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Edexcel IGCSE English Language & Literature
Welcome!
Hello and welcome! Whether you’re thinking of becoming an expat teacher, are teaching in an international or multicultural school I can help.
I currently teach English at a British curriculum international school, and have been an Edexcel examiner for more than a decade.
My goal is to share my experiences, hacks and resources with fellow teachers and students to help build a global community of English teachers. This website contains a gold mine of teaching resources to increase student grades – take a look around and enjoy!
Thank you
Alison
“It is a bitter-sweet thing, knowing two cultures. Once you leave your birthplace nothing is ever the same.”
~ Sarah Turnbull, Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris
“The loneliness of the expatriate is of an odd and complicated kind, for it is inseparable from the feeling of being free, of having escaped.”
~ Adam Gopnik, Paris to the Moon
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Edexcel IGCSE English Language‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ IGCSE Lessons and Activities
Between a Rock and a Hard Place, as well as being a popular idiom, is the title of a book written by Aron Ralston. An extract from the book – the part in which his hand is crushed – is currently studied as part of the IGCSE Edexcel English Language exam Section A: Non-fiction texts. This article takes you through a step-by-step guide to teaching Between a Rock and a Hard Place IGCSE lessons and activities with linked resources.
Ralston wrote an account detailing a near death experience. Whilst on a solo hiking trip, Ralston got his hand trapped between a cliff face and a boulder in a freak accident. With no way to escape, he was forced to saw his own arm off to survive. It was made into a Blockbuster movie, 127 Hours, starring James Franco and winning 23 awards.
It’s both suspenseful and didactic; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Ralston conveys the perilous event through multiple language and structural techniques?
Teaching Ideas for The Between a Rock and a Hard Place
I’ve created Between a Rock and a Hard Place IGCSE lessons and activities for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the text from engaging, thought-provoking starter, to evaluating the film trailer for 127 Hours, to analysing and annotating the text, to practising an Edexcel GCSE style question on the text. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, exam questions, techniques and model answers and close textual annotations of the whole text.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Structure
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 Anthology non-fiction texts and one thematically linked unseen text. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. Lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text is the skill being assessed in this question.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place Meaning
The title is a crucial part of this extract as it represents both a literal and figurative meaning. However, some students, especially those in international schools and English as a Second Language pupils, may not have the cultural reference point to decode the idiomatic phrase. That’s why it’s useful to ensure that students understand the meaning of the title and how it relates to the central theme. For the pre-starter, display some example situations and ask students to work out the meaning of ‘stuck between a rock and a hard place’.
As an extension, they can come up with their own scenarios warranting use of the idiomatic expression. Then, once we begin reading, I clarify that students understand the double connection: Ralston literally jamming his hand between a ‘rock and a hard place’ and having to choose between almost certain death or sawing through his own arm.
127 Hours
Learning that the book we are studying an extract from was made into a movie starring James Franco often piques students’ interest. To engage them, I play the trailer and give them some questions which urge them to consider a range of reactions to such a life-threatening event in preparation for reading Ralston’s responses. We discuss the trailer after viewing it before moving on to close textual analysis of the text.
‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ Textual Analysis
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with 3 different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which illustrates Ralston’s expertise in one colour, phrases suggesting that climbing is a difficult endeavour in another colour and finally, they identify sentences or words depicting the danger of the situation. It is a fairly straightforward extract for students to understand once they know the movie plot – most comprehend the dramatic event. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking how Ralston conveys the experience to the reader.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. Detailed annotations of language and structural techniques are included in these Between a Rock and a Hard Place IGCSE lessons and activities.
‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ Edexcel IGCSE Questions and Answers PDF Worksheet
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions and answers are available with this resource as editable Google slides and as a PDF worksheet to hand out to students. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class. I find quizzing students in a fun, low-stakes way breaks up the intensive exam-style teaching of the text, but also gives you an opportunity to gauge students’ understanding during the lessons.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Questions and Example Essays
Questions 1, 2 and 3 on the Edexcel IGCSE English Language A exam test students’ understanding of the unseen text, whereas question 4 assesses analysis and evaluation of the previously studied text. When you teach the 10 non-fiction texts, it’s useful to focus on one or two of the questions per text. That way, you can teach the structure, rubric and help students to plan and write quality responses. You have time for self and peer assessment as well as model answers. Over the span of studying all 10 texts, students will cover all question types from the language exam.
For Between a Rock and a Hard Place, there is a prompt in the style of the 12-mark question 4 from the Language Exam Section A included with the resources. Firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, ask students to structure an analytical PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer) and provide prompts so that they can organise their ideas before they attempt to answer the extended essay.
After the class has written the answer under timed conditions, ask them to self or peer assess their responses against the rubric. Offer them a full mark model answer (included with the activities) to demonstrate how the marks are awarded for this question type. Ensure multiple relevant quotations support a range of clear points, subject terminology is identified and discussed, and arguments are developed.
‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ IGCSE Lessons and Activities
There is also a creative activity included in the resources. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text, as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text. For Between a Rock and a Hard Place, there is an option between writing a newspaper article or a creative piece.
‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ Edexcel Lesson Plan
In a nutshell, my recommendations for teaching this text as an Edexcel examiner and teacher are listed below. You can find editable Google slides and PDF worksheets with answer keys for all the listed activities for ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ in my resource.
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Between a Rock and a Hard Place – it’s exciting and dramatic so interesting to teach in so many ways. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this extract. [...]
Read more...
Edexcel IGCSE English Language‘The Danger of a Single Story’ Lessons with Activities
‘The Danger of a Single Story’ is a Ted Talk speech by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. At the time of writing, it has been viewed 10 million times. It is currently studied as part of the IGCSE Edexcel English Language A exam Section A: Non-fiction texts. It’s engaging and evocative; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Adichie achieves that message through persuasive rhetorical techniques? This article takes you through a step-by-step guide for teaching ‘The Danger of a Single Story’ lessons.
Teaching Ideas for The Danger of a Single Story
I’ve created a resource for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through ‘Danger of a Single Story’ lessons from engaging, thought-provoking starter, to evaluating the Ted Talk speech, to analysing and annotating the text, to practising Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, exam questions, techniques and model answers and close textual annotations of the whole text.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language A Exam Structure
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 Anthology non-fiction texts and one thematically linked unseen text. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. Lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text is the skill being assessed in this question.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
‘The Danger of a Single Story’ Key Ideas
The main themes of the speech are stereotyping and prejudice – developing a single or narrow story about a person or group of people without considering the many complexities that comprise their identity. I start teaching this lesson by sparking students’ opinions about these issues to hook them into the text.
I present them with stereotypical sentences, such as ‘all Asians are good at Science’, then allow them to discuss, eliciting the concept of stereotyping and initiating a discussion about the effects of stereotypes. The controversy of the stereotypes usually hooks their interest.
Once students have formed an opinion of stereotypes, they match definitions to key terminology associated with ‘The Danger of a Single Story’ – discrimination, stereotype, and prejudice. I feel that giving students knowledge of these concepts before studying the speech enables them to develop a deeper understanding of the main ideas.
Ted Talk Activities
After students have completed this starter activity and I feel that they have a firm grasp of the concepts, we watch the Ted Talk. I give them some questions to guide their notetaking during the viewing and ask them to glean the main ideas of the speech.
To keep students engaged during the speech, I tell them they will be quizzed on it after. This is especially useful for students who tend to get easily distracted or who are not invested in studying for their GCSEs.
The Ted Talk speech quiz can be done as a class via the interactive whiteboard as an assessment-for-learning activity or handed out to students to complete individually. There’s an answer key included with the resource. It’s a good opportunity to discuss students’ reactions to the speech and gauge their initial understanding before moving on to text analysis.
‘The Danger of a Single Story’ Textual Analysis
Before close textual analysis, I also like to ensure that students’ have a good working knowledge of ethos, pathos and logos so that they can link the persuasive techniques used in the speech to these rhetorical devices. In terms of your planning, this is usually the start of the second lesson in ‘The Danger of a Single Story’ lessons.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the speech, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework. There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit.
‘The Danger of a Single Story’ Questions and Answers
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions and answers are available with this resource about the Ted Talk and the close textual analysis. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class. I find quizzing students in a fun, low-stakes way breaks up the intensive exam-style teaching of the text, but also gives you an opportunity to gauge students’ understanding during the lessons.
Exam Questions and Example Essays
Even though questions 1, 2 and 3 of Section A of the language paper assess students’ understanding of an unseen text, I still practise these questions for the studied texts. It saves on time when you have 10 non-fiction texts to study in a short time plus the structure of the exam and practice questions. For some of the texts, I give students questions in the style of question 1, 2 and 3, and for other texts, we do question 4 and for some we do the comparative question 5 response.
For ‘The Danger of a Single Story’, I have written questions that are structured similarly to questions 1, 2 and 3 from the language paper and a framework for students to structure their answers, as well as model answers for them to use to either self or peer-assess. I find peer assessment works particularly well for questions 1, 2 and 3 of the language paper, or the lower stakes questions worth fewer marks. Students gain confidence marking these shorter answers which they can then apply to assessing the longer responses.
‘The Danger of a Single Story’ Activities
I’ve included an optional creative activity. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text, as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text.
‘The Danger of a Single Story’ Lesson Plan
In a nutshell, my recommendations for teaching this text as an Edexcel examiner and teacher are listed below. You can find editable Google slides and PDF worksheets with answer keys for all the listed activities for ‘The Danger of a Single Story’ in my resource.
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching ‘The Danger of a Single Story’ – it’s evocative, engaging and a pleasure to teach in so many ways. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this speech. [...]
Read more...
Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageThe Explorer’s Daughter is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. It is one of the 10 non-fiction texts which students answer on in Section A. This post will guide you through my The Explorer’s Daughter IGCSE lessons with activities.
The central theme – hunting – causes strong and sometimes divisive reactions in students. Most people have an opinion on hunting either way. A great way into this text is to explore the issue with students. The narrator’s conflict as she describes the majestic narwhal facing up to the courageous hunters evokes a range of emotions from the reader; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Herbert conveys her conflicting thoughts and feelings about hunting the narwhal through multiple language and structural techniques?
The Explorer’s Daughter Lessons with Resources
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the text. The Explorer’s Daughter IGCSE lessons with activities contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying language techniques, to analysing and annotating the text, to practising Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text, including the Question 4 12-marker. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, example exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE extract. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Structure
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 Anthology non-fiction texts and one thematically linked unseen text. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. Lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text is the skill being assessed in this question.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
The Explorer’s Daughter PDF IGCSE Activities
Firstly, I introduce the topic of hunting. Students discuss their initial opinions and I quickly gauge their reactions and thoughts. I then play them a short 4–5-minute video about hunting the narwhal which introduces them to many of the ideas and themes in the extract. Following some notes and questions, we again have a discussion about the theme of hunting.
The Explorer’s Daughter Language and Structure Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. A matching activity is included in this resource. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for The Explorer’s Daughter and any English exam. When they know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and raise their marks.
The Explorer’s Daughter IGCSE Extract Text Annotations
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with 2 different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which depicts the beauty and respect of the narwhal in one colour and admiration and understanding for the hunters in another. It is a fairly straightforward extract for students to understand on a surface level – a description of a narwhal hunt. The challenge comes in unpacking how Herbert presents the conflict in hunting these beautiful animals, deemed essential to the Inuit people.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. This The Explorer’s Daughter IGCSE scheme of work contains detailed annotations of the whole extract.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Question 3 Mark Scheme and Structure
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes true and false quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this resource. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually.
Questions 1, 2 and 3 on the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam test students’ understanding of the unseen text, whereas question 4 assesses analysis and evaluation of the previously studied text. When you teach the 10 non-fiction texts, it’s useful to focus on one or two of the questions per text. That way, you can teach the structure, rubric and help students to plan and write quality responses. You have time for self and peer assessment as well as model answers. Over the span of studying all 10 texts, students will cover all question types from the language exam.
In this The Explorer’s Daughter IGCSE lessons with activities resource pack, there is a prompt in the style of the 3-mark question and the 12-mark question 4 from the Language Exam Paper 1 Section A. For the 3-mark question example, I would explain how students gain full marks using the SQUID method, ask them to answer the question available on the slides, then self or peer assess straight away. There is a mark scheme available in the The Explorer’s Daughter scheme of work. Using this method, they get immediate feedback and can achieve highly on a low stakes question before moving on to the more challenging 12-mark question 4.
The Explorer’s Daughter Question 4 Example Answers
For the question 4 prompt, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses.
