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.
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.) It has been edited slightly.
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 to be creative with the curriculum, to devise fresh practice and to sharpen classroom teaching of knowledge and skills. However, the combination of a short time frame and a highly pressurised environment has pushed some departments towards an anxious, somewhat mechanistic approach to the specifications, with teachers focusing narrowly on the hoops through which students will have to jump. Continue reading “Developing critical readers: preparing students for GCSE English Language reading papers”
James Durran 