An account of a poetry lesson, with some thoughts on efficiency, on how we treat texts and on knowledge. When I became an Advanced Skills Teacher, in 2002, the designation was still fairly new. There was quite an intensive appointment process involving a portfolio of documentary evidence, a set of testimonials and a visit by... Continue Reading →
Questions to ask pupils when reading, based on Michael Rosen’s ‘matrix’ of comments
Michael Rosen recently published a 'matrix' of different types of comments which children make about the texts they are reading: I have had a go at composing typical 'trigger questions' for each type of comment, for use in training. Click here or on the image above to download the questions as a Word document.
What does the poem do? A revision tool
This is an approach which I have used successfully when revising clusters of poetry for GCSE. (Apologies for any parts which seem commonplace or obvious.) The basic idea is familiar - to practise summing up the ‘essence’ of each poem, so that students feel that they have a pinned-down overview of each – a handy... Continue Reading →
Missing open book exams
Thoughts on ‘closed book’ and 'open book' exams Parliament has debated whether students should continue to be allowed only ‘closed book’ exams in GCSE English and English Literature. (Really, of course, they are ‘absent book’ exams. Closed books would just be cruel.) The arguments for ‘closed book’ exams – now dominant at GCSE, AS and... Continue Reading →
Developing critical readers: preparing students for GCSE English Language reading papers
Thoughts on how students are taught to write critically about texts in exams This post was originally an article for NATE‘s Teaching English (Issue 12, Autumn 2016) Preparing for the new English GCSEs has compelled English departments to put their Key Stage 4 curriculum through yet another revision. For many, this has been taken as an opportunity […]
James Durran 