Resources for L6 KS2 SATs English - esp comprehension

[PastSellByDate]

Hi:

I've posted elsewhere about our recent parent/ teacher meeting (www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/2029136-And-the-prize-for-this-weeks-most-pointless-homework-goes-to?msgid=45904120#45904120) - where basically we were told they want to sit DD1 for L6 English and asked us to do more with her at home.

In particular they want us to work on her comprehension and especially improve how she discusses an author's writing.

They didn't have any notes for us to take away - so that we know what particularly we should be working on and they couldn't suggest any websites. We rather got the impression they were pushing us to buy a L6 KS2 SATs workbook, but studiously avoiding directly saying that.

If parents/ teachers out there have any ideas for useful websites/ workbooks etc... which can help in this area I'd be grateful.

Interesting Lainiekazan.

Didn't know answers were so narrowly marked/ possible. Makes it very tricky doesn't it.

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Feenie -

Yep - have gone back to check re-reading posts and now see you hadn't said anything at that point to mightbe - I'd just lumped you in with mrz.

That was unfair - So my apologies.

However Feenie got to give you credit - you've rather joined in with gusto since then.

It was unfair. Thank you.

I join in lots of discussions on the Primary board - and I stand up to bullying.

For the record PSBD feenie didn't join in with anything because there was nothing to join in with.

I made a comment that I found MightBe's idea that primary teachers aren't capable of teaching Y6 pupils strange (and for the record still do ) nothing more nothing less.

Then you jumped in with your post which MN have seen fit to delete and I explained to feenie that I thought you were referring to my post ... no joining in at any point.

All quite ironic on a thread about reading, really.....

" I mean, how can we know the author's intent."

That's what DD said (posted up-thread on Sunday).

DD's tendency to reason like that is partly why I don't care much about mad L6 Reading skilz. All I need to do now is get her familiar with the most common varieties of (informal) logical fallacy and she'll be sorted for life.

Eg a question about Anne of Green Gables: "How does Anne feel?" The answer was "optimistic" but I would have said "apprehensive" and dd said "very nervous". We got nul points!

That's not author intent; that's a requirement for the pupil to be psychic.

"Can give detailed insight into how the structural choices support the
writer’s theme or purpose (e.g. decisions about plot structure, mapping
character development through a whole text, flash backs / flash forwards; in non- fiction, looking at devices and decisions the writer has made in multi-genre texts)."

Mrz, I've never written that. I did say that I felt that many Y6 teachers do not have the resources (time) or experience to teach LEVEL 6 concepts. I'll stick to that. It's my experience of having wicked with many of them. But I've wasted enough finger-tapping energy on that.

I'm more interested in helping to clarify things for parents, which I did early on in this thread. I hope that it was helpful to some. The bullet points can be used to either critique, analyse or compare texts. The question needs to be read carefully though to ensure that this is what's being asked for.

Asking how a character feels is rather different - more about inference and deduction at this level. This requires locating and paraphrasing evidence (often more than one piece) in the text. The addition of short quotations are sometimes helpful
e.g. The reader knows this because XXX describes her as '..........' (Line 5). However, quotations alone are insufficient.

Sorry FrozebCherries I'm confused why would you think I was attributing that to you?

Sorry fir the confusion there, Mrz. I name changed. I'm MightBe.

for

Reported.

Suggest you read what you posted then FrozenCherries/MightBe

I'd rather not get embroiled in an argument.
Happy to be helpful to parents asking questions and have offered useful tips.

mrz (I believe you're Durham based) - but here in my little corner of Birmingham the Year 6 teacher has had close to 10 days off for training to teach at NC L6, the school has no materials for parents prepared on targets to level 6 (so we just get handed targets for NC L5a and are told our child has met most of those and they're now trying to prepare targets for NC L6 (by the way we've had this since October parent teacher meeting and last year's Y6 pupils had similar problems although 1 attained NC L6 in both maths/ English.).

We're also in the interesting situation where he's drafting course work for the upper ability work, but doesn't actually deliver it - substitutes and now a KS1 teacher do that.

I seriously do hope that most schools in England can and do teach beautifully to levels 5a/6c+ - I'm just saying that our school seems utterly unprepared to do so.

Which is why I got angry about your attitude with MightBe.

I realise you're proud of your profession and colleagues (and I suspect rightly so) and have every right to defend them spiritedly!

But I think you'd be wholeheartedly ashamed but what passes for Y6 curriculum at our school. I hasten to add I don't blame the Year 6 teacher - the poor person is picking up the pieces of years of no homework, no aspirations and poor communication with parents on what children should be doing by when, etc.... In fact I rather feel sorry for the Year 6 teacher.

I think you would agree that it is the school that is ill prepared rather than laying the blame for shortcomings on Y6 teachers in general PSBD?

Although this came out a year ago, very little has changed. It includes and elaborates upon the points that I made.
www.shu.ac.uk/_assets/pdf/ceir-investigation-key-stage2-level6-tests.pdf

I read that when it was released and it's quite depressing around what used to be called the Berlin Wall i.e. primary-secondary, until Gove re-purposed the term for state-independent.

That's right.