Pupils of the Month - is it you?

This year, the English department is running a pupil of the month reward system. This is to recognize and reward the outstanding work that goes on on a daily basis from a significant amount of our students. Sometimes, we are so blown away by the outstanding nature of their effort, homework, classwork, engagement, that we want to shout about it from the roof tops.


So, every month, we will share these students, and if we can, photographs of their work, to celebrate their successes. Each student's reason for winning will also be explained.


Without further ado, here are our September winners!

Year 7 –  Lucy Andrews.

Lucy always shows exceptional effort in lessons and  her class contributions have been consistently outstanding since the start of term. Superb! Well done, Lucy, and keep up the great work!

 

Year 8 was just too difficult for use to decide! Having looked at positive behavior points for the 2 students, we found them neck and neck. Therefore, both of them are declared our winners! In no particular order, we have Mimi Cook for outstanding homework, effort in class, attitude to learning. We also have Matthew Smith, again, for outstanding homeworks in English. Well done to both students - we hope you continue with this excellent work!

 

Year 9 - Katie Beresford 
Katie has been given this aware for great effort in reading Lennie’s part with emotion. For those of you that have read Of Mice and Men, you'll realize the significance of the emotions portrayed through Lennie's character. Katie did an excellent job of portraying this and showed herself to have a real talent for speaking.

 

Year 10 - Nathan Shaw.
Nathan has made an excellent start to his GCSE English studies. Each piece of work has shown that he has put in lots of effort, and also that he is making excellent progress as a result. Well done Nathan, and keep up the excellent work.

 

Year 11 - Tom Goode.
Tom never ceases to amaze his English teacher, Miss Forrester. Tom's effort and work outside of school is truly outstanding and as a result of this, Tom is making huge steps in progress. Indeed, he is out performing his target grades by around 2 grades. Tom's absolute dedication to his own achievement is inspiring to all. Keep up the hard work Tom - it's really paying off!

 

Year 12 – Ella Curzon.
Ella has been recognized for her excellent homeworks as she begins her journey into A Level English. This is an integral part of achieving success at A Level, and it's brilliant to see Ella doing it so brilliantly!

 

Year 13 - Alex Milburn.

Alex has made huge improvements to organization. This has made a huge impact and Alex is now making increased progress as a direct result of this, well done!

These are just some of our truly outstanding and inspiring students at Cockermouth School. Over the coming months, we will continue to share the outstanding work of our students. For those of you that have narrowly missed out, this is your chance to work even harder, push yourself, and make sure that you are next month's English Student of the Month!

Good luck, and keep learning!

The English Department.

Final Words

With the Literature exams looming, we thought it would be apt to give you some final words of wisdom and tips for the exam.
Remember, it's Unit 1 on Tuesday (modern texts) and Unit 2 (poetry) on Thursday. If you DO NOT bring your copy of your novel to the Tuesday exam, you WILL have to sit the exam without a copy so do not forget it! See your English teacher as a matter of urgency if you do not have your exam copy.

General advice:
1) Read the question 2 or 3 times.
2) Highlight the key words in the question and make sure you're really clear in your head what you're being asked to write about. Don't be the person who doesn't answer the actual question.
3) Once you're really clear in your head what the question is asking, begin your plan.
4) On your plan, you should roughly plot of what you're going to write about, and use this time to locate the quotations you're going to use. DO NOT start writing until you have your quotes and your ideas clear in your head.
5) Remember, you need to be writing about the following things, regardless of text or question: key words, alternative interpretations, personal response, etc. If you think you might forget this, use the PEEKIIE mnemonic to remind you: Point, Example, Explanation, Key word analysis, Interpretations, Intentions (the writer's intentions behind their language choices etc) Evaluation. 


Other words of wisdom:
1) Don't write about what isn't there. For example, when comparing poems, don't write about one poem having a simile and the other not. You look like a fool. Only write about what IS actually there. There is no significance to what isn't there.