Included in this The Explorer’s Daughter scheme of work, I have provided 3 example Question 4 responses of varying quality. For each response, ask students to put themselves in the examiner’s shoes and mark the answer using the rubric. Then, students can explain what the answer did well and areas to improve. As an extension, students can develop the weakest example answer. Hold a class discussion about the answers before revealing the examiner’s marks (included in the notes on the slides).
Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of feelings and relation to the reader. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure connect for effect, for example a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs.
The Explorer’s Daughter Hunting Debate Lessons and Activities
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, this is a fantastic text to base a debate around. Split the class into groups and ask them to prepare for and against arguments for hunting and present. You could have a jury and a judge and give a time limit to each side. Other students can ask the for and against speakers questions to develop their arguments. This helps with speaking and listening and develops evaluative, critical thinking. They could also write an article for the school magazine on hunting, taking a pro or con stance or alternatively writing a balanced argument. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
The Explorer’s Daughter Teaching Resources Edexcel GCSE English Language
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts that I included in my The Explorers Daughter GCSE lessons and activities comprise:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching The Explorer’s
Daughter – it’s a thought-provoking text that just could change your mind
about hunting practices in the Arctic. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching
and learning techniques for this text. [...]
Read more...
Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageA Game of Polo with a Headless Goat tends to intrigue students immediately with its strange title – odd images that don’t match up. This is one of the more light-hearted and fun extracts from the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Section A: non-fiction texts, so always a pleasure to teach. This is a guide to teaching the text based on my A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat GCSE Resources.
The author of the book Emma Levine, a travel writer and photographer, admits that her life, like the title of her book, “has taken an unconventional route.” She has explored and written about various sports around the world, and A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat is no exception.
It’s exciting with and undertone of danger, full of suspense and risk; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Levine conveys the exciting yet hazardous atmosphere of the donkey race through multiple language and structural techniques?
Teaching Ideas for A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat Edexcel GCSE
I’ve created a resource for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat, from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying language techniques, to analysing and annotating the text, to practising Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text, including a comparison to another GCSE text, A Passage to Africa. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, exam questions, techniques and model answers and close textual annotations of the whole text
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Structure
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 Anthology non-fiction texts and one thematically linked unseen text. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. Lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text is the skill being assessed in this question.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat Starter Activity
The title is a crucial part of this extract as it contains a juxtaposition between two contrasting images. However, some students, especially those in international schools and English as a Second Language pupils, may not have the cultural reference point to decode this independently. That’s why it’s useful to ensure that students understand the dichotomy of the title and how it relates to the central theme – the excitement and danger of the donkey race.
I first ask students to make predictions based on the book cover and title, then we discuss as a class. The unusual title is normally enough to pique their interest. I have often had to elicit connotations of the ‘game of polo’ with the upper class and wealth in international settings, and I often get humorous comments about the ’headless goat’. The important message I attempt to instil at this point is the stark contrast in the title, which is developed in the text through contrasts in the atmosphere and the writer’s perception of the foreign culture.
I also briefly introduce students to Emma Levine and what she does – although context is not assessed in this English Language Paper, it gives students an idea of what genre the text will be and the potential tone and purpose of the writer.
A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat Language and Structure Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. Included in this resource is a matching activity –the name of the technique with the definition – to use as a refresher. Students can either copy, cut and paste or simply number the language techniques. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the literary devices.
A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat Annotations
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with 2 different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which illustrates the fun and exciting atmosphere of the plot in one colour and danger and tension in another colour. It is a fairly straightforward extract for students to understand on a surface level – being a spectator at a donkey race which does not have a clear winner, leading to disagreement over bets placed on the race. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking how Levine experiences and portrays this foreign culture and how others relate to her as an outsider visiting an area in which few tourists likely venture.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. Detailed annotations of language and structural techniques are included in this A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat GCSE/IGCSE lessons and activities.
For this text, I model how to closely annotate the first section of the text, then split the class into small groups and give them a section each to analyse. Questions for each group have been included in the resource. To share the annotations, you can either have students present to the class or conduct some variation of jigsaw activity in which each group nominates 1 or 2 students to rotate and ‘teach’ the other groups about their section. When they return to their ‘home’ group, the students who remained and were ‘taught’ now ‘teach’ the students who rotated about the sections they missed.
This enables much peer interaction and opportunities for information to become embedded, plus limits boredom from repeated annotation lessons. If you are concerned that students will miss crucial information in peer discussion and annotation, you could give them teacher notes and ask them to ‘fill in the gaps’ for homework.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Questions 2 and 3
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL multiple choice quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions and answers are available with these A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat GCSE resources. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class.
Questions 2 and 3 on the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 test students’ understanding of the unseen text, whereas question 4 assesses analysis and evaluation of the previously studied text. When you teach the 10 non-fiction texts, it’s useful to ask them questions in the style they will encounter on the exam, but for the text studied. That way, you can teach the structure, rubric and help students to plan and write quality responses AND learn the set texts deeply. You have time for self and peer assessment as well as model answers. I usually teach 1-3 of the questions per text. Over the span of studying all 10 texts, students will cover all question types from the language exam. At the end of the unit (or throughout time-permitting), I ensure they do a past paper and respond to the questions based on an unseen text.
For A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat, I have written questions that are structured similarly to questions 1, 2 and 3 from the language paper and a framework for students to structure their answers, as well as model answers for them to use to either self or peer-assess. I find peer assessment works particularly well for questions 1, 2 and 3 of the language paper (the lower stakes questions worth fewer marks). Students gain confidence marking these shorter answers which they can then apply to assessing the longer responses.
Comparative 22-mark Edexcel GCSE English Language Paper 1 Question 5
For this text, I also introduce students to Question 5 on the English Language Paper 1 – the 22-mark comparative essay. In the exam, students compare the studied set text to an unseen text, which is usually thematically linked to the text studied in class. If you are teaching all 10 texts and have a limited time, you can ask students to compare to one of the set texts before you study it in detail. I find that A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat compares well with A Passage to Africa. Both are travel pieces but have contrasting tones and subject matter which can be discussed in a comparative essay.
I first give students the question of focus, but before asking them to answer it, I go through the rubric. You could ask students to highlight key words or identify skills required to achieve top marks for this question. Then, ask students to complete a comparison table after simply reading the A Passage to Africa text (not studying it in detail yet to mimic the exam), making notes identifying similarities and differences between the texts. It’s useful for students to do a brief condensed version of this process in the exam. I have included an editable template with key comparisons in the resource pack.
Once they have done the notes in pairs or independently, take feedback. Students could complete this digitally then combine notes on a shared document or platform if your situation enables digital interaction between students (sharing a document on Teams for example). Now, students have generated ideas to write in their comparative essay, I share an example of how to construct an effective comparative paragraph. As an examiner, I see many superficial and unorganised comparisons, which reduce students’ marks. Teaching a paragraph formula can help students construct cohesive essays.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Question 5 Model Answer
A big part of comparative writing is connecting ideas. I have included a quick connective activity to compile a variety of comparison and contrast connectives so that students have a range of ‘signposts’ for their ideas available to them in their ‘exam toolkits’. When that quick activity is done (answers included in the resource pack), students can actually write their answers. Giving them a framework and collective idea generation enables them to write higher quality answers straight away.
There is also a full-mark response included which I would recommend sharing with students when they have finished their pieces, either to use to peer assess or after you have marked as a model standard. The essay included with this resource is more extensive and detailed than what students would need to produce to be awarded full marks for this task at GCSE level.
If you want to share the whole thing with them to give an idea of different ideas that could be included in an answer for this question, that would be just as effective as cutting out certain parts and presenting them with half of it. Either way, the resource is editable and adaptable to what you feel your students are capable of.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Paper 1 Transactional Writing Practice
There is also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text, as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text. For A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat, there is an option between writing a newspaper article and a creative piece. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
Game of Polo with a Headless Goat Teaching Resources Edexcel GCSE English Language
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat – it’s exciting and unusual so interesting to teach in so many ways. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageExplorers or boys messing about? Either way, taxpayer gets the rescue bill is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. It is one of the 10 non-fiction texts which students answer on in Section A. This guide to teaching the extract includes resources, ideas and teaching tips. The Explorers or boys messing about resources pack contains editable Google Slides, detailed annotations, practice exam questions with a mark scheme and quiz questions with an answer key. All resources are available as downloadable PDFs and as editable Google documents so that you can alter them to suit your students.
Explorers or boys messing about is a newspaper article, published in The Guardian in 2003. It reports on an accident involving two explorers, Steve Brooks and Quentin Smith, on a helicopter mission off Antarctica. The reporter, Steven Morris, critiques and ridicules the explorers, labelling them as ‘boys messing about.’ Furthermore, Morris evokes rage in the readers by inferring that they, as taxpayers, will pay for the explorers’ blunder.
Morris parodies superheroes such as James Bond to convey the explorers as idiotic amateurs; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Steven Morris juxtaposes fact and opinion to present his biased opinion?
Explorers or boys messing about IGCSE Resources
As a GCSE examiner of more than a decade, I aim to create resources to help students improve their exam scores. So, I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the text from the angle of exam performance. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to language techniques, to analysing and annotating the text. There are also practice Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text, including a comparison to another GCSE text, ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’.
This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, exam questions, a model paragraph and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE extract. Furthermore, all activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 1
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 non-fiction Anthology texts and one thematically linked unseen text. The texts are between 1.5 and 2.5 pages long. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. The skill being assessed in this question is lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
Explorers or Boys Messing About IGCSE Starter Resources
To start teaching this extract, I introduce students to objectivity and subjectivity in the media. I start by defining key terms, such as subjectivity, bias, scepticism and controversy. This gives students the language to discuss this text from a critical perspective.
Next, I ask students to discuss questions designed to provoke thought about bias and controversy in pairs or small groups. I find it useful to encourage students to think about the purpose of newspapers and reasons reporters write articles. Then, ask students to consider whether they think readers generally believe what they read and watch in the news or whether they’re more sceptical about the content. I’ve included a case study example, relatable to students, for them to consider how an article might be pitched from different angles. This helps students to think about the angle and bias in Explorers or Boys Messing About.
After that, I find it effective to look at genre. In this case, the differences between broadsheets and tabloids and how they are perceived. There is a mix and match resource which students can do independently or as a class discussion activity, depending on their prior knowledge of newspaper types. Despite being perceived as publishing reputable, more objective news, this article in the broadsheet The Guardian is heavily biased.
Edexcel IGCSE Explorers or Boys Messing About Language and Structure Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. For this text, I have included key techniques and definitions for 10 techniques used by the writer to create effects. This Explorers or Boys Messing About resources pack includes a matching activity as a PDF worksheet and on the Google slides. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for Explorers or Boys Messing About and any of the other texts assessed at GCSE.
Explorers or Boys Messing About Annotations
Prior to close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with two different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which portrays the men as ‘boys messing about’ in one colour. In another colour, students highlight instances in which the men are depicted as ‘explorers’. It is a fairly straightforward text for students to understand on a surface level. Steven Morris reports on the accident of two explorers, taking the perspective of annoyance that the taxpayers must fund the elaborate rescue mission. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking how Morris conveys his viewpoint using satire, parody and caricature amongst other techniques.
When it comes to closely analysing the text, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis. I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. This Explorers or Boys Messing About resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations for you to share with students.
Assessment for Learning Quiz Questions and Answer Key
After analysing the text, I do a quick assessment for learning quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text. Then, I introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes true and false quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this Explorers or Boys Messing About resource. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class.
Explorers or Boys Messing About Mind Mapping Activity
When composing longer exam responses, students often struggle to plan their ideas. They are left wondering; how do I start? What do I write and in what order? A mind map is a good tool for students to revise the texts. Additionally, it supports students to produce a cohesive analysis and plan out their ideas so that they avoid repetition.
I have included an example of a mind map in this Explorers or Boys Messing About GCSE unit of study. I split the mind map into ‘explorers’ and ‘boys messing about’ in the first instance. Students can then find evidence for how Smith and Brooks are portrayed as credible explorers involved in a tragic accident. On the other hand, they can make notes for how they are presented as careless, inexperienced boys who don’t consider the consequences of their actions. Then, they can use colours, notes, diagrams or images (however their brain works) to connect and order their ideas. This will then lead to perceptive connections being made and the notes can be organised into a cohesive essay.
IGCSE Past Paper Questions and Model Answer
For this text, I have included a sample question 4 and 5 for this text. Language Paper 1 comprises of 5 questions. I cover all the question types and skills required over the course of teaching the 10 texts. For more detail and practice questions on questions 1-3, please see my resources on Danger of a Single Story and Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan.
In terms of question 4, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). Provide prompts so that they can organise their ideas before they attempt to answer the extended essay. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses.
