ELZ: English

Holiday Support
Summer 2018

Extension​
Year 10 Punctuation Revision
Year 10 Punctuation Quiz
Year 10 Sentence Length
Year 10 Spellings

Exam Board Specs

Articles

Revision and Practice
Years 7-9
Your teachers will have set homework for over the break based on the needs of your class. You could also use some independent study time to consolidate your learning in the following ways:
  1. Go back through your class book and review your teacher’s guidance. Make a note of any feedback or targets that you have been given and make sure you understand what these mean. If you are not sure, ask your teacher and he/she will explain.
  2. Make sure you have completed all your corrections in your class book in green pen. If there are any spellings you are still unsure of, then look them up and copy them our three times in the back of your book.
  3. Aim to get AHEAD in your studies. Your teacher will have told you what you are studying next. Why not conduct some research into this area to show your teacher after the break? For example, if you are in Year 9 and will be studying Blood Brothers, then find out about the main themes of this play and the time in which it was set.
  4. Read something – ANYTHING – for pleasure. This could be fiction, like novels or short stories, or non-fiction, like biographies or books or articles on things that interest you. If you already read a lot, then set yourself a challenge to read something you would not usually read – perhaps a different author or genre.
 
Year 10
Your teachers will have set homework for over the break based on the needs of your class. You should, however, also spend some independent study time to take control of your own learning and to get ahead in your studies.
This might involve:
  1. Consolidate your revision notes on An Inspector Calls. Use your class books, essays and revision materials to create a whole new set of revision notes and/or revision cards. At the very least, you should ensure that you have detailed notes on the following areas: Character Profiles; The Context of 1912 AND 1945; Priestley’s Key Aims; Social Class; Responsibility; Gender; and The Younger vs The Older Generation.
  2. Consolidate your revision notes on Macbeth. Use your class books, essays and the revision materials distributed to create revision notes and/or revision cards. At the very least, you should ensure that you have detailed notes on the following areas: Character Profiles (especially for Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff and The Witches); The Jacobean Context (including ‘Kingship’ and ‘Witchcraft’ and what is meant by ‘Shakespearean Tragedy’); Key Themes studied so far, such as Ambition, The Supernatural, Kingship, and Power.
  3. For both texts above, create essay plans on potential essay questions to practise applying your knowledge.
 
 
 
Year 11
Your teachers will have set homework for over the break based on the needs of your class. You should, however, also spend some independent study time to take control of your own learning and to get ahead in your studies.
This might involve:
  1. Consolidating all your revision notes for all your literary texts. Add to your banks of quotations and re-read each text: you should know them back to front, if necessary.
  • For Macbeth, in particular, use Youtube to watch different versions of key scenes and think carefully about what the director of each version wanted us to think about.
  • Don’t be complacent about An Inspector Calls: this is a text that you studied some time ago now so make sure you are challenging yourself in your revision.  Make sure you are moving beyond the ‘obvious’ themes and, instead, consider questions like: How does Priestley show hypocrisy in the middle classes? Or, How does Priestley use the structure of his play to show changing ideas?
  • Focus on your study of the 19th Century Novel. As above, make sure you are moving beyond the most obvious ideas and themes in Jekyll and Hyde or A Christmas Carol. Re-read these texts carefully, and make notes on particular extracts that you think are important.
  • For the Power and Conflict Poetry, make sure that your have revision notes for the following key areas: Power; Conflict; The Effects/After-effects  of War; The Power of Time; The Power of Nature; Tyranny; Identity; Repression; Relationships; and Control.
  1. Make sure that you know, in detail, the context for every text. You need to move beyond generalised statements and be able to make the most relevant and specific references to context.
  2. For all texts, create essay plans on potential essay questions to practise applying your knowledge.
  3. PRACTISE your English Language reading skills for Paper 1 and 2. Use the activities in the revision materials and make sure you know the requirements of each question. Revisit previous exam questions: it is a good idea to use the feedback you were given in order to have another attempt at these papers.
  4. PRACTISE your English Language writing skills.
  • For Paper 1, Section B (Narrative Writing), make sure you have some ideas ready which cover the typical themes. To practise, you could write a narrative based on the title: ‘A New Start’. Make your start ‘immediate’; don’t include details your reader doesn’t need to know and keep your plot ‘small’.
  • Make sure you know the format requirements for each of the Paper 2, Section B Transactional writing tasks (eg. Formal letters, reviews, articles, reports, speeches, etc) and read a variety of these texts, taking note of language features and tone.
  • Review your feedback for writing tasks with care, and pay careful attention to mistakes you have made in SPAG – make sure you won’t make these mistakes again by looking up words spelt incorrectly or, for example, reviewing rules on grammar or punctuation.
  1. Take time to consider how ALL your English skills overlap.
  • Make sure you know key terminology which covers all areas and how to apply it. eg. metaphor, simile, anecdote, alliteration, caesura, tone, humour, tense, voice, etc
  • Make sure you get into the habit of proofreading all your writing to check for mistakes and that you are being clear. Look up spellings or rules about punctuation or grammar if needed.
  • Practise PLANNING responses – eg. underline key words; annotate; jot down ideas; order ideas; consider details and evidence; make decisions about which ideas or evidence should go where.
 
