GCSEs 2018 (8) Dozens of DCs, 1 DH and Flashcards in the fridge

[mmzz]

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AQA paper 1 section B
Allow about 45 minutes for this - if you’re down to 30 minutes, do the description. Check your work because marks are awarded for SPAG as well as content. The correct use of the semi colon is the icing on the cake!
A lot of people suggest doing this section first. However, the writing section is linked to the first section by theme. If you’re not fond of creative writing you may find you get some ideas from the extract.
There’s always a photo. You pick one of two options. If it’s a description, the key word is that it’s ‘suggested’ by the picture so you can imagine as well as describe a scenario and incorporate what you might hear, smell, touch etc as well as what you can see. You can place yourself in the description or imagine other people in it. Try to be really precise about colour rather than just red, blue etc.
The other option is a story with a title or opening line - sometimes they ask for the opening of the story and sometimes a whole one.
For either task:
Have some fun with it. Vary lengths of sentences for dramatic effect. Make sure you vary the start of paragraphs even if it’s just adding ‘Suddenly’ or ‘Cautiously’ to a sentence beginning with I.
Use some interesting adjectives and adverbs. Use some of the language techniques - a rhetorical question (with question mark), alliteration and rule of three are simple to remember. Don’t have a checklist and just try to shoehorn everything in.
Punctuation - beware the comma splice, where a comma is used instead of starting a new sentence or where a connective or semi colon would do the job much better. Creative writing is quite useful for demonstrating the ellipsis... to build up suspense/have a dramatic pause. If you use dialogue, you’ll demonstrate variation, more punctuation and even better make your story longer and more interesting!
Spelling - don’t abandon a really good word just because you’re not quite sure of the spelling. The sophisticated vocabulary will top the spelling error as long as it’s clear which word you mean.

Sorry, those posts are too long and very general but I hope it helps.

@LooseAtTheSeams - thats excellent advice! You clearly know your stuff.

Ds has a day off today which has come at a very welcome time. He had a bit of a lie in and has gone into school to do some revision there. He said that he had done a couple of history questions and was going in to discuss them through with his teacher. I have had literally no input into his revision timetable as he repels all offers, so I was quite impressed and relieved by the appearance of some concrete work.

One thing I have been saying to him this week which I will share is something my late father observed. I don't know if you used to watch Mastermind back in "the old days" but my dad said that where people used to lose loads of marks was when they were rattled by missing a question or getting it wrong - you could see it was still in their head when they really needed to let it go and move on, and it would impact the next two or three questions as well. So our mantra is "move on": whether you have done poorly, or think you have smashed it - let it go and don't let it colour your next exam - start every one anew. Does that make sense?

loose my DD is doing wjec eduqas gor English

Will your info above vary because of this?

Thank you, Looseattheseams. Great advice, as always.

Edexcel French was 'Ok actually - I'm happy' from DD.
Lowest predicted grade so if she found it ok then that might be encouraging for others who have more capable DCs doing it.
Week one down here - next week is a bugger!!!!

Thanks Loose really helpful. Are you an English teacher?

I feel so much better that the exams are actually here now, it's the beginning of the end - and i for one can't wait - also think DD will be pleased i'm now off her back about revising - the sentence i'm now using is "just need to re-cap over that subject"

Thanks Loose........any tips on how to get child to follow your great advice!!!???

Tawny that's the advice I was say to my DC and also within an exam if can't do a question move on don't waste time over it you can always go back to it later!

Hi all - yes I teach AQA English language at FE college, which involves repeating this advice over and over...sadly, students tend to take notice of it rather closer to the exam than I'd like! I also mark paper 2 for AQA but my colleague marks paper 1 so I got some of the tips from her and I use them in class.
One of my students is resitting the exams because he ran out of time last year. Recently, he's worked out a way of answering paper 1 that means he always completes it. He reads the extract, does as 1 and 2 and then does the writing task. He says he goes back and does 3 and 4 at the end and feels as though the extract is sort of simmering away at the back of his mind while he writes the story. It works for him but the rest of the class like to do the paper in strict order!

Yes, next week will be the bad one here too - English Lit x2, Geography 1, Physics 1, RS 3 and Maths non-calculator.

Re different exam boards - they all test the same objectives but the papers look very different and they've made different decisions about where to put the 19th century text and how many extracts per paper. It's very confusing!

Glad to hear French is going well. I think DS has got another 15 exams to go. I'm glad half term is in the middle of that!

mmzz Snap! I used to take mind photographs for exams too and that's how I got all my results in school. I remembered where in the page every bit of information was, what it looked like, etc. Now I always know where everyhing is like you, if DH can't find his wallet or DS something else they don't bother to look they just ask me and I always know where I've seen it last. My mind is just full of useless images. But I'm crap with names since I started a bilingual life.
sandy your DS and mine are on an identical exam schedule. Sometimes I wonder if they're at the same school. But you said yours recommend 4 a levels and DS' school are pushing for 3, so probably not

loose you're a

@brainmelt - probably not. The Sixth Form is 50% IB and 50% A Level. I think they make them do 4 to keep them as busy as the IB students.

