NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
English
Reading Skills
Analysis and Evaluation Unit
Advice and Guidance for Outcome 1
[NATIONAL 4;
NATIONAL 5]
This advice and guidance has been produced to support the profession with the delivery of
courses which are either new or which have aspects of significant change within the new
national qualifications (NQ) framework.
The advice and guidance provides suggestions on approaches to learning and teaching.
Practitioners are encouraged to draw on the materials for their own part of their continuing
professional development in introducing new national qualifications in ways that match the
needs of learners.
Practitioners should also refer to the course and unit specifications and support notes which
have been issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34714.html
Acknowledgement
Education Scotland gratefully acknowledges this contribution to the National Qualifications
support programme for English.
The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to use the following sources: short story
‘The Flower’ by Alice Walker published in Ways with Words: A New Windmill Book of Short
Stories (New Windmills Collections), Heinemann, 2001 © The Flowers by Alice Walker;
image of sheep from http://www.irn-bru.co.uk/poster/sheep.html © A G Barr plc; news item
Roald Dahl and the darkness within from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14880441 ©
BBC News website; poem ‘Limbo’ by Seamus Heaney, from New Selected Poems, 1966–
1987, Faber and Faber, 2002 © Limbo from Wintering Out by Seamus Heaney, Faber and
Faber Ltd.
© Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in
any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence,
visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or e-mail:
psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain
permission from the copyright holders concerned.
Any enquiries regarding this document/publication should be sent to us at
enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk.
This document is also available from our website at www.educationscotland.gov.uk.
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Contents
Advice for practitioners
Suggested approach to teaching and learning
5
Advertising
Techniques used in advertising
Techniques used in advertising – WWF
How to read an advert
6
10
16
Prose fiction
Advice to practitioners
‘The Flowers’ by Alice Walker
How to read fiction prose
18
24
26
Prose non-fiction (close reading ideas)
‘Roald Dahl and the darkness within’ by Tom de Castella
Close reading practice
Close reading revision
Team games tournament template 1
Team games tournament template 2
How to read non-fiction prose
28
31
35
37
38
39
Poetry
‘Limbo’ by Seamus Heaney
Limbo lesson idea
Limbo annotation – learner
Technique cards
Limbo annotation – practitioner
Limbo annotation – practitioner with some analysis
How to read a poem
41
42
45
47
49
51
53
Ideas for memorising technical terms
Sentence structure questions
Sentence structure test 1
Sentence structure test 2
Questions for terminology game
59
60
62
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ADVICE FOR PRACTITIONERS
Advice for practitioners
These materials are intended to provide some ideas to support the teaching of
the Analysis and Evaluation Unit in National 4 and 5 English. In this unit,
learners must read a text and show that they are able to understand, analyse
and evaluate it. In doing so, they will use the thinking skills of applying,
analysing and evaluating.
Outcome 1 encompasses both critical essay writing and what in the old -style
qualifications we would have called close reading or textual analysis. These
materials support the teaching of the latter. In Standard Grade, the learners
read and answered questions on fiction and/or non -fiction passages. In
Intermediate 1 and 2 the exam was a non-fiction passage while the unit
assessments also included fiction. For the new qualifications, the definition
of text has broadened to include other types of text such as advertising ,
moving images and even websites.
Traditionally, comprehension has been an area of the course in which many
learners have found difficulty. So how do we help them become more
confident? The exercises in these materials are a suggested approach to
improving comprehension skills and confidence .
Often in the past improving learners’ ability in close reading or textual
analysis has been achieved by undertaking lots of practice: completing close
reading ‘tests’, reading passages and answering exam-type questions.
However, we know that often this approach is unsuccessful when w e’re trying
to get learners to analyse and evaluate unfamiliar texts before they’re really
secure in their understanding of writers’ techniques and how they work. Nor
have they, in many cases, even remembered their names or definitions.
These materials therefore aim to provide support in helping learners to
deconstruct text, rather than providing examples of close reading passages –
there are plenty of commercially produced examples of these available. There
are also many commercial texts which offer suppo rt on how to tackle
different types of close reading questions.
The aim of the approaches in these materials is to teach learners to be more
independent and able to analyse texts for themselves. This is what
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ADVICE FOR PRACTITIONERS
Curriculum for Excellence sets out to do. The aim is to build up learners’
skills so that they will be more confident with unfamiliar texts.
Suggested approach to teaching and learning
To help develop learners’ confidence in their close reading skills, they need
to be familiar with the terminology used to describe writers’ style. They need
to know the names of writing techniques in the first instance – they can’t
analyse techniques if they don’t know what they are. This is the first stage of
learning – to understand and remember. Some exercises to try to encourage
learners to remember important terms are included in this document, within
the section ‘Ideas for memorising technical terms.’ For a list of the
techniques learners should know, have a look at the BBC Bitesize site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/bitesize/higher/english/about_the_exa
m/critical_essay_paper_rev1.shtml
Note, however, that this site only lists techniques for traditional print texts,
not for digital texts, etc.
Learners also need practice at applying what they have remembered. It is
suggested that learners regularly – at least once a fortnight – are given
practice at critically reading an unseen text. One approach is for practitioners
to select texts that gradually build up the learners’ experience of writers’
styles and knowledge of techniques and get learners to analyse them. A set of
questions for different types of texts will give learners an approach to taking
apart an unseen text.
At the same time, it is recommended that practitioners should model how to
deconstruct a text using texts with which the learners are familiar. To this end
a number of lessons giving ideas for how this might b e done are included in
this document. Once learners are confident at doing this, the close reading
test should be much easier for them, and then ways of tackling different types
of questions should be modelled. Some suggestions for lessons to build up
confidence in this area are also included.
Most of the lesson ideas included here draw on the principles of co-operative
and active learning strategies. Where a specific co-operative learning strategy
has been used, an explanation of how the strategy works has been given to
help those who have not used this particular strategy before.
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ADVERTISING
Advertising
Techniques used in advertising
This is a suggestion of activities to introduce learners to some techniques
used in print advertising. Alternatively, for a more experienced class, use the
‘How to read an advert’ sheet and get them to annotate the text. Either print
out the advert for each group or project it, depending on which approach
you’re using. The questions from the PowerPoint are included below for
discussion, and the teaching points are outlined.
This unit would suit learners at National 4 level, as the text is quite
straightforward. The materials cover Outcome 1.
National 4
The learner will:
1 Understand, analyse and evaluate straightforward written texts by:
1.1 Identifying the purpose and audience, as appropriate to genre
1.2 Identifying the main idea and supporting details
1.3 Applying knowledge of language to explain meaning and effect
The product in this set of materials is Irn Bru. However, the strategies
indicated here could be applied to any number of adverts. The following ideas
are suggestions for activities which could be undertaken with learners:
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ADVERTISING
Discuss the following questions in your groups:
What do you know about the product Irn Bru?
What type of people normally drink it?
What Irn Bru adverts have you seen?
What features do they have in common?
Who are the adverts targeting?
We want to draw on learners’ knowledge of the product and the strategy to
promote it that advertisers have used over the last few years – this is a
product for young Scottish people and the brand is very much associated with
humour.
Now we’re going to look at an Irn-Bru billboard advert and learn about:
 how advertisers draw on your knowledge of their prod uct
 how they use humour.
This advert is called ‘sheep’. What does that tell you about it?
Product knowledge
Why have the advertisers chosen this colour scheme for the advert? What do
they hope this will do when people see it?
The Irn-Bru can is really small. Why have they not made it bigger?
Why is the word ‘phenomenal’ there?
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ADVERTISING
The learners will probably all recognise the colours of the can and the
‘phenomenal’ catchphrase/slogan. You should discuss how advertisers use
our familiarity with their products in advertising, and the purpose of
catchphrases/slogans. You should also discuss the impact of the colour choice
and how this suggests the tone of the advert.
Image and graphics
The main image is of a sheep, but sheep don’t drink Irn-Bru so why choose a
sheep?
What do you notice about the outline of the sheep? What does it suggest?
What type of font has been used? What does that suggest?
What tone do all these techniques suggest?
