FAQs for Prestwick House Levels of Understanding

The newest product line from Prestwick House, Levels of Understanding, will hit shelves this January. This title-specific series is based on Bloom's Taxonomy, and helps students learn to independently evaluate literature. Instead of teaching your students how to answer questions about a particular text, help them develop the skills to critically evaluate literature without relying on outside guidance.

Using Bloom’s learning domains, Levels of Understanding breaks down complex questions into smaller parts and outline the steps necessary for students to develop a sound evaluation of a text. Students will begin with the most basic and fundamental skill, comprehension, move on to reader response, analysis, and synthesis, and gradually build to the highest skill, evaluation.

Not only will these guides help you prepare your students for standardized tests like the AP Language and Literature exam, the SATs, and the ACTs, but they will also give students the self-assurance to develop and articulate a personal assessment of the text — a skill that will be advantageous in college and beyond.


What do you mean by “levels of understanding”?


Each section of this guide—which may be divided by scenes, acts, chapters, or groups of chapters—contains five types of questions that are representative of Bloom’s learning domains, starting with the most basic and fundamental skill, knowledge and comprehension, and gradually building to the highest skill, evaluation.


The five types of question are as follows:

Comprehension – will ask the most basic questions to ascertain the students’ fundamental understanding of the text, such as plot facts and character identification.

Reader Response – will ask the students to “respond” to the text by relating it to personal experience or presenting an opinion on a character or event.

Analysis – will require students to study how various techniques and literary or theatrical devices (e.g., diction, symbolism, imagery, metaphors, asides, or soliloquies) function in the text. Analysis questions do not ask the student to merely identify or define a literary, theatrical, or rhetorical device, but to also explain its significance.

Synthesis – will bridge the gap between the analysis and evaluation questions, requiring students to look at other scenes in the text and draw conclusions about themes, motifs, or a writer’s style. Often, a synthesis question will require students to draw on prior knowledge—what has been learned in class or through research—and/or information from sources other than the literary title in order to arrive at a satisfactory answer.

Evaluation – will ask the student to make a qualitative judgment on the text and determine whether a particular aspect of it is effective or ineffective.

The intent of this product is to help students not only gain a better understanding of an individual text, but to aid them in developing skills to critically analyze and evaluate literature in general.



Who is the intended audience of this product?

This product can be used with classes of all ability levels, from remedial to honors. The teacher can decide which questions the students should answer, depending on the class’s goals and objectives.


Additionally, since the questions focus on the text itself, the overall difficulty level of the product will match the complexity of the book or play.



How many questions are in a unit?

The number of questions in a unit depends on the length and complexity of the specific title being studied. Generally, there are 2-5 questions for each of the levels per section.



Are these units reproducible?

Yes. Each major division of the text begins on a new page so that you need to copy only the specific parts you want.



Are these units downloadable?

Yes, these units are available for download in PDF form.



What Common Core Standards does Levels of Understanding meet?

The following table lists the Anchor Common Core Standards that this product meets:

COMMON CORE STANDARDS	CORE #
Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details	1,2,3
Reading Literature: Craft and Structure	4,5,6
Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas	9
Reading Literature: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity	10
Writing: Text Types and Purposes	1,2
Writing: Production and Distribution of Writing	4
Writing: Research to Build and Present Knowledge	9
Language: Knowledge of Language	3
Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use	4,5

What Are Teacher Reviewers Saying about Power Presentations: 11 Techniques of Propaganda

Last month, Prestwick House debuted Power Presentations: 11 Techniques of Propaganda, an easy-to-use, highly visual method of teaching your students how to analyze media messages and drastically improve their written and oral communication skills. In-depth slides filled with definitions, examples, and exercises can be used in conjunction with Techniques of Propaganda & Persuasion to facilitate class discussion and review or as a stand-alone addition to your curriculum.

Recently, we received feedback on Power Presentations: 11 Techniques of Propaganda from teachers on the Prestwick House National Curriculum Advisory Board. Read quotations from teachers below or find out more at PrestwickHouse.com!


“This was simply a wonderful overview of propaganda. Each section was accessible by a wide audience, provided examples in artistic and print forms, and made it clear how easy it is to be manipulated by others. The order was great because any teacher has the ability to pick and choose how things are taught. The sections were self-contained and could be used in any order.”