2) Don't make generalized comments such as 'The writer used this to have an effect', 'It makes you want to read on' and anything else that is completely meaningless. The reason you want to write this is because you can't think of anything better. Take a couple of minutes to think of something to say. It's far better to produce a shorter answer with some really great points than it is to write a meaningless 3 page essay.

3) Ignore what everyone else is doing. We know it's hard. Just because they're doing it, doesn't mean that you should be too. Each person works differently. Do what you need to do. Don't worry if others have started writing and you're still planning. Don't worry if everyone else has finished and you haven't. Remember, this is YOUR exam. You do what's right for YOU.

4) Don't over react when you read the question. If it's not what you're expecting or it feels like something you can't write about, take a moment to work it out in your head. If it's really thrown you, do the other section first and come back to it. You'll work it out - go with your gut instinct.

If you need any help or advice, please just come and see us, email us, tweet us, leave a comment here - we'll do everything we can to support you in the coming days if you need it.

As ever, good luck, work hard, do your best and that's all anyone can ever ask of you.

Question 1 English Language GCSE revision activities.

One of the most effective ways to prepare for the English Language exam is to lots of example questions! Here, we're going to share with you some links to example articles, and the question that you should have a go at answering. Email this to your teacher, bring it in on paper...anything. Just make sure you get some feedback on it!


Question 1 Links:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/apr/29/the-bfg-spielberg-roald-dahl-filmed-adaptation?CMP=twt_gu

Question: What do you learn about the adaptation of the BFG? (8 marks).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/04/coral-reef-breeding_n_4388094.html

Question: What do you learn about how the barrier reef might be saved? (8 marks)


Good luck, and, as always, work hard.

The 5 minute mock exam analysis....

We came across courtesy of @TeacherToolkit and @MathedUp on twitter and we couldn't help but share it with you.
By now, you will all have your literature mocks back from your English Teachers. Obviously you will have spent some time in class on these, but this resource is designed to help you use the mock exam, and the feedback, to identify what you need to do, and where your own revision needs to be focused. The idea is that this resource should only take you five minutes but the outcome will really focus you on your next steps.
You will need to complete this for each of the texts you have studied and are tested on in the exam.

As always, come and see us if you need any support whatsoever, or leave a comment on here and we can respond promptly to you.

On revising comparing poems effectively.

One of the most effective ways to prepare for this section of the Literature exam is to pre empt what's coming. This post will direct you on how to do this effectively.

We can *roughly* know the types of things you will be asked about in the exam. We know it'll be to compare, and we can make some educated guesses about the topic which you will be asked to compare. Therefore, you can begin to group poems by question. Below are a list of questions that you may be asked. For each one, decide all of the poems you could write about:

1) Compare the ways identity is presented....
2) Compare the ways that strong characters are presented....
3) Compare the ways that weaknesses in characters are presented.....
4) Compare the ways that characters are presented.....
5) Compare the ways that attitudes to other characters are presented....
6) Compare the ways that heritage is presented....
7) Compare the ways the past is presented in terms of its impact on characters....

For each of these topics (in bold), write a list of poems you could write about.

You then need to work through the poems, one by one, comparing each of them to all of the others.

For example, if you decided that you could write about COMH, Casehistory, River God and Singh Song (there are more, but just as an example....) for identity, you would then set about deciding what you'd write about if each of the poems was the named poem, and which ones you'd compare it to and how.
So, let's say that River God is the named poem. For each of the poems you could compare it to, make a list of:
1) Similarities
2) Differences
3) Language devices used
4) Quotes you could use.

You can then use that information to write a plan. Then repeat this process for every poem that could be named, and for every poem you could write about. You should then be in a position where, in the exam, you know straight away which poem you'll choose, and, more importantly, what it is you're going to write about.

Have a go at planning the following essays, deciding what poems you'd use, and what you'd write about. Bring them to me to look at!