These questions are intended to allow a way in to discussing how the humour
in the advert is created. The cut-out sheep suggests a lack of realism. The
handwriting font suggests a lack of formality, as does the capitalisation. The
suggestion of the type of person who would buy this product comes not from
using a picture of the consumer, but the exact opposite.
Verbal humour
The advertisers use puns in this advert, and also draw on our knowledge of
the vernacular used in Scotland.
Look up and write down the definitions of pun and vernacular.
Try to explain how the advertiser has played on the double meanings of ‘cow’
and ‘pigs’.
How does this add to the tone of the advert?
Why might this be a risky strategy to use? Why do you think they use it?
How does the use of these words make you feel?
The learners should understand that the advertiser doesn’t want to be seen as
mainstream, but you can also discuss their reaction to the use of t he words
‘cow’ and ‘pig’.
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ADVERTISING
Why has the writer put the text in speech marks?
What difference would there be if speech marks were not used?
To test whether you now understand how the advertiser uses these techniques,
we’re going to look at some other examples.
http://www.irn-bru.co.uk/poster/snog.html
http://www.irn-bru.co.uk/poster/goth.html
Your practitioner will give you one of these two adverts to look at. You’ll
have time to prepare, then you’ll be matched up with a partner, and you’ll
explain to them how the techniques have been used (colour, graphics and
images, and verbal humour).
Partners: Ask questions to clarify the explanation. Then feedback on how
good the explanation was.
As you listen to the learners’ explanations, you can assess their learning. The
final step is to get them to learn the names of the techniques they have been
discussing.
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ADVERTISING
Techniques in advertising – WWF
This is another suggestion of activities to introduce learners to some
techniques used in print advertising. Alternatively, for a more expe rienced
class, use the ‘How to read an advert’ sheet to get them to annotate the text.
Either print out the advert for each group, or project it, depending on which
approach you’re using. Below I’ve included the questions from the
PowerPoint for discussion, and outlined the teaching points.
I would suggest this unit would suit learners at National 4 level, as the text is
quite straightforward. The materials cover Outcome 1. However, the ‘How to
read an advert’ sheet could be used to assess learners’ skills if the advert is
an unseen text.
National 4
The learner will:
1 Understand, analyse and evaluate straightforward written texts by:
1.1 Identifying the purpose and audience, as appropriate to genre
1.2 Identifying the main idea and supporting details
1.3 Applying knowledge of language to explain meaning and effect
The product in these materials is WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).
However, the strategies within these materials could be applied to any
number of adverts available at the moment. The les son comprises a series of
discussion questions for the learners to get them to think about the meaning
of the advert and how that meaning is conveyed. Practitioners would then
lead a whole class discussion to share ideas. It would be up to the practitioner
at which points to lead the class discussion eg after each slide of questions or
at the end. Learners could then demonstrate what they have learned by
analysing another advert from the same campaign, and explaining to another
learner the meaning of the advert and the techniques that the advertiser has
used.
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ADVERTISING
Lesson aim: to learn how advertisers use images and words to convey
meaning
Learning intentions
I will learn about the impact that images can have in print advertising
I will learn how the words used in advertising add to the meaning of images
I will learn about some techniques used in advertising.
Success criteria: I will contribute to my group discussion of a given advert
I will be able to analyse an unseen advert
I will be able to explain to another learner how this advert persuades its
audience
Rather than looking at an advert that aims to sell a product, this series of
lessons looks at how charities try to persuade the public to their point of
view.
Discuss in your groups
Many adverts aim to persuade you to buy products. However, some try to
persuade you to the company’s point of view. Can you think of some
examples of this type of advert?
Where have you seen this type of advert?
Has seeing this type of advert ever changed your thinking or behaviour?
Company knowledge
The advert that we’re going to look at was commissioned by WWF.
What do you know about this charity?
What type of work does it try to do?
What type of person do you think an advert by this company would be aimed
at?
What do you think is the message of the advert?
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ADVERTISING
I would expect differing degrees of familiarity with this charity. Some
learners will think of wrestling (now WWE). I would explain what the charity
was, but not necessarily its purpose if they didn’t know. Th ey should be able
to work this out from the advert. Show them the advert, and get them to
discuss what they think its message is. Accept all suggestions at this stage,
but ask them again once they’ve finished studying it to see whether they still
think the same.
Composition
This means how the advert has been put together on the page – how the
different parts have been positioned and organised, how some parts are larger
than others, how some are in the foreground and some in the background.
What image do you see in the foreground of this advert?
What do you see in the background?
Where is the writing positioned?
How does the size of the writing compare to the size of the image?
Why do you think the advertiser has chosen to compose the advert in thi s
way?
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ADVERTISING
If you like, learners can copy down the definition of composition. The
questions are intended to get the learners thinking about how things are given
importance because of how and where they are positioned. The image is more
important than the words in catching our attention. The panda is more
important than the tuna in many people’s perception – this is the opinion that
the advert is intended to change. When you first show them the advert it’s a
good idea not to enlarge the text.
Image and Graphics
We see two animals in this advert. What are they?
We see the sunlight coming through the water. Which animal does the
sunlight shine on most? Why do you think this is?
One animal’s image looks more realistic than the other. Why do you think
this is? Look carefully at the image.
Which animal is this campaign targeting? Was this obvious to you when you
looked at this advert?
Why do you think the advertiser has chosen to include an image of two types
of animals when the advert is only targeting one? ( Think about your feelings
about these animals.)
Most learners will recognise the panda; many won’t recognise the Bluefin
tuna. This is a key part of the advert’s message. We know pandas and care
about them; we don’t know or care about tuna. The light focu ses on the panda
that we recognise in order to catch our attention, then we look at the tuna.
Learners can discuss why the tuna would be wearing a mask and pretending
to be a panda (ie so we pay attention to it). Most learners will understand that
initially we think this is an advert about pandas, then we realise it’s about
tuna. The advertiser uses the panda that we care about to make us think about
the tuna that we don’t care about.
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ADVERTISING
Words and Pathos
Pathos in advertising means an appeal to the audience ’s emotions. Next we’re
going to think about how the words add to the meaning of the image and
inspire emotion in us.
Read the sentence in the largest font. Why is it in inverted commas? Whose
voice does this represent?
This type of question is called a rhetorical question. We are not meant to give
an answer - we’re meant to think about what’s being asked. What do you
think they want us to think about?
What emotion does the advertiser want us to feel when we read this?
The learners should be able to explain that the inverted commas are there to
indicate words spoken by the tuna. The implicit question is why do we care
more about warm blooded, furry creatures like the panda and less about cold
blooded fish? Learners could come up with a variety of suggest ions of
emotions such as guilt, sympathy, etc.
Words and Pathos
Now read the two sentences in the smaller font. Whose voice do they
represent? Why do you think this is much smaller than the other writing?
Next to that is WWF’s logo. Why do you think the advertiser has chosen to
make it so small? Why does the charity’s website appear on the advert in the
small font?
Do you think the advert would be as effective if the writing was bigger?
Having thought about all these things, what do you now think the message of
the advert is? What do you think the charity would like the advert’s audience
to do now?
The learners should be able to explain that the smaller writing is the voice of
the charity. Again, they may suggest a variety of reasons why this writing is
small, as is the logo and URL. The audience should be drawn in by the visual
image and want to read the smaller writing. What the charity wants is for us
not to eat Bluefin tuna.
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ADVERTISING
You should now be able to explain how the composition of an advert and t he
words and images used create pathos which can help persuade you to a
particular point of view.
To demonstrate this, you and your partner are each going to be given another
advert from the same WWF campaign.
Individually you are going to make notes on how the advertiser uses the
above techniques in the advert you have been given.
Then you will take turns to explain this to your partner.
As you listen to the learners’ explanations, you can assess their learning. As
the adverts are very similar, they should be able to describe the techniques
with which they are familiar. For more challenge you could chose adverts
from another campaign.
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ADVERTISING
Learner sheet: How to read an advert
First impressions
Read:
Read the advert a few times.
What product/service is being advertised? Is this immediately obvious?
What company sells the product/service?
Give a general idea of what the advert shows.