“The propaganda posters and the political cartoons were engaging and truly demonstrated the point. The opportunities for classroom discussion have the potential for lively and bright interaction.”

Leticia Geldart



“I would use it and would recommend it to my colleagues. The discussion topics are interesting and varied, asking students to analyze, interpret, summarize, strategize, and create. The description of each propaganda technique is thoroughly detailed and structured cohesively. Further, each unit is similarly structured, making it quite user friendly.”

Julie Petitbon


“The posters and ads should help promote good discussions and help students grasp the various techniques. The language is at an appropriate level. Most of the discussion questions should result in discussion and result in students coming to better understand the information.”

Janice Mullan


“Many students in Middle School and High School seem to feel that if they see it on the internet it must be true. This could meet the demand by teachers to inform students of the likelihood of being duped by the media.”

Judith Mayersmith




“Traditional textbooks rarely include this kind of useful unit even though Common Core Standards do emphasize persuasive writing and/or speaking, especially in the senior year.”

Michelle Peeling



“Many English teachers create their own PowerPoint presentations or slideshows dealing with Propaganda/Logical fallacies. This product will be useful for those teachers who don't have the necessary information/training in this field.”

Luis Garza



“Currently, media literacy tends to get little attention in many public school systems. This targets an essential skill needed to become media literate.”

Ceresta Smith




“I teach Animal Farm. The sections that review propaganda with visual examples would be a great additional to my instruction.”

Marsha Fortune




“Colorful graphics, clear bulleted items, never too much information at once, yet isn't dumbed down.”

John Farrell




“There has been a need for this type of product for a long time and this tool provides a simple, easy-to-use way to teach or reinforce logical fallacies and rhetorical devices in the classroom.”

Susan Mulligan

Tuesday Trivia

Can you give the more well-known author name associated with these pen names and/or given names?

• William Sydney Porter
• Mary Westmacott
• Amandine Dudevant
• Francois Marie Arouet
• Eric Blair
• Charles Dodgson
• Mary Ann Evans

Last Week's Answers

• The Great Gatsby/The High-Bouncing Lover
• 1984/The Last Man in Europe
• Atlas Shrugged/The Strike
• Dracula/The Dead Un-Dead
• The Sun Also Rises/Fiesta
• Catch-22/Catch-18
• To Kill a Mockingbird/Atticus
• Pride and Prejudice/First Impressions
• The Secret Garden/Mistress Mary
• Dubliners /Ulysses in Dublin

Tuesday Trivia

Below are the working titles of several famous works of literature. Can you name their final titles?

• The High-Bouncing Lover
• The Last Man in Europe
• The Strike
• The Dead Un-Dead
• Fiesta
• Catch-18
• Atticus
• First Impressions
• Mistress Mary
• Ulysses in Dublin

Last Week's Answers


Which Newbury Medal-winning author wrote her first book, Summer to Die about her older sister’s untimely death?

Lois Lowry

After experiencing the death of one child to measles, enduring a devastating accident with another, and nearly losing his wife to a life-threatening stroke during her pregnancy, which children’s author became an unofficial medical expert — designing concepts for a valve for draining fluid from the brain?

Roald Dahl


Which author not only illustrates her own books but also makes her own Vermont maple syrup?

Gail Gibbons


Which author says failed high school classes and needed tutoring in writing and reading?

Avi is very upfront about his learning disability and is known for encouraging young people to write despite their own difficulties.


Which world famous children’s author and World War II pilot wrote solely for adults for the first fifteen years of his writing career?

Roald Dahl

Tuesday Trivia

1. Which Newbury Medal-winning author wrote her first book, Summer to Die about her older sister’s untimely death?
2. After experiencing the death of one child to measles, enduring a devastating accident with another, and nearly losing his wife to a life-threatening stroke during her pregnancy, which children’s author became an unofficial medical expert — designing concepts for a valve for draining fluid from the brain?
3. Which author not only illustrates her own books but also makes her own Vermont maple syrup?
4. Which author is very up front about having failed high school classes and needing tutoring in writing and reading?
5. Which world famous children’s author and World War II pilot wrote solely for adults for the first fifteen years of his writing career?