After the class has written the answer under timed conditions, ask them to self or peer assess their responses against the rubric. You may want to mark their work too. In order for them to see how to develop an essay, I have included a full mark example response in this resource pack. It’s useful to ask students to mark the example essay, then compare it to their own work for quality, writing style, use of quotations and range of points made. Students will then hone and develop the skill of improving their own responses to bridge the gap between where they are and what is required to achieve full marks.
You may want to ask them to ensure multiple relevant quotations support a range of clear points, subject terminology is identified and discussed, and arguments are developed. There are examiner notes included under the Google Slides.
Explorers or Boys Messing About IGCSE Mark Scheme
For this text, I also introduce students to Question 5 on the English Language Paper 1 – the 22-mark comparative essay. In the exam, students compare the studied set text to an unseen text, which is usually thematically linked to the text studied in class. If you are teaching all 10 texts and have a limited time, you can ask students to compare to one of the set texts before you study it in detail. I find that ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’ compares well with ‘Explorers or Boys Messing About’. Although their subjects and viewpoints contrast, they both have travel and exploration as a central theme.
I first give students the question of focus. Before asking them to answer it, I go through the rubric. You could ask students to highlight key words or identify skills required to achieve top marks for this question. Then, ask students to complete a comparison table after simply reading the ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’ text (not studying it in detail yet to mimic the exam). They make notes identifying similarities and differences between the texts. It’s useful for students to do a brief condensed version of this process in the exam. I have included an editable template with key comparisons in the scheme of work as well as a completed teacher version.
Explorers or Boys Messing About Analysis
Once they have done the notes in pairs or independently, take feedback. Students could complete this digitally then combine notes on a shared document or platform if your situation enables digital interaction between students (sharing a document on Teams for example). Now that students have generated ideas and selected relevant quotes to write in their comparative essay, I share an example of how to construct an effective comparative paragraph. As an examiner, I see many superficial and unorganised comparisons, which reduce students’ marks. Teaching a paragraph formula can help students quickly and effectively construct cohesive essays.
A big part of comparative writing is connecting ideas. I have included a quick connective activity to compile a variety of comparison and contrast connectives. This way, students have a range of ‘signposts’ for their ideas available to them in their ‘exam toolkits’. When that quick activity is done (answers included in the resource pack), students can actually write their answers. Giving them a framework and collective idea generation enables them to write higher quality answers straight away.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Transactional Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text, as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
Explorers or Boys Messing About IGCSE Lesson Activities, Resources and Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts and creating great revision resources for students include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Explorers or Boys Messing About – it’s interesting to delve into how the media reports to us from different angles and the subjectivity versus objectivity of the press. There are many debates which students can engage in. These may include the extent to which news outlets are obligated to report objectively to the public, the purpose and intentions of news reports and how sceptical readers are about the level of bias in news articles. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘Explorers or Boys Messing About’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘ and ‘Disabled’. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including Chinese Cinderella and A Passage to Africa. Thank you for reading and follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageA Passage to Africa is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. It is one of the 10 non-fiction texts which students answer on in Section A. This is a guide to how to teach this text based on my A Passage to Africa GCSE resources pack.
George Alagiah is often recognised by students, especially British students, and this insightful and visceral text often draws strong reactions from students, whether that is sympathy, disgust or horror. However they are left feeling, it has an impact and is a great one to teach, if not a little bleak!
It’s graphic and visceral, written with raw honesty and a certain disdain for journalists; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Levine conveys the exciting yet hazardous atmosphere of the donkey race through multiple language and structural techniques?
Teaching Ideas for A Passage to Africa Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE
I’ve created a resource for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the text. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying language techniques, to analysing and annotating the text, to practising Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text, including the Question 4 12-marker and a comparison to another GCSE text, A Passage to Africa. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, comprehension questions, exam questions, techniques and model exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole text. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Structure
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 Anthology non-fiction texts and one thematically linked unseen text. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. Lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text is the skill being assessed in this question.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
A Passage to Africa PDF GCSE Resources
To pique students’ interest and gage their opinions, I first ask them to discuss war journalists – what they think the job entails and the potential challenges. I then ask them to consider the literal and figurative connotations of the title, especially the word ‘passage’.
To introduce them to George Alagiah and what he reported on, I show them a brief BBC clip of him reporting from Somalia from 2011 and ask them to write notes based on thought-provoking questions which are relevant to the study of A Passage to Africa. The questions and slides for teaching this introduction to the GCSE extract A Passage to Africa is all available in the resource.
A Passage to Africa GCSE Extract Language and Structure Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. Included in this resource is a matching activity – definition and technique name, which students can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for A Passage to Africa.
A Passage to Africa GCSE Resource Annotations
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with 2 different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which depicts the graphic, revolting reaction in one colour and the apathetic, dismissive tone in another. It is a fairly straightforward extract for students to understand on a surface level – a foreign correspondent reporting his encounters with various victims of war in Somalia. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking how and why Alagiah is disgusted, feels so negatively about journalists and is so impacted by the anonymous smiling man.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. Detailed annotations of language and structural techniques are included in this A Passage to Africa GCSE/IGCSE lessons and activities.
A Passage to Africa IGCSE Activities
For this text, I model how to closely annotate the first section of the text, then split the class into small groups and give them a section each to analyse. Questions for each group have been included in the resource. To share the annotations, you can either have students present to the class or conduct some variation of jigsaw activity in which each group nominates 1 or 2 students to rotate and ‘teach’ the other groups about their section. When they return to their ‘home’ group, the students who remained and were ‘taught’ now ‘teach’ the students who rotated about the sections they missed.
This enables much peer interaction and opportunities for information to become embedded, plus limits boredom from repeated annotation lessons. If you are concerned that students will miss crucial information in peer discussion and annotation, you could give them teacher notes and ask them to ‘fill in the gaps’ for homework.
A Passage to Africa GCSE Questions with Answer Key
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL multiple choice quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions and answers are available with this resource. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class.
Questions 1, 2 and 3 on the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam test students’ understanding of the unseen text, whereas question 4 assesses analysis and evaluation of the previously studied text. When you teach the 10 non-fiction texts, it’s useful to focus on one or two of the questions per text. That way, you can teach the structure, rubric and help students to plan and write quality responses. You have time for self and peer assessment as well as model answers. Over the span of studying all 10 texts, students will cover all question types from the language exam.
A Passage to Africa GCSE Question 4 Resources
For A Passage to Africa, there is a prompt in the style of the 12-mark question 4 from the Language Exam Paper 1 Section A included with the resources. Firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer) and provide prompts so that they can organise their ideas before they attempt to answer the extended essay. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses.
After the class has written the answer under timed conditions, ask them to self or peer assess their responses against the rubric. You may want to mark their work too. Offer them a full mark model answer (included with the activities) to demonstrate how the marks are awarded for this question type. Ensure multiple relevant quotations support a range of clear points, subject terminology is identified and discussed, and arguments are developed. Allowing students to see a full-mark answer in comparison to their work can help them identify what they need to do to close the gap between where they are and a full-mark answer.
A Passage to Africa Question 5 Resources
For this text, I also introduce students to Question 5 on the English Language Paper 1 – the 22-mark comparative essay. In the exam, students compare the studied set text to an unseen text, which is usually thematically linked to the text studied in class. If you are teaching all 10 texts and have a limited time, you can ask students to compare to one of the set texts before you study it in detail. I find that A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat compares well with A Passage to Africa. Both are travel pieces but have contrasting tones and subject matter.
I first give students the question of focus, but before asking them to answer it, I go through the rubric. You could ask students to highlight key words or identify skills required to achieve top marks for this question. Then, ask students to complete a comparison table after simply reading the Game of Polo with a Headless Goat text (not studying it in detail yet to mimic the exam), making notes on similarities and differences between the texts. It’s useful for students to do a brief condensed version of this process in the exam. I have included an editable template with key comparisons in the resource pack.
Once they have done the notes in pairs or independently, take feedback. Students could complete this digitally then combine notes on a shared document or platform if your situation enables digital interaction between students. Now, students have generated ideas to write in their comparative essay, I share an example of how to construct an effective comparative paragraph. As an examiner, I see many superficial and unorganised comparisons, which reduce students’ marks. Teaching a paragraph formula can help students construct cohesive essays.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Question 5 Model Answer
A big part of comparative writing is connecting ideas. I have included a quick connective activity to compile a variety of comparison and contrast connectives so that students have a range of ‘signposts’ for their ideas available to them in their ‘exam toolkits’. When that quick activity is done (answers included in the resource pack), students can actually write their answers. Giving them a framework and collective idea generation enables them to write higher quality answers straight away.
There is also a full-mark response included which I would recommend sharing with students when they have finished their pieces, either to use to peer assess or after you have marked as a model standard. The essay included with this resource is more extensive and detailed than what students would need to produce to be awarded full marks for this task at GCSE level. If you want to share the whole thing with them to give an idea of different ideas that could be included in an answer for this question, that would be just as effective as cutting out certain parts and presenting them with half of it. Either way, the resource is editable and adaptable to what you feel your students are capable of.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Transactional Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text, as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text A Passage to Africa. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Edexcel English Language Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
A Passage to Africa Teaching Resources Edexcel GCSE English Language
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching A Passage to Africa – it’s exciting and unusual so interesting to teach in so many ways. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text. [...]
Read more...
UncategorizedHow to create an interactive Bitmoji classroom
Since the pandemic, many schools have adopted a hybrid format for learning and some teachers have opted to teach at distance learning schools. My school is still using Microsoft Teams as a tool to share updates and resources with students. Even if your school is back to 100% face-to-face learning, digital activities have become the norm since 2020.
It can be overwhelming, and quite frankly mundane for teachers and students to stare at the screen all day every day, creating and completing worksheets in the same way. An interactive Bitmoji classroom can add some personalised fun to the learning process.
Creating an interactive virtual classroom can help bring more engagement to students of all ages, who can feel more like they are really in the classroom as they are completing work. It adds a fun element to lessons and is essentially a way of organising lessons, materials and work in one document with as many clickable links as you want. The Bitmoji can give the students a sense that their teacher is really there in the class giving the instructions.
The great thing is that once you upload your interactive classroom to your class team, each time you update it and save it to OneDrive, it automatically updates on Teams. So, once you’ve created and uploaded the classroom, it is just a case of editing the PowerPoint document.
Download the free guide here [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageYoung and Dyslexic? You’ve got it going on is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. It is one of the 10 non-fiction texts which students answer on in Section A. This guide to teaching the extract includes resources, ideas and teaching tips. The Young and Dyslexic analysis and resources pack contains editable Google Slides, line-by-line annotations, practice exam questions with a mark scheme and quiz questions with an answer key. All resources are available as downloadable PDFs and as editable Google documents so that you can alter them to suit your students.
In summary, Young and Dyslexic is a newspaper article, published in The Guardian in 2015. It is adapted from Zephaniah’s contribution to Creative, Successful, Dyslexic, a book about overcoming the challenges associated with dyslexia. Benjamin Zephaniah recounts a series of humorous anecdotes, documenting his challenges at school, his dyslexia discovery and subsequent successes.
Zephaniah uses irony to show that despite being criticised and mocked at school, he published books and poetry and became a professor. But how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider how Zephaniah offers the readers hope? Or the language and structure techniques he uses to lighten a serious topic?
Young and Dyslexic IGCSE Analysis and Resources
As a GCSE examiner of 11+ years, I aim to create resources to help students improve their exam scores. So, I’ve created a scheme of work to take you step-by-step through the text from the angle of exam performance. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to language techniques, to analysing and annotating the extract. There are also practice GCSE questions on the text, including scaffolds, rubrics and model answers for Paper 1 questions 1-4.
In a nutshell, this resource contains editable slides, quizzes, answer keys, exam questions and annotations of the whole GCSE extract. Furthermore, all activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 1
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 non-fiction Anthology texts and one thematically linked unseen text. The texts are between 1.5 and 2.5 pages long. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. The skill being assessed in this question is lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
Young and Dyslexic Themes and Vocabulary
To start teaching this extract, I introduce the misconceptions associated with dyslexia by showing students images of famous celebrities. Then, I ask the class to figure out what the range of celebrities have in common. If you don’t disclose which text you will be studying that lesson, students usually struggle to guess the commonality.
After revealing that the celebrities have all received a dyslexia diagnosis, we have a general discussion about whether they were surprised and why or why not. Next, I provide students with vocabulary to engage in an informed discussion by doing a quick matching activity. We also look at the definition of dyslexia from the International Dyslexia Association to avoid misunderstandings of how dyslexia affects people.
