Transactional Writing

Component 2, Section B

Year 10 Autumn Term (2)

 NB. You are more than welcome to
work through the majority of these
tasks with your friend(s). Working
together can only be of benefit to you.
 NB. There are a lot of tasks for each writing
type. This is because we want you to use these
schemes for your revision. Your teacher will
let you know which ones they want you to
complete and you can complete the other tasks
when you are revising.
Week 1
 Before you begin, you need to know, that the
exam board are OBSESSED with SPAG. And we
mean OBSESSED. The examiners will first read
your work for SPAG ONLY and underline or circle
every single error. Then they will make a
judgement call on your SPAG mark based on the
amount of errors they’ve circled. Then they will
read it for the other mark, but if they’ve already
given you a low SPAG mark because you’ve made
loads of errors...what do you think they will
already be assuming about your other mark?
Imagine you are the examiner….
Without reading each piece, which one is going to be the better answer….

Nuff said.

So, what can you do about this?

Know your weaknesses….
And FIND and FIX them in your writing during proofreading
time.

You can’t check for everything, so check for what will really
make a difference to your mark. That one SPAG focus your
teacher has given you. It might be:

● Homophones
● Comma splices
● Full stops
If you do not know
● Commas after discourse markers
your SPAG weakness,
● Spellings of commonly misspelled words
ask your teacher...
● Overuse of the semicolon
● And so on...
One last thing...
The examiners hate, most of all, above all other errors:

Changing tense (switching from past to present)

Comma splices (using a comma instead of a full stop)

If you do any of these regularly, you will automatically limit yourself to a

mark of a 3 or a 4. You will be capped at this no matter how good the rest of
your SPAG is!

Don’t give them reason to hate on you! #hatersgonnahate

Week 1: Component 2, Section B
TASK 1: Read the information on the following slides making notes/highlighting key information as
you do so. Remember, you are looking for what makes a successful Section B answer.

Just in case you aren’t aware, you will have to:

● Produce two pieces of transactional writing for different purposes and audiences
● Each task is marked out of 20 (12 marks for content and organization and 8 marks for SPAG)
● You might get asked to write, a letter, a report, an article, a speech or a review (so it is
important to understand the key features of each text type or in other words the
requirements of the genre)
● You have 30 minutes to complete each piece of writing which includes planning and
proofreading time -> you must plan your answer as you only have short time to produce it, so
you need to only include the BEST ideas
● The exam board prefer quality over quantity (they recommend 300-400 words)
Week 1: General Advice
● TAP it/SLAP it/PALL it/GAP it first! Don’t start writing until you’re clear WHAT (type) you’re
writing, WHO (audience) you’re writing to, and WHY you are writing (purpose).
● PLAN. Spend the first 5 minutes of your 30 minutes writing a detailed plan o Mind map 4-5
main sections to your writing -> think about the order of your writing (this will help you develop
cohesion between paragraphs)
● DON’T attempt to sound like you’ve swallowed a thesaurus. The examiner will expect to see
some well-chosen sophisticated vocabulary, but it shouldn’t be every other word. (If every
paragraph has TWO examples of sophisticated vocabulary, that’s quite enough).
● BE CLEAR. Start your paragraphs with a sentence that clearly indicates where that paragraph
is going. (Think topic sentences). Sound like you care. Don’t sit on the fence. Engage with the
tasks and write something the examiner will be pleased to read.
● WATCH your accuracy. Make sure you know the basics and get them right in the exam! This
includes apostrophes, semi-colons, spelling of homophones, commonly misspelled words etc.
Show the examiner a range of skills. Vary your sentence constructions for effect, display some
sophisticated vocabulary, paragraph your work intelligently.
Week 1: Exam Report 2018
When you read the exam reports, you should make notes about what
candidates do well and what needs more work. You can learn a lot from these
about what you need to do to succeed in the exam. Print them off, highlight
them (you could create a key for what to do and what not to do), annotate
them, record key learning points and so on.
Week 1: Exam Report 2018
Week 1: Exam Report 2018
Week 1: Exam Report 2018
Week 1: Exam Report 2018
Week 1: Exam Report 2017
Week 1: 2017 V 2018
What are the main differences between the exam reports?

What have centres and candidates addressed and improved?

What still needs some work?

What are you taking away from this?

Week 1: What have your learnt?
What is the most important thing
you are taking away from Week 1?

Why?
Week 2
Week 2: Speeches
TASK 1: Mind Map or list everything you can remember about writing
speeches.

Speeches
Week 2: Speeches
TASK 2: Annotate the question below identifying the genre, purpose and
audience.

‘Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and landslides – we see more and more

reports of environmental disasters affecting the world and its people every
day.’

Write the text of a speech for an assembly at your school or college in which
you persuade young people to take more responsibility for protecting the
environment.
Week 2: Speeches
TASK 3: Look at the student’s plan below. Is this effective? Will it help them
construct a 300-400 succinct answer in 15-20 minutes? If not, why not?

1. Write an opening -> use a rhetorical question

2. Introduce my first idea
3. Introduce my second idea
4. Introduce my third idea
5. Close the speech -> say thanks for listening
Week 2: Speeches
TASK 4: Come up with an effective plan which you could use to answer the
question. Stuck? Think topic sentences, relevant content, engaging openings
and closings, AFOREST devices, OFADE/FADE (if you have been taught this).

Challenge: Only allow yourself 5 minutes to complete this.

Week 2: Speeches
TASK 5: Watch the following video by everyone’s favourite
teacher. Mr Bruff. Warning: This is a video designed for
students sitting the AQA exam, but it is still relevant for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMmAriRCl20

As you watch it, make some learning points. What are you
going steal? What have you learnt?