Year 12
English Language
Your teachers will have set homework for over the break based on the needs of your class. You should, however, also spend some independent study time to take control of your own learning and to get ahead in your studies.
This might involve:
  1. Consolidating all your notes so far, including:
  2. Review all the language frameworks and terminology you have learnt so far. Don’t be complacent here: at this stage of the course, it is very likely that you will be confident with some ideas and terminology which you have come to rely on when analysing texts. PUSH yourself to revisit those areas which you have forgotten and learn these ideas and terms again. Pay particular attention to Grammar and Discourse, and keep adding to your ‘glossary’.
  3. Review all the ideas, theories and linguists you have covered so far. As above, it is likely that you have ‘go-to’ areas but have forgotten others. Remember that, whilst you have studied some ideas/theories in relation to specific areas (like identity, gender, or power or child language acquisition), in the end, all these ideas might relate to any aspect of the course. Make a separate set of notes for this area.
 
English Literature
Your teachers will have set homework for over the break based on the needs of your class. You should, however, also spend some independent study time to take control of your own learning and to get ahead in your studies.
This might involve:
  1. Consolidating all your notes so far for the texts you have studied.
  2. Make sure you know your texts ‘back to front’: read and re-read them, and keep making new notes based on your interpretations, and the interpretations of others.
  3. Review the CONTEXT of each text with care and make sure you are confident enough to move away from broad generalisations. In particular, focus on the LITERARY context of your text: what genres or ideas might be relevant here?
  4. Get AHEAD. Read your next text as well as any contextual or critical material you can find about it. Know the key ideas in advance of your study…
 
 
Year 13
English Literature and English Language
Your teacher will have set independent work based on the needs of each class. At this stage, you should be able to identify very clearly your own learning needs and areas for revision and be able to tackle these independently by reviewing the revision materials provided and by conducting further research. If you need any further guidance, please speak to your teacher.
General guidance:
  1. Consolidate ALL your notes. Once you have done this, do it again. Change your format, do essay plans and revisit earlier work.
  2. Read around your subject. For the highest grades, you need to go above and beyond what you have covered in class.
  3. Identify those areas where you feel less confident. Be honest with yourself and make a list of these areas and any queries you might have. Don’t worry if you feel that you ‘should know’ the answers: now is the time to address this. Aim to find out the answer for yourself by reviewing your previous work and conducting independent study. If you are still stuck, be ready to share these issues with your teacher immediately after the Pesach break.
  4. Make sure you know the requirements and assessment objectives for each exam task. If you have any doubts whatsoever, note these down and be prepared to ask your teacher about them after the Pesach break.