Starting Assignment 3

Assignment 3 is an assessment of Writing and Reading skills.  Unlike Assignment 2 there is an additional 10 marks available for a candidates ability to infer and interpret information from a text.

We've started with graffiti and vandalism.  To what extent are the following images vandalism of graffiti (art).  What does it take to make the graffiti purposeful - consideration of audience?  Consideration of image?  Consideration of message?

For Assignment 3 only, the following reading assessment objectives are tested (10 marks):

R1 demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings

R2 demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes
R3 analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions.

 

The candidate should explain the views presented in the text(s), develop any ideas of interest and argue with or against them, examining them for inconsistencies and substituting complementary or opposingviews.

 

The assignment may be written in any appropriate form (e.g. an article, a letter, or the words of a

speech), but teachers must make sure that Assignment 3 does not have the same form and style as
Assignment 1 in the final portfolio.

 

Radio 2: Story Writing Competition

 

BBC Radio 2 are once again launching the 500 words Story Writing Competition for children aged 13 and under. This is a nationwide search for quality, creative writing and I believe that we have some awesome writers in school who really ought to be encouraged to enter.

 

If you have children in Year 7 and 8 please do encourage them to take part. The deadline is February 22^nd.

 

Miss Hague volunteered to mark some of the entries last year and was amazed at the quality of the writing, and is sure there are students here capable of doing just as well.

 

There are some useful and interesting ideas and resources here if you fancied having a look.

 

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/500words/500words_online.pdf

 

This is the competition website:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/500words/2013/

Post-Literature Exam

Year 11 went in for their Literature exam on Modern Texts today: a fraught day for any teacher!  I prayed they would have a positive experience and I'm glad to say that the exam board did not disappoint this year.

We were extremely fortunate that one of the areas in "Of Mice and Men" that we have paid close attention to came up.  In the other section of the paper, pupils seemed happy enough, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

If you have a child who has taken this exam today you may be wondering what we'll be up to next.  Well, immediately, we will be delving into poetry.  The next exam is in June and between now and then we will be studying a collection of 15 poems.  In the exam itself they are asked to compare different poems that they have studied with me and discuss an analytical question in one section of the paper, in the second section they will be required to respond analytically to a poem that they haven't seen in lessons.  In this section of the paper their ability to identify poetic features and illustrate their ability to respond originally is being assessed.

My class will be deciding which area of poetry they study as there are 60 poems grouped under four headings: Relationship, Conflict, Place, Character and voice.  The group will be breaking up into smaller groups and looking at a selection before they argue for or against the different headings.  Your involvement as parents/carers would be really appreciated if you like poetry.  If you don't you can still help by filling in some of the context gaps that may crop up, some of the poetry refers to the Vietnam war for instance, or the two World Wars which you may have a better understanding of than your child.

The other thing I'd like you to be aware of is that should your child's result not meet their target, they have the opportunity to retake in June.  This simply means they will have an additional exam.  This may sound like unwarranted pressure, however last year one of my year 11s moved from 56/80 in January to 79/80 in her retake and, overall, ended up coming third in the year.  She is now proving to be an exceedingly talented Literature student.

Reading on Reflection

It can be such a struggle to get our kids reading if they are reluctant other slightest.  This Christmas I've been told by my mother that I was a reluctant reader, a real shock!  I couldn't remember this at all, such is my memory, but it has slowly been coming back to me.  On further investigation, into why this was the case, I was told it was just one of those things: too busy with Lego (probably).

The answer, according to mum and dad, was to find something I could access.  It wasn't that I struggled to read and very often this is the case with boys.  We are quite capable of reading, but we're choosy.  There's all sorts of advice I, and others, could give you and depending on your child it may or may not work.  Fundamentally, what helped with me is that mum and dad were able to find a genre I found interesting, which at the time was fantasy starting with a chap called Stephen Lawhead.  In the links at the side you will see a link to 'The Big Book Review' which may give you some guidance.  The kids, of all ages, have written a review on a favourite book and it may be useful as a guide.  Otherwise, in a previous post, you will see a link to a site that categorises texts for children of different ages in a really useful way.

Happy Christmas,
Mr Stirrup

Following

Afternoon all,

I have made an update to the 'Lord of the Flies' page after realising there was no 'Follow' gadget attached to the page, so please sign up so that you can keep up to date with what your kids have on offer for revision etc...

I will be updating it over the Christmas break as they don't have any significant time with me prior to the exam.  If we can really crack this paper then they won't have to re-take it in June, but this will still be on offer should they want to anyway.  For instance, last year one of my pupils took the January paper and scored 51 out of 80 but decided to take it again.  Second time round she came third in the year!  Her 'Of Mice and Men' essay is available, as a post, on that particular blog so you can see what she was doing well.

All the best for Christmas.
Mr Stirrup

Reading Books Advice

Here's a great website that categorises texts for a variety of ages.  It's easy to navigate and even has a page for parents, largely aimed at advice for you and that sort of thing.  The Sue Palmer book 'Toxic Childhood' is especially good, as is the Oliver James book, though I wouldn't take it all as gospel if I were you, especially Oliver James.

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/genre/g12/2012-Great-Reads.html

All the best
Mr Stirrup

Revision Advice

Repeat yourself

Pathways between neurons can be strengthened over time. Simple repetition – practising retrieving a memory over and over again – is the best form of consolidating the pattern.

Use science to help you retrieve info

Science tells us the ideal time to revise what you've learned is just before you're about to forget it. And because memories get stronger the more you retrieve them, you should wait exponentially longer each time – after a few minutes, then a few hours, then a day, then a few days. This technique is known as spaced repetition.

This also explains why you forget things so quickly after a week of cramming for an exam. Because the exponential curve of memory retrieval does not continue, the process reverses and within a few weeks, you have forgotten everything.

Take regular breaks

Breaks are important to minimise interference. When your hippocampus is forced to store many new (and often similar) patterns in a short space of time, it can get them jumbled up.
The best example of this is when you get a new telephone number. Your old number is still so well-entrenched in your memory that remembering the new one is a nightmare. It's even worse if the new one has a few similarities to the old.
Plan your revision so you can take breaks and revise what you've just learned before moving on to anything new.

Avoid distractions

Attention is the key to memorising. By choosing to focus on something, you give it a personal meaning that makes it easier to remember. In fact, most of our problems when it comes to revision have very little to do with the brain's capacity for remembering things; we just struggle to devote our full attention to the task in hand.
Playing music while revising will make your task harder, because any speech-like sounds, even at low volume, will automatically use up part of the brain's attention capacity.

Sleep is vital

We spend approximately a third of our lives sleeping and it's never as important as during revision time. Sleep plays a critical role in memory consolidation – this is when the brain backs up short-term patterns and creates long-term memories. The process is believed to occur during deep sleep, when the hippocampal neurons pass the patterns of activity to another part of the brain called the neocortex, which is responsible for language and the generation of motor commands.

Recent research in Nature Neuroscience has shed new light on how memories are decluttered and irrelevant information is deleted during this process. This results in the important memories (the pathways that have been strengthened through repetition) becoming easier to access.

Control your emotions

We remember emotionally charged events far better than others, and this is especially the case if the emotion was a positive one. It is not always possible to have warm feelings about your revision, but if you can associate a particular fact with a visual, auditory or emotional experience from the past, then you have a better chance of remembering it, as you have created multiple pathways for retrieval.