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Teaching gifted and talented pupils Module 2 handouts © Crown copyright 2002 page 1

Pupil case studies Handout 2.1

Year 6

A group of Year 6 pupils from St James’s Junior School, Chester, went on a day trip to Wordsworth’s cottage in Grasmere, arranged by the LEA for able pupils from a range of schools. These pieces are some of those written during and after the visit.

Extracts from William’s diary

Friday 13th February 1805

It is true that Friday 13th is a day of bad luck – we have just heard that our brother has been killed in a shipwreck. To let out my sorrows I went for a long walk up Moss Common. By the time I got to the top the sun was beating down on my back. It is the time of year when the buds are just starting to open and the birds are making their nests. I sat on a rock and looked over the lake. A heron was fishing in the shallow water and the water glittered like cold diamonds in the bright sunlight.

Wednesday 25th December 1805

The lake had frozen again this winter. I am in the middle of writing a poem called ‘The Prelude’. Seeing the young children playing on the ice inspired me to write a bit more on my poem but as the house is full of children and visitors I went for a walk down to the lake. Everything was covered in sparkling white snow and the lake was a frosted blue colour. The birds have all gone and most of the animals are hibernating. I sat down on a rotting tree stump and added parts to my poem.

Wordsworth

Poem creator Diary keeper Night sleeper Word blender.

Nature lover Great skater Home sharer Word carrier.

Letter writer Friend carer Family treasurer Word maker Wordsworth!


A spot of time

A sight of pure elegance The surveyor owns intelligence Of which the subtle colours blend The collage of joy never ends

The wind that danced in the sky Still glimmers in my mind’s eye The grass swayed beaten peacefully The dragonfly swerves easily

Energy personified An exciting enticing life Though all must know, not all see This place of sweet tranquillity.

Year 7

A Year 7 mixed-ability class at Bramcote Park School, Nottinghamshire, were following a school-produced unit on poetry, which had been revised to reflect the lesson structure recommended in the Key Stage 3 Strategy. The culmination of the unit was a comparison between Blake’s The Tyger and T S Eliot’s Macavity the Mystery Cat. Other tasks were available but most pupils opted for the challenge of the comparison. Through shared writing the teacher modelled planning the essay and writing the opening paragraphs. This is how one pupil continued:

The ‘Tyger’ in Blake’s poem seems to be evil, destructive, angry and frightening because of its fearful character and destructive reputation. Macavity, the cat in T S Eliot’s poem, seems to be a comedy and fun character because of the way he is described, what he supposedly does, and how he acts when he is noticed. The similarities of the poems are the way the cats are described as mysterious animals. The descriptions of their personal features are different because the tiger is described as being fearsome and frightening whereas Macavity is described in a comical aspect, with his ‘dome-shaped head’ and tatty whiskers. This makes the poems completely different.

Blake uses the words ‘burning bright’, ‘fearful symmetry’, fiery eyes’, which show the tiger is considered to be powerful, bright-skinned because of its coat and when he describes the tiger having ‘fiery eyes’ it gives the feeling that the eyes are devilishly staring at the person looking at him. When Eliot uses the words ‘a master criminal’ it shows that he moves swiftly and remains unsighted. Eliot also uses the words ‘domed head’, ‘tatty whiskers’ and ‘uncombed hair’, which makes you think how can a cat so scruffy defy


the law enforcement agencies ? The words ‘They say he cheats at cards’ give you the impression that he doesn’t want to lose or be seen losing.

Blake uses a lot of questions because he is so shocked that a character like God could create such completely different animals, and leaves the reader with a sense of insecurity. Eliot plans out the words and verses in comical ways, causing you to think how could a dirty, badly treated cat be a criminal, and the description of the cat brings a humorous picture to mind.

With closer looks it shows that ‘The Tyger’ is a totally serious poem with not a single funny part in it, whereas ‘Macavity’ is all comedy and not a single sentence of sense, but they do have some similarities because the animals are cats and the poems are about their supposed personalities and how they act.

I have had fun reviewing these two poems: ‘The Tyger’, because of the way Blake sets it out, makes me think, and Eliot makes me relax and laugh.

Key Stage 3

The following are verbatim extracts from Year 7 of the Key Stage 3 reading diary of a pupil at the Kendrick School in Reading:

Paula Danziger: Can you Sue Your Parents for Malpractice? The book is good because it talks about the views in everyday life. I think that it could be made better if the chapters were shorter.

Judy Blume: Here’s to You Rachel Robinson I really loved this book.

Gerald Whelan: The Guns of Easter I like war stories so I’m enjoying this book…

Robert Westall: The Machine Gunners 9/10 Brilliant.