Subsequently, we discuss the challenges a dyslexic person might face and how the condition may be an advantage. In my experience, students come up with a variety of interesting ideas which foreground their understanding of the extract. Finally, I share some biographical information about Benjamin Zephaniah as the article is an autobiographical account of his experiences with dyslexia.
Edexcel IGCSE Young and Dyslexic Language and Structure Features
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. For this text, I have included key techniques and definitions for 8 techniques used by the writer to create effects. This Young and Dyslexic analysis and resources pack includes a matching activity as a PDF worksheet and on the Google slides. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques.
Should your students know the techniques well, you could skip the matching activity and just have them write their own examples. If time is limited, you could ask each pair/group to write a definition for one of the techniques then share out. This is also a useful revision tool for Young and Dyslexic? You’ve got it going on and any of the other texts assessed at GCSE.
Young and Dyslexic line-by-line annotations
Prior to close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with two different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which portrays the challenges of dyslexia in one colour, and Zephaniah’s successes in another. You could also ask students to spot the techniques reviewed in the previous activity.
It’s a fairly straightforward text for students to understand on a surface level. Benjamin Zephaniah gives a chronological account of his struggles with school, how he overcame the challenges and became successful. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking the irony in Zephaniah’s article. Plus, how he uses humour and humility to build ethos and gently motivate, persuade and challenge the reader.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before sharing out. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis. I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. This Young and Dyslexic analysis and resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations for you to share with students.
Assessment for Learning Quiz Questions and Answer Key
After analysing the text, I do a quick assessment for learning quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text. Then, I introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes true and false quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this Young and Dyslexic scheme of work. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class.
Young and Dyslexic Exam Questions
Even though questions 1, 2 and 3 of Section A of the language paper assess students’ understanding of an unseen text, I still practise these questions for the studied texts. It saves on time when you have 10 non-fiction texts to study in a short time. For some of the texts, I give students questions in the style of question 1, 2 and 3. For other texts, we do question 4 and for some we do the comparative question 5 response.
For ‘Young and Dyslexic, I have written questions that are structured similarly to questions 1, 2 and 3 from the language paper. I have included a framework for students to structure their answers in the Young and Dyslexic analysis and resources pack. There are also model answers for them to use to either self or peer-assess. I find peer assessment works particularly well for questions 1, 2 and 3 of the language paper, the lower stakes questions worth fewer marks. Students gain confidence marking these shorter answers which they can then apply to assessing the longer responses.
IGCSE Past Paper Questions and Model Answer
For this text, I have included a sample question 4 (12-mark essay question on the seen text). Language Paper 1 comprises of 5 questions. I cover all the question types over the course of teaching the 10 texts.
In terms of question 4, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). Provide prompts so that they can organise their ideas before they attempt to answer the extended essay. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses.
After the class has written the answer under timed conditions, ask them to self or peer assess their responses against the rubric. You may want to mark their work too. In order for them to see how to develop an essay, I have included a 5-mark example response in this resource pack. It’s useful for students to mark imperfect answers to get experience of applying the mark scheme. I would ask them to give a mark and some feedback. As an extension, students can improve the example answer. This is also a good revision activity. In addition, you can use this as an opportunity to model in real time how you would improve the response.
Young and Dyslexic Edexcel Mark Scheme
For this Young and Dyslexic analysis and resource pack, I’ve also included a full-mark answer. I ask students to mark the example essay, then compare it to their own work for quality, writing style, use of quotations and range of points made. Students will then hone and develop the skill of improving their own responses to bridge the gap between where they are and what is required to achieve full marks. They can also look at the half-marks and full-mark answer to see what the student who achieved full marks has done differently.
When they are reviewing their answers, you may want to encourage them to ensure multiple relevant quotations support a range of clear points, subject terminology is identified and discussed, and arguments are developed. There are examiner notes included under the Google Slides.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Transactional Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in
this resource. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you
feel that students aren’t connecting with the text. They could also complete it
as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to
broaden their perceptions of the text. This can help develop skills required
for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2
(Imaginative Writing).
Young and Dyslexic IGCSE Lesson Activities, Resources and Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts and creating great revision resources for students include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Young and Dyslexic – it’s an engaging and humorous article. I love the message to all students, dyslexic or not, about overcoming challenges and achieving success despite obstacles. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘Young and Dyslexic’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘ and ‘Disabled’. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including Explorers or Boys Messing About and A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat. Thank you for reading and follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageThe poem ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This complete ‘Disabled‘ by Wilfred Owen IGCSE analysis comes in a cohesive poetry unit. It includes a line-by-line annotated text, quiz questions with an answer key, a mind mapping planning activity, rubric and exemplar full mark answer.
‘Disabled’ by Wildred Owen tells the harrowing tale of a young man injured whilst fighting in World War One. Having his limbs amputated has left him reliant on others for his every need. Through various contrasts, Owen portrays this man’s life before the war as a partying, popular footballer to his bleak and depressing present circumstances. He criticises the army’s methods of enlisting teenage boys and gives a scathing message about the futility of war.
Owen uses irony to depict his critical message about war; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the tragic story of one soldier, but the wider messages about military recruitment tactics?
‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen IGCSE Analysis in a Scheme of Work
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take your students step-by-step through the poem. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying literary techniques, to analysing and annotating the poem, to practising the Question 1 30-marker. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, example exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE poem. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 3.5 pages long and the poems are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Edexcel ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen Analysis and Resources
To introduce the poem ‘Disabled‘, I give students some World War One propaganda posters to look at in pairs or small groups. I ask them to consider the messages of the posters, who they are aimed at, and the persuasive techniques used. I then hold a quick class discussion to ascertain how much they know about the time period and propaganda. Next, I discuss the contrast between the reality of war and what is portrayed in the posters. Time-permitting and if students are interested, you could view some videos about war propaganda. You could set this as extension work or homework if you wish.
‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen IGCSE Literary Devices
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the poem so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. A matching activity is included in this resource. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. There are also terms related to World War One with this unit, so that students can be specific in their analysis. Moreover, this is a useful revision tool for and any GCSE poetry exam. When they know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and their marks improve.
‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen IGCSE line-by-line analysis
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading or simply listen to the poem for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward poem for students to understand on a surface level – a description of a tragic war injury. The challenge comes in unpacking how Owen presents the contrast between pre-and-post war, the emphasis on the timeframe and the ironic criticism of the army’s recruitment tactics and propaganda.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the poem, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. For poems specifically, I tend to do annotations as a class activity as poetry can be more abstract and harder for students to grasp than prose texts. This ‘Disabled’ scheme of work contains detailed line-by-line annotations of the whole poem.
Edexcel ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen IGCSE Quiz with Answer Key
After analysing the poem, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the poem, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this resource. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or hand out to students to do in pairs or individually.
‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen Edexcel Practice Exam Questions
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it is 1 question, it is quite high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide; they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
In this ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen GCSE poetry unit, there is a rubric, paragraph structure and sorting activity so that students can see how to write a cohesive analytical paragraph. This is a useful way to ease hesitant students into writing a full analysis of the poem ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen.
For the question 1 past paper prompt, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses and you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen Analytical Mind Mapping Activity
Students often struggle to plan their ideas; they are left wondering; how do I start? What do I write and in what order? A mind map is a good tool for students to revise the texts, but also produce a cohesive analysis and plan out their ideas so that they avoid repetition.
I have included an example of a mind map in this ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen poem analysis and GCSE unit of study. I split the poem into pre-war, during the war and post-war. Students can then make notes for each of these sections. Then, they can use colours, notes, diagrams or images (however their brain works) to connect and order their ideas.
Edexcel ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen IGCSE Exemplar Analytical Essay
Included in this ‘Disabled‘ IGCSE poetry scheme of work, I have provided a full-mark example answer for the Question 1 30-marker. I find it the most effective to ask students to have a go at answering first, do some peer or teacher marking of their answers, then present them with the full-mark response. Often, I find if students achieve a mark they are unhappy with, they ask ‘what do I have to do to increase my mark?’ Or, they might say ‘how do I make it better?’ These are great questions as it shows engagement with the improvement process. This is when providing them with an exemplar analytical essay can help them ‘see’ exactly how to plug the gaps in their own response.
There are examiner’s comments in the notes section of the presentation about this response. Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of feelings and connection to the reader’s reaction. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure interconnect for effect. For example, a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to fall in the top band of the mark scheme, and multiple quotations should be used through the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, this is an excellent text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around. You could have the students write an article or a letter based on the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing), whilst increasing their engagement with the poem ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen.
Edexcel GCSE Poetry Teaching, Learning and Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise past paper questions
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen. It’s a bleak, but eye-opening poem rich with literary devices that students can use in their exam responses. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
Other Useful Edexcel IGCSE Resources
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘Disabled’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including The Danger of a Single Story and A Passage to Africa on the blog. Follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageChinese Cinderella is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. It is one of the 10 non-fiction texts which students answer on in Section A. This blog is a guide for teaching this text based on my Chinese Cinderella GCSE Scheme of Work.
The first thing that I notice when teaching this text is the instant reaction to ‘Cinderella’. Almost all students are familiar with the fairytale, with the exception of a small minority of international students. Some have fond memories of hearing or interacting with the fairytale and others have a more visceral reaction to it, recoiling from the outdated messages. It’s interesting to draw the similarities and differences between Chinese Cinderella and the fairytale Cinderella.
Following the narrator’s plight evokes a range of emotions, culminating with the hope and excitement of her impending move to England; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Mah conveys the variety of emotions resulting from a challenging upbringing through multiple language and structural techniques?
Chinese Cinderella Scheme of Work
I’ve created a Chinese Cinderella GCSE scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the text. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter to identifying language techniques. There’s text annotation and Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text, including the Question 4 12-marker and a comparison to another GCSE text, The Danger of a Single Story. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, comprehension questions, exam questions, techniques and model exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE extract. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Structure
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 Anthology non-fiction texts and one thematically linked unseen text. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. Lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text is the skill being assessed in this question.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
Chinese Cinderella PDF Activities
I address the clear link with Cinderella to start off this Chinese Cinderella GCSE scheme of work. We have a quick discussion about it to quickly gauge how much they know and remember about the story. I then play them a short 2–3-minute video summary of the story and ask them focused questions to encourage them to think about Cinderella through the lens of themes and messages about family and escaping challenging circumstances.
It’s also useful to give some context about Adeline Yen Mah. Context isn’t explicitly assessed on the English Language exam, but it gives the students a solid base from which to interpret the text. Doing this immediately encourages them to draw similarities and differences between Chinese Cinderella and Cinderella.
Chinese Cinderella Language and Structure Techniques
I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read before diving into the text. Included in this resource is a matching activity. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. Students can write their own examples of the techniques as an extension. This is also a useful revision tool for Chinese Cinderella.
Chinese Cinderella GCSE Extract Text Annotations
I often ask students to do an initial reading with 2 different coloured highlighters before close textual analysis. They highlight language which depicts fear and dread in one colour and hope and excitement in another. It is a fairly straightforward extract for students to understand on a surface level – a girl who returns home from boarding school to learn that she has won a creative writing competition. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking how and why Adeline Yen Mah presents her challenges to the reader and how she overcomes difficult circumstances.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. Detailed annotations of language and structural techniques are included in this Chinese Cinderella GCSE/IGCSE scheme of work.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 Exam Chinese Cinderella Question 4
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes true and false quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this resource. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class.
Questions 1, 2 and 3 on the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam test students’ understanding of the unseen text, whereas question 4 assesses analysis and evaluation of the previously studied text. When you teach the 10 non-fiction texts, it’s useful to focus on one or two of the questions per text. That way, you can teach the structure, rubric and help students to plan and write quality responses. You have time for self and peer assessment as well as model answers. Over the span of studying all 10 texts, students will cover all question types from the language exam.
Chinese Cinderella Question 4 Model Answer
In this Chinese Cinderella resource pack, there is a prompt in the style of the 2-mark question and the 12-mark question 4 from the Language Exam Paper 1 Section A. For the 2-mark question 1 example, explain how students gain full marks, ask them to answer the question available on the slides, then self or peer assess straight away. That way, they get immediate feedback and can achieve a low stakes question before moving on to the more challenging 12-mark and 22-mark questions 4 and 5.
For the question 4 prompt, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses.
Included in the Chinese Cinderella GCSE scheme of work, I have provided sub-questions to offer to small groups in the class. Each sub-question can be answered in the form of a PETER paragraph to answer a particular angle on the main prompt. If you don’t want to do group paragraphs, you can give them the sub-questions as planning prompts before students answer the main question. After they have composed a response, offer them a full mark model answer (included with the activities) to demonstrate how the marks are awarded for this question type. Allowing students to see a full-mark answer in comparison to their work can help them identify what they need to do to close the gap between where they are and a full-mark answer.
