English - Year 9

English Overview

Term 1 and 2: Writer's Craft: Fiction

Firstly, students will work with their teachers on annotating a range of fictional and non-fictional extracts to identify the voice, intent and perspective within a text.

In addition, students will be developing, planning and crafting imaginative writing, using a range of descriptive techniques and accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

To develop and nurture their English Literature skills, students will be working with their English teachers on texts and tasks linked to the Literature text. They will consolidate their PEE (Point/ Evidence/ Explanation) skills, building confidence and competence in preparation for the Literature assessment scheduled for the end of term.

  1. 1) Language and Structure in a non-fictional text.

    2) Creative Writing based on a picture stimulus.

Point

The theme/technique/ word which your quote proves. P from PEE.

Evidence

The quote. PEE.

Explanation

How does your point and evidence answer the question. PEE

Simile

Comparing one thing with another thing which it is not using like or as.

Metaphor

A word or phrase applied to something that it is not. Saying something is something else.

Alliteration

When more than one word in sequence starts with the same letter.

Hyperbole

Excessive exaggeration.

5 Senses

Using imagery that describes: Sight Smell Hearing Touch Taste

Adjective

A describing word.

Dialogue

A conversation between two characters, using speech marks.

Verb

A doing word.

Personification

Applying human characteristics to non human objects.

Rhetorical Question

Asking a question without requiring the reader to respond.

List

More than one idea connected by commas or semi colons.

Punctuation

Using a variety of punctuation to enhance a piece of writing. For example using: . , ; : - ? ! " ()

Sentence

Using a combination of sentence types. Simple, compound and complex.

Connectives

Using linking words to connect ideas.

Repetition

Saying the same word or idea more than once to create impact.

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like the noise they are describing

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will explore their ideas as they engage with different extracts. They will be able to develop their imagination and creativity through their own creative writing.

Create a supportive community:

Students will explore their ideas together, developing listening and appreciation skills.

Term 1 and 2 : The Dark Lady

Students will read and study ‘The Dark Lady' by Akala. The text will be approached through exploring themes, character and socio-historical context. Analysis, inference and deduction skills will be developed, along with a focus on expanding vocabulary. Students will explore the writer's craft and analyse how language is used for effect. Students will also read a range of unseen extracts, practising the skill of analysing writer's craft while exploring voice, intent and perspective.

  1. 1) Literature: Written response to an extract from a novel.

    2) Literature: Written response to a theme or issue raised across the whole text.

characterization

the study of characters in a text, including the distinctions between minor major and central characters and why each is more or less significant.

plot

the way the story line develops in a text. This could be linear (where events flow in chronological order from the start to the end without using flashbacks or flash-forwards) or cyclical (where the end of the story resembles the beginning).

setting

The time (when in the past/present/future) and place (where in the real/imagined world) that the events in a narrative are set to unfold.

The great depression

The period just after the wall street crash of the 1930s in the USA, when the American economy was in tatters and unemployment was at its highest, with over 60% of the working population being jobless. 'Of Mice and Men' is set in this period.

insecurity

One of the key themes in 'Of Mice and Men', this is the feeling of vulnerability experienced by most of the major characters in the novella. There is hardly any character in the text who feels fully secure.

novella

A novella is a text of written, fictional, narrative prose normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel, somewhere between 7,500 and 40,000 words long. Unlike 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which is a novel, 'Of Mice and Men' is a novella.

Racial Prejudice

The discrimination against people on the basis of their ethnic origins.

themes

The central idea which runs through a text. These are the key issues which a writer seeks to explore in a text.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will consider the moral messages and ethical debates that arise from the novel. They will be encouraged to consider their responses based on their own opinions and beliefs. Students will be asked to engage in debate and discussion. Issues will include morality, family, responsibility, dreams and ambitions.

Create a supportive community:

Students will work in pairs and small groups to compare ideas and beliefs about the story. Teachers will lead these groups in collaborative essay writing, which will in turn lead students to develop essay writing skills.

