Looking for exam prep resources? We've included the CED at a glance, graphic organizer, and rubric below for AP® Lang. You can also check out our webinar dedicated to this topic! In this webinar, author Kate Cordes will discuss how to make the most of the final month leading up to the AP® Literature and Language exams now that teaching and learning must happen from a distance. She will offer suggestions for how to utilize BFW’s online resources, AP® Classroom’s progress checks and questions banks, or your own units and assessments to determine student strengths and weaknesses. The webinar will also offer helpful text suggestions that target the skills most often emphasized in the new CEDs. Finally, we will share ways to support your students as they prepare for the revised online exams. ... View more

Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers (BFW) is widely considered “the AP® publisher,” and we take that role very seriously. Because of this, we feel it necessary to lay all cards on the table so you know exactly what is being offered for your teachers now – and in the future. View the attached flyer or visit our AP® Updates site to learn more. The Language of Composition  ... View more

In the attached slide deck, Robin Aufses discusses the power of visual images and the questions to ask your students when analyzing them.  ... View more

Documentaries are powerful texts! In the attached slide deck, Megan Pankiewicz covers how to use documentaries to inform, analyze, and as a source in your AP® Language classroom.  ... View more

In the attached guide, Kate Cordes discusses the benefits of vertical teaming and an intentionally scaffolded approach using BFW Textbooks with 9th-12th Graders.    Advanced Language & Literature  Literature & Composition  The Language of Composition  Foundations of Language and Literature  ... View more

Bedford, Freeman & Worth was founded on the principle that a publisher is only as good as the books it publishes and the people behind them. We know that what happens in the classroom matters and that a good class, teacher, and textbook have the power to make a difference in students’ lives. That’s why we were the first publisher to create an AP® English Language textbook tailored to meet the needs of high school students. View the attached infographic to see how it works!   The Language of Composition  ... View more

We can't wait to connect with you at an APSI®! Watch this video to see how we've got you covered this summer, and then click below to access more resources. I'm attending an APSI®        I'm not attending, but still want resources! ... View more

View the attached document for the Unit-Based Pacing Guide for the 2019 AP® Course Framework Shea, The Language of Composition, 1st Edition. Have any questions? Let us know! We're here to help. The Language of Composition  ... View more

Pre-AP to AP English: Using the BFW Pre-AP to AP ELA Series to Meet the New CB Requirements View the attached document to see our alignment examples across the ELA series. ... View more

On-Demand In the new rubrics, the phrase "line of reasoning" appears numerous times for each essay type. But what does it mean? And how do we prepare our students to demonstrate their understanding of the concept? Join the authors of The Language of Composition, 3rd Ed. in a discussion on how the concept of "line of reasoning" functions in the course and how it will be assessed on the rubrics. The Language of Composition  ... View more

On-Demand Authors Renée Shea, Larry Scanlon, Robin Aufses, and Megan Pankiewicz discuss the 2019 AP® Language exam results and how you can prepare your students for the 2020 exam using The Language of Composition. The Language of Composition  ... View more

On-Demand In this webinar, authors Kate Cordes and Megan Pankiewicz will discuss ways to scaffold your Pre-AP® and AP® English courses to truly align as a vertical team. They will discuss the ways in which the books and programs work with one another to build key skills and understanding before approaching more difficult AP® topics. Foundations of Language and Literature  Advanced Language & Literature  ... View more

On-Demand BFW invites you to our AP® updates webinar with authors Reneé Shea, Larry Scanlon, Robin Aufses, and Megan Pankiewicz. In this webinar, our authors and AP® experts will discuss the goals of the courses, new changes, and what they mean for you. ... View more

ON-DEMAND Suddenly, we are living in a whole new world. In this webinar, author Kate Cordes will discuss how to make the most of the final month leading up to the AP ®️ Literature and Language exams now that teaching and learning must happen from a distance. She will offer suggestions for how to utilize BFW’s online resources, AP®️ Classroom’s progress checks and questions banks, or your own units and assessments to determine student strengths and weaknesses. The webinar will also offer helpful text suggestions that target the skills most often emphasized in the new CEDs. Finally, we will share ways to support your students as they prepare for the revised online exams.   About Kate Cordes Kate Cordes is a National Board Certified English Teacher who currently teaches 10th grade English, 12th grade English, and AP®️ English Literature at Skyview High School. She received her undergraduate degree in English, Psychology, and Medieval Studies from St. Olaf College and spent a year at Oxford University studying Medieval and 20th-century British Literature. With a master's degree in education from Montana State University-Billings, she focuses her teaching efforts on writing instruction, technology integration, and becoming the best teacher and leader possible. The Language of Composition  Literature & Composition  ... View more

