Teaching AP Spanish Language and Culture this year?
Wondering how to instruct your students on how to complete the Email Reply section of the AP Exam? Read on!
What is the AP Spanish Email Reply?
This is one of 4 open-ended tasks that students will find on the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam. It tests a student’s ability to understand what they read, in the form of an email. Students demonstrate their reading comprehension by replying in writing with logical answers to the questions that were asked and logical follow-up questions. There is a cultural component as well and students must show that they know how to use the formal register when responding to this email.
Step 1:
I highly recommend having a Test Prep book. There are 2 that I would recommend. One is AP Spanish Preparing for the Language and Culture Examination Workbook (Díaz) and the other is AP Spanish Workbook: Language and Culture Exam Preparation from Vista Higher Learning. AP Classroom also has many practice Email Replies that teachers can use with students for free! But the nice thing about having a test prep workbook is that you can read through them and choose one that might go with your unit!
Now you want to have some direct instruction about what the rules and requirements are. I have created THIS PRESENTATION for my students. In your direct instruction, be sure to teach students what the purpose of the task is, and what they must include in their reply.
Remember that students should memorize the instructions to each of the open-ended tasks as they are the same each time. Instead of reading the instructions on the day of the AP Exam, students can dedicate these precious minutes to reading and writing!
Be sure that your direct instruction can be saved in some form, be it a handout or a google slides presentation, so that students can go back and refer to it each time they practice this task.
Step 2:
Go through an email together! Teach students how to find the parts that are really important. Who are they replying to? What are the questions that need to be answered? What other information is offered in the original email?
Step 3:
Give students a list of vocabulary that will elevate their answers. They must at the very least commit the words Estimad@, Atentamente y Cordialmente to memory. Choose a few other transition words that will help them to sound professional!
Step 4:
Show your students some examples of possible responses. Create several versions! Show 2 examples of great answers. It’s important to show your students that there are multiple ways to have a strong answer to the AP Spanish email reply. Another good idea is to show students a few examples of answers that are not so great. Can your students identify the weak points? Can they offer suggestions for revise and make the reply stronger?
Email Reply Conclusions
In my humble opinion, I think the Email Reply is the easiest of the 4 open-ended tasks for our AP Students. One of the biggest challenges with this task is the tight time limit, but this type of response can be practiced many times in a short amount of time!
Have students peer edit! They are pretty good at pointing out areas of strength and areas of possible improvement, and then you don’t need to do all of the correcting!
I hope this post gives you the know-how and confidence you need to give that same confidence and know-how to your AP Spanish students! Now you can get started on your handout or presentation!
Or….
Save time and grab my ready-to-go Google Slides Presentation on the “How To” Email Reply!
Save even more time and money too with this bundle of all 4 Open-ended Tasks “How To” presentations!
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