head start aqa - pearson education · moshi monsters is very colourful and has lots of cartoon...

GCSE English

David GrantEsther MenonAlan PearceConsultant: Peter Buckroyd

Head startAQA

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Introduction for studentsThis book is designed to be fun preparation for the GCSE study that you will eventually move onto. By focusing on the kinds of skills you will need when you start GCSE, it gives you a head start with your English studies. It is broken down into four units:

In this unit you get the chance to study texts from or about the digital world, including Facebook, YouTube and virtual worlds.

Unit 1 will help you develop your reading and writing skills in relation to media and non-� ction texts. These are very useful skills to have: when you come to tackling GCSE English, you will eventually sit an exam in which you will answer questions on a number of media and non-� ction texts as well as writing two of your own texts. By learning these skills now you’re giving yourself a head start.

The way someone speaks – including what they say and how they say it – can reveal a lot about a person. In this unit you will look at your own spoken language and explore areas such as why it changes, what kind of � rst impression you might make and what your attitudes are to the ways in which other people talk.

Unit 3 will help you develop your spoken language analysis skills. When you start GCSE, you will need to complete an analysis of a piece of spoken language as part of your controlled assessment. Unit 3 will help you get to grips with the basics of spoken language analysis.

E� ective creative writing doesn’t just happen by accident: there are a number of techniques and devices that writers can use to bring their texts to life. In this unit you get the chance to explore a range of poetry and also to attempt your own pieces of creative writing, including stories, articles and transcripts.

At GCSE you will need to analyse and write about poems, either in an exam or as controlled assessment. You will also need to write at least one piece of creative writing at GCSE. The skills developed in Unit 4 will help prepare you for these parts of GCSE.

This is one of the ways in which you will be assessed at GCSE (the other is through an exam). Controlled assessment basically means that you have a number of hours to prepare for and write your assessed piece of work. Any work is carried out under ‘controlled conditions’, which really means that it has to be completed in class under the supervision of a teacher.

What is controlled assessment?

Unit 4 Get Creative

Unit 3 The Language Of Teenagers

Unit 1 The Digital World

Unit 2 Strange But True

The world of news and media can be weird and wonderful, and in this unit you’ll see just how weird it can get. From the human spiderman to hamster mobiles to ‘horse boy’ – it’s all in here.

Like Unit 1, Unit 2 helps you develop your reading and writing skills in relation to media and non-� ction texts, giving you the chance to practise and improve your responses.

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How does the student book work?

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Head Start AQA GCSE English

Assess yourself

Look at your answers to Activity 3, question 2, above. Use the table below to assess your work.

I wrote about some of the features in my website design.

I tried to explain how fi ve different features in my website design would appeal to my audience and achieve my intended purpose.

I wrote in detail about how different features in my website design would appeal to my audience and achieve my intended purpose.

Now look at the grade descriptions below. They show what you will need to do at GCSE.

Grade Grade Grade

Students show some awareness of how texts achieve their effects through the use of presentational features.

Students refer to specifi c aspects of presentation to explain how texts achieve their effects.

Students give a persuasive analysis, evaluating how aspects of presentation help a text achieve its effects.

Grade

Students show some awareness

F Grade

Students refer to specifi c aspects

C Grade

Students give a persuasive

A

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The Digital World

Activity 2 Get going with GCSE

Activity 3 Get ahead at GCSE

1 Some of the presentational features of a web page are designed to appeal to its audience, and some are designed to help the website achieve its purpose. What do you think is the purpose of this web page? Is it to:

The creators of Second Life are running a competition giving teenagers the chance to design the home page for a virtual world aimed at their own age group.

1 a First, you need to decide:● the name of your website and its purpose● how your choice of colour, images, links, etc. will appeal to a teenage audience and achieve

your chosen purpose.

b Now design your web page by sketching out how it might look.

2 Choose � ve features from the design of your website. Write a sentence or two about each one, explaining how each feature will appeal to your audience and achieve its purpose.

