Transcript How to attain a C in English GCSE

:
in
English!
What’s the difference between a C
and D grade in English?
How can I revise English?
What can parents do to help?
How can I make the difference
between a C and D grade?
Some really simple but effective ideas for
Paper 1 English:
1. Read newspapers (broadsheet & tabloid)
2. Ask your child to summarise the argument
3. Have discussions about contentious and
difficult issues – encourage a row!
4. Debate and don’t be afraid to talk!
5. Read leaflets, information sheets, adverts
and discuss why it has been written and
for whom
How can I make the difference
between a C and D grade?
English Paper 2: Writing:
1. Buy a thesaurus and use it when doing written
tasks
2. READ as much as possible
3. Keep a log of new vocabulary and use new
words
4. Learn synonyms. e.g. For the verb ‘said’
use ‘retorted’, ‘replied’, remarked’,
‘muttered’, ‘hissed’ or ‘whispered’ instead
How can I make the difference
between a C and D grade?
Spelling Strategies
• Use mnemonics: accommodation
(remember: cosy cottages and massive
mansions)
• Practise: Look-Cover-Write-Check
• Word roots: autobiography (auto=self
and bios=life and graph=write)
• Break word into parts (separate = there’s
“a rat” in separate)
How can I make the difference
between a C and D grade?
For poetry and set texts:
• Read the texts yourself if you can
• Encourage discussion about themes,
characters and what the text means
• Watch the film version together
• Purchase or borrow study aids and
guides
• Talk about the texts – take an active
interest
What’s the difference
between a C and D
grade?
Example
Statement 2:Rhetorical
Questions are used, by this writer,
to create an effect of:
withholding information and
provoking the reader to read on in the
text in hope of finding the answer
showing an ironic point or humorous
idea that requires no answer in the
text
expressing outrage or anger at a
particular situation
revealing the inner thoughts of a
person
making the reader have some kind or
emotional response
making the reader question
engaging the reader’s interest
making the reader get involved by
creating their own answers
emphasising the message/moral of
the story
Improving Word
Level Expression
Improving Sentence
Level Expression
Improving Text
Level Expression
Click on these links to access
the templates for improving
expression.
How can I revise English?
iLearning
Reading and
Writing
Other People
Revising English:
iLearning
 Podcastrevision (revision podcasts on key poems and exam
techniques)
 www.samlearning.com
 www.bbc.co.uk/schools
 www.universalteacher.org.uk
 englishbiz.co.uk (A straightforward site which focuses on
helping you to achieve higher grades in English and English
Literature GCSE exams. You are also invited to send in
questions.)
 englishplus.com (A site on English grammar; If you struggle
with your apostrophes or semi-colons then this is the site for
you)
 www.novelguide.com (Study guides for almost all GCSE
novel and including full texts of some novels and plays such as
“Of Mice and Men” and “Romeo and Juliet”)
 sparknotes.com (Comprehensive study guides for most GCSE
texts)
 s-cool.co.uk (A great resource with notes on many popular
GCSE texts. It also contains revision notes to help you with
some of the poems from the anthology)
 Past papers
www.podcastrevision.co.uk/podcasts.html
Reading of poem
and commentary
www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/eng_a_assess.php
Revising English:
Reading and Writing
Index cards
Help! Where
do I begin?
Re-annotation
Study guides
Literacy Booster Packs
Revising English:
Index Cards
Cluster 1: Poetry from Different Cultures
Title: Night of the Scorpion
Setting: India, rural area, ‘mud baked walls,’ scorpions
Community and their beliefs: Poor, religious / superstitious,
supportive, concerned, believe in reincarnation, believe that the
scorpion is the ‘devil’
Language: Narrator finds them irritating, ‘the villagers came like
swarms of flies and buzzed the name of God a thousand times.’ Use of
simile and onomatopoeia makes it sound as though there is a swarm or
many of them. He continues the image of them as flies with the use of
‘buzzed.’ In this ways, we can almost HEAR the number of villagers and
the sound they are making.
Structure: Narrative poem
Revising English:
Re-annotation
 Download blank poems
 Annotate everything you know
about the poem, using SLIP
(Structure, Language, Imagery,
Personal response).
Check new annotations against
previous notes.
ISBN 0-563-50122-7
ISBN 0-435-10288-5
ISBN 0-435-10604-X
ISBN 0-435-10602-3
York Notes: available online
and at major bookstores
CGP GCSE English
Revision Guides –
various titles
available:
www.cgpbooks.co.uk
Other People
• Parents
• Study Partners
What can parents/carers do
to help?
Working/Home
Environment
Support for
Success
Motivation
Nutrition
and
Sleep
Study
Resources
Working/Home Environment
• Desk
• Good light
• Quiet
• Noticeboard/wall space
• Bookshelf
• Access to Internet: Shared Documents,
useful websites
• Block chatrooms and messaging sites!
Nutrition and Sleep
• Water/smoothies
• Fruit and vegetables
• Nuts and healthy snacks
• Fresh Fish
• No fizzy drinks or processed sugar!
• 8 hours of sleep
Motivation
• Ask how they are doing
• Ask them to tell you something
they have learnt
• Praise, praise, praise
• Rewards, sanctions
How can study partners
help?
• Pairs: look at sample questions
and discuss, plan an essay
together, quizzes, etc
• Groups: choose 4 poems to
compare and contrast, debate, etc.
“A year from
now you may
wish you had
started today.”