom of the page for more detail.