Lesson 8: FRQ Practice – Day 1

Prepare the Fishbowl Skills Practice area:

1. Gather four containers (cups, bowls, etc), and label each with a sticky note:

   • Methods/Control Structures
   • Classes
   • Array/ArrayList
   • 2D Array

2. Cut out the slips from the Fishbowl Skills Practice Slips resource and sort them into their corresponding container.

Today our goal is to study and review topics and/or skills that you may be less confident in applying on the free response portion of the exam.

Do This: Direct students to look at their Free Response Question Study Plan to identify topics they want to review. Students should identify their 1-3 highest priority topics, and list them on a sticky note to help plan their tasks for the day.

Some students may benefit from using their backlog folders from Units 6-8 to plan and execute their study session. To do this, students would add their highest priority topic sticky notes to the Product Backlog section of the folder, prioritize those sticky notes, and then move sticky notes as they work.

We used a choice board previously to navigate studying for the multiple-choice section of the exam. Today, we will be using a similar choice board to prepare for the FRQ section.

Do This: Review the activity and six study strategies options. Answer any general questions about the task. Students should attempt to complete two activities, using the study strategy as a way of reinforcing their learning about one of the topics from the study plan that they'd like to revisit. Some students may choose to use one strategy to review multiple topics/skills, or take the entire period to complete one choice.

• Create a tutorial video
• Create a topic "Cheat Sheet"
• AP Classroom FRQ practice
• Small group guided study session
• Fishbowl skills practice
• Sketch notes

While the lesson suggests that all students complete at least two activities, this may not be the best fit for all students. To differentiate this lesson, consider giving your students or a group of students different tasks:

• Complete one of the items in the choice board
• Work on an item for a set time, then encourage students to transition to another option. If students find their current style to be a successful way of learning, encourage students to use it when studying for the exam at home.

Some of these study strategies may take longer than others. The lesson suggests students engage with two strategies, but active engagement with content is more important than the number of items they engage with.

Distribute: Give each student a digital copy of the FRQ Choice Board.

Do This: Direct students to choose a strategy and follow the directions on the choice board.

Let's revisit our study guide and identify which content is most important for you to review.

Do This: Have students update their study plan. Students add another indicator to the mastery tracker key on the front page of their study plan, update their mastery ratings for the subjects they targeted in this lesson, and cross out any subtopics they no longer need to review.

You should continue using these resources on your own as you prepare for the AP CSA exam. Today’s choice board provides several strategies you may not have gotten a chance to use in class but are useful in your continued exam preparations.