Joan Lingard: Rags and Riches … quite interesting.

Richmal Crompton: The Just William Collection … really funny. The boys are really unaware of the world around them …

Judy Blume: Are You There God, It’ s Me Margaret? The writer I think has captured the thoughts of some children and applied it to make a story…I thought it was quite childish though…


Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator This book was really boring and easy.

Stand Up Mr Dickens This was a book with extracts from Dickens. I chose Oliver Twist. I am enjoying this book but I feel like climbing into the story and stopping them being so mean to Oliver. It made me sad in some parts, like when the charity boy started teasing him about his dead mother. There have been some hard words but I can mostly understand it. I prefer biographies and more normal books than fantasy books, but this book seems quite sad and cruel at the moment.

Now the story is getting to a climax…I don’t think that it could be much better.

In this read Charles Dickens really expressed his feelings about the law system. He seems really angry and he ridicules the law…

I am getting quite bored with this book. It seems to go on and on. I feel that I will never finish it. It seems that no matter how much I read there is always more waiting for me. Dickens describes everyone’s feelings and every single thing that’s happening which is why it is so long.

Ian Serraillier: The Enchanted Island I did not enjoy what I read today. I read the stories ‘Falstaff’ and ‘Prince Hal and God for Harry, England and St George’. I thought it was quite boring… I think it is revolting to eat and drink as much and never do any exercise as Falstaff did… I don’t agree with the fact that only men could inherit land either.

I found that it was more exciting this time. I understood what was happening all the time.

Louisa May Alcott: Little Women I decided to leave Oliver Twist for a while, and while I was looking for a book I found this. The reading is much easier than Oliver Twist and it feels like a break. I am enjoying it but it seems silly. The girls say things like, ‘Oh Marmee, we do love those stories with morals.’ I do not no anyone nowadays who would say that…

I do have some criticisms… there was one line that really annoyed me. I know that the book is probably set around 1914 but I still can’t stand this line: ‘To be chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing that can ever happen to a woman.’ I do not like this because I am sure that people can be perfectly happy with no man loving her! I have finished this book to find that it is the censored children’s version. It is a really boring ending and I have been severely disappointed.

Richard Adams: Watership Down I do not normally like fantasy books but this book is not so bad.


Judy Blume: Just as Long as We’re Together I have read other books in this series before. I love the books as they are quite realistic. It has brilliant Short chapters.

John Christopher: Empty World This book is excellent. It follows a similar story line to Z for Zachariah I am told, so I am going to read that book soon… It is kind of fantasy in a realistic way.

Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea This book is so dull!

Theodore Taylor: The Cay It is one of my favourite types of book; Historic Fiction. I think that it also shows you how racist people were in those days.

Leila Berg: Flickerbook I am really enjoying it although it sometimes changes quickly and I cannot understand what is happening. This book is definitely interesting. It is not the type of book I normally read.

I got to the point in the book where I didn’t know whether to go on as it wasn’t very suitable… it didn’t last for long. I enjoyed the book but I found some parts very confusing.

Roald Dahl: Boy I love this book… I think or feel he is ridiculing children, although he isn’t…

Louisa May Alcott: Little Men My Mother chose this book for me as she knew that I enjoyed Little Women. … I have finally finished reading this book. I enjoyed parts of it but it was predictable. This did not make it unbearable to read though.

Anne Fine: It all started with Jane Eyre 10/10

Anne Fine: Madame Doubtfire The similarities between it and the film are endless.

Pam Conrad: A Seal upon my Heart The storyline looks very clichéd.

I have now finished this book and I thought it was quite pathetic.

In Year 8 this pupil chose to read Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles (I chose this book because I thought that I ought to try more challenging books… the book has many words that are new for me but this should broaden my vocabulary). She also read books by Anne Fine, George Orwell, William Golding, John Mortimer, Susan Hill, Agatha Christie, John Steinbeck and Sebastian Faulks.


By Year 9 this is how she began an essay in response to the title ‘What does Jane Austen have to say about love and marriage in Pride and Prejudice?’:

Pride and Prejudice explores the controversial, unwritten laws of marriage in the early nineteenth and late eighteenth centuries. Jane Austen disagrees with many of these laws and fashions of the time. The reader learns this because the heroines of the story defy these supposed guidelines, and in doing this appear to find happiness. I think that throughout the book Jane Austen shows the most sympathy for Elizabeth because extensive sections are based on her point of view.