Layout
Look:
Look at how the advert is laid out and organised on the page.
What is the balance between words and images?
How are the words positioned in relation to the images (on top of, beside,
underneath)?
Does the company slogan/logo appear in the advert?
Close study
Think:
Now read the advert section by section, looking at what the
advertiser is trying to sell and how this is done.
1.
Describe the image/graphic used in the advert. If it is a person, describe
their age, appearance, etc. What response do you have to the image
(anger, pity, desire)?
2.
Look at the colours used in the advert. What mood do you think the
colours create? How eye-catching are the image and colours?
3.
Look at the font used for the words. What font is it? (If you don’t know
the name, describe it, eg is it handwriting, with or sans serif, bold, italic
etc.) What colour are the words? What tone does the choice of font
create?
4.
Look at the words that are used. Are there any examples of humour,
irony, sarcasm, emotive language? Does the writer use formal or
informal language? Can you identify the tone of the words? Are there
other writing techniques used in the words (alliteration, imagery,
hyperbole)?
5.
What connection is there between the words and the image?
6.
Who would you say was the intended audience for this advert? What
makes you think this?
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ADVERTISING
7.
How effective is the advert? What is the advertiser trying to appeal to
in you (hunger, sense of fashion, pity for others) ?
Conclusion
Finally, think of the advert as a whole.
What message do you think the advertiser wants to give the audience about
the product/service?
What is your own personal reaction to it? Explain why you feel this way.
Which techniques do you think the advertiser has used best?
By the time you have finished studying the advert you should have extensive
notes on it. As a rough guide, for both ‘First impressions’ and ‘Layout’ you
should have written a paragraph (usually on the back of your copy of the
advert if you are using a photocopy), while your highlighting and comments
for ‘Close study’ should be done on the front of the sheet. There is nothing
wrong in putting a question mark if there is something you are not sure of or
in writing down two possibilities if you aren’t sure which is correct. These
notes are for your own benefit – you may use them to write your analysis and
evaluation later.
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PROSE FICTION
Prose fiction
Advice to practitioners
These materials are built around the story ‘The Flowers’ by Alice Walker.
This set of activities could be used to introduce learners to symbolism, mood
and turning point. Alternatively, for a more experienced class, use the ‘How
to read imaginative writing’ sheet and get them to annotate the text. Each
learner/pair will need their own copy of the story. The questions from the
PowerPoint are included below for discussion, and the teaching points are
outlined.
Depending on the level of support you give the learners, these materials could
be used with learners being presented for National 4 or 5, or indeed a
composite class. They cover Outcome 1.
These activities will take a number of periods to complete. Alternatively, for
a more experienced class, learners could annotate the story using the ‘How to
read imaginative writing’ sheet.
National 4
The learner will:
1 Understand, analyse and evaluate straightforward written texts by:
1.1 Identifying the purpose and audience, as appropriate to genre
1.2 Identifying the main idea and supporting details
1.3 Applying knowledge of language to explain meaning and effect
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PROSE FICTION
National 5
The learner will:
1 Understand, analyse and evaluate detailed written texts by:
1.1 Identifying and explaining the purpose and audience, as appropriate to
genre
1.2 Identifying and explaining the main ideas and supporting details
1.3 Applying knowledge and understanding of language to explain meaning
and effect, using appropriate critical terminol ogy
Assessment can be done in a number of ways. There is self-assessment built
in to the materials. Peer assessment could easily be done when the learners
have to discuss with others. The practitioner could assess by listening to the
learner discussions. Although not specified in the tasks that are in the unit,
the learners could then go on to write a critical essay that could be assessed.
Academic goals: to learn about turning point, mood and symbolism, and be
able to explain how these are created in a story.
Social goals: to take turns in discussion; to reach consensus; to listen
actively.
Practitioners trained in co-operative learning will be familiar with the setting
of both academic and social goals – what learners will be developing in terms
of the subject matter and how they behave/interact.
Read ‘The Flowers’ aloud in your groups, starting with number 1 and going
clockwise.
Once you have finished, discuss what you think the story was about – the plot
and theme.
Now find your 3 o’clock date. Starting with the taller of the two of you,
explain your group’s interpretation. Then go back to your group. Starting
with number 3, share your date’s explanation and decide whether or not your
group’s ideas were right.
To make it easier to allocate roles and explain who will carry out which task,
number your learners in their groups so they know who should do what. This
can be done by ability. The activities are based on groups of four.
‘3 o’clock date’ refers to a co-operative learning technique to enable learners
to quickly find another learner with whom to talk, and avoids learners always
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PROSE FICTION
working with the same partner. At the start of the term, explain this idea to
the group. Give the learners a simple diagram of a clock. They then find
another learner to be a date for each hour (this can be done randomly or by
structured exercises to make them find someone of another ability, outwith
friendship group, etc). Both learners then write each other’s name at that time
on their clock. They keep their clocks somewhere safe. Then when you want
them to work with someone else you say, ‘Find your 3 o’clock date,’ and so
on.
Depending on the ability of your class, their interpretations may vary. Less
able learners may need help to see beyond the plot. More able learners might
pick up on some of the subtler ideas.
In your groups, number 2 reads out the definition of a turning point:
A turning point in a story is the point when there is a significant change in
the way a character is thinking or behaving, in the mood or atmosphere of the
story, in the tension and so on.
Decide where the turning point occurs in ‘The Flowers’. Be prepared to
explain your reasoning to the class.
Once you agree, number 4 should cut the story in two at that point.
Depending on the ability of your class, there are various points in these
activities where you might want to raise discussion skills –taking turns,
dealing with disagreements and so on.
By telling all learners to be prepared to report back, rather than allocating a
reporter in advance, you make sure each learner is prepared to contribute.
The learners should pick a point somewhere around the paragraph beginning
‘By 12 o’clock’ as the turning point.
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PROSE FICTION
In your groups, numbers 1 and 2 will now work on the first section of the
story, and numbers 3 and 4 will work on the second section.
We are going to look at how the author creates mood. The mood before the
turning point is much happier than after it.
Having each pair work on one half of the story means it is more likely that all
learners will contribute to the discussion.
For your section of the story, highlight the following:
 references to light and colour
 references to setting
 references to Myop’s actions.
If you feel your class needs the support, do an example for them first .
Learners should to pick up on the darkness in the second half , the setting
moving away from home and the familiar and the references to the seasons ,
Myop’s skipping, etc in the first half and her solemnity in the second , the
laying down of the flowers.
Now discuss with your partner how these references help to create mood.
You’re going to explain what you think to the other pair in your group,
starting with numbers 1 and 2. Numbers 3 and 4 should ask questions to
clarify the explanation. Now swap over so numbers 3 and 4 explain their
findings and numbers 1 and 2 ask questions.
Be prepared to share your discussions with the whole class.
If you want to assess your learners, the discussion at this point would provide
evidence.
Next we’re going to think about symbolism.
In the story, flowers could be said to be symbolic , which means they are used
to represent an idea.
For your half of the story, find all the references to flowers. Now share your
findings with the others in your group.
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PROSE FICTION
In your groups, take turns to read out the references to flowers. Think about
what’s happening at the point in the story when flowers are mentioned.
Discuss what the flowers might represent.
Each of you should now fill in a table like the one on the next slide. Be
prepared to share your answers with someone else.
Again this is a feature of co-operative learning – no ‘cold calling’. By telling
the learners in advance to be prepared to report back it encourages them to
engage more in the discussion. The learners might not have an explanation
for all the references, but all of them should understand the idea of laying
down the flowers at the end.
Reference to flowers
What’s happening in
the story
‘silver ferns and
wildflowers grew’
Myop is near her home
and picking flowers
What the flowers
might represent
Again, you could provide a help sheet with some examples filled in to help
support the less able.
Find your 6 o’clock date. Starting with the eldest, take turns to share your
ideas. If you don’t agree, try to reach a consensus.
Now report back to the class.
Another feature of co-operative learning is to get the learners talking as
quickly as possible by specifying who will start. Earlier it was tallest person
– the attribute doesn’t matter as long as they start ta lking.
