Many people have asked for links to the clips we've looked at in class:
Here is a list of clips:
Graham Norton Jimmy Carr - Accents
Graham Norton Salma Hayek
Graham Norton Will Smith
Jonathan Ross Jay Z
Jonathan Ross Will Smith
Jonathan Ross Usain Bolt
Jonathan Ross Stephen Fry
David Letterman Boris Johnson
Jimmy Fallon Zach Galifinakis
Some others you may wish to view:
Jonathan Ross Lady Gaga
Graham Norton Gerard Butler
Remember the devices you can look for:
Overt Covert Prestige Language
Grice's Maxims
Spontaneous Features
Paralinguistic / Prosodic Features
Language Devi......
Writing about Spoken Language
A number of people have asked me how you have to write about the Spoken Language Study. Again it is a case of analysis and evaluation but instead of zooming in or out of written work you are zooming in and out of the spoken word.
Analysing spoken language is similar to analysing a novel as you are still looking for devices / techniques but and you are evaluating its success against its purpose. See this post for more details: Spoken Language Study
We've agreed that a chat show should:
Give information to the wider audience and entertain them.
Give celebrities the opportunity to sell themselves......
Spoken Language Study - What we've covered
I know a lot of the preparation for the Spoken Language study has been disrupted by the mock exam fortnight. So here is a re-cap of what we've covered so far:
Assessment Objectives in a Nutshell:
1) You need to analyse / evaluate the use of Spoken Language.
2) You need to be aware of / analyse / evaluate attitudes to Spoken Language.
3) You need to be aware of the way you use language and why.
Focus - Chat Shows
Throughout the unit we have covered the following topics:
1) The difference between accent and dialect and attitudes towards these.
2) Slang and Overt / Covert Prestige Language.
3)......
Question 1 Exemplar
This question seems the easiest on paper but the subtleties of achieving Band 3 and Band 4 answers aren't always as obvious from the wording of the question as is required in the mark scheme.
The common mistake is:
Writing only what you find out from the article.
This question requires the skill of inference. Inference means you need to read between the lines of the articles e.g.
An article about safety at the seaside for inner city children - Inference: children from inner city areas are becoming more involved in rescues at the seaside.
Look at Source 1 (Your exam source would be shorter......
Writing MOT
Theory and Reflection
You will soon be receiving a writing MOT from me.
This is not just based on your Controlled Assessment results but also on the work you are able to carry out spontaneously in class.
I'm really pleased with the results of your Controlled Assessments but now we need to focus on replicating these great results in your exam writing.
The exam is a separate beast. You don't know what you are going to be asked to write about, you don't have a note sheet to help you plan and you are writing in a more pressured environment against the clock.
Before we move on to the next steps,......
Year 11 Homework Part 2
As I know you will all be short of something to do with the school closing today, here is an update of your next three weeks homework.
You are going to be writing newspaper columns. To improve your understanding of the form, you need to bring in an article you have read each single lesson with 100 words of your own writing based on the same topic.
You should be trying to achieve the same style and effect that the columnist has achieved without copying their work.
There is a real difference between newspaper columns and newspaper reports. A column is usually written by the same person and......
Year 10 Exam Technique - The first practice question
Let me say first of all how proud I am in the mature way that you tackled a new assessment format. It bodes well for the year and though I know some of you were disheartened with your result, don't be! The ideas you expressed were of an excellent standard and with a few tweaks to the structures you use to express yourself, you will see your marks rocket.
Here is a quick summary of the key points of the lesson:
The Opening:
A lot of your success......
Year 11 Homework - Writing Assessments
Here are the key points to the on-going Year 11 Homework.
You are going to be asked to write two contrasting pieces: one fiction and one non-fiction as part of your on-going GCSE controlled assessments.
Your fiction piece is going to be a recreation from a poem of your choice (two poems also suggested below), which means you need to use the poem as inspiration.
This could be:
1) Use some lines of the poem to build a new story around.
2) Explore......
10Q1 Thematic Study Homework
The Task
A key skill that is needed to produce high level work in GCSE is the ability to connect thematic concepts between seemingly disparate texts.
As part of developing these skills, you will choose a theme you wish to investigate through 5 types of text.Literature - 1 text with a critical reputation.Music - A selection of 3 songs.Poetry - A selection of 3 poems.Film - 1 filmArt - 2 Piece of art work.
You will complete a weekly journal which notes what you have studied and your findings.
The between the 14th and the 21st October you will be presenting your findings as part of your GCSE......
Back to School - Year 12 / 13 - Dreading it or Loving it?
When reading this post (mainly aimed at teachers but worth reading if you in a particularly reflective mood) written by a Head of English from another school, it quickly turned my thoughts to the experience of moving from Year 11 to 12 (or 12 to 13).
Sadly by about December / January, I begin to hear the rumbles of 'I hate 6th Form', 'What's the point?', 'I should have gone to college', which I really find quite sad. The general complaints I hear......
Of Mice and Men Preparation
There is some confusion surrounding preparations for the Of Mice and Men assessment and this is a post to alleviate (note vocabulary) your sense of worry.
Lot's of you are stating that 'this is the hardest assessment you have done'. What you need to understand as it seems harder because I am stretching you to consistently improve. My job as a teacher is to keep honing and improving your existing skills, adding new ones and challenging you to use......