2 a Choose three features which you think have been designed to achieve the purpose you identi� ed in question 1.

b For each one, write a sentence about how its appearance, size and position on the web page helps it achieve this purpose.

Top tip When you write about the presentation of a text, don’t just say what you see, write about how it is trying to appeal to its audience and achieve its purpose.

GradeStudio● entertain the reader● inform the reader about

Second Life● describe what Second Life

is like

● persuade the reader to join Second Life

● advise the reader about virtual worlds

● something else?

At GCSE …At GCSE you will need to comment on the layout and presentational features of a text.

Learning objectiveI am learning:• about the layout and presentation of web pages.

1 Virtual worlds

Activity 1 Get ready for GCSE

Second Life is a website which allows people to interact in a virtual world, with a virtual job, a virtual home and virtual relationships. Look closely at the Second Life home page below.

1 At GCSE you will need to think about the audience a text is aimed at. What audience do you think the presentation of the Second Life website is trying to appeal to? Are they:

Gender Male Female

Age 0–7 years 8–12 years 13–18 years

19–30 years 31–49 years 50+ years

2 For each of your answers in question 1, choose one example of the website’s presentation as evidence to support it, then write a sentence explaining your ideas. For example,

I think the website is supposed to appeal to women, because the biggest image on the page shows a woman dressing up.

3 Which of the features of the website presentation tells you most about the audience that Second Life is aiming at? For example, is it the images they have used? Or something else?

Source: www.secondlife.com

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1 Now look at your own answer to this activity. Compare it to the three extracts from student answers on page 14.• Which one is your answer closest to?• Discuss or jot down what you might need to do to improve your answer if you were to do

it again.

2 You have been asked to write an advice sheet for students who have never tackled this kind of question before and who are aiming for a grade C. Write your advice sheet, using some of the key words below.

layout

audience

image

point

compare

language

explanation

presentation

purpose

colour

evidence paragraphs

Be the examiner!

GradeStudio

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Be the examiner!Be the examiner!In this activity you are going to look at extracts from some sample answers to Activity 3 on page 13. An examiner has commented on the extracts and suggested a grade, but he has not shown which comment belongs to which extract.

Your task:• Read the different student answer extracts.• As you read, think about the strengths and weaknesses of the answers.• Read the examiner’s comments.• Work out which comment belongs to which answer.

Like a real examiner, you could be asked to explain your choices so make sure you have reasons ready to support your answers.

Extract from student answer 1

Grade ? The language on the Moshi Monsters website is very clear and simple and tells the reader what to do. For example, it tells you to ‘adopt a monster’ or ‘play games’. These are all things which would appeal to a younger audience and it uses strong persuasive language to get them to sign up for the website.The language on the Second Life website is also clear. For example, it says ‘Join now – it’s fast, free and easy’ but it also uses much more adult language than Moshi Monsters, for example, ‘Escape to the Internet’s largest user-created, 3D virtual world community’.


Grade ? The Second Life website is for adults and Moshi Monsters is for children. You can tell just by looking at them that one would make kids want to use it and kids wouldn’t be interested in Second Life at all. There’s nothing on it that would make them want to use it.


Grade ? Moshi Monsters is very colourful and has lots of cartoon characters. Second Life has pictures of adults and shows all the diff erent things you can do on the website. For example you can change the way you look or go to a museum. I think this would appeal to adults because these are the kinds of things adults might want to do.

This student shows understanding that the websites’ audiences are different, but does not say anything about Second Life’s target audience or support or develop the point with any evidence or explanation. If the student sustained this level throughout their response, it is likely that they would achieve a grade E.

grade Examiner comment 1E

This student refers to a range of valid evidence but does not make a clear point or develop their analysis with comments on specifi c features of the texts. The comparison is limited, concentrating on the Second Life website, with little reference to the Moshi Monsters website. If the student sustained this level in the rest of their response, they would most likely achieve a grade D.

grade Examiner comment 2D

This extract from a student answer uses a wide range of evidence and makes a clear comparison between the two websites. It looks closely at the ways in which the texts appeal to their audiences and how different features on each website might achieve this. This student is beginning to develop sound comments on the use of language. If the student sustained this type of writing throughout their response, they would probably achieve a grade C. A more fully developed comment on the use of language in the Second Life website would place this at the top of a grade C.

grade Examiner comment 3C

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‘Assess yourself’ helps you begin to familiarise yourself with what you will need to do to move up the grades when you start GCSE.

