Promoting Independent Revision Strategies for English Students

Churchill Academy & Sixth Form: Promoting Independent Revision

Promoting Independent Revision: Why? In English in particular but transferable ideas for across the curriculum; Knowledge is key: learning quotes and context is going to be invaluable Students will need to actively engage with material relevant to them The exams value knowledge highly Promotes the fact that skills are transferable Students often say they don t know how to revise but if we provide them with the tools as they go along there are no excuses Promotes independence Promotes life skills transferable to the world of work Shows we trust and value their ability to do the best they can for themselves THE BIGGER QUESTIONS Do extra-revision sessions by teachers work? What is the evidence? What is the impact on the teacher? Could this time be better spent? Could we be promoting instead skills linked to resilience, self-reliance and independence?

English Eduqas and AQA one stop revision website: susansenglish http://susansenglish.weebly.com/ Find me on Twitter @susansenglish

All the GCSE help and resources you could want or need in this drop down menu! Log on and check It out @ Churchillacademyenglish.weebly.com Be inspired. Be independent.

The Tools we are using: How? One Stop Revision Guide see example and linked online http://churchillacademyenglish.weebly.com/year-11-revision-information.html Use of the Weebly populated with all the independent revision resources and links to other useful websites/clips that they will need see the links here (http://susansenglish.weebly.com/ - Eduqas and AQA exam boards http://churchillacademyenglish.weebly.com/ for Eduqas) Promoting independent quote learning using a variety of strategies see example (to be embedded in key quotes booklet & on the Weebly and as a hand out to students) Link here http://churchillacademyenglish.weebly.com/quotations.html Promoting sites like Quizlet - see example and memorise see example 3 Promoting use of twitter for quote learning - #GCSEEngquoteoftheday (No example) Developing links with parents sending detailed information to the parents about what and how to revise to promote engagement see example 4&5 Interleaving homework see homework schedule 6 Use recap strategies in lessons to actively promote Ind. Revision See example 7 Creating a revision board in the corridor with links to what last years Y11 survey monkey results told us See example 8 16

Memrise and Quizlet Links & examples http://www.memrise.com/course/1159123/c hurchill-year-8-spelling/ http://www.memrise.com/course/1141633/e nglish-language-terminology/ http://www.memrise.com/course/1172453/a dvanced-subject-terminology/garden/learn/ https://quizlet.com/158044649/the- anthology-quote-analysis-context-and-terms- flash-cards/

Example Parent Slip Info Sep 2016 Year 11 Parent Slip 2016 17 Welcome back to this final year in English. We hope summer has been a pleasant and restful time and that you and your child are ready for the final year of GCSE s. What are we working on this term? We will focus on Romeo and Juliet. This unit covers the whole play and students are advised to begin learning quotes and continue this process throughout the year as this will be incredibly important in exam season. However, in the meantime we will cover events, themes, language and structure and how to analyse the play in detail during this unit. What can you do? To help with this; if you can purchase a copy of the play for your child to annotate, read and then re-visit for their revision this would be fantastic. Furthermore, watching different versions of R&J films or plays with them and discussing the different versions would be useful. Also, if you could encourage them to re-read the play, research on the internet and use some of the useful websites I mention in the final paragraph to aid their learning that would be excellent. Finally, please encourage your child to complete their homework to the best of their ability and to encourage them to talk to their teacher if they need any help. What happens with homework this year? Throughout the year the units will be supported with homework set by the teacher in accordance to the class needs. Homework will also be set which ensures that skills and units that have been studied previously in year 11 and year 10 are not forgotten. Therefore, students will expect to have homework which addresses the two Language papers and the two Literature papers on rotation from their teachers. We do encourage students to complete these homework tasks in timed conditions due to the nature of the exam as we find this gives them the best understanding of how to time manage effectively. Feedback will be given on how well the students are achieving in these practices as well. It is paramount that students see these as part of their ongoing revision throughout the year. What websites will be useful? Churchill Weebly has everything your child could want or need for their revision so we highly recommend they investigate this to see how they can use it effectively. http://churchillacademyenglish.weebly.com/ GCSE Bitesize Sparknotes Memrise Quizlet YouTube (Y11 last year found Mr Bruff particularly good) The Podcasts published by Churchill English department Follow us on Twitter @ChurchillEng for updates and quotes from the key texts What else needs to be completed this term? Some students will still have to complete their speaking and listening individual speech. Class teachers will arrange this with the individual students during the first few weeks. We hope that this answers any questions you may have regarding English this term, however if you have any queries or would like further clarification please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mock parent slip Oct 2016 Parent Contact Slip re Mocks Dear Parents/carers, Mock Information As you know students will have their Y11 mock exams in the week commencing 28th November. In order to encourage the students to revise efficiently and effectively we have put together a mock exam revision booklet in English, which is designed to guide them through their revision. The mock will combine exam skills from both Language and Literature and will include: Language Paper 1A Fiction Reading Questions A1, A2 & A4 (which means A1 inference skills, A2 Language Analysis skills and A4 tension and drama structure analysis skills) Language Paper 2B Non-Fiction Writing Transactional Writing (writing for a specific purpose, audience and format and using a tone which is accurate for this PAF) Literature Paper 1A Shakespeare This means a two part approach a) Extract from Romeo and Juliet to analyse and b) Essay on details from the whole play. Where to find information? As you know we have also ensured that the GCSE section of the Weebly has everything that students need on it and they can use this site, along with their homework and the revision booklet, to support their own independent mock preparations. We hope this information is useful and will provide a printed copy of the mock revision booklet to every student, have e- mailed this to all Y11, uploaded it into the VLE and onto the Weebly where it can be found on the Y11 revision page. I have also added a link to this from the NEWS! New Information. Weebly can be found at www.churchillacademyenglish.weebly.org Thank you and should you require any further information please let us know. Miss Strachan KS4 Co-ordinator.