I think that Austen started the story with a line on the subject of marriage because it is relevant to the book. She was elevating its importance: Pride and Prejudice is based on the Bennet daughters finding husbands, and the difficulties such as pride and prejudice that they face in doing so. Marriage determined the fortunes of the middle class women in the period. Jane Austen focused on people’s preoccupation with wealth, status and appearance. Th ese aspects are still important factors for men and women in choosing a spouse in the late twentieth century, although to a lesser extent.

Year 9

A pupil at Turves Green Boys School in Birmingham was recognised as having considerable ability in English. He was entered for the extension paper at the end of Year 9 and gained a level 7. These are extracts from what he wrote under examination pressure about how Shakespeare creates a mood of evil in Act IV Scene1 of Macbeth:

Shakespeare creates a mood of evil right from the start when he uses pathetic fallacy as the witches enter the stage … Shakespeare has emphasised the witches’ evil by making them speak in rhyming couplets (‘go’/‘throw’, ‘got’/‘pot’), and this conveys the fact that they are supernatural and evil. Moreover the witches seem to be casting a spell in which they are casting creatures which are thought of as being evil. Things such as ‘poisoned entrails’, ‘sweltered venom’ and ‘eye of newt’ have been included to emphasise the evil of the witches. Furthermore, the spell includes ‘fillet of a fenny snake’, an example of alliteration which links to Adam and Eve and the devil in disguise to further convey the witches’ evil.

… Shakespeare’s inclusion of Hecate would have pleased King James who the play was allegedly written for. This is because he considered himself an expert on the supernatural and wrote a book called ‘Demonologie’. When Hecate says ‘something wicked this way comes’ it demonstrates how evil Macbeth has become at this point in the play.

… to convey the difference between Macbeth and the witches, Macbeth uses colloquialism saying, ‘Call ’em, let me see ’em’, and this shows the contrast between them.


The first apparition uses repetition ‘Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth,’ to add tension and to make Macbeth anxious before delivering the prophecy ‘Beware Macduff’. Then the apparition ‘descends’, which implicitly links to hell, to show that it is evil.

… The third prophecy, ‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him’ makes Macbeth believe even more that he is invincible. He is then thinking about the prophecy and asks himself the rhetorical question, ‘Who can impress the forest, bid the tree unfix his earthbound root?’

To emphasise Macbeth’s evil he has now begun to speak in rhyming couplets like the witches. To show that Macbeth has gone against the natural order of things he states ‘high placed Macbeth’, showing that he has become the highest placed man in Scotland.

Even after hearing these prophecies Macbeth still wants to know more and demands, ‘Shall Banquo’s issue ever reign in this kingdom?’ Macbeth’s reaction to knowing the answer to this is that he is gutted and destroyed. He claims that seeing Banquo’s descendants as kings ‘…does sear mine eyeballs’ showing that he is angry that his descendants shall not reign but Banquo’s will. He then shows his hate and disgust towards Banquo in the alliteration of ‘blood-boltered Banquo’.

At the end of the scene, in his soliloquy after learning that Macduff has ‘fled to England’, Macbeth says he will murder Macduff’s ‘wife, his babes, and all other unfortunate souls that trace him in his line’, showing his total evil and hate at this stage in the play.


Characteristics of pupils who are gifted or talented in English Handout 2.2

Pupils with particular gifts and talents in English may have some or all of the following characteristics.

Characteristic Evidence Able pupils may:

Creative flair • write or talk coherently and imaginatively with a flair for metaphorical or poetic expression

• organise and elaborate on content to an extent that is exceptional for their age group

Communicative skills

• engage an audience by imaginatively exploiting the dramatic or humorous potential of ideas or situations

• take a guiding or steering role in group activities, being sensitive to the participation of others and helping a group to achieve its shared goals

• keep quiet in the classroom and contribute reluctantly

• grasp the essence of particular styles and adapt them to their own purposes

• express ideas succinctly and elegantly, reflecting an intelligent appreciation of the knowledge and interests of specific audiences

• use ICT skilfully to research ideas and explore new ideas

Response to tasks

• demonstrate stamina and perseverance, producing work that is substantial, and clearly the result of sustained and well-directed effort

• pursue a sustained enquiry that involves researching, comparing and synthesising information from a range of different sources, including ICT

• engage seriously and creatively with moral and social themes expressed through literature, and respond through writing that shows insight beyond typical expectation

• analyse problems rationally, evaluating competing explanations and reconciling different points of view

• go beyond the information given

• read more widely than is normally expected and develop individual enthusiasms for writers or genres

Use of language • enjoy playing with language in puns or jokes

• create and sustain accounts and reasoned arguments at a relatively abstract or hypothetical level when speaking or writing