You may wish to add in a discussion of what consensus means. Some learners
will need this support for their discussion/social skills.
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Finally, we’re going to see if you can explain what we’ve learned.
In your groups, discuss the following:
How does Walker create mood, use a turning point and use symbolism in her
story?
Stand and deliver until everyone can explain these three points.
By getting the learners to discuss what they have learned, the practitioner
will be able to assess learning – or the learners can peer/self-assess.
Stand and deliver is another co-operative learning technique that encourages
group responsibility for learning. Simply put, the learners all stand up. The
group can only sit down when everyone in the group is able to s ay what they
are trying to learn. For this lesson, some learners may not be able to explain
all three, so you can differentiate outcomes. For example, the target for some
learners might be to explain one concept.
Now meet your 9 o’clock date.
Starting with the shorter person, explain what you have learned.
The person who is listening should ask questions to clarify the explanation.
At this stage, the listening learner will be assessing the talking learner. If
learners are able to explain a finding to someone else, then you know they have
learned it.
So how well have we learned? Use fist to five to rate the following:
 How well
story?
 How well
 How well
 How well
do I understand mood, turning point and symbolism in this
do I think I understand these terms in general?
was I able to explain them to others?
did I listen, take turns and reach consensus?
The final stage of co-operative learning is to review both academic and social
performance. Fist to five is a simple way of letting the practitioner see how
well the learner thinks they’ve done. Showing a clenched fist is the lowest
rating, ie a zero, five fingers raised is the highest.
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PROSE FICTION
‘The Flowers’ by Alice Walker
Reading and Writing about Short Fiction, Edward Proffitt (ed.), New York:
Harcourt, 1988, pp 404-405.
It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to
smokehouse that the days had never been as beautiful as these. The air held a
keenness that made her nose twitch. The harvesting of the corn and cotton,
peanuts and squash, made each day a golden surprise that caused excited little
tremors to run up her jaws.
Myop carried a short, knobby stick. She struck out at random at chickens she
liked, and worked out the beat of a song on the fence around the pigpen. She
felt light and good in the warm sun. She was ten, and nothing existed for her
but her song, the stick clutched in her dark brown hand, and the tat -de-ta-tata of accompaniment.
Turning her back on the rusty boards of her family ’s sharecropper cabin,
Myop walked along the fence till it ran into the stream made by the spring.
Around the spring, where the family got drinking water, silver ferns and
wildflowers grew. Along the shallow banks pigs rooted. Myop watched the
tiny white bubbles disrupt the thin black scale of soil and the water that
silently rose and slid away down the stream.
She had explored the woods behind the house many times. Often, in late
autumn, her mother took her to gather nuts among the fallen leaves. Today
she made her own path, bouncing this way and that way, vaguely keeping an
eye out for snakes. She found, in addition to various common but pretty ferns
and leaves, an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges and a sweet
suds bush full of the brown, fragrant buds.
By twelve o’clock, her arms laden with sprigs of her findings, she was a mile
or more from home. She had often been as far before, but the strangeness of
the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts. It seemed gloomy in the
little cove in which she found herself. The air was da mp, the silence close
and deep.
Myop began to circle back to the house, back to the peacefulness of the
morning. It was then she stepped smack into his eyes. Her heel became
lodged in the broken ridge between brow and nose, and she reached down
quickly, unafraid, to free herself. It was only when she saw his naked grin
that she gave a little yelp of surprise.
He had been a tall man. From feet to neck covered a long space. His head lay
beside him. When she pushed back the leaves and layers of earth and deb ris
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Myop saw that he’d had large white teeth, all of them cracked or broken, long
fingers, and very big bones. All his clothes had rotted away except some
threads of blue denim from his overalls. The buckles of the overall had turned
green.
Myop gazed around the spot with interest. Very near where she ’d stepped into
the head was a wild pink rose. As she picked it to add to her bundle she
noticed a raised mound, a ring, around the rose ’s root. It was the rotted
remains of a noose, a bit of shredding plowl ine, now blending benignly into
the soil. Around an overhanging limb of a great spreading oak clung another
piece. Frayed, rotted, bleached, and frazzled – barely there – but spinning
restlessly in the breeze. Myop laid down her flowers.
And the summer was over.
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Learner sheet: How to read fiction prose
First impressions
Read:
Read the extract a few times.
Where and when is the extract set?
Give a brief account of the plot.
Who is the narrator? Is it the same throughout? First/third person?
Does the point of view change? If so, mark on the text where this
happens.
Structure and form
Think:
What type of piece is this (short story, novel extract, drama, diary) ?
How can you tell?
Is the piece told in chronological order or are there flashbacks?
Is there a climax/turning point/resolution? Mark these points on the
text.
Close study
Think:
Now read the piece closely, looking at what the writer says and how
he/she says it.
1.
Identify any imagery (simile, metaphor, personification) and say what is
being compared to what and why the comparison is appropriate.
Identify any repeated or extended imagery.
Highlight (or note) any good examples of word choice. Try to explain
the effect each of these well-chosen words has on you.
2.
Identify any examples of symbolism. What do you think the writer uses
the symbols to represent?
3.
Think about the mood of the extract. Highlight (or note) any
expressions which contribute to the mood and explain how they do so.
Mark on your copy where the mood changes. Look at how the
description of the setting contributes to mood.
4.
Look at the structure of the sentences. Identify any features of sentence
structure used for effect (rhetorical question, ellipsis, minor sentence,
list).
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5.
Think about the characters and relationships in the piece. Highlight any
sections that reveal what the characters are like and explain how they
do so. Highlight the techniques the writer uses to reveal character, for
example dialogue, what the narrator says, what other characters tell us
about them, what they think, etc.
6.
Highlight any examples of other techniques you can find that have not
yet been mentioned (hyperbole, juxtaposition, enjambement, contrast) .
7.
How effective is the title?
Conclusion
Finally, think of the piece as a whole.
Is there a message/theme?
Does it remind you of your own experience?
What is your own personal reaction to it? Explain why you feel this way.
By the time you have finished studying the piece you should have extensive
notes on it. As a rough guide, for both ‘First impressions’ and ‘Structure and
form’ you should have written a paragraph (usually on the back of your copy
of the extract if you are using a photocopy), while your highlighting and
comments for ‘Close study should be done on the front of the sheet. There is
nothing wrong in putting a question mark if there is something you are not
sure of or in writing down two possibilities if you aren’t sure which is
correct. These notes are for your own benefit – you may use them to write a
critical essay later.
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Prose non-fiction (close reading ideas)
‘Roald Dahl and the darkness within’ by Tom de Castella
BBC News Magazine
James and the Giant Peach is 50 years old. In the story his parents die a
violent death and James escapes abusive relatives. Why was Roald Dahl so
dark?
There’s a perception that children’s literature involves endless picnics where
the strawberry jam and lashings of ginger beer never run out. But Roald Dahl
pursued a different path, satisfying children ’s appetite for the violent, greedy
and disgusting.
Today, 50 years after the publication of James and the Giant Peach, Dahl is a
towering figure. It was his first children’s book and has now sold 5.1 million
copies in the UK as well as being translated into 34 languages. But for yea rs
it struggled to find a British publisher.
The surreal plot emerged from bedtime stories Dahl told to daughters Tessa
and Olivia. The hero, four-year-old James, is orphaned after his parents are
killed by a rhinoceros. James is sent to live with his wi cked aunts, the start of
a traditional Dahl theme – the solitary child at the mercy of cruel adults.
He is bullied and beaten until one day an old man gives him a bag of
crocodile tongues. James drops them by mistake on the peach tree, causing a
giant peach to sprout, which James ends up living inside with various friendly
insects.
‘There’s the isolated central child who is then propelled into a fantastical
landscape inside the peach,’ says Donald Sturrock, whose authorised
biography of Dahl – Storyteller – has just been published in paperback. What
follows is a child taking revenge against adults. Backed up by some unlikely
friends – in this case a centipede, earthworm and grasshopper – James
squashes the aunts with the peach and floats away.
Dahl’s books are full of the grotesque, from Mrs Twit substituting worms for
her husband’s spaghetti, to child-eating giants in The BFG, and the hero of
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Danny the Champion of the World drugging pheasants so that they’re easier
to poach.
