With Spring Break coming to an end or possibly still on the horizon, I thought about all of my years in the classroom as our Calculus team would build and design a plan for AP Exam Review. Depending on instructional time left and whether we would have 2 weeks or (ideally) 4 weeks, we always made the goals a priority. Since preparing our students for the rigor of an AP Exam requires a multifaceted approach, I’ve got three helpful tips for teachers:
1. CONSISTENT PRACTICE WITH AUTHENTIC MATERIALS. (Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.)
- Utilize previously released AP exam questions, particularly free response questions (FRQs). This allows students to familiarize themselves with the exam’s format, style, and rigor required for success. You can access those FRQ’s for your course through AP Central.
- Implement regular practice sessions that mimic the actual exam environment, including time constraints.
- FRQ’s timed at 15 minutes
- Multiple choice questions without a calculator should take approximately 2 minutes per question
- Multiple choice questions with a calculator should be no more than 3 minutes each.
- Familiarize your students with the grading rubrics so they understand how their responses will be evaluated. This will help them learn techniques that will maximize their scores.
- Over the years, I have created this list for AP Calculus AB that gives the 7 types of FRQ stems that students can expect year year. You can download this FREE FRQ Stem-Type List for AP Calculus exam questions from 2001-2024 here.
2. FOCUS ON CONTENT MASTERY AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT.
- Ensure that your students have a solid understanding of the core concepts, learning objectives, and skills that are outlined in the AP Course Description (CED)
- Emphasize the Rule of Four Approach for success on AP Exams. Critical thinking, analysis, and problem-solving skills are developed using this method. Students should be fluent in responding to graphical, numerical, algebraic, and verbal explanations of any given scenario.
- Incorporate activities or themed-study sessions that promote active learning, such as Multiple Choice Mondays, Topic Tuesdays, What’s Up Wednesdays, Theorem Thursdays, and FRQ Fridays
3. IMPLEMENT A STRUCTURED REVIEW PLAN.
- Develop a comprehensive review plan that covers all essential topics and skills that will span the allocated time you have remaining before the actual AP Exam date. I like to use a Portfolio Approach where students have a list of required topics to complete that will cover the main concepts of the course.
- You can designate specific classroom instructional time for review, I like to think of these days as Target Practice.
- Be sure to take advantage of the rich resources found in the AP Daily videos and practice sessions that are available through AP Classroom.
- Encourage your students to identify their weak areas, and then have them develop a plan to focus extra study time in those areas.
By incorporating these tips, you can effectively prepare your students for the challenges of AP Exams and increase their chances of success.
JUST ONE MORE THING…
