Happy Ed Balls Day - A question 2 / 3 gift.

As it is Ed Balls day today (check twitter if unsure), I've decided to give you a little question 2 treat. In fact this article is also very good for Thoughts and Feelings  - a gift that keeps giving.

Remember the two key areas you need to focus on to get the top bands for both these questions:

Q2 - You need to make consistent links to the text. An examiner has recommended that you draw lines between the headline, subheading and image to the key points it references in the text during the planning stage. If you have an Ipad you can do this with this electronic version but make sure you do something to remind yourself to make links to the text. Make sure you are analysing in-depth as well.

Q3 - The examiner wants to see top level candidates tracking the changes in feelings of the writer so make sure you do this. Check that your four key points show some sort of change in the thoughts and feelings of the writer.

Source

So if you want to practise Q2 or Q3 the link is above. Just mark clearly the question you are attempting in the comment.

Q2: Explain how the headline, sub-heading and picture are effective and how they link to the text? (8 Marks) - 12 Mins

Q3: Explain some of the thoughts and feelings of Sophie Heawood on getting her child to sleep. (8 Marks) 12 Mins

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Year 9 Homework Project

Your homework will be to create an anthology of 15 poems you have enjoyed from the list of poets on the next page.

You must bring in 3 of your favourite poems from 3 different poets each Friday. These will form part of the discussion on Friday's lessons so don't forget.

By the end of the half term you will be carrying out a written and oral presentation on your anthology covering:

Why you chose the poems?
What do you think caused the poets to write the poems (3 of your 15)?
What feelings are apparent within the poems (3 of your 15)?
Why you think poetry is given value in the curriculum?

Extended Written Response (2 sides of A4)

An analysis of your favourite poem and why it appeals to you.

Poets List

Edmund Spenser
William Shakespeare
John Donne
Andrew Marvel
Alexander Pope
Katherine Phillips
John Milton
Robert Burns
John Dryden
William Blake
William Wordsworth
John Keats
Samuel Coleridge
Sir Walter Scott
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Robert Browning
Christina Rossetti
Siegfried Sassoon
Wilfred Owen
Ivor Gurney
Jessie Pope
Margaret Postgate Cole
Sylvia Plath
Ted Hughes
Margaret Atwood
U.A. Fanthorpe
John Agard
Maya Angelou
Chinua Achebe
Philip Larkin
Simon Armitage
Carol Ann Duffy
Seamus Heaney
Grace Nichols
John Cooper Clarke
Stevie Smith

Happy collating.

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Revising with Skeletons

In the session on Monday, I stated you could know what you were going to write for Section B in the exam without even seeing the question.

This was to be done through having practised skeleton paragraphs, which contain 'writing style' rather than content. I put together 10 Skeleton Paragraphs for you to experiment with in class and these are posted below.

The key is practice and powering through the revision pain like our deadlifting friend below.

Great example of powering through the pain, which you should all take as inspiration.

Use these skeletons to practice your own writing. Deliberately experiment with starting your sentences in different ways and arranging your paragraphs differently. Drill these under timed conditions - try to average 4 minutes per paragraph.

Put these paragraph skeletons together to create a persuasive or descriptive essay. 

Make sure if you are using Skeleton 10 you are remembering your five fingers of effective writing:

Variation of:
Punctuation
Sentence Lengths
Paragraph Lengths
Vocabulary
Devices.

Practice, Drill and Develop. Whatever you do with these skeletons, make it visible! Post what you come up with below.

Skeleton 1

Rhetorical Question

1 word sentence.

Extended Descriptive sentence + semi colon.

Hyperbole in short sentence.

Sentence with high level vocab mixed in.

1 exclamation mark, brackets and quotation marks.

Skeleton 2

1 Sentence – Hyperbole with brackets and semi colon.

Skeleton 3

Triadic Structure

Long sentence with juxtaposition of sophisticated language.

Sentence with colon.

Oxymoron

Short Sentence

Skeleton 4

One word sentence

Two word sentence

Imagery – Long sentence

Brackets, Question Mark, Ellipsis

Skeleton 5

Metaphor

Semantic Field

6 sentences including a three word sentence.

Dashes and quotation marks.

Skeleton 6

Hyperbole

Rhetorical Question

25 word sentence

Compound sentence

Short Sentence.

6 Types of punctuation.

Skeleton 7

1 sophisticated word paragraph.

Skeleton 8

3 Rhetorical Questions.

1 Short sentence

1 Descriptive Sentence with a colon.

Skeleton 9

5 sentence paragraph.

5 types of punctuation.

First and last sentence must be shorter than 7 words.

Skeleton 10

10 Sentences – Freedom of choice.

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Weekend Treat - Question 1

If you look in the examiner's report article I posted here , you'll see the wording of question 1 has changed from 'learn' to 'understand'. This means that you need to vary your answers slightly from being mainly fact based to mainly inferential.

What is inference?

Definition = the process of arriving at some conclusion that, though it is not logically derivable from the assumed premises, possesses some degree of probability relative to the premises.

So it is a skill of coming to a conclusion based on evidence that is not definite but highly probable.

E.g. - Someone is crying - inference - they are unhappy.

Now though this is likely (we generally experience people crying when unhappy) it is not definite (could be tears of joy).

So your answer needs to focus on what you think 'might' be an issue based on clear evidence. 

“heinous social, economic and spiritual damage” suggest that the writer strongly disagrees with...

You have evidence and you are making an inference.

So here is your bonus weekend question.

8 Marks - 12 Minutes of Revision - post your answer below.

What do you understand about the issues of camera phones at gigs? 

Source 1 

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Foundation Exam Paper

Here is a posting for those of you doing the Foundation Exam. It is a full paper I've put together which you can answer question at a time and post in the comment box below. 

Remember your question timings. You should be spending:

12 Mins on Question 1 and 2. 
18 Minutes on Question 3 and 4.
25 Minutes on Question 5.
35 Minutes on Question 6.

When you attempt a question, make sure you time yourself. Good luck and happy revising!  


Section A


Source 1 - Is from an online newspaper.

Source 2 - Is an extract and photo from Bill Bryson's book 'Wigs for all Occasions'

Source 3 - Is a leaflet persuading people to volunteer.

Question 1a - List four things you learn about Christopher Knight. (4 Marks) Source 1

1)

2)

3)

4)

Question 1b - What do you understand about what life was like in the woods for Christopher Knight? (4 Marks) Source 1

• Show your understanding by using your own words 
• Support your ideas with the text.

Question 2 - What do you understand about the different fashions of the past? (8 Marks) Source 2

• Show your understanding by using your own words 
• Support your ideas with the text.

Question 3 -  How does the writer use language features in the leaflet? (12 Marks) Source 3
 
Remember to:

• give some examples of language features
• explain the effects.

Question 4 -  Now look again at all three sources. Choose two of these sources and compare the
way that they each use presentational features for effect. (12 marks) Source 1 Source 2 Source 3
 
I have chosen source …… and source …...
 
Remember to:

• write about the way the sources are presented
• explain the effect of the presentational features
• Compare the way they look. 

Section B

Question 5 - A new website has been set up called Odd Earth.

Write a short article for the website describing an odd experience you have had. (16 Marks)
 
Remember to:

• write an article
• use language to describe

Question 6 - Write the text for a leaflet to persuade students to help preserve a local landmark or place. (24 Marks)
 
Remember to:

• write a leaflet
• use language to persuade.

 

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