As Marcel is scheduled to take the SAT on May 7th, two sessions were scheduled for today. During the first session, we reviewed strategies for addressing the dual passage reading comprehension questions. After Marcel completed a practice exercise, we discussed his answers and analyzed some of the evidence based questions where Marcel had concerns or problems. During the second session,Marcel completed a science based reading comprehension passage and a number of passages in the Writing and Language Section. I offered strategies for answering "delete /add " sentence questions and logical placement of sentence questions. We further discussed subject-verb agreement , and subject- pronoun agreement such as the proper use of "its, their,and themselves."

In this session, Marcel completed his AP Calculus AB practice exam. The last important part of his work is to review his notes on the practice exam and then start another practice exam before the final test.

Marcel was given another practice test assignment on Monday to be completed for class today. He completed some M/C answers and FRQ written responses for me to review - but he did not complete the entire practice test. Marcel says he wants to focus more on content review and he wanted to go back to Unit 5 where the main concepts are: 1) Civic participation in a representative democracy, 2) Competing policy-making interests, 3) Methods of political analysis. We discussed causes, primaries, the electoral college, delegates, conventions, Baker v. Carr. We worked on some AP practice questions for the last 30 min. of class.

Today's session focused on how to address an SAT structure question, the dual passage , and a vocabulary context question. After Marcel completed reading the first passage in the Reading Section, I noted how the answer to the question on structure follows the format of the entire passage. We then addressed the dual passage. I provided suggestions for discerning the two contrasting views based on the passage epigraph. We further located the thesis statements within the first passage. Last , we discussed the vocabulary as used in context by recalling that the correct response is the definition within the context of the sentence.

In this activity, Marcel completed both exams, calculator and non calculator portions of the AP exam. He is now working on the subjective portion of the exam consisting of two problems that require a calculator and four problems without a calculator. These six questions have several parts and take up to 3 hours to complete.

Absent. HW assignment sent via Teams: "Hi Marcel. I'm sorry you had to miss our class at 2:30 today. You're almost finished with your final exams...very exciting! For AP U.S. Govt. HW: Complete one of the Practice Tests in Barron's, including answering M/C and FRQs. (Try to do this in one sitting to help you get ready for the AP exam on May 2. ) - due Mon., 4/25. Have a good weekend. See you on Monday, 4/25. All the best, Bari"

Today we again reviewed the Free Response Questions (FRQs) that comprise the 2nd half of the AP U.S. Government exam. A student must answer 4 different types of free-response questions in 100 minutes. This section is worth 50% of the test grade. The 4 different types of questions are: 1) Concept Application (3 pts.), 2) Supreme Court Comparison (4 pts.), 3) Visual Analysis (4 pts.), 4) Argument Essay (6 pts.). Questions 1 - 3 should be written in 20 min. & question 4 should be written in 40 min. Full credit is obtained for each part of the answer when it's explained through examples. The goal is to fully address the listed tasks. Remember to give specific examples to support your answer. Key terms used in FRQs: Describe, Explain, Identify, Describe a similarity or difference, Draw a conclusion, Articulate a clear & defensible claim or thesis, support your claim, respond to the opposing point of view, Using the map, List and identify, Define and explain.

Marcel wanted to continue preparing for his American History final exam...which is tomorrow. He has 4 extensive essays to prepare for and the questions are quite complex. The basic topics include: 1) Manifest Destiny, 2) the 1920s, 3) The Cold War - referencing Korean & Vietnam Wars, 4) the Civil Rights Movement from 1909 - 1968. Marcel wanted to continue to work on questions #3 & #4. Today Marcel wanted to review and create an outline for question #3 as it applies to the Vietnam War. This took almost all of our time today as the Vietnam War is a complex and intense historical event. Marcel worked hard to grasp the causes and effects of the Vietnam War. We then worked on question #4 which asks students to analyze the Civil Rights Movement from 1909 - 1968. Marcel's AP U.S. Govt. exam is in less than two weeks! We will resume AP exam preparation tomorrow. We set a course and goals for our four remaining classes after his history final exam tomorrow.

Marcel is taking final exams this week at Clark. His history exam is on Thursday, 4/21. He has 4 extensive essays to prepare for and the questions are quite complex. The basic topics include: 1) Manifest Destiny, 2) the 1920s, 3) The Cold War - referencing Korean & Vietnam Wars, 4) the Civil Rights Movement from 1909 - 1968. Marcel wants to work on questions #3 & #4. He wanted to review and create an outline for question #3 today. We did very well reviewing, and summarizing how the Korean War both supported & failed U.S. policy re: the expansion of communism. Marcel's AP U.S. Govt. exam is two weeks from today! We discussed the final goals and exercises we will return to for AP exam preparation after he works through his final exams this week. He has a lot on his plate right now. Therefore, we will return to work on concluding AP prep strategies in Marcel's remaining AP U.S. Govt. class after Wednesday's class. We set a course and goals for the four remaining classes after his history final exam this Thursday. We will be working more on history final exam preparation in our next class on Wed., 4/20.

In this activity, Marcel completed the longest portion of the non calculator multiple choice part of the exam.