• understand complex content and offer new syntheses or insights through reorganising material in an intelligent and individual way

• justify opinions convincingly


• adapt the organisational and grammatical structures of texts

• elicit information through subtle and sensitive questioning

• challenge the points of view of others fluently and forcefully

• write with a refined sense of audience and purpose, adapting the structures as well as the styles of texts they have read

Awareness of language

• understand the nature and nuances of language

• show special awareness of features such as rhyme, intonation or accent in spoken language

• read between the lines in sophisticated ways

• appreciate the relationship between the sounds and words of different languages

• demonstrate an interest in and enthusiasm for language study

Other


Structuring learning through objectives Handout 2.3

Strategy: Clustering objectives

Exemplification

Able Year 8 pupils were introduced, via shared reading, to extracts from David Attenborough’s Life on Earth and Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle. Starters focused on the use of tenses and the vocabulary, sentence structure and paragraphing of the passages. Drawing on the work they had done in science on classification of species (previously confirmed with their science teacher), pupils re-read the extracts as a class and summarised the main points of Darwin’s theories. They then prepared and took part in a press conference, based on Darwin’s return from the Galapagos Islands: one group took turns as Darwin while others were journalists or opponents of his theories. For homework they wrote newspaper articles in the style of the time, giving accounts of Darwin’s return and reception.

The Year 8 objectives addressed through this activity included:

W4 Complex and unfamiliar words; W5 Key terms; W9 Specialist vocabulary

S1 Complex sentences; S2 Variety of sentence structure; S4 Tense shifts; S9 Adapting text types

R5 Trace developments; R10 Development of key ideas

Wr11 Explain complex ideas; Wr12 Formal description

S&L5 Questions to clarify or refine; S&L12 Varied roles in discussion

School example(s)

The objectives addressed through this activity included:


Strategy: Applying objectives in different contexts

Exemplification

Year 8 pupils were asked, in groups, to draw on their experience and their reading of their own school prospectus to produce a version of their school prospectus that would be appropriate for new pupils. Pupils who were capable of doing so were expected to visit some school websites and use ICT to produce a Wizard Website containing the school prospectus for Hogwarts, suitable for the parents of new entrants. These pupils were expected to have read most of the Harry Potter series and to be able to cite the textual evidence for any claim that they made. They were also asked, as a group, to discuss what was different about writing about a fictional school as opposed to an actual school, and to identify how the website format influenced their language choices.


For all pupils: Wr1 Effective planning; Wr2 Anticipate reader reaction; Wr10 Effective information; Wr12 Formal description; S&L 11 Building on others

Additional objectives for abler pupils: Wr 8 Experiment with conventions; S&L10 Hypothesis and speculation

School example(s)



Strategy: Increasing the level of challenge

Exemplification

As part of a Year 7 module of work on The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, the class looked at some of the differences between the spelling and sentence structure of the eponymous alchemist and modern conventions. After looking at extracts from Bill Bryson’s book Mother Tongue (pages 164 onwards) in a guided reading session, able pupils were asked to identify and investigate examples of syntax and spelling that differ from modern usage in extracts from the medieval Lord’s Prayer, Chaucer, Shakespeare and Francis Bacon. They were also asked to seek the help of the school librarian in finding out about Dr Johnson’s dictionary, and to read enough of his Preface to be able to tell other pupils what Johnson tried to do through creating his dictionary. This task embodied high expectations in terms of research, analysis, synthesis and evaluation as well as presentation to peers.


For all pupils: W16 Unfamiliar words; S18 Sentences in older text

Additional objectives for abler pupils: R1 Locate information; R2 Extract information; S&L3 Shape a presentation

School example(s)



Strategy: Choosing and using objectives from later years

Exemplification

As part of a six-week Year 7 module of work on poetry, one school introduced pupils to poems of different types and times. Poems read included Wind by Ted Hughes, The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, Huffer & Cuffer by Jack Prelutsky, Taking a Word for a Walk and Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott. The final piece of work, which was open to all pupils in the mixed-ability class but was expected of abler pupils, focused on the Year 9 objectives of comparing texts and writers from different times. It was a critical comparison of Blake’s The Tyger and Macavity: The Mystery Cat by T S Eliot. The teacher modelled the writing of a critical comparison, and supported pupils’ reading by using a comparison frame. Since this was their first critical essay, the teacher used a detailed writing frame that helped pupils to use critical terminology with confidence (see handout 2.1).