Last Week's Answers

Which author (and founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to English) won the Newbery medal only two years after his father won for his own book?


Paul Fleischman won the Newbery Medal for his book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices in 1989, while his father Sid Fleischman won for The Whipping Boy in 1987.



Which author used the pseudonyms Golden MacDonald, Juniper Sage, Kaintuck Brown and Timothy Hay?


Margaret Wise Brown, author of Goodnight Moon, created pen names so that people wouldn’t realize she was creating a large number of books each year.



Which author initially disguised her gender by using her initials and eventually assumed another after moving to England?


P.L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins was born Helen Lyndon Goff and originally lived in Australia. Which famous author and


illustrator has a children’s picture book art museum named after him?

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is located in Amherst, Massachusetts.



Which author’s first book for children was about cockroaches?

Joanna Cole, author of the Magic School Bus series.

What Are Teacher Reviewers Saying About Power Presentations: Introduction to Literary Theory?

Earlier this month, Prestwick House debuted Power Presentations: Introduction to Literary Theory, a Multiple Critical Perspectives product that helps teachers bring critical theory to every classroom.

This easy-to-use presentation will give your students the tools they need to understand literature beyond the simple conventions of plot, characterization, and theme. Power Presentations: Introduction to Literary Theory explores six critical theories through the lens of Cinderella, helping your students to clearly see how literature can be seen from different perspectives. Designed to stand alone or be used in conjunction with your favorite Multiple Critical Perspectives Guides.

Recently, we received feedback on Power Presentations: Introduction to Literary Theory from teachers on the Prestwick House National Curriculum Advisory Board. Read quotations from teachers below or find out more at PrestwickHouse.com!

“I am very impressed with this product. The format is far more teacher- and student-friendly than a textbook and the amount of information on each screen allows students to take accurate notes quickly before advancing on to additional screens. Visually, the product is easy to view and read.”

- Karen DiBetta

“The way the presentation is structured allows for each approach to be taught independently of the others. Depending on the ability of the class and the material being covered, I can easily choose the literary theory best fitted to the material and encourage critical thinking by asking students to approach the material using one specific literary theory.”

- Sonya K Shaw

“This product is a wonderful way to spark discussion of a work of literature. The various literary methods addressed in the presentation provide ample opportunity for all students in the class, regardless of ability, to engage in a meaningful discussion of a work.”

- Sonya K Shaw

“The accompanying instructions are incredibly clear. Even teachers who are not used to using PowerPoint will be able to navigate it easily.”

- Elizabeth Miley

“We have been moving toward a more comprehensive coverage of literary theory over the past two school years, and I see this product as a way to better organize our instruction with our junior and seniors. The consistency of the presentation would help us as teachers to be more consistent as well.”

- Cam Matthews

“I absolutely plan on using this product with my students. This product can make understanding literary theory simple, and can engage all students--from CP to AP.In previous years, I have struggled with a clear way of presenting literary theory to my students. This product does exactly that.”

- Stephanie Rodevick

“I would use this product myself. I am always looking for current, user-friendly materials I feel my students will find as interesting as I do. This product fills that bill.”

- Karen DiBetta

NaNoWriMo: It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

by Douglas Grudzina

The Office of Letters and Light is pleased to announce …

… the twelfth annual …

… NaNoWriMo!

(You DID know that November was National Novel Writing Month, right?—get it … NaNoWriMo?)

Anyone can enter. Everyone can play. The goal is to write a novel—175 pages or 50,000 words—between November 1 and November 30. The project’s slogan is, “Thirty days and nights of literary abandon!” and participants are instructed to write, write, and write some more, not sweat the “quality” (sort of like a month-long freewrite).

The rules are really very simple: novels can be on any theme, in any genre, and in any language. Format and structure are completely up to the author. Metafiction, post-modernist chaos, use of trademarked characters—anything goes. As the NaNoWriMo site says, “If you consider the book you’re writing a novel, we consider it a novel too.”

The competition starts on midnight November 1. From day 1, participants are allowed to update their word count and post excerpts of their opus for others to read. Completed novels can be uploaded to the NaNoWriMo site beginning November 25. All winners—those who have managed to write 50,000 words in the month (and there are rules excluding simply repeating the same word 50,000 times—receive a PDF certificate, a “web badge,” and inclusion on the site’s “Winners Page.”

