Challenging very able pupils at KS4

[brucebogtrotter]

Hello all

I'm an English specialist who has been given a top set Year 10 this year. They are very able, with some of them finishing KS3 with Level 8 - I've never taught children like these before. I'm very anxious to ensure they are engaged and challenged. I've read lots of generic 'challenge able children' stuff - Bloom's taxonomy etc - but I'm hoping someone with a bit more experience than me at this can offer some pointers/tips? If there are any English-specific ones, even better!

Thanks in advance.

Ohhh lovely, I've taught a year 10 class like this and loved it.

Things I did that worked:

1. I set extended reading tasks for each unit for books/articles that they could read to give breadth and depth to what we were studying. For example, for OMAM I set them the task of reading Steinbeck's story about Curley's Wife and another Steinbeck novel (might have been Grapes of Wrath?)
2. Created vocab lists for the whole class and challenged them to include them in their classwork/homework/oral responses and gave school points if they used them.
3. I enrolled a few students on the Oxford Excellence programme that runs over half terms, we set an essay challenge on the book that was studied to select who participated.
4. I always had extension activities, because there were a few super bright students who did superb work super quickly- needed to keep them busy!
5. Lots of A star example answers and really focussed on the quality of their written expression, this was really successful and dramatically improved their work. I found their ideas were great, but lacked maturity in their phrasing- they loved sounding 'grown up' and it was a new challenge for them as at KS3 they had really only touched upon phrasing. However, this may be unique to the class I had.

I also tried the takeaway homework style homework- this didn't work, too many lazy boys in the class opted for the easiest tasks. I also tried to get them to memorise poetry. That was possibly the worst lesson I have ever taught!

Set some challenging work early on to get the measure of them. Plan on the basis of what you find out. Don't overthink things - these students will respond well to the the things all students respond well to. And I'll bet you already know what that is.

With the challenges of the new GCSE criteria this will make your planning easier. Make sure you pick really challenging texts for them. I am starting my very able Y10 with Wessex Tales as prep for Lang, 2 lessons in they are already on board. I am playing up the idea of such a limited amount of candidates achieving a 9. When you pick the texts to study for Lit make sure you pick tougher ones, leave Macbeth and choose Merchant. They will need to memorise quotes so get them to memorise speeches. I taught my current very ably Y10 in Y9 and made them learn the key speeches of Henry V. They loved it. Especially the lazy boys.

Teach context in detail and make sure their verbal responses are as grammatically sound as their written. Give them a reading list and check they are reading, look for prestigious competitions, Poetry by Heart, MUNGA's etc and enter them. Enjoy the fun of teaching such an able group, you will find the less able will rise to the challenge and will thrive. I last taught a group like mine 4 years ago and even the weaker ones (KS2 4a) ended up with A/A*.

Scarydinosaurs, thank you for those very practical suggestions - all great practical ideas that I can immediately use. I like the reading in depth and breadth one especially.

Catfordbetty, thank you for that reassuring post. If I'm honest I do feel a bit intimidated by the prospect, but you're right - they'll enjoy what other kids enjoy.

Dexterwasright, great ideas and points - thanks. I'll look in to some of those competitions. I'll try to enjoy it; I just feel a bit panicked at the moment!

I second Dexter's points about context and competitions. I teach history so I don't know if this is relevant to you but I always encourage wider reading for high ability pupils. Maybe get them looking more deeply into the historical context for texts you are studying - as background for the story and the society the author lived in (possibly not as helpful if you study modern texts).

Competitions are great motivators for lots of pupils too. We enter a couple of local comps and a national one as well (they tend to have cash prizes which can help to motivate lazier pupils!).