Me too, brainmelt - I'm useless with names unless I've seen them written down. I'm embarrassingly bad with faces. People must think me very disinterested, and downright rude, sometimes because I just can't remember faces at all. I couldn't even find DS in the year group photo the other day, but DH found him in seconds.

Thank you loose with your valuable and welcome tips for English language

Tawny your DF was absolutely right and that's good advice.

DD has 7 exams next week so not much time to revise in between. Roll on half term I'm exhausted

Thanks, Loose...

DD still in PJ's but has been revising since 9.30...I have been up since 6 am...(need blackout curtains).

Glad to hear French has gone OK...

I finally booked a holiday this morning in one of two slots still available in DD's diary she will miss the 6th form induction day but given it's her own school and its mainly aimed at new entrants not the end of the world.

Morning

Ds very stressed last night as he had mislaid a list of Physics equations, but amongst piles of papers all over the place in the study, I've found them; he struggles with organising himself and gets annoyed if I interfere, but I've had enough. I am putting things in piles and will put them into folders with him when he gets home.

He seems OK so far, says the exams were 'alright' or 'I think I've passed.'

Geography revision tomorrow from 9am to 12pm. Also English Lit x2 Geography, Physics and Maths next week - very similar to your ds mmzz but my ds has got RS out of the way and he would like to shred all paperwork/revision notes on it!

Loose thank you so much for the English advice. Good luck to your student resitting the exams. Ds was looking at a Paper 1 specimen and read an extract from Brighton Rock which he found challenging. He thinks his mind goes blank but on coaxing them out of him it's all there, it maybe needs to simmer with him as well while doing the piece of creative writing.

Ds told me he is concerned about Jekyll and Hyde and said he might fail English Literature - I am sure he won't. We are going through the themes, discussing them together and talking about the characters...he answered a question about Jekyll for the mock about how Stevenson keeps readers' sympathy with Jekyll; I think this may have been last year's exam paper. Unfortunately I couldn't get him to see the Ecclestone Macbeth with me as he preferred to get on with Science revision. We have the Michael Fassbender film but I don't rate it much.

I hope everyone has some relaxation over the weekend.

Awesome thanks loose English is DD's best subject she is predicted 9 for language and 8 for literature. She wants to do language for A' Level but is a bit fixated on it not being a facilitating subject so is probably going to do literature.

Thanks for sharing such great advice

Right. Here goes -paper 2. The good news is that students tend to do better on this even though there are two extracts to deal with. I think they warm up on the first paper!
Section A - 45 minutes maximum.
There are two extracts - one modern and one 19th century. They are linked by theme and the exam boards choose themes teenagers can relate to. A special plea from me: use the writer’s name and spell it correctly. Don’t call them by their first name - that isn’t in the mark scheme but it might irritate the exam marker. Sometimes they don’t give a name so you’re stuck with ‘the writer of source B’. Also watch out if source B turns out to be two short extracts - make sure you write about the one the question is asking for. The sources could be articles or letters.
Q.1 is a series of statements about part of the extract. 4 are true. There’s usually one slightly tricky one so read the statements carefully.
Q. 2 this is a comparison question and you are asked to summarise the differences on a particular aspect of source a and source b. It’s important to refer to the text to support your points but don’t waste time analysing language. If you don’t refer to both texts you can’t get very far up the mark scheme. The best answers synthesise the comparison points but you can do well by summarising A and then saying, ‘In contrast...’ and listing how B is different.
Q3 this only refers to one text, usually the 19C one, and asks in some manner how the writer uses language to get their point across. Look for examples of persuasive techniques, including emotive language or facts and statistics etc etc. As in paper 1, you need to explain why it’s effective, informative, persuasive, so you are clearly answering the question. Make sure you are writing about the right extract - it is very upsetting to the examiner if you are obviously bright but used the wrong one!
Q. 4 is another comparison question, this time about how the writers convey different attitudes towards the same thing. There are bullet points to guide you. My advice to students is to step back for a moment and think about the overall different impressions they give. Get that paragraph down and spend the rest of the answer explaining how you know that, with reference to key words from the text as you go along. The ‘how’ is any technique they use. Again, the best answers will compare all the way through rather than doing one first and then the other. One tip - you can comment on the tone of the pieces, and there’s a good chance that the 19C example will be different in tone to the modern one. An easy contrast would be the use of humour versus emotive language, so fingers crossed that comes up! Another possible point of comparison is form - if one extract is a personal letter, it may be expressed very differently to an article intended for publication.
As in paper 1 you don’t get assessed on SPAG but do check for silly mistakes and incomplete sentences.
Section B to follow...

15 more exams for us. 5 next week then a good 11 day break before the rest.

This week was the hardest week. Next week has some chunky topics but by Tuesday will have completed 4 of her GCSEs completely - English lit, history, Latin and French. So fairly chunky ones.

Actually correction - I think Q3 is more likely to be the modern text - check which one they want in the exam!!