We’re always looking for “authentic” opportunities for our students to write. This is ideal! If I were still in the classroom, I’d have every one of my students register and participate. Forget Dickens. Four weeks without vocabulary won’t hurt anyone.

It’s November! We’re going write a novel! (Oh yeah, I’d register too. We have to model appropriate behavior for our students, don’t we?

Here’s their official site with all the real information about registering, and participating in the forums, and all.

They even have a “Young Writers Program” especially for writers under the age of 17 and working alone or working in a K-12 classroom setting. It has a special feature that allows students to set their own total-word-goal for the month.

(Still, I think I’d like to challenge my high school students—especially my seniors—to meet the full 50,000 words. With middle-school or elementary-school kids, maybe I’d be a little more lenient—just a little.)

Remember that a “winner” is anyone who meets the 50,000-word minimum by 1 minute before midnight on December 1.

FYI, according to Wikipedia, 50,000 words is roughly the length of novels like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Brave New World, and The Great Gatsby. (NaNoWriMo makes no claims that any of these was actually written as a NaNoWriMo entry.) To meet that minimum, participants write an average of a little more than 1,666 words a day.

November could be an awesome month in your English class, with your kids really excited about their work, sharing their ideas and progress with you and with each other, chatting with other writers in the NaNoWriMo site’s forums, and actually enjoying writing and writing and writing to meet a deadline.

As I said, if I were still in the classroom, I’d definitely do it.

You should check it out.

Tuesday Trivia

1. Which author (and founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to English) won the Newbery medal only two years after his father won for his own book?
2. Which author used the pseudonyms Golden MacDonald, Juniper Sage, Kaintuck Brown and Timothy Hay?
3. Which author initially disguised her gender by using her initials and eventually assumed another after moving to England?
4. Which famous author and illustrator has a children’s picture book art museum named after him?
5. Which author’s first book for children was about cockroaches?

Last Week's Answers

• Rowan Oak (Mississippi) belonged to William Faulkner
• The Mount (Massachusetts) belonged to Edith Wharton
• Gads Hill Place (Higham, Kent) belonged to Charles Dickens
• The Old Manse (Massachusetts) belonged to Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Sunnyside (New York) belonged to Washington Irving
• Dove Cottage (Grasmere, Cumbria) belonged to William Wordsworth

A Review of Rhetoric, Logic, and Argumentation: Small Book, Great Potential

Every once in a while, a resource comes along that you can’t wait to use. Such is the case with a recent publication from Prestwick House.

Rhetoric, Logic, & Argumentation: A Guide for Student Writers is misleading. Its size suggests lightness and minimal treatment of critical skills. However, it is precisely this succinctness that makes the resource so remarkable. In about 100 pages, this guide for students introduces the basics of logic and applies them to writing. Students not only learn to recognize sound thinking but also to produce and communicate it.

A few years ago I developed the instructional writing program, Writer’s Stylus. The instructional model for this program includes an activity known as “Acquaintance and Analysis” in which students read an example of excellent writing and then analyze the text to identify how the author communicated so clearly. We search for elements like word choice, sentence variety, and effective transitions. This simple activity not only exposes students to great writing but trains them to look at writing beyond the writer’s intended meaning. It is a powerful activity that accomplishes more than a series of lectures ever could.

Rhetoric, Logic, & Argumentation takes a similar approach. Well-chosen text passages illustrate important ideas, such as the various forms of appeal that can be used to construct an argument. These, combined with additional activities that emphasize knowledge and application of critical concepts, engage students in thinking about thinking—that of others as well as their own. Such an approach makes instructional sense; students learn what to look for, have the opportunity to see it in action, and then put it to use themselves. Then, because they’ve had the experience of analyzing writing for similar characteristics, students are better able to evaluate and edit their own thinking and writing.

The book provides just enough background and guidance for students, never overdoing a topic nor resorting to endless, often mindless, practice exercises. Its combination of thinking and writing enables students to communicate their improved thinking, increasing their potential influence.

In the hands of an effective teacher, this small resource could energize and empower student thinking and writing. I can’t wait to see this misleadingly small resource used in classrooms. Apparently great thought can come in small packages!

