Holiday Reading

My Goodness! I nearly forgot to give you some guidance for your Christmas reading list - sorry.

The reading list is really a work in progress as I'm hoping to get your feedback on what you like to put something more comprehensive together.

As you know, next term we'll be studying Macbeth and Frankenstein. Any reading you can do around this over the holiday will help greatly. It will be quite intensive once we get back and I advise that you do so. Use these links for Macbeth and Frankenstein for some study around the contexts and literary features. There are also some interesting things on YouTube. Both texts are much studied for GCSE so there are a multitude of resource online.

Any reading helps improve your writing as you learn vocabulary and about sentence structures and have good fun at the same time! Any reading is good; you could read magazines. I recommend about 30mins/day.

Books that I think you will enjoy are (new and old...):

• Lord of The Flies
• Vernon God Little
• The Curious Incident
• Black Rabbit Summer
• Catcher in The Rye
• Jane Eyre
• Waves
• Of Mice and Men
• Witch Child
• Soldier Boy

I've even put a link on each so that you can find out a little more about them (my Christmas present to you!). I've tried to meet the needs of all the class. Please don't rule out the older books immediately; they become classics for a reason.

There are also reading list available online. This link gives suggestions and reviews of over 300 books for teenagers. Try this interactive book chooser and let me know how it works out.

Hope this keeps you going.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Ms Caldwell

If you missed Your Controlled Assessment...

You will have to do it on Wednesday. The same rules as the Citizenship mock will apply. Go to the hall after lunch.
The work you've done already will be in the room waiting for you.
Ms

Here is the poem with some questions and key terms. This is to enable you to extend your learning and understanding outside of the classroom.

Hi Y10

This week we've looked at analysing layers of meaning. It's essential we can do this as this is what gets you the higher grades and also helps you think critically, which will help you with a range of subjects and skills. Find a line in the poem and develop and extend your response. It may seem, at first glance, that you can't get much out of the line, but consider how it presents the speaker and the influence that it has on the reader. As we have found in class, you can often extend and develop the smallest quote, finding layers of meaning. I know I'm going on about it, but it is all about layers of meaning!

What we need to be able to do well is structure paragraphs to show our understanding of layers of meaning. We had some trouble with this! It is something we will work on; once you get the hang of the structure, it will become much easier.

Today we also talked about the next controlled assessment. Here, we will study Macbeth and Frankenstein (two fantastic texts). We'll look at the presentation of good and evil.

Finally, I'm putting together a reading list; this will be on the blog ready for you to add to your Christmas list!

Be ready to share your best book ideas with the class.

Ms Caldwell

Hello Y10

Hopefully, lots of you will be looking at this after being prompted to after Y10 PCE. A reminder then of some of the links that are available to you on this blog. There's a link for: information on semi-colons here; there is more semi-colon information here; the poetic devices sheet that you were given is here; if you would like to look at the analysis on YouTube of Island Man that we looked at in class click here and for further analysis and advice on a broad range of writing skills click here. (I highly recommend this last link as you can work on skills that are specific to your personalised targets.)

This is a great resource for you that will refine your skills for independent study; skills as an independent learner will serve you well throughout your education and for life!

If you still haven't finished your Controlled Assessment, you will do this in the hall on Wednesday 15th in the afternoon with the Y11s mocks. You will have had some experience of this; you have your Citizenship mock this Wednesday afternoon The same rules will apply.

See you next week,

Ms Caldwell

I forgot to say in the last post... If you missed time for your Controlled Assessment, you must come to Psychology II (the room through the doors to the Y10 office), P3 tomorrow, 30th November.

Hello Y10

Today we looked at the poetic devices song writers use in songs. We considered how the language and devices create layers of meaning. The purpose of the activity is to extend our analysis poems; we're not just commenting on the device we are commenting on the effect upon the reader and considering how this adds to the theme/tone/purpose of the poem.

We analysed the opening of Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise today. It's loaded with poetic devices that add to the layers of meaning conveyed to the audience. Tomorrow, you'll look at the songs you've chosen as poetry and present these to others or the class.

As I've said, it's essential that you are confident in analysing poetry as you'll have an unseen poem in the exam (this means that you will not have seen it before). If you're not very confident in your poetry analysis now, you don't need to worry about it too much. This work is preparation for your exam in the Summer of 2012! We'll look at poetry at intervals over the course to build on and refine your skills.

In addition, I have looked at some of your poems. They are fabulous! I think we need to spend a bit more time in lessons looking at them to show off the talent in the class.

Ms

Hello Y10

We've been studying poetry this week. We studied Island man and poetic devices. It's essential that you know and can use the devices confidently as you'll have an unseen piece of poetry in the exam. Poems are easier to discuss when we know the techniques poets use. If you would like to look at the poetic devices sheet it is here.