Chinese Cinderella 22-mark Edexcel GCSE Question and Answer
For this text, I also introduce students to Question 5 on the English Language Paper 1 – the 22-mark comparative essay. In the exam, students compare the studied set text to an unseen text, which is usually thematically linked to the text studied in class. If you are teaching all 10 texts and have a limited time, you can ask students to compare to one of the set texts before you study it in detail. I find that The Danger of a Single Story compares well with Chinese Cinderella. Although they are different text-types, both deal with unfairness and discrimination in some way.
I first give students the question of focus, but before asking them to answer it, I go through the rubric. You could ask students to highlight key words or identify skills required to achieve top marks for this question. Then, ask students to complete a comparison table after simply reading the Danger of a Single Story text (not studying it in detail yet to mimic the exam), making notes identifying similarities and differences between the texts. It’s useful for students to do a brief condensed version of this process in the exam. I have included an editable template with key comparisons in the resource pack.
Chinese Cinderella Edexcel GCSE Exam Practice
Once they have done the notes in pairs or independently, take feedback. Students could complete this digitally then combine notes on a shared document or platform if your situation enables digital interaction between students (sharing a document on Teams for example). Now, students have generated ideas to write in their comparative essay, I share an example of how to construct an effective comparative paragraph. As an examiner, I see many superficial and unorganised comparisons, which reduce students’ marks. Teaching a paragraph formula can help students quickly and effectively construct cohesive essays.
A big part of comparative writing is connecting ideas. I have included a quick connective activity to compile a variety of comparison and contrast connectives so that students have a range of ‘signposts’ for their ideas available to them in their ‘exam toolkits’. When that quick activity is done (answers included in the resource pack), students can actually write their answers. Giving them a framework and collective idea generation enables them to write higher quality answers straight away.
Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Transactional Writing
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this Chinese Cinderella GCSE scheme of work. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text, as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
Chinese Cinderella Teaching Resources Edexcel GCSE English Language
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts that I included in my Chinese Cinderella GCSE scheme of work comprise:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Chinese Cinderella – it’s suspenseful and harrowing so interesting to teach in so many ways. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageBeyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. It is one of the 10 non-fiction texts which students answer on in Section A. This guide to teaching the extract includes activity ideas and teaching tips. The Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan resources pack contains editable Google Slides, detailed annotations, practice exam questions with a mark scheme and quiz questions with an answer key. All resources are available as downloadable PDFs and as editable Google documents so that you can alter them to suit your students.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A journey into Bhutan is Jamie Zeppa’s personal account of travelling to Bhutan to take up a teaching role there. The Edexcel IGCSE extract is the section whereby the writer describes her first experiences in Bhutan. As the reader, we are privy to her trepidation, cultural shock, wonder, awe and respect for this completely new place. Zeppa writes in present tense, increasing the intensity and first-hand experience for the reader.
Zeppa experiences a range of reactions to the setting and people she encounters; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Jamie Zeppa portrays the complex history and culture of Bhutan?
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan IGCSE Resources
As a GCSE examiner of more than a decade, I aim to create resources to help students improve their exam scores. So, I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the text from the angle of exam performance. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to language techniques, to analysing and annotating the text. There are also practice Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text. This includes a comparison to another GCSE text, ‘Explorers or Boys Messing About? Either way, the taxpayer gets the rescue bill’.
This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, exam questions, a model paragraph and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE extract. Furthermore, all activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 1
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 non-fiction Anthology texts and one thematically linked unseen text. The texts are between 1.5 and 2.5 pages long. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. The skill being assessed in this question is lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
A Journey into Bhutan IGCSE Starter Activity
To start teaching this extract, I introduce students to Bhutan through images. The text contains detailed description of the landscape of Bhutan. To enable students to visualise this, I provide images related to the text.
Next, I ask them to write some words, phrases and notes about the images. If it’s helpful, they can have a quick discussion with a partner or others on their table. When eliciting feedback, I encourage students to describe specific details, and explain whether it is somewhere they would like to visit.
In summary, this activity helps give a tangible perception of Bhutan, giving students a framework to approach and understand the extract. The Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan resources pack includes these activities as a handout and on the Google slides.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan Language and Structure Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. This Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan resources pack includes a matching activity as a PDF worksheet and on the Google slides. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan and any of the other texts assessed at GCSE.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan IGCSE Annotations
Prior to close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with two different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which portrays a negative view of Bhutan and the writer’s experience in one colour and language depicting a positive experience and perception in another colour. It is a fairly straightforward extract for students to understand on a surface level. A young woman takes a teaching position in Bhutan and describes her first impressions of the landscape, people and culture. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking how Zeppa’s descriptions reveal a range of emotions, feelings and experiences.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis. I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. This Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations for you to share with students.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan IGCSE Quiz Questions and Answer Key
After analysing the text, I do a quick assessment for learning quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text. Then, I introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes true and false quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this resource. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard. Or, you could hand out the worksheet to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Questions
Questions 1, 2 and 3 on the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam test students’ understanding of the unseen text. However, question 4 assesses analysis and evaluation of the previously studied anthology text. When you teach the 10 non-fiction texts, it’s useful to focus on one or two of the questions per text. That way, you can teach the structure and rubric for each of the questions and help students to plan and write quality responses. You have time for self and peer assessment as well as model answers. Over the span of studying all 10 texts, students will cover all question types from the language exam.
Edexcel Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan IGCSE Past Paper Questions
In this Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan IGCSE resources pack, there is a prompt in the style of each of the English Language Paper 1 reading questions. For the 2-mark question 1 example, explain how students gain full marks, ask them to answer the question available on the slides, then self or peer assess straight away. That way, they get immediate feedback and can achieve a low stakes question before moving on to the more challenging 12-mark question 4 and 22-mark question 5. All the notes, prompt and mark scheme are available on the Google Slides and as a worksheet.
Also, there is a practice question 2 in the resource pack. Question 2 involves students summarising part of the unseen text in their own words. However, in order to get to know Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan well and get used to exam-style questions, they can answer on the studied text. There is a mark scheme available, and I find that students can self-or-peer assess this question without problems. Ensure students use their own words and write 4 clear and distinct points to gain full marks for this question.
Furthermore, I have included question 3 practice in the resource pack. Question 3 is worth 5 marks and involves writing concise points and supporting with brief quotations. It does not require students to evaluate or analyse in detail. The examiner will be looking for 5 clear, distinct and relevant points which answer the question. The acronym I use for question 5 is ‘SQUID’, standing for ‘state your point’, use a ‘quotation’, make an ‘inference’ and be ‘direct’. Everything you need to teach this question and enable students to practice is included in the resource pack.
A Journey into Bhutan Analysis
As well as questions 1-3, I have included a sample question 4 for this text. Firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). I provide prompts so that they can organise their ideas before they attempt to answer the extended essay. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses.
After the class has written the answer under timed conditions, ask them to self or peer assess their responses against the rubric. You may want to mark their work too. In order for them to see how to develop an essay, I have included a 5/12 example response in this resource pack. It’s useful to ask students to mark the example essay, then improve it. It also provides an opportunity for you to model developing an answer. Students will then hone and develop the skill of improving their own responses to bridge the gap between where they are and what is required to achieve full marks.
You may want to ask them to ensure multiple relevant quotations support a range of clear points, subject terminology is identified and discussed, and arguments are developed. There are examiner notes included under the Google Slides.
IGCSE English Language Mark Scheme
For this text, I also introduce students to Question 5 on the English Language Paper 1 – the 22-mark comparative essay. In the exam, students compare the studied set text to an unseen text, which is usually thematically linked to the text studied in class. If you are teaching all 10 texts and have a limited time, you can ask students to compare to one of the set texts before you study it in detail. I find that ‘Explorers or Boys Messing About? Either way, the taxpayer gets the rescue bill’ compares well with ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’. Although their subjects and viewpoints contrast, they both have travel and exploration as a central theme.
I first give students the question of focus. Before asking them to answer it, I go through the rubric. You could ask students to highlight key words or identify skills required to achieve top marks for this question. Then, ask students to complete a comparison table after simply reading the ‘Explorers or Boys Messing About? Either way, the taxpayer gets the rescue bill’ text (not studying it in detail yet to mimic the exam). They make notes identifying similarities and differences between the texts. It’s useful for students to do a brief condensed version of this process in the exam. I have included an editable template with key comparisons in the scheme of work as well as a completed teacher version.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan IGCSE Model Essay
Once they have done the notes in pairs or independently, take feedback. Students could complete this digitally then combine notes on a shared document or platform if your situation enables digital interaction between students (sharing a document on Teams for example). Now students have generated ideas and selected relevant quotes to write in their comparative essay. I share an example of how to construct an effective comparative paragraph. As an examiner, I see many superficial and unorganised comparisons, which reduce students’ marks. Teaching a paragraph formula can help students quickly and effectively construct cohesive essays.
A big part of comparative writing is connecting ideas. I have included a quick connective activity to compile a variety of comparison and contrast connectives. This way, students have a range of ‘signposts’ for their ideas available to them in their ‘exam toolkits’. When that quick activity is done (answers included in the resource pack), students can actually write their answers. Giving them a framework and collective idea generation enables them to write higher quality answers straight away.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Transactional Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text. Alternatively, it could be set as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
IGCSE Lesson Activities, Resources and Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts and creating great revision resources for students include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan – it’s both appreciative and condescending so makes for an interesting read. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘ and ‘Disabled’. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including H is for Hawk and Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Thank you for reading and follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Back to SchoolBack to school SMART goal activity
The first few days of school. A lot rides on them. There’s pressure to set up your expectations and class culture on the right note and many experts and seasoned teachers say that how you start the school year is an integral indicator of how the rest of the school year will play out. I was told when I first started teaching “how you start is how you’ll finish,” “don’t smile till Christmas” and “you need fun ice breaker games” among so many other pieces of well-meaning advice. An effective back to school activity is imperative to starting off on the right track. This back to school SMART goal activity allows you to get to know the students and is different to the usual ice-breaker games.
Back to School Challenges
There are so many back to school activities out there making it challenging to search through and find an appropriate match to you as a teacher. Unfortunately, this could lead to an overwhelming start to the school year – not ideal.
Starting a school year on the tail end of a pandemic doesn’t help matters. This school year is even more challenging due to many students still dealing with the repercussions of transitioning from distance learning to in-person lessons.
Students will be feeling a blizzard of emotions and the flexibility and resilience of a growth mindset have never been more important to help them weather this storm.
Back to School Growth Mindset Reflection
Teaching essential but ‘soft’ skills such as the ability to accurately reflect, self-assess and set goals are often overlooked by curriculum demands so the start of the year is a perfect time to teach these key skills. You and your students are not bogged down in assessments, set texts, and homework assignments, and are fresh after the summer break.
I have found in ‘normal’ times that reflection and goal-setting are key to a successful start to the year, but right now if you can help students reflect on last year and set focused goals for this upcoming year, they will feel more equipped to deal positively with what is to come. This back to school SMART goal activity does just that!
Self-reflection Growth Mindset Survey
So how do you set your classroom culture right? How do you get the right balance of rules, expectations, and engagement? There are many strategies for setting up expectations. This one focuses on a great ice breaker activity. It’s more than just a quick game taking only fifteen minutes and pairs a ‘straight into academics and learning’ mentality with reflection and engagement.
You can find the full resource here, and this post talks through how to use it in detail. The first step is reflection. Ask students to reflect on their behaviour and learning in English last school year. There are editable surveys in the resource so you can tailor yours to skills in your subject or even behaviour points during the distance learning. It would be a good starting point to discuss how expectations and learning differed from studying in the classroom. It is handy to reinforce the importance of honesty when self-reflecting and stating that students don’t have to share their answers (this will increase the likelihood of accurate reflection).
Teaching SMART goals
Students will move through the surveys at different paces, so it is always important to have a challenging activity ready for students who finish first. For the behaviour survey, you can ask students to rank the behaviours in order of importance and impact on learning. When they have completed the skills survey, you could ask them to identify the skill they feel most confident with and their weakest in your subject and consider possible reasons for their conclusions.
Next is talking through SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based targets. So, instead of “I want to be good at English” which is a vague and general goal that many students would produce if you asked them to write goals without any structure, “I will read two books a month for six months to improve my fluency and vocabulary in English” is immediately more concrete – the student has something tangible to aim for. There is a purpose for the goal (to improve English) and a measurable outcome – after six months you can ask yourself, did I read two books a month?