This shows what you will be learning about in the lesson.

This shows how the lesson is relevant to what you will do when you start GCSE.

These features give you advice or warnings and are there to help you improve your work.

The activities focus on building the GCSE skills step-by-step.

On these pages you get the chance to be the examiner and grade other students’ work.

By working out which answer gets which grade, you will also understand what you need to do to improve your own work.


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What are transitional resources?The removal of SATs in 2009 has for many schools changed the function and purpose of Year 9. Where previously many weeks were spent preparing for the test, and where progress in KS3 was largely measured by SATs, this is no longer the case. Schools and departments have been left with the question of what to do with Year 9.

Teaching a full third year of the KS3 national curriculum can feel repetitive to students, who may also question the purpose of what they are doing: as much as SATs were disliked, they did prove a motivational tool for many teachers. Students could understand and be motivated by the idea of sitting a test, the outcome of which would capture their progress over the key stage. No longer.

The same students, however, may not be ready to start GCSE early – the demands and pressures of GCSE studies and assessments may prove too great for many Year 9 students. A neat solution, then, is the idea of transitional teaching: focusing on building GCSE skills but without actually starting on the GCSE course. This is exactly what these Head Start materials set out to do.

Resources from HeinemannAs well as this Student Book, Pearson has created other resources to support your planning and delivery.

• Teacher Guide – a bank of full colour visual lesson plans can be found in the corresponding Teacher Guide, written by experienced teachers, examiners and EAL experts. These lesson plans make use of and reference the BBC Active video footage and other resources on the ActiveTeach CD-ROM as well as providing support for EAL students, written by NALDIC. What’s more, the Teacher Guide is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing all the lesson plans as Word fi les, so they are fully customisable.

• ActiveTeach CD-ROM – an onscreen version of the Student Book complete with a wealth of digital assets including exclusive BBC Active video footage. ActiveTeach allows you to play and customise lessons and import your own resources.

Grades in Head StartThe grade descriptions in the ‘Assess yourself ’ and ‘GradeStudio’ features are designed to give students a general indication of the types of responses they need to produce in order to be likely to achieve particular grades when they start GCSE. The descriptions should always be considered in relation to the content outlined in the AQA specifi cation.

Introduction for teachersThe Head Start resources are designed speci� cally to smooth the transition from KS3 to GCSE and to help your students achieve their potential by building GCSE skills in Year 9.


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2 © Pearson Education Limited 2010 Get Ready for Edexcel GCSE English Teacher Guide 3

additional support

1 Starter• Pre-reading oral prediction, based on the headline

of the advert, is an eff ective strategy for EAL students.• Clarify idiosyncratic phrases such as ‘old wreck’, ‘turns

heads’ and ‘once in a lifetime’.

2 Whole class /group work• If carrying out as a group exercise, try to ensure a mix

of EAL students with competent English speakers.

3 Independent work• Clarify understanding of the noun ‘Toucan’ and of the

game ‘KerPlunk’.• Some EAL students may need help understanding

the pun at work in the headline.• As well as PowerPoint 3.1, model the use of

commenting connectives such as ‘because’ and ‘which shows’ for the students to copy when giving evidence.

Starter activity

• Display the learning objectives for the lesson.

• Draw students’ attention to the ‘At GCSE…’ feature and use it to explain the relevance of what they are doing to actual GCSE study.

• Display the headline from the advert on page 28 and ask students to make a prediction about the likely purpose of this text. Display the full text and use it to explain what is meant by the purpose of a text: the reason why a text is written.