If you would like to look at the analysis of Island Man that we looked at in lesson click here.

If you missed a lesson, it is essential that you study independently in order to ensure you are at the same point as the rest of the class. This is your responsibility and this resource is available to you to assist with this. Use this blog. You've already started your GCSEs in English.

See you next week,

Ms

Hello Y10

Today we looked at Poetry. We considered how the poet used language to convey meaning and ideas.

We looked at The Night of the Scorpion and did an amazing piece of drama to go with it. Watch out Drama dept! Perhaps a new school production?

You need to learn ten poetic device for tomorrow. It's only ten and we'll have some fun with it tomorrow.

Ms

Well done for getting the Controlled Assessment done Y10! We really have been working on our Competency of perseverance...
We will be moving on to poetry next; we'll have some fun with this and study a variety of different poems.
Happy Eid!
Ms Caldwell

Hello Y10

It's the Controlled Assessment next week. You're well prepared for this and have all the help you need in your draft books. Look through your article, which should be fully drafted by now, and check it against the your success criteria, your targets and the Assessment Objectives.

Remember, you're marked for your communication (purpose, genre & rhetoric), organisation (discourse markers, paragraph links) and SENTENCE STRUCTURE. Ensure you have a range of sentences as your marks are weighted towards this.

I recommend that you look at the games here, particularly the newspaper article. It's quite basic, but it's good cement understanding. It's not a children's' game either.

Look at the first one (don't bother with the second) here for advice on semi-colons. There is more information here. There is even a semi-colon game for some light relief.

Everything you need is in your draft books; try to remember as much as you can!

Ms Caldwell

Hi Y10

In today's lesson we looked at our personal targets, set specific actions for meeting the targets and created our own success criteria for the next Controlled Assessment.

Our competency focus was reflection. A considerable amount of the lesson was spent reflecting on our work, this makes us good learners! I also need to reflect; it is a skill for life. We need to constantly reflect on what we have done well and what we could do better in all aspects of our lives. It sounds simple enough, but can be difficult.

You need to remember that you are at the beginning of Y10; you have a lot of learning in between now and and sitting your exams and your result is not your overall English GCSE grade.

Now we need to act upon our reflection to improve our work for the next Controlled Assessment!

Ms Caldwell

Hello Y10

Well done for the last two lessons. I do realise that looking at the Assessment Objectives isn't the most exciting thing in the world, but it is important for knowing what you have to do to do well in the next controlled assessment.

Your homework, due Friday, is to write two of the most amazingly fantastic paragraphs you've ever written. You need to:

• Consider the genre, purpose (use a range of rhetorical devices).
• Use links bewteen the paragraphs
• Use discourse markers (click here for some examples)
• Use a range of sentence structures that are crafted for effect

Remember how Carole Malone crafted the sentences, using repetition and rule of three to add to the impact of her sentences? Use that!

See you next week

Ms Caldwell

Speaking and Listening GCSE

Well done to those of you who presented today. They were engaging, effective and excellent (see what I've done there?)!

If you haven't presented, it is useful to record yourself doing so; most phones have a voice recorder or video recorder or use a webcam etc. This will be a good guide as to where you may need to pause, slow down or add emphasis.

I think we were all impressed today and I'm sure Mrs Dolan will be on Friday.

Ms Caldwell

This week, Y10, you will be delivering your presentations for your GCSE speaking and listening assessment.

To do this successfully you need to include a range of rhetorical devices and speak confidently; your draft books include all the information you need to do this well.

I'm looking forward to seeing them on Tuesday.

Ms Caldwell

Annoying!

Hello Y10

This week we have considered things that annoy us! This is in preparation for our Speaking and Listening assessments next week and the article we will write in our next controlled assessment. The title for this newspaper article is 'Don't get me started on...'.

We have learned about the features of successful writing; we looked particularly at Charlie Brooker's article on the iPad and how he controlled imagery to create humour.

We have also learned about rhetoric and excellent speech making.

In your groups, you will prepare speeches to present to the class. You have two lessons and a homework to do this.

You have chosen some excellent topics and your ideas do inspire annoyance (in a good way!).

Well done for this week - you're a great class.

Ms :)

P.S. This is annoying!

Well Done Y10

I just want to say well done Y10 on completing your first piece of GCSE coursework. There is some amazing work.

Give yourself a pat on the back!

Ms :)

Controlled Assessment

Hello Y10

Just a reminder that it's the Controlled Assessment P5 tomorrow and P1 on Tuesday.

You are all well prepared for this; the work that you have done in your draft books and contributions to lessons have been excellent.

