KS3 Booster Pack

Doing better in GCSE English language In the examinations, you will be assessed on reading and writing only. To achieve a grade C you need to be confident in all these aspects. (Use the code in the second column to say how well you think you are doing: G – green, very confident; O – orange, not fully sure; and R – red, not very confident. Ask your teacher about anything you colour red.) 1 | Doing better in GCSE English language | Guidance leaflet for students © Crown copyright 2003 DfES 0696-2003 Reading Can I? Set about reading a text in the best way and keep going even if it gets difficult. Show that I understand: • what the text clearly states; • what the text suggests; by writing clear answers to questions. Back up what I say by giving examples and explaining them. Find the important bits of information in texts and put them together in my own words. Make comments about the way a writer has chosen: • to use words; • to set out their writing and present it to the reader. What can I do to improve? • When I read what’s on the exam paper, ask myself: What is this text for? Who is it for? • Decide whether I need to read closely, skim read or just scan the text. • Guess the meaning of words I don’t know by thinking what would make sense. • Go back to the beginning of the paragraph if I find I have lost the meaning. • Highlight the key words in the question (e.g. Explain why) so that my answer is to the point. Before I start writing, think: Is this really what the question is about? • If I can’t find the answer directly in the author’s words, do some detective work and try to find where the answer is suggested by something in the text. • Remember that opinions are just what somebody or some people believe. If they are trying to persuade me, they may present their opinions so they look like facts. • If it fits the question, use the PEE formula: – This is my point. – Here is an example from the text. – Here is a comment to explain the example. • If I need to quote, make it as short as possible – it may be quicker just to refer to a line, sentence or paragraph. • Scan texts and skim read until I have located the information I need for the question. Mark the sentences or paragraphs and read them carefully. • Use good connectives to help write my answer. Whereas, On the other hand, Instead of are useful links if I am saying that the information is different in two texts. Similarly, Likewise, In the same way are useful if the texts are saying more or less the same. • Make sure my comment is about the effect of the author’s special use of words or presentation. For example, don’t say: It’s a good description because there are lots of adjectives. Say: The many adjectives make the description richer and more detailed so the reader can imagine the scene more easily. GORGORGORGORGOR2 | Doing better in GCSE English language | Guidance leaflet for students © Crown copyright 2003 DfES 0696-2003 Writing Can I? Collect ideas and plan a piece of writing that will hold the interest of my reader. Write in different ways. Add interest by choosing the best words and by the way I write sentences. Make my writing very clear by using paragraphs and punctuation. Write neatly and keep the number of spelling mistakes down. What can I do to improve? • Use the way of planning that I find easiest. It might be a list of bullet points or some kind of diagram. Put all my ideas down quickly, then cross out what I don’t like and organise the rest into the best order. • Use the information in the question to help me think of ideas. • Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? are questions that can sometimes help to generate ideas. • Respect the reader. Include all the information they need. Make it make sense. • Revise the key features of different types of writing so I can include them in my work. • By thinking about the purpose and the intended readership of my writing, decide how formal and/or impersonal it needs to be. Adapt my writing to match this. Remember not to use the language of ordinary speech if I am writing formally. For example: We say, ‘ Thanks a lot!’ In a formal letter we write, I am most grateful. • I will need to write quickly, but I should stop sometimes and think: Is that the best word I can use? Can I write something more powerful, more unusual, more exact? • Vary the length of my sentences – using short, simple sentences for emphasis and longer sentences to link ideas together. • Start my sentences in different ways. Don’t always start with the subject and the verb of the main clause. • Think about paragraphs while I am planning and before I actually start the writing. • Remember to start a new paragraph for a change of time, change of topic, change of speaker. • Look at my longer sentences to see whether a comma between clauses or to separate a phrase from the rest of the sentence would help to make them clearer. • Don’t use commas instead of connectives. • Check that I have remembered other punctuation like speech marks and apostrophes. • I may be nervous in the exam, but I shouldn’t write so quickly that it is hard to read. I won’t lose marks for crossing out mistakes. • Know which words I am sometimes careless with. Look closely at these when I read through my writing. • If there are common words that always trouble me (e.g. How many f’s and t’s in graffiti? How do you spell necessary?), make sure I have got a way of remembering what is correct. • Don’t avoid using an excellent word because I am unsure of the spelling; but do make sure that I don’t make mistakes in simple, common words that I could be expected to know. GORGORGORGORGOR