1) Compare the ways that strong characters are presented in Medusa and one other poem.
2) Compare the ways that heritage is presented in COMH and one other poem.
3) Compare the ways that attitudes to other characters are presented in The Ruined Maid and one other poem
4) Compare the ways that feelings towards other characters are presented in On a Portrait of a Deaf Man and one other poem.
5) Compare the ways that characters' experiences are presented in 'Horse Whisperer' and one other poem.

Once you've planned a range of responses, have a go at writing them as an essay response. Bring them in or email them to me for feedback.

Remember, it's absolutely vital that you're confident on all of the poems, and all of the potential topics. Tackle the ones you're scared of, or struggle with, first. Make yourself confident on them. You do not want to be in the position in the exam where you cannot answer either of the questions!!

English Language Revision Sessions

From next week, there will be English Language revision opportunities after school. For those of you re-sitting the language paper, these are a good idea.

They will be held in S10, from 3:20 to around 4 o'clock.
The dates of the sessions are as follows:

Monday 28th April: Q1
Tuesday 6th May: Q2
Monday 12th May: Q3
Monday 19th May: Q4

As you can see, these sessions are focusing on the reading section of the exam. If you feel you need more help with your writing, please remember that there is an English Drop In Clinic every Thursday lunchtime in S12 where you can go to get some expert help and support.

Please also remember that these sessions are absolutely not a substitute for revision at home, in your own time. These sessions are purely being provided for re capping purposes, to remind you how to respond to the question, and to provide you with some practice materials.

If you cannot attend the session, but would like the hand outs, please come and see Miss Forrester, who is running the sessions, in S10, or the Year 9 Head of Year office, at lunchtime.

We hope that your revision is going well. Please do come and see us if there's anything we do to support you further.

Good luck.

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction" - Anne Frank.

Revising for English Literature over Easter...DO IT.

All the best people in the world recognize that the purpose of the Easter Holidays is for Year 11 students across the country to be revising. Forget eating chocolate eggs, it's all about revision.

So, with that in mind, we thought it would be useful for you to have some exam style questions to do over your revision holiday. This is one of the best, if not the best, way of revising for this exam. It helps you realize what you know, but also, crucially, what you don't know about the texts.

Here are a list of questions for you to use. These are all aimed at candidates sitting the Higher paper.

For Short Stories:

Q1a: Write about the ways that attitudes to parents are presented in Anil
Q1b: Write about the ways that attitudes to others are presented in another short story.

Q2a: Write about the ways that the relationship between the boy and his father are presented in 'Compass and Torch'.
Q2b: Write about the ways that a relationship is presented in one other short story.

Q3a: Write about the ways that Carla is presented in 'My Polish Teacher's Tie'.
Q3b: Write about the ways that a main character is presented in one other short story.

For Poetry (character and voice).
Q1: Compare the ways that powerful characters are presented in My Last Duchess and one other poem from the anthology.

Q2: Compare the ways that strong emotions are presented in Medusa and one other poem from the anthology.

Q3: Compare the ways that ideas about identity are shown in 'The Clown Punk' and one other poem from the anthology.

Q4: Compare the ways that isolated characters are portrayed in 'The Hunchback in the Park' and one other poem from the anthology.

Remember to bring these into school for your English teacher to look at, or email them a typed up version. If you're stuck on these, please leave a comment - these are immediately directed to an English teacher who can provide you with assistance over the holidays.

More exam papers can be found by following this link: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-9710/past-papers-and-mark-schemes

You will all be sitting Unit 1 and Unit 2. Unit 1 is Short Stories and Of Mice and Men and Unit 2 is poetry and unseen poetry. To practice answers for Of Mice and Men and unseen poetry, you are best placed to access these on the above link so that you have the extracts of text from Of Mice and Men and the poem for the unseen question.

Good luck - remember, you only get one chance at these exams. Work hard now and you will be successful.