Year 11 Homework Schedule Rationale: Students will reflect throughout the year on all the skills they need for their exams more evenly We must embed Language revision more frequently to address the fact Language results went down We should be offering real focused tasks that students get their teeth into (which will directly support their revision) Inter-leaving of Literature work last year seems to have paid off so if we develop this to embed a homework carousel for all Y11 s then we are offering them a fighting chance. E.g. Every 3 weeks we have a current scheme homework, a Language focused homework and a Lit consolidation homework and this revolves for every class so they work on knowledge and skills throughout the year The exams are the toughest they will have faced so we must prepare them Term 1 Week 1 Week 2 What homework we advise: Ongoing Revision The expectation on the students during the year is that they are also independently studying for their exams using the Weebly, the one stop guide and any other revision extras they have or are given from their teachers. A Y11 Mock revision booklet is being produced for all students which will be set to encourage independent mock revision work. Current unit: R&J Lang H/W: Fiction writing or reading or Non-Fiction Writing (transactional) Lit revision H/W: either BB, LOTF or AIC or Anthology Poems or Unseen Poetry Current unit: R&J Lit revision H/W: either BB, LOTF or AIC or Anthology Poems or Unseen Poetry Lang H/W: Fiction writing or reading or Non-Fiction Writing (transactional) Current unit: R&J Teacher Choice Could be Lit consolidation h/w or Language consolidation tasks Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Holidays

Prior learning recaps How can we recap knowledge? Groups of students tasked with teaching the rest of the class an element of previous learning that they have revised and are experts on Weekly reminders of links to Y10 with Y11 groups Add to growing mind map on board 5 questions choose one/feedback all 5 in 5 minute starters on the Weebly as quick focus revision tasks Quick quizzes on requirements of the exams 5 minutes reviewing the exam assessment booklet (Pink in Y10&Y11) Differentiated quiz questions Key words scrambled to unscrambled Recap story in no more than 20 words Take out parts of previous PowerPoints and ask them to identify the missing information 5 in 5 minutes example below Interweaving homework; rolling programme where students have current, Lit task and Lang task across the year. Recapping in lessons when doing a PEA example or they are writing about Shakespeare remind them that these are the same skills from Lang paper 1A & 2A and Lit BB/LOTF/AIC 2A and Constantly reminding them to revise independently Making independent revision a focus promoting quotation learning strategies Sending them towards the Weebly Asking them to do as many practice papers as possible

Revision Board in the corridor & some of the resources

How to revise Literature reading skills Use the text/study guide to make key quote/ theme/ character guides. Test yourself with a friend. Create practice questions and practice them. Use Past Papers. Speak to your teacher. Self assess. Ask for them to be marked. Read online summaries or watch YouTube short versions. Read graphic novels of the text. Explain what happens to someone else. Create online mini quizzes. Test yourself on your mind maps. Work with friends to remember the knowledge. Use Quizlet or Memorise to help you. Re-read and summarise key points in the text. Summarise in notes and pictures. However it will help you remember. Have you re-read your exercise books? Looked at past assessments? Shaky knowledge of the text Firm Knowledge of the text Inspired by Twitter (not sure who!)

How to revise Language reading skills Read extracts of Fiction and Non-Fiction. Make up your own A1 A5 questions for Fiction. Make up your own A1-A6 questions for Non-Fiction texts. Speak to your teacher. Self assess. Ask for them to be marked. Listen to podcasts about the skills, use the Weebly. Practice, practice and more practice Use the texts/study guides to make guides to the different questions. Test yourself with a friend. Practice the different style of questions. Re-read your past work. Use past papers. Create online mini quizzes. Test yourself on your mind maps. Work with friends to remember the knowledge. Use Quizlet or Memorise to help you. Have you looked at your work? Looked at past assessments? Shaky knowledge of the skill Firm Knowledge of the skill Inspired by Twitter (not sure who!)

How to revise general writing skills Speak to your teacher. Self assess. Ask for your targets and for work to be marked. Listen to podcasts about the skills, use the Weebly. Practice, practice and more practice Writers become writers not because they are perfect to begin with but because they try, try and try again. Repetition of skills and self assess your SPAG and vocabulary! Read a variety of non-fiction, newspaper articles and books to help your creativity. Read short stories too. Do lots of online grammar, spelling and punctuation tests. If you know you make the same mistakes learn the rules. Practise the different style of questions. PAF the transactional writingand creative writing. Have you looked at your work? Looked at past assessments? Shaky knowledge of the skill Firm Knowledge of the skill Inspired by Twitter (not sure who!)

Tell them to chill out but also keep plugging away Do more past papers Revise all year round, even if it s 30 minutes a night at the start, getting longer. Revise way in advance, and keep revising the quotes early!

Revise early Start early. Revise the characters as you don t know what will come up. Buy and look through the revision books on the books you study.

Do so much practice that you feel like a dead man! Read other people s essays! Use memrise Learn the quotes off by heart.

Write out all your four points for each theme + character DO NOT leave to the last couple of weeks. Youtube: Mr Bruff Do essay plans and examine examples of A* essays.

Learn one or two quotes a day is all. Or, even 1 or 2 with a moment every week from Christmas Go and see it live (the books you read) or in a cinema/film

For Further Information: Contact me at school on: ss@churchill-academy.org Or follow me on: @susansenglish (twitter)