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Related Posts

• Prestwick House Releases Innovative New Writing Program Based on Rhetoric, Logic, and Argumentation
• What are Teacher Reviewers Saying about Rhetoric, Logic, and Argumentation?
• Interview with Rhetoric, Logic, and Argumentation author, Magedah Shabo
  

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Kevin D. Washburn holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in instruction and curriculum. His experience as a teacher in elementary through college level classrooms and positions in curriculum and instruction combine with his penchant for reading and research in both educational and scientific areas to uncover important implications for learning. Whether speaking in the classroom or convention setting, Kevin seeks to imbue a passion for quality instruction.

Kevin is the author of the Architecture of Learning™ instructional design model and its training program, Writer’s Stylus™, an instructional writing program, and co-author of an instructional reading program used by schools across the country. He is a member of the International Mind, Brain & Education Society, the Learning & the Brain Society, and is a contributor to The Edurati Review.

FAQs for Prestwick House AP Language and Composition

What is this product?

Available November 15, Prestwick House AP Language and Composition is a book with full-length nonfiction passages, many of which are annotated, AP-style multiple-choice questions and free response items, and synthesis-essay activities. Each chapter provides both models and practice exercise.

How is the book organized?

The book is organized according to the various language and textual elements an AP student will have to examine and analyze on the AP language exam: structure and organizational patterns, language and syntax, rhetorical devices, etc.

For whom is this book intended?

Prestwick House AP Language and Composition is intended for the student who plans to take the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Exam. All of the models are accompanied by multiple-choice answers and explanations and sample student essays. Answer keys for the exercises are provided in an appendix. A glossary of literary and rhetorical devices and logical fallacies is also included to help the student become conversant with the language he or she will need to use to discuss the passages on the exam.

Is the book useable in the classroom?

Absolutely. The annotation, models, and answer keys are definitely classroom-friendly. Also, every nonfiction passage is complete and unabridged, allowing this book to become a primary text for nonfiction literature as well as an AP prep book.

Is this book compatible with the new Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts?

Absolutely. First of all, many of the goals of Advanced Placement, especially the analysis of literature and the examination of language, are at the heart of the Common Core Standards for Reading Informational Text. Second, all of the passages in the book were selected using the guidelines of the Common Core State Standards for Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity. Several of the passages actually appear in the CSS Initiative’s Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, and Range of Student Reading, Grades 9 – 12.

How is this book any different from other AP prep books that are available?

The biggest problem with those other AP-prep books is their generic and content-empty nature. Because the AP exam is essentially a skills exam, asking students to read and analyze unfamiliar texts, most prep book focus on the skills. Prestwick House AP Language and Composition is as much a literature text as a skills text. It is suitable for use as a core text, not just a supplemental.

What are some of the nonfiction texts featured in this book?

Passages in Prestwick House AP Language and Composition include:

• “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: Address to Parliament on 13 May 13, 1940” by Winston Churchill


• Speech to the Second Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry


• “The Crisis, Essay 1” by Thomas Paine


• “The Federalist,” selected papers by John Jay and Alexander Hamilton


• “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr.


• “Hope, Despair and Memory” by Elie Wiesel (1997 Nobel Peace Prize lecture)


• Elie Wiesel’s 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

What are some of the features of this book that make it unique among AP Language and Composition texts?

• Most of the passages are complete, not excerpted or abridged.


• Many are annotated to point out to students the types of questions they should be asking themselves, and the features they should be noticing in their own reading.


• Model multiple-choice questions with answers and explanations illustrate the thought processes required for a better understanding of the passages and a higher score on the AP language exam.


• Sample student essays provide models for AP students to follow and imitate.
• Appendices provide rich content and instructional material for a college-level English language course as well as strong preparation for the AP language exam.

Does this book include models and exercises for the relatively new Synthesis Essay?

Yes. The chapter on the Synthesis Essay also provides instruction and guidance on how to approach the synthesis task, how to use the sources, when to quote, paraphrase, summarize, etc.

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Related Posts:

• What are Teacher Reviewers Saying About Prestwick House AP Language and Composition?
• Interview with Prestwick House AP Language and Composition author, Douglas Grudzina