Greed and its punishment is everywhere, whether it’s Violet Beauregarde
swelling up into a blueberry in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory or the
child in Matilda who is forced to eat a whole chocolate cake.
For The Times newspaper’s children’s book critic Amanda Craig, there’s also
a ‘streak of rather unpleasant misogyny’. In a Freudian sense, female
characters are either warm and loving like the ‘supportive, luscious peach’ or
evil like the wicked aunts. It’s a simple duality that children are used to, she
argues.
‘Dahl is picking up the baton of the evil stepmother and the fairy godmother. ’
James and the Giant Peach was published in the US in 1961. But it was
considered too ‘dark, brutal and vulgar’ for the British publishing
establishment, says Sturrock.
At the time, Dahl was seen as a writer of macabre short stories for adults. The
book was eventually published in the UK in 1967 after Dahl agreed to pay
half of the publishing costs in return for the same proportion of sales income.
As it went on to sell millions it turned out to be spectacularly good business,
his first of many best-sellers as a children’s author.
There’s always been darkness in fairy tales. In the 19th century Hansel and
Gretel involved a witch wanting to cook children in her oven, while Charles
Dickens’s Oliver Twist featured an orphan living out a miserable childhood.
But Dahl took things beyond masochism to sadism, says former children ’s
laureate Michael Rosen. ‘In Hansel and Gretel the father is poor and only
gets rid of the children against his better wishes. But in Dahl the parents are
often sadists like in Matilda. There’s a persistent nastiness and brutality in
Dahl and he lingers over their horrible appearances and habits. ’
The darkness came from his own life. His father and sister died when he was
three years old and a few years later he was sent to boarding school, a period
he wrote about later in his book Boy.
‘He lost his father young. Then his mother sent him away to boarding school
where he was viciously beaten. Those sadistic parents in his fiction are a
reframing of his own experience,’ says Rosen.
Then there was his wartime experience. ‘Very few people have quite that
fierceness,’ says Craig. ‘He’s one of the few children’s authors who’s
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actually killed people. That is going to have an effect on how you see people
and the world.’
But others argue the darkness came from within his character. The book
reviewer Kathryn Hughes recently wrote of him in the Guardian: ‘No matter
how you spin it…Roald Dahl was an absolute sod. Crashing throu gh life like
a big, bad child he managed to alienate pretty much everyone he ever met. ’
Like many other children’s writers such as Beatrix Potter, C S Lewis and
Lewis Carroll, he had an ambiguous relationship with children. Sturrock
argues he loved them but accepts he lost interest when they grew up. ‘Once
his own kids turned adolescent he switched off and packed them off to
boarding school,’ he says.
Whatever his failings, Dahl succeeded because he understood a child ’s dark
side, says Rosen.
‘Dahl knew that what children want in literature is the opposite of what they
want in life. He believed that children love and hate their parents in equal
measure. He lifts the lid and allows a child to have that hate feeling to adult
carers.’
Comedian Tim Minchin says Dahl’s plots sound ‘terrifying’. And while it’s
true they ‘scared him witless’ as a child, it is an abstract fear free of the
gruesome ‘baggage’ that adults bring to the stories.
‘When adults see child abuse in Matilda they think of Baby P. But kids don’t
see it that way,’ says Minchin, whose Matilda the Musical opens in London
next month. ‘For children it looks dirty and fun.’
And the books always end happily, says Craig. It ’s not so much a righting of
the moral universe as the triumph of the child, she argues.
‘He was unequivocal that it is the good, young and kind who triumph over the
old, greedy and the wicked.’
And the old shouldn’t object, she says. For when we read Dahl we all become
children again.
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Close reading practice
The following is a set of ideas for how to get your learners to practise their
close reading skills, once they have a good grasp of techniques and you’ve
taught them how to tackle different types of close reading question. Some are
suggestions for how to get them to remember how to do different types of
questions, and others for improving their skills in answering.
The ideas are based on the article ‘Roald Dahl and the darkness within’ or
you can use SQA past papers at General, Credit, Intermediate 1 or
Intermediate 2 levels. As this is quite a difficult article, it is probably most
suited to National 5. However, you could use the ideas below with a simpler
article for National 4.
Idea 1
Once you’ve taught the learners how to tackle types of questions, make sure
they’ve learned them by making up flashcards or testing them using the ideas
from ‘Ideas for memorising technical terms’. A sample revision sheet is given
on page 30.
Idea 2
Recognising attitude in ‘Roald Dahl and the darkness within’.
Divide the class into groups of 3/4 and give each group a copy of this article.
Explain to them that in it a number of different attitudes to Roald Dahl are
expressed and they’re going to learn about how these attitudes are
communicated.
Read the article with them, and then ask each group to cut up their article, so
that they separate out the writer’s views and those of each of the other people
to whom he refers. Get the learners to stick these on separate sheets of paper.
Next get them to read over each view separately and underline words or
expressions that reveal attitude. Each group member could do a section and
then share with the group.
Learners should discuss whether each person is biased or neutral. You could
ask them to rank each person in order from most to least positive. For further
practice you could ask them to change the attitude by changing the words.
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Idea 3
Test the learners’ understanding of close reading questions by asking them to
make up a test on the passage. For example, for ‘Roald Dahl and the darkness
within’ learners can recap in groups of 4 on the types of questions they know,
then make up a test for the other groups in the class. The test could be done
using cards: learners write the question on one side and their marking scheme
on the other.
This is a really challenging activity for learners, but it can give the
practitioner a remarkable insight into learners’ understanding of how to do
close reading. The important part is their discussion as they make up the test,
rather than whether or not they answer the questions correctly at the end.
You could also use one of the templates available online , such as http://jcschools.net/tutorials/ppt-games/, to get learners to create a quiz for each
other. You can then either play as a class or if you get the learners to do the
quiz individually you can see how well they’re doing.
Idea 4
An alternative way to do idea 3 is to divide the class into groups of 4 and
give learners a copy of the article. Ask each group to prepare a lesson on
close reading that they will teach to another group using th e article. Again,
the discussion is what’s important, rather than the end product.
Idea 5
Snowballing.
Again divide the class into groups of 4 and give each group the article. Give
learners some small bits of paper. Ask them to make up questions on the
passage and write them on the paper (you can specify the types of questions).
Once they’ve done this, get them to ball up their bits of paper and throw them
into the centre of the room. Learners then pick up a bit of paper, and take
turns at reading out the question. On mini white boards or sheets of paper,
learners then write their answer to the question, and the practitioner discusses
right and wrong answers with the class.
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Idea 6
Use the team games tournament approach to do a close reading exercise.
After you’ve worked with learners and they have learned how to tackle
questions, test their learning. (You can do this for all types of question or just
a specific type.)
Take an SQA past paper.
Copy the questions and the marking scheme so that they are on cards back to
back. This can be fiddly the first time you do it, but save the template to use
again. (Tip: Make a table and lock the cell sizes. Mirror the tables for
questions and answers – what’s left on questions should be right for answers.
Table templates are given on pages 32 and 33.)
Then follow the instructions given in ‘Ideas for memorising technical terms’.
Idea 7
An alternative suggestion to test close reading ability.
Divide the class into groups of 4. Copy the questions and marking scheme for
an SQA past paper but remove the question numbers. Cut them up and give a
set to each group.
Ask the groups to match up the answers with the questions.
This is more difficult than it sounds, and in the learners’ discussions you can
gauge how well they know what the examiner is looking for. It also helps the
weaker learners as they listen to the discussion in their group.
Idea 8
Masterclass.
According to the size of your class, pick a number of the learners who are
strongest at close reading and assign them to be group leaders. The group
leaders are going to lead their own mini masterclasses, each on a different
type of close reading question.
Have a variety of abilities/confidence levels in each group. Give the group
leaders time to prepare their masterclass.
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Give each group a past paper to work on – or the same one, depending on the
number of groups you have.