Introduction by Renee Shea It’s not just the kids we urge to take the rhetoric from class to their everyday lives. We teachers practice what we preach. I remember feeling so moved several years ago when a teacher who had taken one of my APSIs told me that when her father passed away, she delivered the eulogy—and put her rhetorical tools to work to pay a heartfelt tribute. I thought of her recently when my coauthor Robin Aufses shared her eloquent graduation speech, delivered on 11 June at her school, the Lycee Francais in New York City. From the personal narrative to the weaving of favorite authors to the powerful logic of kindness, Robin demonstrates with such grace how well she knows her audience—and how much she will miss them as she wishes them well.                                                                                                                                                                                                 To the Class of 2019 by Robin Aufses Good afternoon class of 2019 and your families, good afternoon faculty, Ms. Peverelli, members of the board and special guests. I’m honored to address you today at your graduation from Lycee Francais de New York and to join the ranks of commencement speakers everywhere. I love commencement speeches; when they’re good, they’re so good. In preparing to write this one, I found some wonderful words of wisdom to pass on: Dorothy Wickenden, publisher of The New Yorker and an alumna of my college, William Smith, offered her perspective on the world we live in now. She said, “Every generation has terrors to stare down. My great great grandparents had the Civil War; my grandmother ...the Great Depression; my parents, World War II; the Baby Boomers ... had Vietnam and Watergate.” She advised graduates, “The best way to find yourself is by leaving yourself behind. Move out of your safe spaces, beyond self-care and selfies...We need to open doors, not shut them, and recall what all Americans have in common.” I read the francophile New York Times columnist Roger Cohen on his daughter’s recent graduation from USC. He quoted the commencement speaker, novelist and psychologist Jonathan Kellerman, who said, “Be nice.” Cohen adds, “That put me in mind of a line sometimes attributed to Plato: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” I could quote from one terrific commencement speech after another (check out David Foster Wallace’s famous address at Kenyon College or Nora Ephron’s 1996 speech at Wellesley), but you’re here to take something away from your own graduation speaker–me. Here's what I have to offer. Find things in your life that remind you of what's important. I'm not telling you to find your passion. You'll do that plenty. But find a couple of touchstones that take you both out of yourself and back in. It took me well into adulthood to understand how important this is and, oddly enough, it happened on the occasion of my daughter's graduation from high school–her prom, actually. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say I had foolishly agreed to host–and by host, I mean invisible host–the prom after-party. After a long frustrating day, fraught with the kind of first world problems that people like me are fortunate enough to have, I finally came to roost in a place where the sound system was playing a duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. It was “They Can’t Take That Away,” a song about savoring the small moments. It stopped me in my tracks. I took a breath and as if by magic I remembered what was important–this rite of passage, my healthy children, my lovely husband. And even more: it connected me to my parents who loved this music. It reminded me of the simplicity and democratic nature of jazz - the piano, two vocalists, the trumpet, all given equal time. It connected me to the common human experiences of love, of celebration, family and friends. I know it sounds like a lot to put on one song, but since then, when I need to feel grounded or appreciate the blessings I have, when, as William Wordsworth says, the "world is too much with us," I remember what’s important by listening to music like Ella and Louis or by looking at art. A mysterious painting that hangs at the Frick Collection, right here in our neighborhood, speaks to me similarly. Despite the title of Giovanni Bellini’s "St. Francis of the Desert," painted around 1480, St. Francis is hardly front and center, and the landscape is hardly desert. A scene of central Italy in early spring or late fall, the painting is beautifully executed–every detail transcendentally precise, but it also has a spiritual vision. Critics have said that looking at this painting of the enigmatic Italian saint makes you want to be a better person. I don't know if that's so, but when I stand before it, I'm taken out of myself–even though I live in the 21st century, I’m not religious, and I'm not even an animal lover. St. Francis reminds me of what's important: the search for beauty, and the common hope that a pattern or meaning to the world–maybe a higher good–can make sense of the joys and terrors of our lives. Another touchstone of mine, Seamus Heaney’s poem “Postscript,” describes a drive out to the west of Ireland, the beauty of a flock of swans on the wind-blown, slate-gray lake on one side of the road and the “foam and glitter” of the ocean on the other. He says it’s “useless to think you’ll park and capture it more thoroughly.” He ends the poem this way:  “You are neither here nor there, A hurry through which known and strange things pass As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.” I think Heaney is saying what I’m saying: this drive, this scenery, reminds him of what’s important. It blows his heart open. So, my message to you on this milestone: when you're stressed by work, when you're homesick for the familiar life you led at the Lycee and with your families, when you're feeling the pressure to save the world, touchstones like these will ground you. When you’re staring down the world’s terrors, your touchstones will be there, eternally we hope, to remind you of what's important. And when you need a hand bringing people together or a reminder that everyone is fighting a hard battle, your touchstones will blow your hearts open and connect you to the most important human emotion of all: love. Feel free to get in touch with me if you need some suggestions, and congratulations, Class of 2019! ... View more