Appendix: Implementing Common Core State and College Board Standards
The AP English Language course must address curricular requirements set forth by the College Board. Additionally, course instruction must satisfy the Common Core State Standards (CCSS or Standards) for English-Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Studies. Though not an exhaustive analysis of applicable standards, the ones most relevant to this unit are discussed below.
College Board: The reading students will do for this reading satisfies the focus of the AP English Language and Composition course that requires “the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts” which are “written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts….” Both King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as well as Garrison’s “No Compromise with the Evil of Slavery” both provide students this opportunity.
CCSS Reading Standards for Informational Texts: In producing their research paper, students will be required “[c]ite strong and thorough textual evidence to support [their] analysis” of the explicit and implicit arguments of a text they plan to use as a source (1). Additionally, as students gather their sources and formulate their arguments, they will need to “[i]ntegrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats…as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem” (7).
CCSS Writing: Writing is a major focus of this unit. In addition to reading and analyzing source material for potential use in their papers, students will “[p]roduce clearn and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience” (4). Their finished product, however, will be (hopefully!) the result of “planning, revising, editing, rewriting…, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience” (5). They will conduct research that is sustained in nature, requiring them to “narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate,” to “synthesize multiple sources…, demonstrating understanding of their subject under investigation” (7). As they work through their drafts, they will “[g]ather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources” and “assess the strengths and limitations of each source…,” selectively incorporate that information to “maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source,” and “follow[ ] a standard format for citation including footnotes and endnotes” (8).
CCSS Speaking and Listening: Socratic seminars and fishbowl discussions are excellent ways to address multiple standards in one lesson. Both require students to “[i]nitiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions…” that allow them to “build[ ] on others’ ideas and express[ ] their own clearly and persuasively” (1). They do this by “[c]oming to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study,” which allows them to reference “evidence from texts…to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas” (1)(a). Additionally, their presentations will allow them to “[p]resent information, findings, and supporting evidence” which “convey[s] a clear and distinct perspective and a logical argument” that their audience can follow (4).
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