Back to School Letter-Writing Activity
In this activity, students write a letter to themselves outlining three goals for the school year (I ask them to construct two subject-specific and one can be personal). They seal the letter in an envelope, address it to themselves and I then collect the letter. I store the letters until the end of the year and distribute them in the last week of the school year. Students can and should use their surveys to structure their three targets.
I always read an example letter that I wrote, which can help students get to know me and I can teach the structure and organisation of a letter. As I read my example, I have students highlight the specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based aspects of my goals. We discuss my letter and they draft their own. I collect in the draft and give students feedback, using the opportunity as an informal writing diagnostic to assess students’ writing skills and a chance to get to know new students. This is totally optional and will depend on your time and schedule etc.
Students tend to enjoy opening their letters from their past selves and at that point, they can assess their targets and check whether they met their goals. It is a fun way of goal setting – students enjoy the process, you can get to know them by reading their letters and you have a back to school activity which usually lasts at least the first couple of lessons, is appropriately academic, and encompasses those soft skills that can often be overlooked once the busyness of the school year sets in.
Check out the resource here. I would love to see your students engaging with this activity in the classroom. Feel free to post pictures and tag me on Instagram.
Let’s connect! You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube. I would love to connect with you. Comment below your best back to school activity.
Thank you and enjoy [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageThe poem ‘Out, out-‘ by Robert Frost is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This ‘Out, out-‘ GCSE poetry unit includes a completed annotated text, quiz questions with an answer key, a rubric and example answers for students to mark.
‘Out, out-‘ tells the tragic story of a young boy who suffers a tragic accident whilst operating a buzz saw. It was written in 1916 and alludes to the practice of child labour, common during the Industrial Revolution. The themes of death, the fragility of life, exploitation and apathy are highlighted by the reference to Macbeth’s famous ‘out, out brief candle’ speech. He delivered this nihilistic speech after hearing news of Lady Macbeth’s death, exploring the meaningless and brevity of life.
Robert Frost uses a range of language and structural techniques, from enjambment to onomatopoeia to repetition to illustrate his tragic message to his readers; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the literal story of a tragic accident, but the wider theme of child labour and how we as humans process death?
‘Out, out-‘ GCSE Poetry Unit of Work
I’ve created a GCSE Poetry scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the poem. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying language techniques, to analysing and annotating the poem, to practising the Question 1 30-marker. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, example exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE poem. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 2.5 pages long and the poems are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Edexcel Out, out- IGCSE Poetry Resources
To introduce the poem ‘Out, out-‘, I give students some images of child labour practices and the Industrial Revolution. I then hold a quick class discussion to ascertain how much they know about the time period and practices. Next, I remind (or introduce if students have not studied Macbeth) the ‘Out, out brief candle’ speech. I tell students that Macbeth delivered this speech following news that Lady Macbeth had commit suicide following their murderous climb to royalty. There are some great clips on YouTube of actors performing this famous, nihilistic speech. These are good to play to students to give them an idea of the grave tone of this speech. It prepares them for the bleak tone of ‘Out, out-‘ as explored in this GCSE poetry unit.
‘Out, out-‘ GCSE Poetry Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the poem so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. A matching activity is included in this resource. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for and any GCSE poetry exam. When they know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and raise their marks.
Out, out- IGCSE Extract Text Annotations
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading or simply listen to the poem for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward poem for students to understand on a surface level – a description of a tragic accident. The challenge comes in unpacking how Frost presents the death, the reactions of those around the victim and the links to common child labour practices.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the poem, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. For poems specifically, I tend to do annotations as a class activity as poetry can be more abstract and harder for students to grasp than prose texts. This ’Out, out-‘ IGCSE scheme of work contains detailed annotations of the whole poem.
Edexcel ‘Out, out-‘ GCSE Poetry Unit Quiz with Answer Key
After analysing the poem, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the poem, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this resource. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or hand out to students to do in pairs or individually.
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it is 1 question, it is quite high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide; they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
In this ‘Out, out-‘ GCSE poetry unit, there is a rubric, paragraph sorting and structure activity and example answers for students to mark. I have also included a planning and revision sheet, including sections for students to write notes and quotes on various themes in the poem ‘Out, out-‘.
Edexcel ‘Out, out-‘ GCSE Poetry Unit Essay Examples
For the question 1 past paper prompt, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses and you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
Included in this ‘Out, out-‘ GCSE poetry scheme of work, I have provided 3 example responses of varying quality. For each response, ask students to put themselves in the examiner’s shoes and mark the answer using the rubric. Then, students can explain what the answer did well and areas to improve. As an extension, students can develop the weakest example answer. Hold a class discussion about the answers before revealing the examiner’s marks (included in the notes on the slides).
Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of feelings and relation to the reader. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure connect for effect, for example a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to fall in the top band of the mark scheme, and multiple quotations should be used through the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, this is a fantastic text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around. You could have students write a newspaper article about this tragic event, or imagine the boy survived and write an account of his life after the accident. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
Edexcel GCSE Poetry Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise past paper questions
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Out, out-, it’s a harrowing poem which many students enjoy studying as it is rich with poetic devices and techniques. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text. If you enjoyed this article about teaching Out, out-, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 1 guides and resources for The Danger of a Single Story, The Explorer’s Daughter and A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageH is for Hawk is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. It is one of the 10 non-fiction texts which students answer on in Section A. This guide to teaching the extract includes activity ideas and teaching tips. The H is for Hawk IGCSE resources pack contains editable Google Slides, detailed annotations, practice exam questions with a mark scheme and quiz questions with an answer key. All resources are available as downloadable PDFs and as editable Google documents so that you can alter them to suit your students.
The central theme is the writer’s exploration of grief following the unexpected passing of her father. Helen Macdonald’s descriptions of the hawks contain symbolic references to the rollercoaster of emotions experienced during the grief process. Depending on where you are teaching this text, you may not have to work very hard to engage your students! I taught it in the UAE, and many students had experience owning and handling falcons. Therefore, this extract was very relatable for them.
Macdonald includes multiple metaphors and allusions in the text to explore the concept of grief; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the message from a critical stance, but how Macdonald conveys the complex journey of grief through multiple language and structural techniques?
H is for Hawk IGCSE Resources
As a GCSE examiner of more than a decade, I aim to create resources to help students improve their exam scores. So, I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the text from the angle of exam performance. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to language techniques, to analysing and annotating the text, to practising Edexcel GCSE style questions on the text, including a comparison to another GCSE text, The Explorer’s Daughter.
This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, comprehension questions, exam questions, techniques, a model paragraph and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE extract. Furthermore, all activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 1
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 non-fiction Anthology texts and one thematically linked unseen text. The texts are between 1.5 and 2.5 pages long. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. The skill being assessed in this question is lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each.
H is for Hawk IGCSE Starter Resource
To start teaching this extract, I gauge students’ opinions about the central ideas and themes. I share images of hawks and elicit words and ideas. In response, students usually come up with words such as predator, hunter, powerful, beautiful, awesome, fast etc. This gives them a good base of ideas to approach the text with.
Next, I ask them about typical reactions and emotions people experience when they’re grieving. You may wish to give a warning to students before teaching this text that grief is the central theme and although it is explored symbolically, it will be a focal point of many class discussions on the text. After discussing in pairs for a few minutes, students normally describe a range of emotions such as denial, sadness, despair, guilt, anger, acceptance etc.
In summary, these two activities enable students to gather their preconceived thoughts on the themes and ideas in the text, giving them a framework to approach and understand the extract. The H is for Hawk IGCSE resources pack includes these activities as a handout and on the Google slides.
H is for Hawk Language and Structure Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the extract so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. This H is for Hawk IGCSE resources pack includes a matching activity as a PDF worksheet and on the Google slides. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for H is for Hawk and any of the other texts examined at GCSE.
H is for Hawk IGCSE Text Annotations
Prior to close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading with 2 different coloured highlighters. They highlight language which describes the hawks in one colour and the narrator’s interactions with the hawk handler with another. It is a fairly straightforward extract for students to understand on a surface level. A grieving woman meets the hawk she is planning on adopting and changes her mind about which one she wishes to take. The more challenging skill comes in unpacking how and why Helen Macdonald uses her experience to explore the complex journey of grief.
When it comes to closely analysing the text of the extract, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain paragraph before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis. I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. This H is for Hawk IGCSE resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations for you to share with students.
H is for Hawk Quiz Questions and Answer Key
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text. Then, I introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes true and false quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this H is for Hawk IGCSE resource. This can be done as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or handed out to students to do in pairs or individually, depending on your time and the nature of your class.
Edexcel H is for Hawk IGCSE Analysis
Part of the analysis of this text involves linking allusions to the writer’s message. This is not an easy skill for many students. Therefore, I have included a visual worksheet, which isolates some of the allusions Macdonald utilises, such as a biblical reference and allusion to a Medieval concept. On the Google Slides, you will find an explanation in the notes and what the allusions are. The worksheet has the images and space for students to write their notes and ideas. As long as the students are aware of what the allusions are and have some idea about how they relate to the message, this is sufficient for GCSE level.
Edexcel H is for Hawk IGCSE Past Paper Questions
Questions 1, 2 and 3 on the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam test students’ understanding of the unseen text, whereas question 4 assesses analysis and evaluation of the previously studied text. When you teach the 10 non-fiction texts, it’s useful to focus on one or two of the questions per text. That way, you can teach the structure and rubric for each of the questions and help students to plan and write quality responses. You have time for self and peer assessment as well as model answers. Over the span of studying all 10 texts, students will cover all question types from the language exam.
In this H is for Hawk IGCSE resources pack, there is a prompt in the style of the 2-mark question and the 4-mark question 2 from the Language Exam Paper 1 Section A. For the 2-mark question 1 example, explain how students gain full marks, ask them to answer the question available on the slides, then self or peer assess straight away. That way, they get immediate feedback and can achieve a low stakes question before moving on to the more challenging 22-mark question 5.
Also, there is a practice question 2 in the resource pack. Question 2 involves students summarising part of the unseen text in their own words. However, in order to get to know H is for Hawk well and get used to exam-style questions, they can answer on the studied text. There is a mark scheme and I find that students can self-or-peer assess this question without problems. Ensure students use their own words and write 4 clear and distinct points to gain full marks for this question.
H is for Hawk IGCSE Mark Scheme
For this text, I also introduce students to Question 5 on the English Language Paper 1 – the 22-mark comparative essay. In the exam, students compare the studied set text to an unseen text, which is usually thematically linked to the text studied in class. If you are teaching all 10 texts and have a limited time, you can ask students to compare to one of the set texts before you study it in detail. I find that The Explorer’s Daughter compares well with H is for Hawk. Although their subjects are very different, they both have animals as a focal point and explore a range of emotions.
I first give students the question of focus. Before asking them to answer it, I go through the rubric. You could ask students to highlight key words or identify skills required to achieve top marks for this question. Then, ask students to complete a comparison table after simply reading the ‘The Explorer’s Daughter’ text (not studying it in detail yet to mimic the exam). They make notes identifying similarities and differences between the texts. It’s useful for students to do a brief condensed version of this process in the exam. I have included an editable template with key comparisons in the scheme of work as well as a completed teacher version.
H is for Hawk IGCSE Model Essay
Once they have done the notes in pairs or independently, take feedback. Students could complete this digitally then combine notes on a shared document or platform if your situation enables digital interaction between students (sharing a document on Teams for example). Now, students have generated ideas and selected relevant quotes to write in their comparative essay, I share an example of how to construct an effective comparative paragraph. As an examiner, I see many superficial and unorganised comparisons, which reduce students’ marks. Teaching a paragraph formula can help students quickly and effectively construct cohesive essays.
A big part of comparative writing is connecting ideas. I have included a quick connective activity to compile a variety of comparison and contrast connectives. This way, students have a range of ‘signposts’ for their ideas available to them in their ‘exam toolkits’. When that quick activity is done (answers included in the resource pack), students can actually write their answers. Giving them a framework and collective idea generation enables them to write higher quality answers straight away.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Transactional Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, you could use it as a class activity if you feel that students aren’t connecting with the text, as a homework assignment or an extension activity to challenge students to broaden their perceptions of the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
H is for Hawk IGCSE Lesson Activities, Resources and Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 non-fiction texts and creating great revision resources for students include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise either questions 1-3, question 4 or question 5 from the Language paper
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching H is for Hawk – it’s evocative and powerful so interesting to teach in so many ways. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘H is for Hawk’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘ and ‘Disabled’. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including The Danger of a Single Story and A Passage to Africa. Follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageThe poem ‘An Unknown Girl’ by Moniza Alvi is currently taught on the Edexcel International GCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This complete ‘An Unknown Girl‘ IGCSE resources pack comes packaged in a cohesive poetry unit. It includes line-by-line annotations, quiz questions with an answer key, a mind mapping activity, rubric and exemplar full mark answer.