Term 3 and 4: Writer's Craft: Non-Fiction

Students will work with their teachers on annotating a range of fiction and non-fiction extracts to develop evaluation skills. Pupils will focus mainly on how successfully the writer has developed ideas and arguments across the text.

Some work on comparison of non-fiction texts will be explored here and a developing understanding of how to write non-fiction text types such as letters, speeches, articles, reviews, travel writing will be explored.

  1. 1) Evaluation of the success of a non-fiction text

    2) Transactional Writing

Point

The theme/technique/ word which your quote proves. P from PEE.

Evidence

The quote. PEE.

Explanation

How does your point and evidence answer the question. PEE

Simile

Comparing one thing with another thing which it is not using like or as.

Metaphor

A word or phrase applied to something that it is not. Saying something is something else.

Alliteration

When more than one word in sequence starts with the same letter.

Verb

A doing word.

Rhetorical Question

Asking a question without requiring the reader to respond.

Statistics

Percentages, data and other numerical facts which can be used to prove an argument.

List

More than one idea connected by commas or semi colons.

Punctuation

Using a variety of punctuation to enhance a piece of writing. For example using: . , ; : - ? ! " ()

Sentence

Using a combination of sentence types. Simple, compound and complex.

Connectives

Using linking words to connect ideas.

Repetition

Saying the same word or idea more than once to create impact.

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like the noise they are describing

Opinions

A viewpoint, statement or belief.

Facts

Something that is proved true. Information used as evidence.

Counter Argument

An argument that is opposing to the main argument you are making.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will explore their ideas as they engage with different extracts. They will be able to develop their ideas through their own transactional writing.

Create a supportive community:

Students will explore their ideas together, developing listening aand appreciation skills.

Term 3 and 4 : 21st Century play: Noughts and Crosses

With echoes of Romeo and Juliet, Noughts and Crosses is an electrifying, bittersweet love story set in a society divided by racial bigotry and a world rocked by terrorism. Sephy (a Cross) is the daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister. Callum is the son of a Nought agitator. United by a shared sense of injustice as children, and separated by intolerance as they grow up, their desire to be together begins to eclipse all family loyalty, sparking a political crisis of unimaginable proportions.

This thrilling stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman's hugely successful novel was premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2007. Throughout this module, students will not only further develop their understanding of the key features of great - and diverse -theatre, but also engage with a range of thought-provoking questions and scenarios. Moreover, they will focus on studying the play as a whole, considering the development of characters and themes, and how our societal context may affect the message for their readers.

  1. Literature: Whole text question on the novel studied.
Exploitation

The act of using someone unfairly for your own advantage. J.B. Priestley's main concern in this play is the exploitation of working class employees by their upper class employers who paid extremely low wages to maximize profit.

Segregation

The act or practice of segregating; a setting apart or separation of people or things from others or from the main body or group; the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority.

Discrimination

Treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favour of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit

Author

The writer of a book.

Speech

Addressing an audience

Foreshadowing

be a warning or indication of a future event

Techniques

The tools a writer uses to create particular effects

Inequality

When something is not fair or feels unequal

Prejudice

A preconceived opinion that is not based on fact or experience

Context

Context illuminates the meaning and relevance of the text, and may be something cultural, historical or political.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will learn about morals, crime and justice. They will explore the repercussions of crime, debate views on moral issues and critically evaluate other views.

Create a supportive community:

Students will work together to pull apart key events in the text. They will develop confidence in the impact of culture on literature and society.

Term 6: Revision for end of year exams

Students will develop skills in non-fiction reading and writing in preparation for their end of year examination. There will be practice papers provided for reading and writing questions and teachers will set 'walking-talking' mocks which enable students to practice their skills under timed conditions with support from the class teacher. A range of reading lessons will develop students' skills of identifying, explaining and analysing language and structural devices used in non- fiction texts. Evaluation and comparison skills will also be explicitly taught in preparation for the exams. Not only will students be taught a range of language techniques to use successfully in their own transactional writing, but also, they will be explicitly taught spelling, punctuation and grammar rules to boost their accuracy.

  1. Non-fiction reading and writing end of year exam (2 hours)
Point

The theme/technique/ word which your quote proves. P from PEE.

