GCSE English -Words of wisdom sort.

[magentadreamer]

DD since starting High School has always found English a bit of a struggle she is now in yr10.

A bit of background: avid reader, on an average week reads at least one book a week, more in the holidays. Writes stories and poetry and has done since she could string a sentence together. KS2 SAT - Reading Level 5 Writing level 3. Writes very slowly and awkwardly due to being a leftie -we all are, so doesn't get enough down and loses her "flow" when word processing gets more down and it does tend to flow and read better. Spelling has improved. Vocabularly is fantastic due to her reading. Ended Yr8 on a level 6C. Has had the same fantastic English Teacher since Spring term of yr8 and will hopefully will have her till the end of yr11. English teacher has described DD as a pleasure to teach and she gives a 100% to lessons. Yr9 was spent doing mock CA's DD got A's in creative writing and C's in all the rest. DD excels in Science/Maths/Geography type subject and already has GCSE Geography under her belt.

DD herself states the problem is translating what she has in her head onto paper. She is due to do her first proper CA just before half term. DD knows roughly what she will be tested on and so we have been working on it at home. She has the bare bones of what could be a fantastic essay if she could just get the thoughts she vocalises down onto paper. DD has just started with a tutor who basically is going to work with DD to get the meat onto the bones and then it is a question of DD being able to do an essay of a similar standard in the CA. Then moving onto the next CA. 60% of her English language GCSE is CA. The better she does at CA's the more chance she has got of getting a C grade.

Is there any thing else I can do to help DD? I have looked up the GCSE spec
and apparently they can use word process if spell check etc turned off. I have asked DD to talk to her teacher regarding this and I will email her as well.

Sorry for the long waffle and if you've read this far thank you.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Yes, they can type a CA if no spell check etc. They can also take a page of notes into the CA, so your dd needs to work with the teacher to ensure that her notes are the most helpful they can be - maybe a flowchart of the order of paragraphs would be one idea, as it will help to keep her thoughts organised and cohesive?

[ohappydays]

She could have a speed of writing assessment where she may be able to have a scribe for the Eng lit part of the exam if she falls within a certain range

Does she mind map her ideas before she creates her work
Look at Tony Buzan's work
Good luck

[Tigerstripes]

What's her CA on? Could then perhaps give more focused advice. However, I would also recommend the best use of the notes sheet, e.g spellings she may find that she gets wrong, keywords for paragraphs.

[magentadreamer]

Thank you for your replies. DD has spoken to her English teacher and she will be able to word process for the CA's. I don't think she writes that slow that she'd get a scribe but thank you for mentioning. The first CA she is doing is on the relationship between the two main charactors in Of Mice and Men. She has done the first draft and is now working on a second draft. Once she's happy then we will look at her notes to take in to the CA. I will definetly get her to write out some of her more frequently mis spelt words. DD herself is alot more upbeat about English as a whole we were having the usual teen angst about it all.