‘An Unknown Girl’ by Moniza Alvi tells the story of the narrator having their hand hennaed at an Indian bazaar. The speaker experiences a deep connection to the anonymous ‘unknown girl’ doing her henna. However, she is conflicted about the security of her connection to the girl, the henna and symbolically, Indian culture. She fears her new identity may fade when she leaves India.
Alvi uses symbolism to depict her message about cultural identity conflict; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the literal description of an intricate henna design, but the wider message about attachment and acceptance in different cultures?
‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE Scheme of Work
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take your students step-by-step through the poem. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying literary techniques, to analysing and annotating the poem, to practising the 30-mark Question 1 exam question. This An Unknown Girl IGCSE resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, example exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE poem. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 3.5 pages long and the poems are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Furthermore, candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Edexcel ‘An Unknown Girl’ Analysis and Resources
To introduce the poem ‘An Unknown Girl’, I show a variety of images related to the poem. I ask for words, links and ideas that come to students’ minds. Then, they discuss for 5 minutes or so in pairs or small groups before we do class feedback. As the poem has such vivid imagery, this is an important way into the poem. We discuss things such as celebrations and cultural references. Helpfully, it allows me to ascertain their prior knowledge of Indian culture.
‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE Poetic Devices
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the poem so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. A matching activity is included in this resource. Students match the definition to the technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. Moreover, this is a useful revision tool for and any GCSE poetry exam, including the unseen poetry for Edexcel IGCSE English Literature. When students know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and their marks improve.
An Unknown Girl line-by-line analysis
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward poem for students to understand on a surface level – a description of receiving a henna design in a busy night market. The challenge comes in unpacking how Alvi presents the challenge of establishing identity for people of a mixed cultural background. As well as that, Alvi explores the desire to fit in, yet retain individuality. Close textual annotations are a way to support students to unpack the deeper meanings.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the poem, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. For poems specifically, I tend to do annotations as a class activity as poetry can be more abstract and harder for students to grasp than prose texts. This ‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations of the whole poem.
Edexcel An Unknown Girl IGCSE Quiz with Answer Key
After analysing the poem, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the poem, then introduce exam practice questions. Editable quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with these An Unknown Girl IGCSE resources. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or hand out to students to do in pairs or individually.
‘An Unknown Girl’ Edexcel Practice Exam Questions
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it is 1 question, it is quite high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide; they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
There are some steps to take before asking students to write a response. Firstly, it may be useful to take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses and you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
In this ‘An Unknown Girl’ GCSE poetry unit, there is a rubric, paragraph structure and sorting activity so that students can see how to write a cohesive analytical paragraph. This is a useful way to ease hesitant students into writing a full analysis of the poem.
‘An Unknown Girl’ Mind Mapping Activity
Students often struggle to plan their ideas; they are left wondering; how do I start? What do I write and in what order? A mind map is a good tool for students to revise the texts, but also produce a cohesive analysis and plan out their ideas so that they avoid repetition.
I have included an example of a mind map in these ‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE resources, useful for analysis and making thematic links between different parts of the poem. Additionally, I split the poem into confusion and acceptance as they are major contrasts in the poem. Sometimes, the narrator accepts her Indian identity as part of her. At other points, she clings to it as if she fears losing it. Students can then make notes for each of these sections.
Then, they can use colours, notes, diagrams or images (however their brain works) to connect and order their ideas. After they have made notes, they can order and organise their notes depending on how they would like to structure their essay. This helps enable them to compose a cohesive and perceptive exam response.
Edexcel ‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE Exemplar Analytical Essay
Included in these ‘An Unknown Girl‘ IGCSE resources, I have provided an editable full-mark example answer for Question 1, worth 30 marks. I find it the most effective to ask students to have a go at answering first, do some peer or teacher marking of their answers, then present them with the full-mark response. Often, I find if students achieve a mark they are unhappy with, they ask ‘what do I have to do to increase my mark?’ Or, they might say ‘how do I make it better?’ These are great questions as it shows engagement with the improvement process. This is when providing them with an exemplar analytical essay can help them ‘see’ exactly how to plug the gaps in their own response.
There are examiner’s comments in the notes section of the presentation about this response. Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of feelings and connection to the reader’s reaction. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure interconnect for effect. For example, a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to fall in the top band of the mark scheme, and multiple quotations should be used through the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of writing prompts included in these An Unknown Girl IGCSE resources. Time-permitting, this is an excellent text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around as it is so steeped in vivid imagery. You could have the students write an article, story or letter based on the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing), whilst increasing their engagement with the poem An Unknown Girl.
Edexcel GCSE Poetry Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise past paper questions
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching An Unknown Girl. As so many communities are becoming more multicultural, it’s a poem which many students can relate to. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘An Unknown Girl’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including Chinese Cinderella and Explorers or Boys Messing About? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill. Follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageGCSE letter writing is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 1 curriculum. Formal letter writing is one of the text-types which comes up on Section B of the English Language Paper 1. Although many students point out that letter writing is a dated method of communication, it’s still useful to know. Plus, I tell students that learning to write a cohesive letter can help with structuring emails, a much more common form of communication in today’s age.
The Pearson Edexcel English Language exam could ask a range of questions which require GCSE letter writing skills. Therefore, it’s imperative that students have a variety of language and structure conventions in their exam toolkits. This GCSE letter writing unit ensures students are prepared for all English Language Section B letter writing eventualities. It contains editable Google slides, example letters, a quiz with an answer key, a letter writing template and a mark scheme.
GCSE Letter Writing Scheme of Work
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through teaching formal letter-writing. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying language and structure techniques, to analysing and annotating an example letter, to practising an Edexcel GCSE past paper question on the text. This resource contains editable Google slides, a model letter, a scaffold and mark scheme and an interactive letter writing quiz with an answer key. Additionally, all activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 1
The 2 hour 15 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 non-fiction Anthology texts and one thematically linked unseen text. The texts are between 1.5 and 2.5 pages long. They have 5 questions to answer in Section A:
A 2 -mark retrieval question. Lifting and copying two brief and relevant quotes from the unseen text is the skill being assessed in this question.
A 4-mark summary question. Candidates are asked to paraphrase a certain event, character or theme from the unseen text.
A 5-mark ‘SQUID’ question (it’s an acronym not a slimy sea creature!). Students identify five distinct details from the unseen text and use quotations to support their points.
A 12-mark extended analytical response on the seen text.
A 22-mark comparative essay, usually based on the writers’ perspectives, experiences or feelings.
Section B is a writing assessment. Candidates choose between two options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A texts. The text types include a letter, article, speech or leaflet. Both Section A and Section B are equally weighted, worth 45 marks each. Students are assessed on their ability to adapt their tone, style and content to the question and intended reader. Additionally, grammar, spelling and punctuation are on the Section B writing rubric.
GCSE Letter Writing Tasks
To start off, I encourage students to consider the reasons for writing a letter. This generates ideas about purpose. I ask students to brainstorm ideas for a few minutes, giving them an example to start them off. They can do this in pairs or individually.
After taking feedback, I ask students to sort formal and informal phrases commonly used in letters. This gives them phrases to use in their responses and provides an opportunity to link the phrases to the previous activity, deciphering which reasons would require a formal letter versus an informal letter.
Features of a Formal Letter
When the exam question calls for a letter, I like students to be prepared to use structural conventions of a letter. They receive credit for varying their style and structure depending on the question. Using the format of a letter helps to explicitly show the examiner that they recognise and are responding to the specific question, rather than providing a generic answer.
Moreover, I find the best way to do this is share an example letter and ask students to highlight and annotate the features. The full example letter is available as an editable PDF in this GCSE letter writing unit. Also, there are annotations and notes available in the Google slides.
Once students have annotated the features, such as address, date, greeting and close, I share the answers with them in the slides. Generally, most students are easily able to identify the features of letter writing, but the tricky part comes in the layout and order of the features.
Persuasive Language Techniques
After identifying the structural conventions of GCSE letter writing, the next step is for students to effectively present their argument. A key to engaging the reader in the argument is using persuasive techniques. To that end, there is a techniques and definitions matching activity included in this GCSE letter writing resource. As an extension, students could write their own examples of the techniques. Depending on the level of your class, you could do this as a quick review activity on the interactive whiteboard. Or, you could have students complete on paper or in their exercise books.
To see how these techniques are used, its best to see them in an example. So, I ask students to return to the example letter we annotated for features of letter writing. Then, I ask students to identify as many of the persuasive techniques as they can. I have included detailed annotations of language techniques in the example letter with the GCSE letter writing scheme of work.
GCSE Letter Writing Quiz with Answer Key
Depending on the prior knowledge of your class, they may now have learned or reviewed quite a lot of information. Before asking them to apply that knowledge, I like to do some formative assessment. I have included a low stakes true or false quiz on the language and structure features of letter writing with the resource. You can do this either as a class on the whiteboard or print for students to complete on paper.
GCSE English Language Past Paper Questions
Now that you have covered the skills involved with writing a letter, it’s time to introduce a task. I have included a letter writing question based on a past paper question. Sometimes questions are like the one included in this scheme of work, regarding specific complaints or enquiries. Other years, the exam asks for students to write a letter giving their opinions on a proposed change in their school or community, for example.
For transactional writing, there are 45 marks available on the mark scheme. They are split between A04 (content, style and quality of communication) and A05 (spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure). After sharing the question with students, I go through the rubric with them. I have included a more student-friendly rubric in the letter writing scheme of work.
If it’s the first-time students have attempted a GCSE question like this, they may need support in the form of scaffolding. The letter writing resource contains a planning scaffold along with notes, questions and ideas to help students formulate cohesive ideas.
Transactional Writing Example
Next, students will attempt to answer the question. Following this, I like to share a full mark model example so that students can identify their strengths and areas to improve. I find that students will often ask me, “if my mark is X, how do I improve it?” It benefits them to see exactly how to do that by analysing a full mark example answer.
GCSE Letter Writing Checklist
You will find a useful checklist for students to use whilst writing their responses in the letter writing scheme of work. It’s useful to guide their revision also.
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching students how to write a formal letter include:
Hooking students with an intriguing starter activity.
Demonstrating features of a letter and persuasive language techniques in an example letter.
Quizzing students for a quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are understanding the material.
Practising a past paper GCSE question, using scaffolds and models to help students formulate cohesive and relevant ideas.
Comparing their responses to a model to constantly strive for improvement.
Good luck teaching GCSE letter writing – it’s always entertaining to see what students compose for letters of complaint. I love to read their perspectives in the opinion questions. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching GCSE letter writing, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘ and ‘Disabled’. Furthermore, there are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including The Danger of a Single Story and Young and Dyslexic. Thank you for reading and follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageThe poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This poetry unit includes Still I Rise IGCSE resources and analysis, comprising a completed annotated text, quiz questions with an answer key, a rubric and example answers for students to mark.
Still I Rise is an empowering poem about the resilience and power involved in overcoming severe oppression and discrimination. Working alongside Martin Luther King Jr., Angelou was a prolific Civil Rights activist. The poem takes the reader from the oppressive and painful effects of slavery to the defiant refusal to succumb to the oppressor.
Maya Angelou uses a mixture of humour, anger and optimism to convey her message of recovery; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the recovery from oppression but the ironic reversal of conditions as Angelou directly addresses her oppressors? These IGCSE resources can support your students to explore and analyse the poem in depth.
Still I Rise IGCSE Poetry Unit of Work
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the poem. These Still I Rise IGCSE resources and analysis contain everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying language techniques, to analysing and annotating the poem, to practising the Question 1 30-marker. This resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, example exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE poem. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 2.5 pages long and the poems are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Edexcel Still I Rise IGCSE Poetry Resources
To introduce the poem Still I Rise, I show students images from the poem ranging from depictions of wealth to slavery. I then hold a quick class discussion to ascertain how much they know about the time period and practices. Next, I illicit from students the contrasts between the images. We discuss racism through history, from slavery to the Civil Rights movement and campaigns for equality. Depending on the students’ level of knowledge, I often share some background on Maya Angelou. This often serves to hook students in when they realise what an inspirational person she was.
Still I Rise Poetry Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the poem so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. A matching activity is included in this poetry unit. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for any GCSE poetry exam. When they know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and raise their marks.
