Monday 20 March 2017

Stone Cold, P.60-83: Show your understanding

Image result for stone cold robert swindells


1)      Why does Shelter want to add Ginger and Link to his victims? (page 75)
2)      Why do you think ‘dossers’ like to get together in groups?
3)      How bad would conditions have to be for Link to consider going home?
4)      Do you feel any sympathy for Link and Ginger?
-          Hunger
-          Cold, wet feet
-          Cold hands, body
-          Tired – can’t sleep at night
5)      Why would Ginger have to write ‘NON-ALCOHOLIC HOMELESS’ on his card? (page 77)
6)      Why can’t Link get a job? Whose fault is this? (page 78)
7)      Why is Link hurt that Ginger doesn’t ask him along to meet up with his mates?
8)   Consider the language Shelter uses on pages 81-83. What does it tell us about him as a person?
      Code
      Name
      Planned
      Executed
      Debriefing
      Operation
      Tactics
      Target etc.
      9) How does Shelter succeed in splitting up Ginger and Link? (pages 81-83)
10) What does this incident tell us about how Ginger feels about Link?
11) Does Shelter feel any remorse for his actions? How does he feel about what he does? (pages 81-83)
12) Why does Link feel he’s been abandoned by Ginger? (page 84)
13) What information does the newspaper man give Link? (pages 85-86)
14) What does Toya think has happened to Ginger?
15) Link says ‘…that’s the secret. Don’t let anybody close’ (67). Do you agree or disagree with this?
16) Consider the way Link treats Gail. Is this fair? Why does he eventually sit down?
17) Write definitions for the words 'tension' and 'suspense'.
18) Using page 61, write a PEE paragraph that answers the following question:
How does Swindells build tension and suspense on page 61?
You could begin with the following sentence openers:
P: Swindells builds tension and suspense on page 61 by...
E: This is shown by the following quotation:
E: The word(s) '...' gives the impression that...

Sunday 12 March 2017

THE BIG DEBATE: Grammar Schools



Read the following articles about Grammar schools in the UK.

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34538222

http://metro.co.uk/2016/09/09/what-is-a-grammar-school-how-schooling-is-different-to-state-education-and-why-they-are-controversial-6118187/

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/25/grammar-schools-weak-comprehensives-hope

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/grammar-schools-like-the-one-i-went-to-are-good-for-social-mobility-the-public-schools-most-a7178836.html

From each article, look up at least five words and define them in a word document. I will ask to hear about some of them later.

Make notes on and be ready to answer the following questions:

1. What are grammar schools?

2. Why do some people think they are a good thing? What benefits are there?

3. What are the negative aspects of grammar schools?

4. What do you think? Are they good or bad?

Monday 6 March 2017

Tasks to complete whilst orals are being conducted

YOU MUST REMAIN IN SILENCE. NO WHISPERING, NO GETTING OUT OF CHAIRS.
- So that your friends can do their best in their orals! :)



Things to be getting on with:


1. You can continue to revise for your oral.

2. Do some extra reading practise, by completing the reading exercises via the following link:

Friday 3 March 2017

KEY EXAM INFO: ORAL CRIT C AND D 67%


For extra practice, there are two examples on pages 130-131 of your green book with some extra advice :)

Thursday 2 March 2017

CRIT C and D EXAM INFORMATION AND PHRASES



Start by choosing one and discussing how much of a priority it is or isn’t 
Useful phrases for starting the task
“Shall we start with this one?”
“Which one do you want to start with?” “It doesn’t really matter which one we start with, so how about this one/ the first one?”

Move onto others
Useful phrases for quickly agreeing or disagreeing/ moving the discussion on
“I don’t feel the same way, but I see what you mean. Anyway,…”
“I don’t think we’ll ever agree on that, so…”
“I feel (basically) the same way, so…”
“We seem to agree on that one, so…”
“Have we discussed…?”
“How about…?”
“Let’s skip that one then.”
“Shall we move onto…?” “We still need to discuss…”
“What about…?”
“Which one should we discuss next?”

Bring that stage to a close and move onto the deciding stage
Useful phrases for moving onto the deciding stage
“We seem to be running out of time, so…”
“Shall we rush through the last few?”
“I don’t think we have time to discuss (all) the rest, so…”
“What was the second question we had to discuss?”
“What else do we have to discuss?”
“I think we’re ready to decide.”

Starting the deciding stage
Useful phrases for starting the deciding stage
“From what you said, I guess you’d choose…”
“I’d like to nominate…”
“I think we can eliminate/ ignore…”
“Definitely not…”

Continuing the deciding stage
Useful phrases for continuing/ managing the deciding stage
“We still need one more.”
“What about the second one?”
“It doesn’t seem we can agree on that one, so…”
“Maybe we should move onto another one.”
“If not that one, how do you feel about…?”

Ending/ summarizing the deciding stage
Useful phrases for ending/ summarizing the deciding stage
“So, we’ve decided on…”
“I think that means we agree on…”
“To recap,…”
“What was the first one we decided on again?”

Reporting what you decided (or not)
Useful phrases for reporting back to the teacher/ class
“We have only decided on one, which is…”
“We chose… because…”
“We haven’t agreed yet, but…”
“We couldn’t agree. I thought… but…”


SPEAKINGTEST–usefulphrases

Askingforclarification
Sorry,I’mnotsurewhatyoumean.
Idon’t(really)understand

Correctingyourself
WhatImeanis…
WhatImeantwas…
WhatI’mtryingtosayis…
Sorry, that’s not what I meant

Making suggestions
Perhaps we should…
 I’mnotsurewhether
 Ithinkit’dbebetterif 
Ithinkweshould….
Ifinditreally
Thegood/badthing(s)is/are…
Oneadvantage/disadvantageis…
Ontheotherhand…

Expressing opinions
Idon’treallylike….
I’mnotverykeenon…
Imuchprefer…
I’dprefer…
I’dmuchrather…
ThethingIlikethebestis….

Agreeingordisagreeingwithyourpartner
Iagree/disagree
Thatsoundslikeagoodidea
That’sagreatidea
You’reright!
That’strue
I’mnotsureaboutthat
Idon’treally  agree

Involvingyourpartner
Whatdoyouthink?
Doyouthinkweshould…?
Whydon’twe…?
Perhapsweshould…
Let’sdecideabout….,shallwe?


Positive adjectives

Negative adjectives
Useful/ Handy / Practical

Useless /  Unusable / Impractical
Fun / Entertaining / Exciting / Thrilling / Exhilarating

Boring / Dull / Tiresome / Tedious / Monotonous
Cheap / Good-value / Affordable / Economical

Expensive / Exclusive / Luxurious
Educational / Informative / Enlightening

Misleading / Deceptive / Confusing
Easy /  Relaxed / Informal / Laid-back

Time-consuming / Taxing / Tough / Demanding
Sociable / Friendly / Convivial

Unsociable / Antisocial / Unfriendly
Healthy / Good for you / Keeps you in shape
Unhealthy / Dangerous / Harmful / Unsafe / Damaging