Evidence

The quote. PEE.

Explanation

How does your point and evidence answer the question. PEE

Simile

Comparing one thing with another thing which it is not using like or as.

Metaphor

A word or phrase applied to something that it is not. Saying something is something else.

Alliteration

When more than one word in sequence starts with the same letter.

Verb

A doing word.

Rhetorical Question

Asking a question without requiring the reader to respond.

Statistics

Percentages, data and other numerical facts which can be used to prove an argument.

List

More than one idea connected by commas or semi colons.

Punctuation

Using a variety of punctuation to enhance a piece of writing. For example using: . , ; : - ? ! " ()

Sentence

Using a combination of sentence types. Simple, compound and complex.

Connectives

Using linking words to connect ideas.

Repetition

Saying the same word or idea more than once to create impact.

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like the noise they are describing

Opinions

A viewpoint, statement or belief.

Facts

Something that is proved true. Information used as evidence.

Counter Argument

An argument that is opposing to the main argument you are making.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will develop skills of resilience and independence through recognising their own strengths and weaknesses and how to address them.

Create a supportive community:

Students will engage with a number of texts that will help to develop their ability to identify, explain and analyse.

Term 5: Comparative Poetry

Students will study a range of introductory GCSE poems taken from the 'Time and Place' poetry cluster from the Edexcel Anthology.

Students will develop key annotation skills that will support their study of further anthology poetry at GCSE.

Students will then learn how to make links between poems and compare the ways that poets have presented key ideas and emotions through analytical paragraphs. Key contextual information will also be explicitly taught, evidence of which is expected in written responses.

To complement this, students will further develop their comparison skills by looking at a variety of non-fiction texts in order to be able to identify key similarities and differences, both in terms of ideas and perspectives, and in terms of how these ideas and perspectives are presented.

  1. Comparative skills

Ode

A type of poem, usually praising something.

Point

The theme/technique/ word which your quote proves. P from PEE.

Evidence

The quote. PEE.

Explanation

How does your point and evidence answer the question. PEE

Simile

Comparing one thing with another thing which it is not using like or as.

Metaphor

A word or phrase applied to something that it is not. Saying something is something else.

Alliteration

When more than one word in sequence starts with the same letter.

Hyperbole

Excessive exaggeration.

5 Senses

Using imagery that describes: Sight Smell Hearing Touch Taste

Adjective

A describing word.

Dialogue

A conversation between two characters, using speech marks.

Verb

A doing word.

Rhetorical Question

Asking a question without requiring the reader to respond.

List

More than one idea connected by commas or semi colons.

Assonance

Close repetition of vowel sounds.

Caesura

A full stop in the middle of a line, to create impact at the pause.

Couplet

Stanza of 2 lines or pair of lines, often rhyming.

Enjambment

Continuation of a sentence across more than one line, noticeable by the lack of punctuation at the end of a line.

Epigraph

A short note or verse from another text, placed at the beginning of the poem.

Line

A line of the poem which forms part of a stanza.

Meter

The rhythm of a line.

Refrain

A repeated line within the poem.

Rhyme

Words that sound alike, especially words that end in the same sound.

Rhythm

The beat of the poem.

Stanza

Group of lines in a poem.

Repetition

Saying the same word or idea more than once to create impact.

Punctuation

Using a variety of punctuation to enhance a piece of writing. For example using: . , ; : - ? ! " ()

Sentence

Using a combination of sentence types. Simple, compound and complex.

Connectives

Using linking words to connect ideas.

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like the noise they are describing

Iambic Pentameter

A line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.

Blank Verse

Non rhyming verse in iambic pentameter.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will consider a range of poetic forms, devices and styles from across the world. They will continue to learn how to approach an unseen poem, focusing on language, form and structure, which will feed into their GCSE study. Students will be asked to use empathy skills in order to appreciate the context of the poems they read.

Create a supportive community:

Students will explore ideas and feelings, building on one anothers' ideas and listening to each other. Students will be asked to recognise positive contributions in order to foster a great atmosphere for debate.