• Use Activity 1 as a short starter activity. Display the list of texts and purposes on the whiteboard. Model, or ask a student to model, matching a text to a purpose and commenting on why you think this. For example: ‘The purpose of a newspaper report about a football match is to inform the reader, because this text will tell them about the outcomes of the match.’

• Ask other students to match the remaining texts to their likely purposes, always asking for reasons for their choice.

Whole class / group work

• Refer students to the ‘Watch out!’ feature on page 29 and explain the importance of using evidence from a text to back up any statements they make about the purpose of that text.

• Display the three responses in activity 2 and take feedback on which students believe to be the strongest and why. Prompt as necessary and establish that while all three answers are correct, answer c is the best because it includes specifi c details.

Independent work

• Display the ‘Toucan play at that game’ article and tell students they need to put what they have learnt into practice in this activity. After reading the article as a class, you may also want to play video 3.1, which relates to this newspaper article.

• Distribute worksheet 3.1 for students to annotate the text and to complete the activity on.

Plenary

Take responses to activity 3 from students. How were they able to identify the purpose? Students may have identifi ed different purposes; emphasise how, providing they have selected relevant evidence in support of their point, this is perfectly acceptable: texts can, and often do, have more than one purpose.

1

2

3

4

Strange but true Strange but true

3a What’s the point?Learning objectivesStudents are learning:• how to work out what the

purpose of a text is

Resources• Student Book pages 28–29• Weblink 3.1• Worksheet 3.1• PowerPoint 3.1• Video 3.1

At GCSE …Because at GCSE students will need to be able to quickly identify the purpose of a text and comment on how the text achieves this purpose.

Get Ready for Edexcel GCSE English

The purpose of a text means why it was written. For example, the advert below is written to persuade the reader to enter a competition. We know this because the advert uses lots of features of persuasive language.

When trying to identify the purpose of a text it is important to ask yourself: why? Why was this text written?

Activity 1 Get started with GCSE

1 Look at the list of texts below and the possible purposes.

2 First match each text type to a possible purpose.

3 Next make one comment about why you think this.

A newspaper report about a football matchA lea� et about a music festivalA magazine article containing a humorous anecdoteA weather forecast in a newspaperA letter of application for a jobA text message to a friend

To inform the readerTo persuade the readerTo advise the reader To entertain the reader

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What’s the point?Learning objectivesI am learning:• how to work out what the purpose of a text is

At GCSE …Because when you reach GCSE you will need to be able to quickly identify the purpose of a text and comment on how the text achieves this purpose.

Rhetorical question

Pattern of three

Emotive language – ‘once in a lifetime’

Have you ever dreamed of trading in your old wreck for something that turns heads? Well now you can win a brand new, limited edition, ready-for-the road sports car complete with full insurance, a year’s worth of free fuel and an unlimited amount of envy from your friends!

Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity! For a chance to enter the fast lane just call 0896 7555 3226 to answer one easy question.

Win your dream car!

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Get Ready for Edexcel GCSE English

The purpose of a text means why it was written. For example, the advert below is written to persuade the reader to enter a competition. We know this because the advert uses lots of features of persuasive language.

When trying to identify the purpose of a text it is important to ask yourself: why? Why was this text written?

Activity 1 Get started with GCSE

1 Look at the list of texts below and the possible purposes.

2 First match each text type to a possible purpose.

3 Next make one comment about why you think this.

A newspaper report about a football matchA lea� et about a music festivalA magazine article containing a humorous anecdoteA weather forecast in a newspaperA letter of application for a jobA text message to a friend

To inform the readerTo persuade the readerTo advise the reader To entertain the reader

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What’s the point?Learning objectivesI am learning:• how to work out what the purpose of a text is

At GCSE …Because when you reach GCSE you will need to be able to quickly identify the purpose of a text and comment on how the text achieves this purpose.

Rhetorical question

Pattern of three

Emotive language – ‘once in a lifetime’

Have you ever dreamed of trading in your old wreck for something that turns heads? Well now you can win a brand new, limited edition, ready-for-the road sports car complete with full insurance, a year’s worth of free fuel and an unlimited amount of envy from your friends!

Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity! For a chance to enter the fast lane just call 0896 7555 3226 to answer one easy question.

Win your dream car!


Watch out!

Selecting evidence means more than just picking any old quote from a text. You need to be careful to choose evidence that supports what you are saying.

Strange but true

Activity 2 Get going with GCSE

Activity 3 Get ahead at GCSE

Using evidenceWhen identifying the purpose of a text it is important to back up what you say with evidence from the text. Think of it as being like a detective; evidence is the key to showing you know what you’re talking about!

1 Look at the three responses to activity 1 below. Put them in order of the best and worst responses.

2 What is it about the best answer that makes it the best?

1 Now look at the text below.

The purpose of the advert is to persuade the reader.

The advert persuades the reader. It tells them about the car.

Toucan play at that gameToucans at Leeds Castle have been captured on camera playing the game KerPlunk. The rare toco toucans at Leeds Castle have been taught to pull chopsticks from a fruit-� lled tube inside their enclosure.

Staff in Leeds Castle’s aviary team adapted the original game to use fruit instead of marbles.

Mairee Vincent, head of the aviary team, said the activity keeps the toucans active during the day.

She said: “The device requires the birds to solve a problem. “They need to work out how to remove the chopsticks from the

suspended tube in order for their favourite fruit to drop down and fall to the � oor, wherupon they can eat it.”

2 What is the purpose of this text? Remember to ask yourself: why was this text written? What e� ect does the author want it to have on the reader?

3 Write a short paragraph in which you identify the purpose and use details from the text to support your point. Look at the best example you identi� ed in Activity 2 as a model.

b

a

The purpose of the advert is to persuade the reader. It uses features of persuasive language such as the rhetorical question in the fi rst sentence to persuade people that they really do want to win a sports car.

c

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Worksheet 3.1

Video 3.1

DifferentiationMore able students• Encourage more able students to identify the possible

multiple purposes of the texts in this lesson. For example, a newspaper report about a football match may primarily have an informative purpose but elements are undoubtedly there to entertain and hold the interest of the reader.

• As an extension to activity 3, display the text contained via weblink 3.1. Tell students there are three possible purposes to this text and that their task is to fi nd all three along with supporting evidence.

• Alternatively, challenge students to rewrite the ‘Toucan’ text to change its primary purpose (for example, to an informative purpose), and to annotate their changed text with explanations of what they changed and why.

Less able students• In activity 3, students may benefi t from a very simple

scaff old for structuring their response such as that found in PowerPoint 3.1, which you may want to display for the duration of the activity.

• If necessary, prompt students through questioning to arrive at the correct purpose of this text. For example, what is the use of ‘Toucan’ in the headline an example of? What purpose do puns usually play in a text?

Weblink 3.1

PowerPoint 3.1

Suggested answersActivity 1Newspaper report: to inform the reader. Magazine article: to persuade the reader.Weather forecast: to inform the readerA letter of application: to persuade the reader

Activity 2Answer a) does not include any detail. Answer b) makes some eff ort at supporting detail but it is vague.Answer c) is the best because it identifi es the purpose and includes specifi c and relevant details.

Activity 3The primary purpose of this text is to entertain the reader. This is mainly shown through the use of a humorous pun in the headline and in general the choosing of an unusual bird performing an unusual task as the topic of the article. The article also informs the reader about what the toucans are doing and how.

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Full colour lesson plans show exactly where resources from the student book and Active Teach could be used.

Advice in every lesson plan from NALDIC on how to help EAL students access the learning.

Practical suggestions and extra resources make the materials usable with all your students.

Sample lesson plan from the Head Start Teacher Guide

Sample screen from the Head Start ActiveTeach CD-ROM

A wealth of digital resources, including exclusive BBC Active footage.

Personalise the resources by adding your own annotations and saving them for future use.

Makes customisation easy by allowing you to play and re-order lessons and even incorporate your own tried-and-tested resources.


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