Word: W14 Word meaning in context; W21 Subject vocabulary

Sentence: S13f Discursive writing; S14 Subject conventions

Text: R6 Active reading; R8 Infer and deduce; R12 Character, setting and mood; R19 Poetic form; Wr10 Organise texts appropriately; Wr19 Reflective writing


R7 Compare texts; R9 Compare writers from different times

School example



Strategy: Selecting extension objectives

Exemplification

The Year 9 class had read Animal Farm as a class reader, taking particular extracts (such as Old Major’s speech) as a focus for sharing reading and for analysis at word and sentence level. Through shared writing the teacher modelled writing in the style of a political fable, and pupils then created their own fables, based on the contemporary world.

(See handout 2.4 for the English extension objectives.)


Writing: Write an extended piece which sustains the conventions of a specific genre

School example



Strategy: Encouraging reflection and self-evaluation

Exemplification

One school, which gives individual reading a high profile, expects all pupils to keep a reflective reading journal throughout Key Stage 3. In this they note not only the texts they have read, but also their reactions while reading. (See handout 2.1 for an example of one pupil’s journal.) From time to time the teacher reads the journal and offers suggestions for future reading that could help increasingly sophisticated readers to extend the breadth and depth of their personal reading. There are regular class reviews of reading experiences, and recommendations for future reading.

The objectives addressed through this activity include:

Year 7 R17 Independent reading; R19 Write reflectively

Year 8 R12 Independent reading; R15 Historical context; R16 Cultural context

Year 9 R13 Evaluate own reading

School example



English extension objectives (1) Handout 2.4 Word level Sentence level Reading Writing Speaking and listening

Spelling

• Analyse the conventions governing recent changes in spelling and apply them when appropriate, e.g. text messaging, Americanisation

Spelling strategies

• Refine strategies for checking on the accuracy of spelling e.g. when writing under timed conditions

Vocabulary

• Appreciate, articulate and exploit the connotations of words in context

Sentence construction and punctuation

• Use sentences that combine three or more clauses to achieve elegant economy

Paragraphing and cohesion

• Shape the rhythm and structure of paragraphs to match meaning and achieve specific effects

Non-fiction

• Synthesise structural and stylistic elements of different text types to enhance meaning

Standard English

• Analyse how the language of texts from different cultures and times reflects social attitudes and values

Research and study skills

• Draw on a range of sources to devise and carry out independent research

Reading for meaning

• Explore contrasting interpretations of a text, e.g. from different personal, social, political or cultural perspectives

Understanding the writer’s craft

• Identify and exemplify what is characteristic of the style of different writers

Study of literary texts

• Cite textual and contextual evidence to illuminate the relationship between texts and their cultural contexts

Plan, draft and present

• Review and refine personal strategies for planning, drafting and reviewing that suit purpose, audience and the time available

Imagine, explore, entertain

• Write an extended piece that sustains the conventions of a specific genre of narrative, e.g. crime story

Inform, explain, describe

• Convey complex information, ideas or feelings with clarity and economy

Persuade, argue, advise

• Present a persuasive case on complex issues to a discerning readership

Analyse, review, comment

• Write an objective analysis of a complex text or situation

Speaking

• Present a literary piece in a way that engages , extends and challenges the understanding of an audience, e.g. enacting a text, storytelling

Listening

• Listen for a sustained period, and report on a recurring theme or topic embedded in the talk

Group discussion and interaction

• Control contributions, cope with challenging comments and summarise succinctly when chairing a meeting or leading a discussion

Drama

• Use dramatic techniques to explore, interpret and portray a range of characters from literature


English extension objectives (2) Word level Sentence level Reading Writing Speaking and listening

Spelling

• Know the most likely alternative where spelling conventions compete

Spelling strategies

• Maintain the accuracy of spelling when writing under time constraints

Vocabulary

• Use abstract and conceptual vocabulary with confidence

Sentence construction and punctuation

• Exploit complex syntax to convey meaning with maximum effect

Paragraphing and cohesion

• Maintain cohesion within and between paragraphs in an extended piece of writing

Non-fiction

• Convey complex material in a concise and compelling way. e.g. evaluations

Standard English

• Compare the language and syntax of pre-1914 and modern texts

Research and study skills

• Draw on evidence from personal research to develop hypotheses and test the hypotheses of others

Reading for meaning

• Explore texts in relation to different critical traditions, e.g. feminist as opposed to post-colonial readings

Understanding the writer’s craft

• Compare the style of the writers from different periods

Study of literary texts

• Plan and present a critical study of an author, period or genre

Plan, draft and present

• Plan quickly, and write effectively on demand, e.g. to answer different types of examination question

