For those of us AP science teachers, this is what you call "crunch time". Or "prayer time". Or "swear time". All we know is that TIME is ticking! The kids have put in so much effort over the past months and shortly they will lay it on the line to try to achieve that 3,4, or 5. Teaching AP can be tricky. The standards are clear (thanks for that update a couple years ago, College Board). We know when the test will be. We know all the units we have to teach. And yet, here we are, behind. I have 16 years experience teaching AP classes. I have gotten better at pacing. But yet, I don't control how many times the choir has a concert or the basketball team has an away game, or how many pandemics we are going to have this year. My days get lost in the mix. So in this brief post, I hope to give you an activity that will improve your kids' scores, while not taking up too much time.
10-Second Graph Stories
For better or worse, I tell my students to assume that College Board question authors are inherently evil (my apologies if you are one). In order to separate students, CB will frame questions in ways intended to intimidate mere mortals (we shall call the mortals, "Those who will receive a 1 or 2") Often there is a graph. Often a paragraph. Often a graph and a paragraph using fancy science words that I have never used in class. Often these are used to mask the real question which is something that I HAVE taught in class. As teachers, we must help the students access the base question more efficiently.
Students must practice extracting valuable data from graphs very rapidly. Flash a graph on the board for ten seconds. They hurriedly attempt to develop the STORY contained in the graph. Take this graph as an example:
After scanning this graph for ten seconds, take it off the board and have the students tell the story contained in it. Partner kids up and have them fill in holes for each other. Their stories about the graph should be factual. They might sound something like this:
"Diamond species was the highest for a while and then died off. Triangle species started low and then leveled out in the middle. Square species had a dip in the middle."
I know that this depth of analysis may sound elementary to many of you, but if they can tell themselves that quick story, it puts the paragraph into more context.
If you see it, say it.
There are times when students become so overwhelmed in the application of the graph that they neglect to actually see it. Train them to see it. Train them to say it. Help them feel comfortable not knowing the whole story. Because frequently, they will read the entire question and STILL not know the whole story. Developing the framework from the graph in ten seconds will be a great use of their time.
The more repetitions that the students have, the more comfortable they will be developing stories. The better the story they can tell, the better they understand the questions, even when the science words get big. I will use this technique within the framework of my daily work. I will often use questions from their homework, from the MyAP Classroom, from practice tests, from ugly graphs I draw on the board. It doesn't matter the source. Train them to use ten seconds to tell a story, and the ending of the AP story will be a happier one.
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