English Language GCSE: 10 min a day?

[GrumpyMuleFan]

DD really struggling with English Language. She finds it much harder to revise for than the others - she says everything is ‘big skills’ rather than bite sized chunks. Her working memory is also poor, so repetition/over learning are v important.

It got me thinking that all other subjects are v well supported with programmes to help revision. She does My GCSE Science and Corbett Maths, which are both brilliant.

Does anyone know of a programme or book that practices Eng Language skills in 10-20 min daily chunks? Her board is Edexcel, but I don’t think it matters. She’s watched a lot of You Tube, but she needs pen in hand, brain engaged practice.

Thank you.

What about something like this?

My DS also finds this tricky.

We went through the mark scheme with him at the weekend for part of the paper and got him to do and redo questions (for example Q2,3,4 of paper 2) until he moved up a level in the mark scheme. It was intense and not pretty as it is hard work for him and for us! but he felt like he made progress.
He is good enough in the language per se, but it's the exact mark scheme every year essentially and it is a tick box operation making sure you are answering to the mark scheme and including enough in there to get to the higher levels.
At the moment, he is taking his time with the answers but nearer the exam he needs to be quicker.

I recommend this one from CGP:

www.cgpbooks.co.uk/secondary-books/gcse/english/language/enew42-gcse-english-language-edexcel-exam

The English language exams are tough and not designed for 'bite size' practice unfortunately. They need stamina and the best way really to prepare is to

1. read a lot to get reading speed up
2. practice each of the 4 questions for section A in real time. Work on 1 minute per mark to write the answer.

Thank you everyone for your help. We’ve got the revision book mentioned, and have bought the exam one. 🙏🏽🙏🏽

@DataColour that’s really interesting and I think it’s what we need to do. To literally help her move up the grade ladder. Did they do it on their own first and then edit with your help? I can imagine it being a slog, but helpful.

@BobLobla Im with you in these exams being hard! I love reading and writing and find them a bit challenging. But I always think that the best way to tackle hard things, is to break them down into tiny chunks, oft repeated. I know it’s corny, but I subscribe to “yard, by yard, life is hard. Inch by inch, life’s a cinch”. 🤣 She has a reader in the exam, but I think we’ll practice the questions to time. I really like that the book has the answers to help model it.

Just one more question about transactional writing task. They have two choices - are any easier formats? Or any to be avoided? I looked back at some of the past papers and some of the topics were quite niche. Not sure how to prepare ideas for that.

@GrumpyMuleFan When my DD was struggling with this last year I sat down with her and we did the sample questions side by side and marked each other’s according to the mark scheme. She learned at least as much from marking mine as she did from having hers marked. Felt like a bit of solidarity too! She did very well in the end.

Just one more question about transactional writing task. They have two choices - are any easier formats? Or any to be avoided? I looked back at some of the past papers and some of the topics were quite niche. Not sure how to prepare ideas for that.

Do you mean Q5?
There are YouTube videos (e.g. Mr Bruff) explaining how to answer these, explaining what to include, things to avoid, examiners' reports.

The same as @JessyCarr did. Look up the past papers for Edexcel yourself and have the question paper open in one tab (or on one laptop) and the mark scheme open in another tab or on a different laptop. Go through each question one by one and pay the most attention to the Assessment Objectives (AOs).

qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/english-language-2015.coursematerials.html#filterQuery=Pearson-UK:Category%2FExam-materials

Mine also did Edexcel for English lang and I had to get involved as Ds just wasn't getting it. Your DD should have in her school workbook what the AOs are and each one has a level, so she has to hit all the relevant AOs in her answers ie AO2 is language "Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views."

The answers are listed out making it easier for you to walk her through the paper including the transactional responses they are looking for. The transactional. writing one is hard for some children. Look up news articles with her now especially biased pieces and look at the words used by them.

For the imaginative writing, she can go in prepared to some extent. Have a great set of weather descriptors, google it now, how to describe rain etc. Both my sons used night and rain in their stories. Stacey Reay on youtube talks though use of language and punctuation as important elements for a story. You can write a lot about a little, ie a school playground something she would hopefully be able to describe, you can help her, how different would it be at night? Contrast day to night, noise to silence etc.

Look also at the examiner's report after you have walked through a paper together to see their thoughts on how pupils performed. I helped Ds guided by his incredible teacher. As an adult it was easier for me to see what they wanted from the mark scheme and so easier for me to support that at home with Ds. The issue with any English paper is there is no foundation/higher so on some things they make it easier but they also have to challenge those for higher grades too. Best of luck to you.

I'm an English teacher, tutor and examiner. I think you've received excellent advice on this thread and I pretty much second all of it - especially having the AOs memorised and the mark scheme to hand.
With my tutees, we are very much tackling and perfecting one question at a time at the moment. So I set them some pre-learning, I model an answer in our small group and then they do that single question several times over the week using different past papers. We then come together again and compare responses, share, edit and mark each other's work. It's a really low stress method for very overwhelmed students. It works well and they enjoy it. ☺️

Anyone's welcome to DM me for further information about general support or participating in the groups.

I also forgot to mention the imaginative writing element. Please support your kids in creating a couple of really interesting fictive characters. Use Dickens or their favourite authors for inspiration. Develop these two characters fully and then students can "drop" then into any setting, fully formed, as it were. Similarly they can prepare a paragraph on some type of physical or emotional journey undertaken or experienced by their characters to add structural progression (or circularity) to their writing. Have a pre-written weather description of a storm or blizzard etc to showcase their figurative language and it'll make the writing task so much more controlled and predictable.

Can anyone advise on a revision book for Cambridge IGCSE please?

What’s the syllabus number? And are you asking for Language or Literature?

Mrs Duckworth’s Classroom is an online resource which is really good - you get some resources for free but have to pay to unlock others.

Thank you @TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross, I will have a look at that.