Teacher Materials

CSAwesome Drive for Teachers

CSAwesome2 Lesson Plans

Curriculum Access Support

Need Access? To gain access to the educator-only materials for CSAwesome such as lesson plans, solutions, and other teacher resources, you must request access to the Google Group/Forum which will give you access to the shared Google drive. Follow the steps below:

Go to https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/teaching-csawesome
Check that you are logged in using the email address that you'd like to have access with and receive email to.
In the textbox, please be sure to include a link to your school's staff directory page so that we can verify your status as an educator.

Having Trouble? Try switching accounts to ensure you are logged in using the account that is approved. You can also try using the direct link to the CSAwesome Drive (above).

Changing Emails: Some educators find that there are conflicts with using your school email. If you need to switch emails, you can email us at info@csawesome.org from your school account and provide us with a personal Gmail address.

Reducing Emails: This is an involved group of teachers who are passionate about teaching CSA and eager to help each other out. If you want to change the number of emails you receive, you can adjust your settings by visiting the forum web page and then clicking My Settings (person+gear icon in the upper right of the screen). If you leave the group, you will lose access to the materials, however, you can switch the settings so that you don't receive emails.

Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies

When developing lesson plans for CSAwesome a CRT playbook was used. The playbook contains suggested activities for use in a culturally responsive classroom.

CS Teaching Tips and Misconceptions

The lesson plans include tips for teaching CS as well as warn teachers and educators of any known misconceptions that students might have about a particular topic.

For example: Teach students how to find built-in Java methods in the Javadocs documentation. (from CSTeachingTips.org)
We also encourage educators to check out the Inclusive CS Teaching website.

AP Exam Information

Course and Exam Description

The official AP CS A Course and Exam Description booklet can always be found on AP Central for AP CS A. The direct link to download the AP CSA CED is here. You can purchase a hard-copy binder at www.collegeboard.org/ced.

AP Exam

The AP Computer Science A Exam assesses student understanding of the computational thinking practices and learning objectives outlined in the course framework.

Additional details:

3 hours long
- 40 multiple-choice questions (90 mins)
- 4 free-response questions (90 mins)
Students can use the Java Quick Reference Sheet during the exam

AP Audit

If you will be teaching the AP CS A course in your school during the next academic year, you must complete the AP Audit process. Completing the audit will give you access to the brand new materials that the College Board will release including Personal Progress Checks.

Notes:

The AP Audit process will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
The AP Audit User Guide contains step-by-step instructions.
During the AP Audit process, you can:
- Submit Textbook: Be sure to select 'AP Endorsed Provider Resource CSAwesome CSA' as the textbook you will use.
- Adopt a Syllabus: Be sure to select the official and approved CSAwesome syllabus from the list.

Play this video to watch a walk-through of the AP Audit Process.

Note: During the CSAwesome PD teachers will learn how to complete the AP Audit process and how to access AP resources including AP Classroom and secure practice exams.

AP Resources

College Board Resources

Sample Exam Questions (pg 191 of Course and Exam Description)
Practice Exam (requires login)
AP Central - CS A Homepage
AP Teacher Community for CS A (requires login)
AP CS A Free Response Question Archive on AP Central
AP CS A FRQ Map 2004-2021 by Ria Galanos (and her dropbox of resources)
AP CS A FRQ Map 2004-2022 by Bryan Hafferty
Celebrity Lab Video for Teachers by Cody Henrichsen - not to be shared with students
Free Response Question Answer Sheet

AP Classroom

See page 4 of the Course and Exam Description (CED) for more details on AP Classroom.

Students and teachers have access to the online AP Classroom platform and its resources (unit guides, personal progress checks, progress dashboard, and AP question bank) after the activation process. Activation is described on pg. 5 of the CED.

For teachers that are new to AP Classroom, the College Board has provided a series of tutorials that can be accessed once logged into https://myap.collegeboard.org/. The various tutorials that are provided help with everything from navigating AP Classroom to creating assessments.

Note: Because the personal progress checks are formative, the results of these assessments cannot be used to evaluate teacher effectiveness or assign letter grades to students, and any such misuses are groups for losing school authorization to offer AP courses.

College Board Professional Development

CSAwesome is one of several providers seeking endorsement from the College Board for the AP CS A course. The CSAwesome professional development is NOT a College Board sponsored AP workshop. College Board offers AP Summer Institutes and one-day workshops that support teaching and pedagogy. More information is available at AP Professional Development.

A collaboration between the National Math & Science Initiative (NMSI) and the National Center for CS Education has allowed lesson plans and supplementary materials to be developed for teachers to use when delivering the CSAwesome curriculum to their students. Thank you to our CSAwesome lesson plan developers: John Harrison, Theresa Horvath, Pauline Lake, Randle Moore, Darci Santella, Lora Santucci, Jeannie Turner, and Nita Waterman!

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