Writing Skills How can I effectively help my child prepare for challenging writing tasks?
GCSE English Language Reading (50%): critical reading and comprehension; summary and synthesis; evaluation of a writer s choice of vocabulary, form and structural features. Reading assessment based on unseen texts from all three centuries fiction & nonfiction including literary non-fiction. Writing (50%): producing clear and coherent text; writing for impact. 20% of Writing marks for range of vocabulary and sentence structures, spelling and punctuation. Spoken language: presenting information and ideas; responding to spoken language; spoken standard English.
Focusing on writing The new English Language GCSE will have a greater focus on making sure that students are able to write clearly and accurately, in good Standard English. There will be an increased emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar including the use of vocabulary.
What do students need to focus on? Students will be asked to write for a range of audiences, purposes and genres, often relating to what they have just read as part of the reading section. Let s take a look at an example of how to prepare students for the writing section for Paper 2.
Planning effectively Whatever the writing task, it is important for students to effectively plan before getting started. (Mind-mapping, bullet-pointing, listing are all great ideas)
What can you do to help support your child in preparation for writing? Encourage them to develop their own ideas and responses to what they read and then use their spoken ideas to build written responses. Expose students to a wide range of genres, forms and styles. Present students with a wealth of text types and styles. Include letters, essays, journals, travel writing and autobiographical writing when teaching non-fiction. Practise drafting and editing in reaction to a statement. Widen vocabulary, vary sentence structures for effect and explore various techniques to fit your TAP. Reading and writing aren t mutually exclusive: they are close friends that rely on each other.
AQA English Literature GCSE Paper one: Shakespeare and the 19 th century novel Paper two: Modern text and Poetry
GCSE English Literature Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19 th -century novel 1h 45 64 marks 40% of GCSE English Literature Section A: Shakespeare. Answer one question. Section B: 19-century novel. Answer one question. Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry 2h 15 96 marks 60% of GCSE English Literature Section A: Modern Texts. Answer one question from a choice of 2. Section B: Poetry. Answer one comparative question on a given poem, comparing it to one other poem of your choice. Section C: Unseen poetry. Answer one question on an unseen poem, then a another question comparing the two unseen poems you re given.
What do I need to do to succeed in English literature? The exams are closed book. Students need to learn a range of quotations off by heart. A knowledge of literary devices and be able to explore their effects (e.g. simile, metaphor, personification) Knowledge of the relevant social and historical context of the text they are studying Resilience and a positive attitude
Assessment Objectives (AOs) AO1 Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response. use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations. AO2 Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate. AO3 Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written. AO4 Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn t thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often came down handsomely, and Scrooge never did.
How does Dickens introduce the character of Scrooge? Choose one line from your table to write up and double the length of the explanation. POINT Sum up the character in one word. Identify one device like, adjectives/verbs/ foreshadowing/. EVIDENCE - Find the quote that evidences this one device and your sum up. EXPLAIN- Say what the device means. Explain why Dickens uses this device. What is its effect on you or the reader? Explain what the one quote shows us about Scrooge. Connotations of a certain word? Predictions to be made from it? Evaluate if Dickens achieves what he aimed to do. Objective 3: To evaluate the language devices and the effect on the reader.
What are the reader s first impressions of Scrooge? Point Quotation Explain Device used Language/sentence structure analysis Effect on the reader Link to context
How does Dickens introduce the character of Scrooge? You could comment on Dickens choice of similes Use of verbs as adjectives Use of exclamatory at the beginning of the extract Use of pathetic fallacy The superlative description of his character-sets him up for transformation Green penning Strength: Improvement:
English Language, Paper 2 TWO NON-FICTION ARTICLES, DIARY EXTRACTS OR LETTERS MODERN AND VICTORIAN LINKED BY THEME.
What s the paper all about? This paper focuses on non-fiction and looks at writers viewpoints and perspectives. The paper is 1 hour 45 mins and split into two sections: Section A: Reading Four questions Worth 40 marks 45 minutes (after 15 minutes reading and preparation time) Section B: Writing One writing task Worth 40 marks 45 minutes
Question 1 Read again source A from lines 1 to 12. 01 Choose four statements below which are TRUE. [4 marks] This question is relatively straightforward, assessing basic comprehension but you must remember, the question is only referring to lines 1-12!
Answers A, C, F and H were all true
Linking ideas across two very different texts Think about the similarities, but also consider a range of differences linking these two images.
Question 2 02 You need to refer to source A and source B for this question. Use details from both sources. Write a summary of the different ways Milly s vet and Mr Walker s servant look after the dogs. [8 marks]
Spot the difference The vet is kind to Milly and treats her well. When he delivers eight puppies he makes a joke and says I ll start on the other half now. Mr Walker s servant doesn t really have to look after the dog but does leave it shut in the stable for safety when he goes to Stockport. The vet treats Milly as if she s important, showing her the same care he would a human being by deciding to perform a caesarean. When he delivers eight puppies he makes a joke and says I ll start on the other half now, so he s keeping the atmosphere light-hearted and calm for Milly as she gives birth. People treated animals differently in the 19th century and Mr Walker s servant has a more distant attitude to the small Dalmatian dog. He s not outwardly affectionate with it but does deliberately leave it shut in the stable for safety when he goes to Stockport in case the dog should be lost on the road. He may genuinely care for the dog but it s also possible he thinks he might lose his job if something bad happens to it because he knows it is much valued by Mr Walker.
Question 3 You now need to refer only to source A, lines 3 to 9. How does the writer use language to show the behaviour of the puppies? [12 marks]
Looking at example answers 1. David Leafe uses words like tumbling to show the puppies are falling all over the place, and gives us lots of details of how they behave, e.g. nipping at her wellingtons. 2. Leafe uses verbs like tumbling and scampering to convey the playful nature of the puppies. There are sixteen of them and they run around the farm so quickly that they fall over each other. He also describes how they behave with their owner, Becky, saying they are darting between her legs and nipping at her wellingtons. The words darting and nipping emphasise their excitement, and is typical of how puppies behave.
Question 4 is extremely challenging!
Challenges facing the students The Victorian passage can be daunting Students are less familiar with Victorian writers language Sentence structures are long and complex, challenging students reading skills Students struggle to synthesise and link ideas from one passage to the other Under tight time constraints, they also struggle to analyse the power and impact of the words and phrases Students can struggle to apply subject terminology accurately
How can you help? Encourage your child to read Victorian literature long or short and watch TV and film adaptations Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens), Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), Woman in White (Wilkie Collins), The Portrait of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde), A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens), Sherlock Holmes (Conan Doyle) There are historical novels specifically written for children, like Jacqueline Wilson s The Lottie Project and Hetty Feather ; and Philip Pullman s The Ruby in the Smoke ; and children s history books like Terry Deary s Vile Victorians in the Horrible Histories series. Victorian literature for children: Lewis Carroll s Alice s Adventures in Wonderland, Hans Christian Anderson s Fairy Tales, E. Nesbit s The Treasure- Seekers, and Frances Hodgson Burnett s A Little Princess Victorian literature without adult themes (i.e. illegitimacy and murder)
How can you help? Encourage your child to read non-fiction (newspapers, blogs, magazines, Sunday supplements) Remember this is a two year course! It is not uncommon for students to find this challenging at the start of year 10. Your child may have a target grade of an 8, but be working at grade 5 in year 10 this is not a problem or a concern!