Imagine, explore, entertain

• Compose a narrative that has multiple layers of meaning

Inform, explain, describe

• Summarise complex information succinctly and with clarity

Persuade, argue, advise

• Write a constructive and coherent response to criticism, e.g. to allay fears, to justify unpopular decisions

Analyse, review, comment

• Offer a coherent personal interpretation of a challenging text, taking account of critical opinion

Speaking

• Make a sustained contribution to formal debate, e.g. proposing a motion and responding to impromptu questions

Listening

• Detect nuance, subtext and underlying themes

Group discussion and interaction

• Negotiate an agreed position in the light of conflicting views

Drama

• Direct a scene, or part of a scene from a play and write a critical evaluation of its dramatic impact


Challenges and strategies Handout 2.5

Starter activities

Challenges Strategies

To avoid repetition or re-learning

• Expect pupils to articulate rules or patterns to clarify understanding

• Use differentiated examples

• Plan for consolidation and confirmation rather than repetition

• Use the pace itself as a new challenge

• Look for new contexts in which to practise skills

• Select pupils to set the starter activity

• Address the same objective through texts and tasks at varying levels

To provide sufficient differentiation in such a short time

• Set investigations across a sequence of lessons

• Use pair or small group work

• Have tasks or examples that make use of higher-order thinking skills

• Use differentiated or open-ended questioning

• Make a statement and ask for it to be justified

• Exploit the power of the follow-up question: ‘What makes you think that?’

• Have a range of tasks based on the same text or focus

To offer appropriate challenges

• Use the anonymity of whiteboard responses

• Have ability pairings or groupings at times

• Focus on objectives that are relevant for these pupils

• Build in an incline of challenge with stepped tasks and differentiated texts

• Ask abler pupils to articulate the skills involved in completing particular tasks


Introduction


To provide an appropriate level of stimulus and challenge for the most able without losing the majority.

• Use differentiated questions

• Differentiate expectations

• Prepare questions targeted on particular pupils that reflect their needs and personalities

• Prime able pupils for contributions that extend the experience of all

• Pitch texts just above the independent reading level of the class

To involve able pupils in whole-class interactive discussion although they might wish not to contribute or might dominate

• Be aware of reasons for reluctance, and avoid overexposure of able pupils

• Direct questions to individuals

• Use response partners

• Require response via whiteboards

• Offer invitations to elaborate

• Allocate scribing

• Expect able pupils to articulate what has been learned

To use modelling productively in relation to the needs of able pupils

• Give an oral commentary or written demonstration with the more able in mind

• Involve pupils in modelling if appropriate

• Ask able pupils to articulate explanations and principles

• Make it possible for able pupils to enter tasks at a higher point

• Use modelling to build the confidence of able pupils

• Model problem -solving at different levels

• Use the terminology to support meta-cognition

• Model only that which able pupils need to know


Development


To spend time with able pupils on guided reading and writing.

• Recognise that able pupils are entitled to teacher time in guided work

• Identify able pupils’ shared needs and group accordingly

• Use additional adults as mentors

To ensure that grouping maximises learning opportunities

• Create task-specific groups

• Vary group membership

• Ensure that there are times when the ablest pupils work together

• Ensure that able pupils have the opportunity to follow and to lead

• Give able pupils roles in group work that reflect their abilities

To negotiate learning • Have group/pupil targets, not just class targets

• Promote self-evaluation

• Recognise and extend the linguistic expertise of multilingual pupils

• Use out-of-lesson conferencing, e.g. with mentors

• Encourage pupils to set questions, not just to provide answers

• Negotiate over styles of response and criteria for evaluation

• Be open to suggestions that build on the pupils’ cultural backgrounds

• Decide together on the objectives to be addressed by able pupils

• Discuss possibilities over presentation (e.g. ICT)

To develop the skills of able pupils through working with others of differing abilities

• Allocate challenging roles in group work, e.g. chair, taking responsibility for moving on discussion

• Peer editing or marking

• Require the articulation of development points and general principles during discussion

• Help able pupils to contribute to the success of others as well as to their own

To maintain the optimum pace for learning.