The focus will be on the group leaders guiding their peers through the close
reading process (hopefully in ‘learner friendly’ language). Discussing
problems and imparting the group leaders’ own knowledge and skills will
allow other learners to gain confidence and experience in close reading. It
will also reinforce the learning of the group leaders.
Idea 9
Use this idea to practise higher value questions – the ones learners generally
find more difficult – or to work on language questions where there are a
variety of answers.
Take a past paper with some 3/4 mark questions (these are probably more
common in Intermediate 2 papers).
Have two large sheets of paper in the middle of the table and some markers.
Ask the learners to mark one sheet as a place mat.
(http://eworkshop.on.ca/edu/pdfOpen.cfm?P=Mod36_coop_placemat.pdf&CFID=791
177&CFTOKEN=a725e4d4c257fed3-66443EB2-5056-A300B5DF4654CCE8C209&jsessionid=f0301ce90fb8b597dc404237364b2d6d9676 )
Divide the class into groups of 4 and give the groups the article or extract and
the question. Ask the learners to spend 2 minutes individually writing down
everything they can think of to answer the question. Once the time is up, the
group should make a list of all their suggestions, with one learner allocated as
a scribe and all learners taking turns to read out what they have written. At
this point they can swap teams and compare answers. Then as a group they
must write their answer to the question.
They can then move round and read each group’s response. You can give
them stickers to vote for the best answer, and then use this as a model
answer.
There are a number of variations to this approach. Instead of a place mat, just
have a poster. Allocate one learner as a scribe and take a few minutes to get
them to write down everything they can think of. Once the initial few minutes
are up, the group moves to the next table and tries to add to what’s already
been written.
This idea only works if the learners know that writing nothing is not an
option!
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Close reading revision
Type of question
Own words
Word choice
Context
Link
Imagery
How to answer
Show you understand the meaning by explaining the
writer’s point in a different way. All answers should be
in formal English. Do not include:
 slang/colloquialisms
 jargon
 dialect
 metaphorical language (or other techniques)
 lists/examples.
Do not try to ‘translate’ word for word.
Your answer should cover all the lines the question
specifies.
Quote individual words and comment on their
connotations (what the word makes you think of).
Asks you to explain how you got the meaning of a
word/phrase from the words around it.
 Give the meaning.
 Quote from the context the bit that helps you get the
meaning.
Look for:
 synonyms/antonyms
 examples of patterns in the sentence, eg pairs of
opposites
 punctuation, eg parenthesis/colon/dash might
introduce/contain an explanation
Explain how the quote gave you the meaning.
 Quote from the linking sentence that links back to
the paragraph before.
 Explain the meaning of this paragraph.
 Quote from the linking sentence that links on to the
following paragraph.
 Explain the meaning of this paragraph.
This means simile, metaphor, personification and
nothing else!
 Explain the literal origin of the image.
 Explain the comparison.
 Explain what, therefore, the writer is trying to show.
Example from a past paper: ‘a tidal wave of
immigrants’.
A tidal wave is a huge, powerful, destructive body of
water. The writer compares the number of immigrants to
a ‘tidal wave’ showing he believes the country is over -
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Contrast
Sentence structure
Tone
Language
Conclusion
36
run with a large number of immigrants who do not
benefit our country.
This means opposite, roughly speaking.
 Explain what the contrast is.
 Quote and explain to show each side of the contrast.
If you show only one side you earn no marks!
This means how the sentence is put together. This is one
of the most difficult types of questions, as there are so
many options.
 Identify a feature of sentence structure in a specified
sentence (ie quote or refer to line numbers).
 Comment on the effect.
Features include:
 short/minor sentence
 use of rhetorical question/exclamation
 use of parenthesis
 use of list, climax, anticlimax
 use of antithesis (balanced structure containing
contrasting ideas – often but not always joined with
a semicolon)
 repetition of patterns, etc.
To merely identify the feature will gain no marks!
To understand tone you need to understand the author’s
attitude to the subject.
 Identify the tone.
 Quote individual words and comment on their
connotations/identify another technique and explain
its effect.
Language means the techniques the writer has used.
 Identify any of the techniques listed above (or any
other writing technique)
 Answer the question as you would if it asks about
that technique.
The easiest thing to comment on is usually word choice .
A conclusion sums up a passage. You can answer th is
question by:
 saying how well the writer rounds off the ideas of
the passage
 commenting on a technique used to round off, eg
analogy, rhetorical question, quotation, illustration,
imagery, etc (ie the style).
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Team games tournament template 1
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question 6
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Team games tournament template 2
38
Answer 2
Answer 1
Answer 4
Answer 3
Answer 6
Answer 5
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How to read non-fiction prose
First impressions
Read:
Read the article a few times.
Who wrote the article and who are they (journalist, doctor, celebrity,
etc)?
What is the writer’s purpose (eg to report news, to convey their
opinion, to reflect, to describe a journey) ?
Give a general idea of what the article is about.
Layout
Look:
Look at how the article is laid out and organised on the page.
Look at the headline. What does it suggest about the content and
tone of the passage?
What kind of font or colour is used? Does the font or colour suggest
the article is serious or lighthearted?
Is there a photo or graphic? What does this add to the meaning?
Are there subheadings? How helpful are they in revealing the content
of the article?
Close study
Think:
Now read the article section by section, looking at what the writer
says and how he/she says it.
1.
Identify any imagery (simile, metaphor, personification) and say what is
being compared to what and why the comparison is appropriate.
Highlight (or note) any good examples of word choice. Try to explain
the connotations and effect the writer has wanted to create with them.
2.
Look at the structure of the article. How well does the introduction
begin the article? Can you find any linking sentences or a turning
point? Try to explain how these join the sections of the article together.
How well does the conclusion round off the article?
3.
Look at the structure of the sentences. Identify any features of sentence
structure used for effect (rhetorical question, ellipsis, minor sentence,
list).
4.
Look for clues that reveal the writer’s attitude to the subje ct of the
article. Are there any examples of humour, irony, sarcasm, emotive
language? Does the writer use formal or informal language? Can you
identify the tone?
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5.
Highlight any evidence the writer uses to back up his /her point of view.
(eye-witness account, quotation, example, anecdote, illustration) . Is the
evidence convincing?
6.
Are there any parts of the article you still don’t understand?
Highlight any words you don’t know the meaning of. Look for clues in
the context to help you work out their me aning. If you still don’t know
them, look them up in the dictionary.
Highlight any examples of other techniques you can find that have not
yet been mentioned (hyperbole, juxtaposition, contrast) .
7.
How effective is the article title?
Conclusion
Finally, think of the article as a whole.
What do you think is the writer’s main message?
What is your own personal reaction to it? Explain why you feel this way.
Which techniques do you think the writer has used best?
By the time you have finished studying the article you should have extensive
notes on it. As a rough guide, for both ‘First impressions’ and ‘Layout’ you
should have written a paragraph (usually on the back of your copy of the
article if you are using a photocopy), while your highlighting and comme nts
for ‘Close study’ should be done on the front of the sheet. There is nothing
wrong in putting a question mark if there is something you are not sure of or
in writing down two possibilities if you aren’t sure which is correct. These
notes are for your own benefit – you may use them to write your analysis and
evaluation later.
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POETRY
Poetry
Practitioners should determine the suitability of text based on the needs of
their learners. Some practitioners may find this text suitable for learners at
National 5 level. Others may find it challenging for learners at this level and
may prefer to use it with learners working at Higher. The text may also work
well in a bi-level class.
‘Limbo’ by Seamus Heaney
Fishermen at Ballyshannon
Netted an infant last night
Along with the salmon.
An illegitimate spawning,
A small one thrown back
To the waters. But I’m sure
As she stood in the shallows
Ducking him tenderly
Till the frozen knobs of her wrists
Were dead as the gravel,
He was a minnow with hooks
Tearing her open.
She waded in under
The sign of the cross.
He was hauled in with the fish.
Now limbo will be
A cold glitter of souls
Through some far briny zone.
Even Christ’s palms, unhealed,
Smart and cannot fish there.
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POETRY
‘Limbo’ lesson idea
The focus in this activity is to get the learners to recognise techniques they
should know in an unseen poem. More able learners could simply annotate
the ‘How to read a poem’ sheet.
