Build a clear path to AP® success, starting in Level 1. 

From Novice to AP®: How to Engage Students at Every Level

In this second session of the Wise Ideas series, Julie Pacheco-Toye and Amy Rill show teachers how to build AP® readiness from Level 1 onward. The session opens with an analogy: making a chocolate soufflé. Even with a recipe, a video, and a sous chef, success depends on skills developed over time. In the same way, success on the AP® Language and Culture exam depends on skills built from the beginning and across every level of a program. Participants leave with practical recommendations, level-appropriate task ideas, and everyday classroom "ingredients" they can use right away. 

Webinar Recap

Understanding the Updated AP® Exam and Four Core Recommendations 

  • The updated 2026-27 AP® exam assesses presentational, interpersonal, and interpretive communication as well as cultural understanding. 
  • Four recommendations apply to all world language classes: center proficiency-based communicative teaching, embed culture, teach intercultural skills explicitly, and use authentic resources from the start. 

Progressing Skills Across Proficiency Levels 

  • The goal is not to hand novices AP®-level tasks, but to use the same foundational skills with supports and complexity that fit each level. 
  • Participants analyze a variety of communicative tasks and authentic resources, reflecting on the skills involved and how to adapt tasks for different levels. 
  • The same authentic resource can serve multiple levels when the complexity, support, and independence change. 

Ingredient 1: Scaffolds and Supports 

  • Scaffolding and Support tools such as word and phrase walls, desk strips, table tents, chat mats, sentence starters, discussion cards, and personal dictionaries help novice learners feel confident staying in the target language. 
  • These supports can be phased out gradually as students gain proficiency and independence. 

Ingredient 2: Predictable Daily Routines 

  • Routines should include interpretive reading and listening, presentational writing and speaking, and interpersonal speaking. 
  • Reusable structures such as graphic organizers, anticipation guides, drawing or sequencing while listening, and hashtag summaries make routines manageable for teachers and familiar for students. 
  • Headline rewrites, question chains, and mingle activities offer engaging ways to practice presentational and interpersonal skills. 

Conclusion 

  • AP® readiness isn't built in a single year, and it doesn't require giving AP®-level tasks to novice learners. 
  • Consistently building communication skills and habits at every level prepares students to carry those skills from one level to the next. 

Be sure to sign up for our next webinar!

The Vocab Playbook: Engaging and Impactful Strategies for Every Mode

NOV 9, 7PM ET

What if vocabulary instruction felt less like memorization and more like momentum? This interactive session invites world language teachers to rethink vocabulary as something students build through context, movement, communication, and repeated meaningful use. Using our simple “Vocab Playbook” framework, participants will explore strategies that support comprehensible input, deepen connections to new language, and help students apply vocabulary across interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational tasks.
Teachers will leave with fresh ideas that make learning vocabulary more engaging for students and impactful for instruction.
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