• Give all learning a time frame, but match timing to potential

• Offer challenging tasks

• Expect ‘different’ rather than just ‘more’

• Differentiate objectives or the approach to objectives

• Focus on qualitative outcomes

• Explore possibilities for acceleration

To plan activities that extend learning in breadth and depth

• Select appropriate objectives

• Use more challenging texts and tasks

• Compact the task

• Give a limited focus to promote depth

• Plan to engage with higher-order learning skills


Plenary


To involve able pupils without diminishing the achievements of others or inviting peer group resentment

• Expect able pupils to offer explanation, not just presentation

• Exploit the possibilities of presenting in role and reporting back

• Encourage able pupils to take notes for feedback

• Allow able pupils a different timescale for feedback, e.g. via OHP or ICT at the end of the week

• Be aware of the attitudes of other pupils

To engage with able pupils’ level of understanding

• Focus on the articulation of what has been learnt, using appropriate terminology

• Tackle demanding objectives

• Build understanding of the big concepts

• Enable able pupils to work with others of similar ability on a regular basis

• Offer the inspiration that can come from meeting older pupils who are gifted or talented


Independent work


To mark for maximum progress

• Marking should be formative, not just celebratory, and be focused on specific criteria

• Share differentiated success criteria in advance

• Vary styles of response and avoid excessive pressure

• Encourage self-checking based on prompt sheets for self-analysis

To use homework well • Foster originality, independence and initiative

• Set investigative, research-based tasks

• Make time for individual feedback

To promote extended reading and writing

• Monitor independent reading via reading logs and hold reading conferences

• Learn about the process of writing via the comments of published writers

• Expect complex narratives written from multiple viewpoints

• Extend and exploit the conventions of different text types

• Match texts and tasks to pupils’ abilities through negotiation based on high expectations

• Establish extracurricular writers and readers’ groups

• Expect the use of ICT, and encourage (monitored) email link-ups with able pupils in other schools

Drama • Develop a range of techniques through work in role

• Reflect on confidence and competence in using dramatic techniques

• Encourage involvement in extracurricular drama

• Provide opportunities to visit live theatre

ICT • Ensure appropriate access

• Recognise out-of-school experience

• Make explicit different processes and possibilities

• Require attention to provenance

• Provide opportunities to link words, sounds and images

• Work with colleagues in other schools to develop appropriate link-ups between able pupils

• Consider having students in training as e-mentors for able pupils


Year 9 module: Faces of war Handout 2.6

This handout is an extract from the Key Stage 3 exemplar unit on war poetry, which is outlined below. The lesson sequence, which is from Stages 2 and 3, involves identifying attitudes to war in poetry and writing a critical comparison.

Year 9 Unit: The faces of war

Prior learning

In order to complete this unit successfully, pupils should be able to draw on their knowledge and experience of:

• conventions for oral presentations

• using vocabulary that identifies devices used by writers, e.g. simile, metaphor, imagery, stanza, onomatopoeia, rhythm

• how to annotate texts and take notes

how to plan, organise and revise a critical essay

Expectations

Most pupils will: read a range of poems about war with understanding, recognising in their speaking and writing how the poems reflect different experiences of and responses to historical events. They write a critical comparison of poems from different periods, linking context and techniques to the poems’ meaning and impact. They read aloud fluently, and can articulate their response to the poems and the issues they raise.

Some pupils will not have progressed so far and will: respond to key themes and issues in some poems about war and appreciate some differences between different poems. They will show some understanding of writers’ techniques in their speaking and writing, and describe some links between form and style.

Some pupils will have progressed further and will: show critical understanding of the links between historical context, techniques and attitudes in poems about war from different periods. They speak and write critically, confidently and coherently, linking language, meaning and effect through aptly chosen terminology.

Starters

(suggestions):

• the language of war

• attitudes continuum

• active and passive

• critical terms

• word deletion

• language of comparison

• proofreading

• readings

Stage 1

• class discussion on attitudes to war

• presentations of attitudes to war in prose and images

Stage 2

• reading and discussion of a range of poetry from First World War poets

• reading and discussion of a selection of poems on war by contemporary writers

• consideration of similarities and differences in language and attitudes in the First World War and contemporary war poetry

Stage 3

• close reading and comparison of two contrasting war poems

• preparation, writing and revision of a critical essay

The main objectives addressed in stage 3 of the unit are:

Word Sentence Reading Writing Speaking and listening

W6 Terminology for analysis

W7 Layers of meaning

S4 Integrate speech, reference and quotation

5 Evaluate own critical writing

9 Compare writers from different times

17 Compare poets

Wr17 Cite textual evidence

S&L 10 Group organisation


Resources

Pupil resources

Poems of the First World War from a range poets to reflect different viewpoints and attitudes, e.g. Wilfred Owen: The Send Off, Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum Est; Siegfried Sassoon: Died of Wounds, The Hero, ‘They’, The Effect, Reconciliation; Isaac Rosenberg: Break of Day in the Trenches, The Dying Soldier; Rupert Brooke: Peace, The Soldier, The Dead; women’s poetry, e.g. Jessie Pope; German war poetry.