The difficulty of this poem’s subject matter makes it most suitable for
National 5. However, the same approach could be used with a poem more
suitable for National 4. The lesson ideas would cover Outcome 1. Assessment
can take a number of forms: listening to the learners’ discussions, reading
their annotations if they have used the ‘How to read a poem’ sheet, getting
them to write a critical essay at the end of the activities.
The learner will:
1.
read a detailed text in order to understand, analyse and evaluate in a
familiar context by:
 identifying and explaining the purpose and audience, as appro priate to
genre
 identifying and explaining the main idea(s) and supporting details
 explaining how some significant aspects of vocabulary, word patterns and
text structures are used to convey meaning, as appropriate to the context
 using appropriate critical terminology and reference to the text, in some
detail
 identifying and explaining some significant use of punctuation, grammar
and layout, as appropriate to the context
 stating or implying some significant engagement with the text
 explaining how effectively the text meets its purpose.
Before starting these activities, read the poem and discuss it as a class to
make sure the learners understand the meaning of the poem.
Learners work in groups of four, co-operative learning style.
Give each group a copy of the poem with the techniques underlined and
numbered.
Photocopy the list of techniques (techniques cards) and cut them up. Make
sure you shuffle them. Give each group a set of these.
Ask one person in each group to deal the cards out so each learner has a
bundle.
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POETRY
Give one per group the ‘Limbo annotation – learner’ sheet (you may have to
enlarge it).
The learners take turns to read out a technique and as a group decide to which
number it corresponds.
Once they have done this they work on analysing the techniques. (You should
have already taught this). They fill in their comments on the annotation sheet.
To make sure everyone contributes, learners should take turns at writing.
They can then share their responses with another group.
This is a more challenging activity than it seems at first. If you think the
learners need a bit of help, show them an example of a technique that has
already been analysed or fill in some of the answers for them ( see the ‘Limbo
annotation – practitioner with some analysis’ sheet on pages 46 and 47).
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POETRY
1
‘Limbo’ by Seamus Heaney
2
3
Fishermen at Ballyshannon
Netted an infant last night
Along with the salmon.
An illegitimate spawning,
4
6
8
10
12
15
16
18
5
7
A small one thrown back
To the waters. But I'm sure
As she stood in the shallows
Ducking him tenderly
9
Till the frozen knobs of her wrists
Were dead as the gravel,
11
He was a minnow with hooks
Tearing her open.
She waded in under
13
The sign of the cross.
He was hauled in with the fish.
Now limbo will be
A cold glitter of souls
Through some far briny zone.
Even Christ's palms, unhealed,
Smart and cannot fish there.
14
17
19
20
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POETRY
Limbo annotation – learner
Number
Technique
Analysis
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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POETRY
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
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POETRY
Technique cards
religious connotations
setting in place
start of extended metaphor
negative word choice
extended metaphor
pitiful connotations
extended metaphor
euphemism
sympathetic connotations
simile
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POETRY
extended metaphor
connotations of distress
religious connotations
extended metaphor
religious connotations
synaesthesia
extended metaphor
religious connotations
connotations of pain
extended metaphor
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POETRY
Limbo annotation –practitioner
Number
Technique
1
religious connotations
2
setting in place
3
start of extended
metaphor
4
negative word choice
5
extended metaphor
6
pitiful connotations
7
extended metaphor
8
euphemism
9
sympathetic
connotations
10
simile
Analysis
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POETRY
11
extended metaphor
12
connotations of distress
13
religious connotations
14
extended metaphor
15
religious connotations
16
synaesthesia
17
extended metaphor
18
religious connotations
19
connotations of pain
20
extended metaphor
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POETRY
Limbo annotation – practitioner with some analysis
Number
Technique
Analysis
1
religious connotations
2
3
setting in place
start of extended
metaphor
4
negative word choice
5
extended metaphor
‘Limbo’ – where unbaptised babies go
when they die, according to Catholic
beliefs. Gives the idea the poem may
have a religious theme.
‘Ballyshannon’ – town in Co. Donegal.
‘Netted an infant’ = comparing the baby
to a fish caught in a net. Appropriate as,
like the fish, the baby is small and
helpless. Also hints at Biblical reference
to fishermen.
‘illegitimate’ denotation = a child born
out of wedlock.
connotation = that this is wrong, etc.
‘spawning’ = comparing the baby to fish
eggs, Suggests the baby has little value,
just as one egg out of so many that a fish
lays would lack worth.
6
pitiful connotations
7
extended metaphor
8
euphemism
9
sympathetic
connotations
10
simile
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POETRY
11
extended metaphor
12
connotations of distress
13
religious connotations
14
extended metaphor
15
religious connotations
16
synaesthesia
17
extended metaphor
18
religious connotations
19
connotations of pain
20
extended metaphor
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POETRY
How to read a poem
First impressions
Read:
Read the poem a few times.
Who is speaking? To whom are they speaking?
What is the poet’s purpose (eg to tell a story, describe something or
someone)?
Give a general idea of what the poem is about.
Patterns
Look:
Look at how the poem is laid out and organised on the page.
Look at the stanzas. Are they regular (same number of lines/same length of
lines)?
Listen: Read the poem aloud.
Is there a rhyme scheme?
Is there a regular rhythm?
Does the poem have a particular form (eg haiku, ballad, couplets,
monologue, sonnet)?
Close study
Think:
Now read the poem section by section, looking at what the poet says
and how he/she says it.
1.
Identify any imagery (simile, metaphor, personification) and say what is
being compared to what and why the comparison is appropriate.
Highlight (or note) any good examples of word choice. Try to explain
the effect each of these well-chosen words has on you.
2.
Listen to the sounds of the words/lines.
Highlight any examples where the writer is trying to convey sound
effects such as alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, repeated long or
short vowels.
Try to explain the effect created.
3.
A poem comes alive when all the senses are involved. Highlight (or
note) any expressions which appeal to the senses (sight, touch, taste,
smell, hearing).
4.
Look at the structure of the sentences. Identify any features of sentence
structure used for effect (rhetorical question, ellipsis, minor sentence,
list).
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POETRY
5.
Are there any parts you still don’t understand?
Look up any words you don’t know the meaning of. Also, look for clues
in the poem.
Highlight any examples of other techniques you can find that have not
yet been mentioned (hyperbole, juxtaposition, enjambement, contrast) ?
6.
How effective is the title?
Conclusion
Finally, think of the poem as a whole.
Is there a message/theme?
Does it remind you of your own experience ?
What is your own personal reaction to it? Explain why you feel this way.
By the time you have finished studying the poem you should have extensive
notes on it. As a rough guide, for both ‘First impressions’ and ‘Patterns’ you
should have written a paragraph (usually on the back of your copy of the
poem if you are using a photocopy), while your highlighting and comments
for ‘Close study’ should be done on the front of the sheet. There is nothing
wrong in putting a question mark if there is something you a re not sure of or
in writing down two possibilities if you aren’t sure which is correct. These
notes are for your own benefit – you may use them to write your critical
essay later.
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Ideas for memorising technical terms
Idea 1
Make up a set of flashcards to use with your class. Have the technical term on
one side and the definition on the other. Use as a lesson starter/finisher to test
learners’ recall of techniques.
Idea 2
Make up multiple sets of the flashcards on a smaller scale. Learners can the n
test each other on the terms. Or make it into a board game, with the learners
moving round the board if they get the answer right.
The extension to this is to have an example of the technique on one side of
the card and its name on the other. This can also be done to learn the effects
of different features of sentence structure. (See pages 54 –58 for a summary of
what to teach and tests (for a summary of the features and effects). Photocopy
these back to back to make question and answer cards.)
Idea 3
Another version of the above. This one is good for a class who like to be
active (or visual/kinaesthetic learners). Make up a set of flashcards and
distribute them randomly so that each learner gets a different term (or
two/three learners depending on how many terms you’re working on). You
can read out the definition or a question, or make up an example of the term
in use (this activity is very flexible). The learner with the corresponding term
jumps up if they think they are holding the correct term, and m ay read out the
definition or the example on the card to the rest of the class (they can also
make up their own example of the term in use if they feel able to). Each
correct ‘jumper’ can get a prize if you wish to incorporate rewards.
