"Edusites English has been a game-changer for my classroom, providing expertly crafted resources that make teaching complex texts straightforward and enjoyable." "The revision guides and practice papers have given my students the confidence they need to excel in their exams, with noticeable improvements in their results." "Edusites English saves me so much time with its comprehensive lesson plans and study guides, allowing me to focus on what matters most—teaching and supporting my students." "The diverse range of materials, from text analysis to creative writing resources, keeps my students engaged and inspired in their English studies."
“It’s only words...and words are all I have…to take your heart away"
Ronan crooned these lyrics back in the day. When boybands were wholesome and everyone stood up for the chorus. Before that it was the Bee Gees. With their big hair and bigger flares. Today, as we count down the days to go until the language exams, the lyrics keep spinning round and around my head.
Let’s start a brand new story…
They didn’t have the words to write with. So I changed my approach.
Phrasing and vocabulary.
Talk in everlasting words… Problem identified: lack of confidence using the vocabulary for persuading and arguing. My plan of attack was threefold:
Click here for in-depth printable resources developing student skills in exactly 'what' the examiner is looking for in responses to Component 2 Eduqas.
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The ability to compare and contrast is one of the most important and challenging skills to master for the 9 to 1 English Language and English Literature. Previously compare and contrast techniques was tested only by Controlled Assessment in one of the four units of English Literature: now it reaches across both specifications as detailed below. It takes on much greater significance because some reading passages in English Language and English Literature are unseen.
There is frequent mention of a range of commands: see Edusites English Glossary of Frequently Used English GCSE Terms in Associated Resources but ‘evaluate’ needs clear definition here. The OED gives us ‘appraise’ ‘assess’. In turn we get to ‘estimate the worth of’ and ‘estimate the quality of’. So as far as we are concerned it means to make qualitative judgements about what has been read: with the constant proviso that these are supported by evidence from and reference to the text.
Edusites English expert Component 1 series to improve exam outcomes using precision tools to diagnose and develop skills. Practice Eduqas Component 1 exam paper with indicative content and student self-marking slides.
With each theme, this section looks at how the extract materials could be used in the classroom with one example for each theme developed further into a set of exam questions based on the exam paper, with some indicative content. The skills descriptors for each level for each question can be found at the back of the anthology with supporting detail.
Presented at both The Team English Conference and the ResearchEd National Conference this series of resources combine the latest research to improve creative writing. Directed towards improvements for the GCSE English Language Paper this resource can be used in conjunction with any qualification which includes a Creative Writing element.
Precise responses Grainne Hallahan AQA Paper 1 English Language Memorising Quotes with Amy Forrester GCSE English Literature Slices Taxi Tales from @heymrshallahan
Students having access to responses which exemplify a high grade 8 or 9 response gives a target for which they can aim. In the run up to exam season Edusites ‘Live Scripts’ can form the basis of a number of excellent lessons based on ‘what’ other students have achieved and most importantly how and why.
Edusites Slices show you how to enable students to consider how to ‘use’ quotations in their exam responses. However, the quotations need to be placed in long term memory to be available during the exam. What are some of the best ways of helping students to do this?
Back in 2015, when the first exams of the new spec rolled around, I knew the importance of quotations - it was a closed book exam after all. However, over time, I began to realise that the key wasn’t just in the retention of quotations, but in the knowledge of what to say about them.
So often students don’t speak up and let us know when they don’t understand a piece of vocabulary. Why? Embarrassment. Awkwardness. Indifference. But there are those other times, where there is a word in a sentence that they do not understand the meaning of, but they don’t speak up because they don’t realise themselves.
Videos and images used in the classroom can be huge distractions if used ineffectively. Chris Curtis has spoken about this very problem at the recent Team English National Conference and Rugby ResearchEd, and written about this very problem in his excellent blog here (http://learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com).