Range of poetry from later poets, e.g. Liz Lochhead: After the War; Peter Porter: Your Attention Please; Vernon Scannell: Refugees; Moniza Alvi: Exile; Kevin Carey: Again; Gavin Ewart: Disturbing Images; plus poetry from Vietnam, Korea, Falklands, Kosovo, Palestine. Simon Fuller’s collection The Poetry of War (BBC; ISBN 0 582 058118) includes appropriate poems about the major wars of the 20th century, and is accompanied by a cassette.

Teacher resources

Guardian 23.1.91 for the language of war. Photographs by Don McCullin.

Dervla Murphy: A Place Apart (Penguin, 1979; ISBN 0 14 005030 2)

Excerpts from war films/TV, e.g. Saving Private Ryan, All Quiet on the Western Front, Apocalypse Now, Machine Gunners, Black Adder, Henry V (comparison of Olivier and Branagh versions)

Recent TV news coverage of war, e.g. Kosovo, Palestine/Israel

CD-ROMS, e.g. Over the Nightmare Ground, British Poetry from Two World Wars – Headstrong Interactive

Websites, e.g. www.pitt.edu; www.worldwar1.com; www.warpoetry.co.uk; www.nomorewar.com; www.angelfire.com; www.echonyc.com; www.service.emory.edu; www.info.ox.ac.uk/jtap.


Stage 3: Poetry comparison

Lesson 7

Starter Introduction Development Plenary Homework

• Sequencing exercise. Pupils are presented with the cut-up lines or verses of two war poems, one written about the First World War and one written towards the end of the 20th Century.

• They have to separate and sequence the poems.

• Read the poems aloud and discuss how pupils decided which pieces were part of which poem.

Teacher, using OHP, models how to use a simple chart or table to summarise similarities and differences between the opening lines of the two starter poems.

Pupils suggest quotes or evidence to support points made in comparison table:

• how the poem portrays war

• the voice and attitude of the poet

• how the form affects the meaning, i.e. text and line structure, rhyme, imagery, other poetic devices.

• Pupils read closely and annotate the remaining lines of the two poems, and complete a comparison chart or table, identifying how attitudes to war have changed and how this is reflected in the language and structure of the poetry.

• Each group prepares the questions they would like to ask of the poets.

(Abler pupils could be directed towards two poems by the same poets, other than those modelled by the teacher, for their comparison).

• Teacher does guided reading with one group.

• The teacher (initially) takes the hot seat, speaking in role as one of the poets, and answering questions from the groups.

• Next, if they have the confidence and ability to do so, pupils take over in the hot-seat.

.


Lesson 8

Starter Introduction Development Plenary Homework

• Look together at the language needed for a literary comparison.

• Give out response cards with prose, poetry or both on them. As the teacher shows a critical term from the Framework spelling list, pupils hold up the appropriate card.

• Discuss decisions as necessary.

• Do class look/say/cover/write/check on spellings.

• Review what is distinctive about exploring the experience of war through poetry as opposed to prose. Refer to: – language choices – syntax – form – impact on the reader

• Short shared writing session, in which the teacher demonstrates planning a critical comparison of two poems. The teacher signals the need for: – an introduction that

provides an overview of the main points in the essay

– main body of the essay – using connectives to aid text cohesion

– paragraph structure – use of quotations – conclusion

• Pupils plan their writing independently, bearing in mind the need for: – an introduction – a line of argument, using connectives to aid

text cohesion – linked paragraphs – appropriate quotations – effective conclusion

• Pupils review plans with writing partners, listening to suggestions and amending planning accordingly.

• Teacher does guided writing with one group, focusing on planning strategies.

• Review the planning of the essay done so far

• Remind pupils of the terms used in the starter.

• Write a critical comparison of the attitudes to war shown in poems from different times.


Features of effective departments Handout 2.7

English departments that are effective in meeting the needs of abler pupils:

• Designate a coordinator within the department

• Plan differentiated teaching and tasks for abler pupils

• Use group and guided work effectively

• Create an environment that fosters independence

• Monitor and discuss the progress of able pupils

• Encourage self-evaluation in relation to assessment criteria

• Share and demonstrate subject enthusiasms

• Develop vocabulary in deliberate ways

• Use writing to support thinking, to aid recall and to plan at speed

• Support extended reading and writing through homework and individual conferencing

• Share assessment criteria with pupils

• Mark to maximise progress and set individual targets

• Provide extension, enrichment and acceleration

pupil case studies handout 2 - lancsngfl.ac.uk · pupil case studies handout 2.1 ... the book is...

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