A sample quiz (Questions for terminology game) is given on page 64.
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Idea 4
When introducing new techniques to the learners, use a ‘stand and deliver’
activity to get them to remember. This is a co -operative learning technique
which works as follows:






in groups, learners work together to recall facts
give the learners the techniques you want them to remember
all the group members stand up
they work together to remember the techniques
they cannot sit down until every group member is able to remember them
the group can then celebrate their success and discuss how well they
learned.
Idea 5
Get learners to do a ‘structured sort’, a co -operative learning technique. Once
you have introduced a number of techniques to the class, test their learning as
follows:
 Make up a number of cards with examples of the techniques you want the
learners to learn – anything from two to four techniques.
 Give the learners headings to sort the techniques under – this can be the
names of the techniques or something like ‘Imagery’/‘Not imagery’.
 Give a set of the cards to each group.
 Ask one learner in each group to deal the cards out so each person in the
group gets some.
 Ask the learners to take turns to read out their cards and agree as a group
which heading to place the cards under. The focus here is on the
discussion of why a certain heading is appropriate.
 As a class, the learners report back and see if the groups are in agreement.
Idea 6
Another way to test the learners’ recall of definitions of techniques is through
a team games tournament, another co-operative learning technique. This
works as follows:
 The learners compete for their home team – the group with whom they
normally work.
 Learners work as a team to learn terms, techniques, routines for answering
questions, etc.
 The practitioner (or the learners themselves) makes up a set of question
cards (like trivial pursuit or the flash cards from idea 1 – term on one side,
definition on the other, etc).
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
 On the day of the tournament, the practitioner sets a target for each
group’s score, with a reward should they reach this target.
 Learners reform into new groups of four made up of learners from
different groups – no group should have two from the same original group.
 Learners then take on the following roles:
reader – reads the question and checks the answer
responder – answers the question
rescuer – can help the responder but cannot say the answer to the rest of
the group
recorder– writes down the score
(for groups of three rescuer and recorder can combine)
 After each question is answered, the roles rotate clockwise.
 At the end of the tournament, the learners return to their original groups
with the record of their scores.
 The practitioner rewards each team that has met their target.
In terms of formative assessment, if you then collect the sco re sheets, you can
see who has not performed well and intervene as appropriate.
(This approach could also be used, when testing learners’ ability to answer
questions on a passage. Take an SQA paper and make trivial pursuit type
cards with the question on one side and the answer from the marking scheme
on the other. This is a more active way to practise than writing silently.)
Idea 7
Ask your class groups to make a list of all the techniques they know and their
definitions. Give them 10 minutes to do this .
Now ask them to find a partner from another group. Get them to take turns to
say one technique they have (co-operative learning style, starting with the
person with the longer hair, etc). If the other person has it on their list, tick
the answer. If not, they add it to their list. Then the other person says a
technique and so on. Keep going until they’ve finished each of their lists. Ask
them to add any other techniques they may now have thought of.
Now find a new partner from a totally different group and repeat.
Talking about learning reinforces it.
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Idea 8
First show the class several YouTube videos designed to teach poetry
techniques.
Some examples are:
‘Similes in songs and movies’
‘Fun with figurative language’ – this one is super cheesy!
‘Think blocks tutorial: Metaphors and similes’
‘Figure of speech song’
‘Autumn poem with similes and adjectives’
‘An introduction to figurative language in poetry’
Discuss with the class the effectiveness (or otherwise) of the clips as a
learning tool. Now ask them to produce their own video to teach a technique
to school learners. Depending on how long you want to devote to this, you
can get the learners to simply plan the clips, or actually film and upload
them. If they are uploaded to YouTube they can be u sed again in the future.
Idea 9
Get learners to make up a ‘Who Wants to Be A Millionaire’ quiz to test their
knowledge of terms. The questions can be definitions, names of techniques,
quotations containing techniques and so on. The answers will be defini tions
or names of techniques. If you Google ‘who wants to be a millionaire
template’ you will find lots of ready-made PowerPoints, some with music,
such as http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/ppt-games/.
Idea 10
At your next departmental meeting get your department members to pair up
and see how many more activities like these they can come up with. The pairs
can share their ideas with the whole department and then type them up for
future use.
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Sentence structure
Here is a summary of what to teach learners about sentence structure.
Feature
Effect
Rhetorical question
Makes the reader think about x, involves the reader
Command (the
imperative)
Makes the tone very commanding or bossy; directly
address the reader
Exclamation!
Shows surprise, fear, anger, etc, volume (ie shouting)
Minor sentence (very
Short, no verb)
Emphasises x (ie the word on its own)
Creates tension/pace; for dramatic effect
Short sentences
As above
Long sentences
Show complexity
List
Shows how much (cumulative effect)
Repetition
Emphasises x (the thing that’s repeated); repetition
then change emphasises the change
Climax
Builds up to the most important/exciting/terrible etc
part
Anticlimax
Builds up and then nothing happens (bathos –
deliberate anticlimax for comic effect)
Parentheses
(): enclose extra information about x for elaboration,
explanation, aside (when the writer comments on what
he’s just written) etc
Dash
Similar to parentheses, but often at the end of the
sentence, sometimes an afterthought, or creates a
pause for dramatic effect
Subject – the person or thing
Verb – the action
Predicate/object – the rest of the information
Word order
Inversion
Emphasises x – the bit that comes first
Antithesis
A balancing of opposites within a sentence,
sometimes using a semicolon
I eat to live; I do not live to eat.
Emphasises the contrast, or the polarity of ideas
Ellipsis
To show the idea is left unfinished; to create
suspense; it shows the idea is ongoing
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Sentence structure test 1
Rhetorical question
Command
(the imperative)
Exclamation!
Minor sentence
(very short, no verb)
Short sentences
List
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Long sentences
Repetition
IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Climax
Anticlimax
Parentheses
Dash
Word order
Inversion
Antithesis
Ellipsis
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Sentence structure test 2
Makes the tone
very commanding
or bossy;
directly addresses
the reader
Makes the reader
think about x, involves
the reader
Emphasises x (ie the
word on its own)
Creates tension/pace;
for dramatic effect
Shows surprise, fear,
anger, etc; volume
Shows complexity
Emphasises x (ie the
word on its own)
Creates tension/pace;
for dramatic effect
Emphasises x (the
thing that’s repeated);
repetition then change
emphasises the change
Shows how much
(cumulative effect)
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Builds up and then
nothing happens
(bathos – deliberate
anticlimax for comic
effect)
Builds up to the most
important/exciting/
terrible etc part
Similar to
parentheses, but often
at the end of the
sentence, sometimes
an afterthought, or for
dramatic effect
To enclose extra
information about x:
elaboration,
explanation, aside etc
Subject – the person
or thing
Emphasises x – the bit
Verb – the action
that comes first
Predicate/object – the
rest of the information
To show the idea is
left unfinished; to
create suspense; it
shows the idea is
ongoing
A balancing of
opposites within a
sentence, sometimes
using a semicolon
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IDEAS FOR MEMORISING TECHNICAL TERMS
Questions for terminology game
1.
What are ‘whizz’, ‘bang’ and ‘pop’ examples of?
2.
What is language called which produces sorrow or pity in the reader?
3.
What do we call it when a sentence carries on beyond the end of a line
or a stanza?
4.
What is another name for a verse?
5.
What do we call it when we give human qualities to an object?
6.
‘She was stone cold’ is an example of what?
7.
‘A big bear of a man’ is an example of what?
8.
What is it called when we say something is like something else?
9.
What do we call a combination of opposites? Can you give an example?
10.
I’ve got about a million things to do tonight! What technique is this an
example of?
11.
What technique is a writer using when nature mirrors a character’s
mood, emotions, feelings or thoughts?
12.
‘She sells sea shells on the sea shore’ – what is this type of language
called?
13.
Anthropormorphism may also be called what?
You can make cards yourself or adapt the quiz to r efer to a particular poem,
novel, character, theme etc.
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