Remember, engaging writing, sentence variety and paragraphs! If in doubt, look through your book at the work done in lesson time and the targets you've been given.

You'll need to be sat in alphabetical order; I'll direct you as you enter the class.

If you have a concerns, please leave a comment or email me via the school email (lcaldwell).

Ms :)

Hello Y10

Well done for your work today. Those of you that have been focused will be rewarded in the Controlled Assessment next week!

This week we looked at collecting information about the director, Paul Greengrass, other films about 9/11 and some other reviews. You should all have created your own success criteria for review writing.

For your homework, ready for Friday, you need to ensure that you have finished this note-taking and have created a success criteria. You also need to create a word bank of useful words that you could take in as notes. Remember, using very or really needs to be better; you're aiming for unusual/dramatic verbs and adjectives. Finally, you need to take a few notes on paragraph topics. What information might you include in your paragraphs? What do other review writers do to organise their paragraphs?

That might seem like a lot, but really it's just revision of what we've been doing since the beginning of the school year. You have produced some amazing work in your draft books.

Look at the links in the last post if you feel that you need some help with vocabulary or semi-colons.

Big well done again!
Ms Caldwell :)

Hello Y10

This week we have looked at sentence construction and variety. It is essential to consider this as we move towards our controlled assessment; you are marked on your ability to use a range of sentences to control the pace and flow of your writing, organise the text and be interesting/engaging.

We looked particularly at semi-colons, colons, parenthesis and the subordinate clause. We saw how layering clauses was good for adding extra information to show understanding. We also looked at how this made writing interesting and engaging as it made particular aspects of the writing stand out.

I have also found a semi-colon game that you can play online. I know, it's very exciting! Click here to have a quick play; it will help increase your confidence with this very special piece if punctuation.

Your homework is to write two paragraphs reviewing United 93. Ensure that you look at the little success criteria cards to guide your writing; it is also imperative that you look at the target I have given you. Remember that your writing should be engaging, think about vocabulary choices. If in doubt, look at the reviews you have stuck in your books. Your paragraphs should contain a similar amount of information. Practicing writing in this way will improve your ability to write well in the controlled assessment.

Finally, it's very important that you keep your book tidy and organised; please stick in any loose sheets.

Well done for the hard work you've put in this week; you've worked very well indeed.

See you next week,

Ms Caldwell

P.S. Remember, some people think that colons don't matter: colons matter.

Hello Y10

Last week we looked at how reviews are organised, their content and sentence variation. This will continue to be our focus this week as we move towards controlled assessement next week.

With Mrs Dolan on Friday you looked at sentence variety, specifically complex sentences and their effects. Your homework was to write at least one paragraph, taking into account your targets from peer assessment, about United 93. You will need these paragraphs for our next lesson.

I hope you've had a lovely weekend,

Ms Caldwell

HI Y10

Sorry, I keep getting Error 503!

The quickest way for me to do this is to give you a hyper link to the other class's page - the other side! I'll explain tomorrow, but a problem with Blogger it seems...
Click here to find out the terminology for tomorrow's lesson.

BTW: As you can tell, my day has not got any better!

Ms Caldwell

Hello Y10,

We've had an excellent start to Y10 and your GCSE English course. Well done.

Last week, we looked at Simon Armitage's poem Out of the Blue, read by Rufus Sewell. This is a very moving reading and production of the poem; you discussed the performance and issues well in your groups.

This week, we'll look at media techniques and terminology. You've already started to look at film reviews and we'll aim to start to consider the features of good review writing. This will lead us to write our own reviews later this term.

Hope you've had a good weekend.
Ms Caldwell
P.S. I'm having a few problems with the formatting of this post; I apologise for its distinct lack of perfection!

Hello Y10,

It was great to meet you all today. You worked really well as team players and as a class. I was particularly impressed by your group presentations. I do understand that many of you don't like standing up and talking to the class so you were very impressive; we will do a lot of it though so it's good to get used to it from the start.

Your homework is to find an item or think of a word that best describes you for tomorrow's lesson. This will help me get to know you.

You may also be interested in this link to the programme that was shown on Saturday night called 102 minutes that changed America. Click here for the link to 4OD.

See you tomorrow.

Ms Caldwell

Welcome to your Y10 Blog!

Hello Y10/Parents and Guardians

Welcome to the blog for 10LM English. This website is a place where we can post information about how the class is getting on, what we are learning and what work needs to be completed at home. It will be helpful for all of us and will make sure we are all clear about the learning that's going on in Y10. Y10 is a busy year!

We are launching straight into your GCSE coursework. This year, coursework is done in class as controlled assessments; your self-management skills will need to be spot on so this blog will be an accessible tool for your independant learning.

We look forward to working with you.

Ms Caldwell and Mrs Dolan