“It guides you so you aren’t rambling
on. It keeps you on track.”
“You know what you are doing if you
follow it. You can’t get lost.”
(Year 11 high ability)
Sometimes it helps me
because it reminds me
of what I need to do.
Sometimes if I don’t
have success criteria I
forget what I am
doing. (Low ability
year 7)
“It helps me to remember to
put more interesting words in
and add more to my
paragraphs. Also to put more
adjectives, verbs and nouns in. ”
(Low ability year 7)
Using ‘Success
Criteria’ to
support and
guide writing.
Leah Ellerbruch
English teacher and head of Media
Studies at Appleton Academy
Twitter: @Lellerbruch
“It tells me what to put in my
writing and how to put it and
where to put it and stuff. It
tells me if I have achieved my
capital letters and full stops
and commas. Even with
dyslexia it helps me by letting
me read it and keeping my
writing in the right order. (Yr 7
with dyslexia)
“So you know what to put in your
paragraphs. If you didn’t have it, you
wouldn't really know to get a high level.
Now I have it, it helps me to make sure I
have everything in that I need” (Year 7
with dyslexia and Irlens needs)
Band and grade
What do you need to do:
 Identify dramatic
technique success criteria!
My journey
through
 Give a hidden meaning.
Band 4: 10-12
C-B
Confident and
assured
 Give a second possible meaning
 Explain in detail how it adds to the drama
 Explain how it connects to-and adds meaning to- the language in the
quote
 Make a less obvious comment about audience’s reaction
 Make a comment about Shakespeare’s reasons for using this particular
dramatic technique at this time.
GCSE grade descriptors
Band 3: 7-9
E-D
Clear and
consistent




Band 2: 4-6
G-F
Some
 Identify dramatic technique.
 Give one obvious meaning.
 Make an obvious comment about what the actor might do
Identify dramatic technique
Give a lesson obvious meaning
Try to say how it adds to the drama
Make an obvious comment about the audience’s reaction
AQA Drama
coursework
My journey through success criteria!
GCSE grade descriptors
PEE levels
PEE levels: 3 4 5 6
 Your point is clear and says exactly what you are analysing.
 Your quotation supports/proves your point.
 Summarise your quotation (in your own words).
 Say one way that the quotation proves your point.
 Identify one technique the author used.
 Say what the less obvious/hidden meaning might be.
 Pick out individual important words/phrases that help prove
your point.
 Explore the suggested meanings of the individual
words/phrases.
 Explain why the author wanted to hint at the suggested
meanings.
 Say what they make the reader think or feel (effect).
My journey through success criteria!
GCSE grade descriptors
PEE levels
Mastering levels
Analytical paragraph Success Criteria
Emerging:
 Your point as a statement-what your paragraph is about
 Use a quotation to support your point (quotation marks!)
 Summarise what the quotation means (in your own words)
Developing:
 Make an obvious comment about the quotation
 Basic explanation of what the quotation tells you about the character
Securing:
 Comment about less obvious or hidden meanings and their effect
 Pick out individual words or phrases used in the quotation
 Give obvious reasons for using individual words
Mastering:
 Talk about individual words, their multiple meanings and effects
 Link to another quotation within the text and explain what they say
 Make connections to the ‘big picture’, themes, or author’s meaning
I started to experiment…
• Personilisation
• Support
• Scaffolds
• Challenge
Persuasive speech Success Criteria
 5 paragraphs minimum
 Formal language and tone
 Use a reliable source to
support
 Use 5+persuasive devices:
.
.
.
.
.
 Use ambitious and relevant
vocabulary
 One word/short sentences
 One line paragraph
 Order connectives
SPAG:
 Most spellings correct
 Topic sentence for each
paragraph
 Homophones correct
 Basics ALL correct
 Capitals
 Full stops
 Commas
 Paragraphs
 Apostrophes
 Advanced punctuation:
 Question marks
 Exclamation marks
 Semi-colons
 Colons
Analytical paragraph Success Criteria
Emerging:
 Your point as a statement-what your paragraph is about
 Use a quotation to support your point (quotation marks!)
 Summarise what the quotation means (in your own words)
Developing:
 Make an obvious comment about the quotation
 Basic explanation of what the quotation tells you about the character
Securing:
 Comment about less obvious or hidden meanings and their effect
 Pick out individual words or phrases used in the quotation
 Give obvious reasons for using individual words
Mastering:
 Talk about individual words, their multiple meanings and effects
 Link to another quotation within the text and explain what they say
 Make connections to the ‘big picture’, themes, or author’s meaning
Then I shared my ideas…
We developed our use to include:
Peer and self reflection
and
Metacognition
But what about lower ability?
I adapted the challenge
tasks to support the
lower ability pupils!
Instead of the analysis
being required (as it
would be for a top set) I
turned them into
challenges.
Beowulf hero paragraph
success criteria
 Explain what makes a hero.
 Say who Beowulf is. Say if he is a hero or if
he is not a hero. CHALLENGE: Give a
quotation to support.
 1 chilli CHALLENGE: Explain what the
quotations means in your own words.
 1 chilli CHALLENGE: Explain what words in
the quotation show that Beowulf is a hero.
 2 chilli CHALLENGE: Explain how other
characters see Beowulf in the quotation.
 3 chilli CHALLENGE: Explain why he might
not be considered a hero.
THREE chilli challenge
Explain why Beowulf might NOT
be a hero. (argue the other
side.)
You may need to find another
quotation to support.
But what about lower ability?
I adapted the challenge tasks to support the
lower ability pupils!
Instead of the analysis being required (as it
would be for a top set) I turned them into
challenges.
And of course….the sentence starters to support
as well!
HELP! Sentence starters
• A hero is…
• One thing that makes a hero is…
• In the Medieval Saga, ‘Beowulf’, the main character,
Beowulf, is…
• One way Beowulf is described as a hero is…
• This means that Beowulf is…
• He is described using the word “_____”, this means…
• This proves that Beowulf is a hero because…
• Another meaning to this word is… This shows that
Beowulf is a hero because…
• Other characters would think that Beowulf
is…because…
Success criteria...
It’s not
just
for
OFSTED!