Still I Rise Poetry Annotations
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading or simply listen to the poem for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward poem for students to understand on a surface level – an empowering poem about overcoming obstacles in life. The challenge comes in unpacking how Angelou uses irony, humour, self-deprecation and defiance to confront her oppressors.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the poem, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. For poems specifically, I tend to do annotations as a class activity as poetry can be more abstract and harder for students to grasp than prose texts. These Still I Rise IGCSE resources and analysis contain detailed annotations of the whole poem.
Edexcel Still I Rise IGCSE Resources Quiz with Answer Key
After analysing the poem, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the poem, then introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this resource. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or hand out to students to do in pairs or individually.
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it is 1 question, it is quite high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide; they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
In these Still I Rise IGCSE resources, there is a rubric, paragraph sorting and structure activity and example answers for students to mark. I have also included an essay planning scaffold, including sections for students to write notes and quotes on various themes and techniques in the poem Still I Rise.
Edexcel IGCSE Still I Rise Resources and Analysis
For the question 1 past paper prompt, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses and you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
Included in these Still I Rise IGCSE resources and analysis, I have provided three example exam responses of varying quality. For each response, ask students to put themselves in the examiner’s shoes and mark the answer using the rubric. Then, students can explain what the answer did well and areas to improve. As an extension, students can develop the weakest example answer. Hold a class discussion about the answers before revealing the examiner’s marks (included in the notes on the slides).
Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of feelings and relation to the reader. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure connect for effect, for example a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to be placed in the top band of the mark scheme. Also, multiple quotations should be used through the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in these Still I Rise IGCSE resources and analysis. Time-permitting, this is a fantastic text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around. As it contains such strong emotions, you could ask students to write an imaginative piece based on the poem. Alternatively, you could ask students to write an article about a person they feel overcame challenges. Doing this will help them develop a deeper knowledge of the poem itself. In addition, it can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
Edexcel GCSE Poetry Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise past paper questions
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Still I Rise. It’s an empowering poem embodying anti-racist and feminist values which many of your students will identify with. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching Still I Rise, you might also find value in my other Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 guides and resources for An Unknown Girl and Out, out-. Additionally, I have resources available for the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1, including A Passage to Africa and The Danger of a Single Story. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageThe text ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’ by Susan Hill is currently taught on the Edexcel International GCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This complete ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you‘ IGCSE resources pack comes packaged in a cohesive English language unit. It includes line-by-line annotations, quiz questions with an answer key, a mind mapping activity, rubric and exemplar full mark answer.
‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’ by Susan Hill is an extract from the novel ‘The Woman in Black’. It tells the story of lawyer and narrator Arthur Kipps, who travels to Eel Marsh House to settle the affairs of the late Mrs. Drablow. However, he quickly realises that the house is haunted by Mrs. Drablow’s sister. In this extract, he grapples with his desire to apply logic to his experience of a severe storm during which he has a strong emotional reaction to what he believes is a child crying on the marsh.
Susan Hill uses vivid imagery to convey a traditionally Gothic atmosphere of fear and suspense; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the literal description of the severe storm, but how the depiction of the weather reflects the wider portrayal of the narrator’s conflicted mindset?
‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’ IGCSE Scheme of Work
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take your
students step-by-step through the text. It contains everything from an engaging,
thought-provoking starter, to questions about the film trailer. There are also detailed
annotations of the text and exam practice (rubric, mind mapping activity and
exemplar answer) for the 30-mark question on Language Paper 2. This Whistle and
I’ll come to you IGCSE resource contains editable Google
slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, a mind mapping
activity and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE text. All
activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links
for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 3.5 pages long and the texts are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Furthermore, candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
· Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
· Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
· Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Edexcel ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’ Analysis and Resources
To introduce the text ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’, I ask students to brainstorm ways writers incite fear in readers. Then, they discuss for 5 minutes or so in pairs or small groups before we do class feedback. These Whistle and I’ll come to you IGCSE resources contain a completed brainstorm with ideas to discuss with students. As the text contains Gothic conventions, this is an effective way to ascertain what students already know about suspenseful writing. For an extension or discussion activity, students discuss the scariest book, film or series they have ever consumed.
The Woman in Black narrative and film trailer
Before diving into the text, I outline the novel from which the extract is taken, The Woman in Black. I start with the film trailer as I find that it engages students. If you wish, you can ask students to make notes and discuss aspects of the trailer which relate to the text. After viewing the trailer, we read a summary of the novel so that students can grasp the context of the extract. The Whistle and I’ll come to you IGCSE activities contain a multiple choice quiz which can quickly assess students’ understanding of the story.
Whistle and I’ll come to you line-by-line analysis
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward text for students to understand on a surface level – a description of a storm experienced in an old house which frightens the narrator. The challenge comes in unpacking how Hill explores the narrator’s complex struggle between logic and emotion. As well as that, Hill implores the reader to question whether there is a supernatural presence. Close textual annotations are a way to support students to unpack the deeper meanings.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the text, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis. I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. This ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’ IGCSE resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations of the whole text.
Edexcel Whistle and I’ll come to you IGCSE Quiz with Answer Key
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text. Then, I introduce exam practice questions. Editable quiz questions for a straightforward, low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with these Whistle and I’ll come to you IGCSE resources. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or hand out for students to do in pairs or individually.
Whistle and I’ll come to you Edexcel Practice Exam Questions
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it’s one question, it’s fairly high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide; they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
There are some steps to take before asking students to write a response. Firstly, it may be useful to take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses. Also, you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
In this Whistle and I’ll come to you GCSE scheme of work, there is a rubric, paragraph structure and sorting activity so that students can see how to write a cohesive analytical paragraph. This is a useful way to ease hesitant students into writing a full analysis of the text.
Whistle and I’ll come to you Mind Mapping Activity
Students often struggle to plan their ideas; they are left wondering; how do I start? What do I write and in what order? A mind map is a good tool for students to revise the texts. Also, it helps them produce a cohesive analysis and plan out their ideas so that they avoid repetition.
I have included an example of a mind map in these ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’ IGCSE resources, useful for analysis and making thematic links between different parts of the text. Additionally, I split the mind map into sections which closely link to the example question: childhood memories, setting and narrator’s mindset. Then students can make notes for each of these sections.
During the task, they can use colours, notes, diagrams or images (however their brain works) to connect and order their ideas. After they have made notes, they can order and organise their notes depending on how they would like to structure their essay. This helps them to compose a cohesive and perceptive exam response.
Edexcel Whistle and I’ll come to you IGCSE Exemplar Analytical Essay
Included in these ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you‘ IGCSE resources, I have provided an editable full-mark example answer for Question 1, worth 30 marks. I find it the most effective to ask students to have a go at answering first. Next, do some peer or teacher marking of their answers, then present them with the full-mark response. Often, I find if students achieve a mark they are unhappy with, they ask ‘what do I have to do to increase my mark?’ Or, they might say ‘how do I make it better?’ These are great questions as it shows engagement with the improvement process. This is when providing them with an exemplar analytical essay can help them ‘see’ exactly how to plug the gaps in their own response.
There are examiner’s comments in the notes section of the presentation about this response. Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points. More, it draws out the writer’s range of ideas and different possible interpretations of readers’ reactions. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure interconnect for effect. For example, a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to achieve the top band of the mark scheme, and multiple quotations should be used throughout the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of writing prompts included in these Whistle and I’ll come to you IGCSE resources. Time-permitting, this is an excellent text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around as it is so steeped in vivid imagery. You could have the students write an article, story or letter based on the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing), whilst increasing their engagement with the text Whistle and I’ll come to you.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise past paper questions
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Whistle and I’ll come to you. Despite the Edwardian setting, the suspenseful tone and elements of a typical ghost story are aspects of this text I find students enjoy and engage with. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘An Unknown Girl‘ and ‘Disabled’. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including Passage to Africa and Explorers or Boys Messing About? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill. Follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added. [...]
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Edexcel IGCSE English LanguageThe poem Bright Lights of Sarajevo by Tony Harrison is currently taught on the Edexcel GCSE/IGCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This poetry unit includes Bright Lights of Sarajevo IGCSE resources, comprising a completed annotated text, quiz questions with an answer key, a rubric and example answers for students to mark.
Bright Lights of Sarajevo is a harrowing poem about the resilience of the residents of the Sarajevo in the wake of the longest siege in modern history, lasting from 1992 to 1996. Indeed, a budding romance conveys a sense of hope amidst a daily struggle for essential supplies and under the constant threat of death.
Tony Harrison uses a mixture of desperation, fear and flirtatious romance to convey his message of resilience. But how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider Harrison’s ironic critique of the siege? These IGCSE resources can support your students to explore and analyse the poem in depth.
Bright Lights of Sarajevo IGCSE Poetry Unit of Work
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take you step-by-step through the poem. These Bright Lights of Sarajevo IGCSE resources contain everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying language techniques. Also, there’s analysis and line-by-line annotations of the poem, as well as exam practice. Overall, this resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, and example exam answers. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 3.5 pages long and the texts are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Furthermore, candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
· Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
· Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
· Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Bright Lights of Sarajevo Poem Meaning
To introduce the poem Bright Lights of Sarajevo, I show students images from the poem. Then, I hold a quick class discussion to talk about the connections and contrasts between the images. Next, we discuss the context of the siege. Although context isn’t specifically assessed in this exam, it’s useful for students to understand the references and allusions in the poem. There is a summary of the siege with quiz questions included with these Bright Lights of Sarajevo IGCSE resources.
Bright Lights of Sarajevo Poetry Techniques
Before diving into the text, I quickly review language techniques in the poem so that they are fresh in students’ minds. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for any GCSE poetry exam. When they know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and raise their marks.
Bright Lights of Sarajevo line-by-line annotations
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading or simply listen to the poem for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward poem for students to understand on a surface level – a description of a budding romance amidst the struggles of the siege. The challenge comes in unpacking how Harrison uses language to convey an ironic critique of the reasons behind the siege. Moreover, the harmony, community, and resilience of the younger generation in the face of the division of Yugoslavia.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the poem, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the line-by-line annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis. I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. For poems specifically, I tend to do annotations as a class activity as poetry can be more abstract and harder for students to grasp than prose texts. These Bright Lights of Sarajevo IGCSE resources contain detailed annotations of the whole poem.
Edexcel Bright Lights of Sarajevo Questions and Answers
After analysing the poem, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the poem. Then, introduce exam practice questions. Quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with this resource. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard. Alternatively, you could hand out the worksheet for students to do in pairs or individually.
Bright Lights of Sarajevo past paper exam practice
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it is 1 question, it is quite high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide. Therefore, they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
In these Bright Lights of Sarajevo IGCSE resources, there is a rubric, paragraph sorting and structure activity and example answers for students to mark. I have also included an essay planning scaffold, including sections for students to write notes and quotes on various themes and techniques.
Edexcel IGCSE Bright Lights of Sarajevo Essay Examples
For the question 1 past paper prompt, firstly, take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses and you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
Included in these Bright Lights of Sarajevo IGCSE resources, I have provided three example exam responses of varying quality. For each response, ask students to put themselves in the examiner’s shoes and mark the answer using the rubric. Then, students can explain what the answer did well and areas to improve. As an extension, students can develop the weakest example answer. Hold a class discussion about the answers before revealing the examiner’s marks (included in the notes on the slides).
Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of feelings and relation to the reader. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure connect for effect, for example a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to be placed in the top band of the mark scheme. Also, multiple quotations should be used through the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of creative activities included in this resource. Time-permitting, this is a fantastic text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around. As it contains such strong and contrasting ideas and themes, you could ask students to write an imaginative piece based on the poem. Alternatively, you could ask students to write an article reporting on the siege. Doing this will help them develop a deeper knowledge of the poem itself. In addition, it can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing).
Edexcel GCSE Poetry Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
Practise past paper questions
Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Bright Lights of Sarajevo. It’s an empowering poem embodying hope and resilience under extremely difficult circumstances. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching Bright Lights of Sarajevo, you might also find value in my other Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 guides and resources for Whistle and I’ll come to you and Still I Rise. Additionally, I have resources available for the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1, including A Journey into Bhutan and The Explorer’s Daughter. [...]
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“Loving life is easy when you are abroad. Where no one knows you and you hold life in your hands all alone, you are more master of yourself than at any other time.”
~Hannah Ahrendt
“All you will ever have is the present. Waste no energy crying over yesterday or dreaming of tomorrow. Nostalgia is fatiguing and destructive, it is the vice of the expatriate. You must put down roots as if they were forever, you must have a sense of permanence.”
~ Isabel Allende, Of Love and Shadows