How do I prepare students for an AP exam?
How do I prepare students for an AP exam?
Resources that fit
Units that support AP-level content
These are teaching resources rather than AP practice materials, useful for shoring up the prerequisite skills a course quietly assumes; tap any cover for the full preview, contents and price.
Algebra – Quadratic Equations and Complex Solutions | Advanced Problem Solving Workbook | GRADE 8–11
Algebra Basics – Ratio, Proportion and Percentage | Math Foundations Workbook | GRADE 5–9
Soccer World Cup 2026 Escape Room | The Missing Match Schedule | Grades 5–9
Data Analysis Escape Room - World Cup 2026 | The Manipulated Competition | Statistics & Critical Thinking
Linear Functions – Teaching Kit with Puzzle, Talk Cards & Practice
Step by step
How to do it across the year
- Plan from the CEDMap your calendar onto the units, learning objectives and essential knowledge, not onto your textbook's chapter order.
- Teach the skills by nameName the practice a task is building, so students recognize what a question is asking of them in May.
- Score with the real rubricUse released free-response questions and published scoring guidelines, and make students score a sample answer themselves.
- Build timing lastRun full timed sections in the final weeks once content is secure, then reteach only what the scores expose.
What's covered
What each download contains
A ready-to-teach sequence with the marking already done for you.
- Four levels of practice tasks
- Editable PowerPoint deck
- Complete worked answer keys
- Lesson plan with timings
- Print and digital versions
Make it work for everyone
Differentiation in an open-enrollment class
Open enrollment means an AP class often holds students two years apart in preparation. The lower tiers let you rebuild a prerequisite skill without stopping the whole course, while the top tier keeps your strongest students working. Collect that tiered work as evidence when you talk with a student about whether to sit the exam.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is this site affiliated with the College Board?
No. Teach Lessons is independent, and nothing here is endorsed by or connected to the College Board, which owns the AP trademark. Use the official Course and Exam Description, AP Classroom and released exams for anything that must match the exam exactly. These units support the teaching around them.
When should I start exam-style practice?
Earlier than most teachers do, and in small doses. One free-response question every two weeks from October, scored against the published guidelines, builds the habit without eating instructional time. Save full timed sections for the final three or four weeks, when content is secure enough for the practice to be diagnostic.
How do I use scoring guidelines with students?
Have them score work rather than read the rubric. Give the class an anonymous sample response and the guidelines, ask each group to award points and justify every one, then compare across groups. Students who have argued about where a point was earned write noticeably more explicit answers afterward.
What about students who will not score a 3?
Keep them in the course and be honest about the goal. A student who scores a 2 has still done a year of college-level reading and writing, and tiered materials let them work at a level where they are learning rather than copying. Decide about sitting the exam later in the spring.
Shore up the skills your AP course assumes
Browse the catalog for units that patch the gaps showing up in your free-response scores.
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