AP® Art Week 1: Set Students Up for Portfolio Success

If you teach AP® Art & Design (2-D or Drawing), you know that first week can feel overwhelming — for you and your students! There’s the Course & Exam Description (CED), all those unfamiliar rubrics, new expectations for process work, evidence, and revision — and students who are talented but not always confident in how to tie it all together.

After years of tweaking, I finally have a Week 1 structure that helps students get clear on what the portfolio actually is, what AP® readers look for, and how to start building a Sustained Investigation that’s more than just a theme.

Day 1: Syllabus & CED Quiz

We start with the basics — my students get binders with the syllabus and the full CED. We walk through the portfolio requirements together, then take a short quiz (open-note) to clear up common myths.

Is there a sit-down exam? Nope! What’s the difference between Selected Works and Sustained Investigation? Why do we care about written evidence?

Day 2: Understanding the AP® Rubrics

This is where the magic happens.We look at sample portfolios modeled on AP® scoring expectations and practice applying the rubric.

Students guess first, then compare their scores to the actual ones and read the College Board rationales. It’s eye-opening! They see how visual and written evidence work together — and why a beautiful piece with no clear inquiry might not score as well as they’d expect.

This year, I completely revamped my Cracking the AP® Rubrics activity — it now has a clear Teacher Guide, student scoring sheets, and re-formatted slides so students don’t accidentally see the final scores before they think for themselves. This activity leads to real, productive conversations about what the AP® rubric values.

Days 3–5: Inquiry Brainstorming & First Project Planning

Once they understand the rubric, students start developing their Sustained Investigation inquiry. They brainstorm topics, share ideas with peers for feedback, and sketch out compositional possibilities for their first work.

I want them to see that their inquiry can evolve — and that their process matters just as much as the final piece. They finish Week 1 with a development plan for their first artwork, plus a research, practice, and revision strategy that sets them up for meaningful portfolio evidence.

If you want your first week to run smoothly without hours of planning, I’ve bundled all these pieces for you in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store - linked here:

• Full Week 1 Lesson Plans — daily objectives and agendas you can adapt to your block or period schedule
• CED Quiz + Answer Key — clears up those confusing basics
• Applying the AP® Rubrics Activity — revamped Teacher Guide, scoring sheets, rationales, and samples that hide final scores upfront
• Sketchbook Inquiry Assignment — flexible brainstorming & feedback structure, plus an easy rubric
• Project 1 Development Plan — clear steps for thumbnails, research, experimentation, and revision, with optional Google Slides & Canva templates for documenting process work

Here’s to a Strong Start!

Week 1 really does set the tone for your students’ whole portfolio year. The more they understand the why behind the rubrics and how to document their process, the stronger their final submission will be.

AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this post or product.