Alternatively, you may want to watch this one, or watch them

both! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7lYJMqcpyA&t=38s
Week 2: Speeches
TASK 6: Look at the following webpage. What can we steal? Write down some
learning points. You could print if off and annotate it if you like.

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zwt3rdm/revision/2
Week 2: Speeches
TASK 7: Look at the example speech on the following slides. NB. This is more
than you would need to write in the exam. You should annotate it and make
notes on:
● How they open and close their speech
● How many ideas they include and how they introduce them
● How they adhere to the conventions of the genre
● How they use persuasive language
● How, when and if they introduce counter-argument
● How they use discourse markers

How successful do you think this answer is? What would you ACDC? Can you
rewrite it? What do you want to steal and shape?
Week 2: Speeches
Task 8: You might want to consider which of the following is appropriate to include when
writing a speech from the list below. Stuck? If you have never heard of them, look them up
and write down the definition and an example. What impact would each one have? Can you
identify them in your own work? (Look back at a speech you’ve written) Have we missed any?

● Rhetorical questions ● Personal pronouns

● Comparative devices (metaphors/similes) ● Discourse markers
● Exaggeration Exclamatives
● Rule of three ● Infinitive verb forms
● Personal tone (through vocab choices) ● Colons and semicolons
● Present tense ● A line of argument using
● Anecdotes and expert evidence topic sentences
● A varied sentence structure ● A powerful opening and
closing
Week 2: Speeches
Task 9: Write a success criteria for what an effective speech should
include:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

And so on...
Week 2: Speeches
Task 10: Choose a question from the following slides and write a complete
answer (you should aim to do all these eventually for revision purposes).

Time yourself for 30 minutes. There is no point writing for longer than this as
you only have 20 minutes in the exam!

Don’t forget to include your plan!

NB. If you have been working together until now, you should do this
independently. You may also want to do this in your feedback book, so you can
pass it to your teacher.

Why not come up with a plan for every question?

Week 2: Speeches
1. A local charity is asking for volunteers. Write the text of a speech you
would give to your peers persuading them to volunteer
2. Your school or college is planning an event for students to celebrate the
end of their studies. Write the text of a speech to persuade your
Headteacher or Principal that your idea for a celebration is the best one.

In your speech, you may wish to consider:

• what your idea involves

• advantages and disadvantages of different ideas

• why your idea will be popular as well as any other ideas you may have.
Week 2: Speeches
3. A local charity is asking for volunteers. Write the text of a speech you
would give to your peers persuading them to volunteer.

4. Your school or college is worried about online safety. Write the text of a
speech you would give to your class or group entitled ‘How to stay safe online’.

5. A member of your local community has said that: ‘Young people today are
too often, and too easily, blamed for everything that is wrong with society
today.’ Write a speech for your local community meeting giving your views on
this.
Week 2: Speeches
Task 11: Annotate your answer using your success criteria as a guide. You
may also want to use the MS to show where you are hitting the exam board
criteria.

What mark would you give yourself for each AO? Why?

Now get a friend to read through your answer and give you a mark. Do they
agree with the mark you’ve awarded? What target are they going to set you?

Do you need to refine anything?

Now, give it to your teacher for feedback.

Week 2: Going one step further...
If you want to work further on writing speeches, complete
the activities on the following slides.

You can also download and complete the speeches work

pack.

Remember, PMP (practice makes permanent).

Week 3
Week 3: Letters
In the exam, you could get asked to write various types of letter including:.

● A letter of complaint
● A letter to the headteacher giving your views about a given topic
● A letter to the council giving your views about a given topic
● A letter to a newspaper about a letter they’ve published giving your views on it
● A letter of application (usually for a weekend position or work experience)

You need to be able to know how to write each type of letter so it is important you
practice them all.

Is there a difference between the different types? What is different? What is the
same?
Week 3: Letters
TASK 1: Mind Map or list everything you can remember about writing
letters. Don’t forget to differentiate between the different types.

Letters
Week 3: Letters
TASK 2: You will notice that, despite different
audiences, all the letters you will be asked to write in
the exam are formal. Therefore, you must know how
to layout a formal letter. You will lose marks if you
can’t do this.

From memory, draw a box (imaging it is a piece of A4

paper) and then sketch out a formal letter layout.

Stuck?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/standard/english/lit_
form/letter/revision/2/
Did you get
it right?

What are
the rules
for this?
Week 3: Letters
How should you end a letter beginning with the following salutations?

1. Dear Mr Blenkinsop
2. Dear Headteacher
3. Dear Sir
4. Dear Sir John
5. Dear Ms Turpin

Did you get it right?

Also, what does each salutation need after it? Think SPAG!
Week 3: Letters
TASK 3: Annotate the question below identifying the genre, purpose and
audience.

Your local newspaper has published an article called ‘Is it really more expensive to
eat healthy food?’

Write a letter to the newspaper giving your views.

In your letter, you could include:

• your views on what food is considered healthy or unhealthy
• your views on the cost of unhealthy or ‘junk’ food
• things that people can do to eat healthily and save money as well as any other
ideas you might have.
Week 3: Letters
Task 4: Watch the following video on how to write a letter. It focuses on
letter of complaint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12jbexwPuNg&t=1535s

As you watch it, make some learning points. What are you going steal? What
have you learnt?
Week 3: Letters
TASK 5: Look at the example letter on the next four slides. This student was
asked to write a letter to their Headteacher suggesting improvements that
might be made to their school. You should annotate it and make notes on:
● How they open and close their letter
● How many ideas they include and how they introduce them
● How they adhere to the conventions of the genre
● How they use persuasive language
● How they use discourse markers

How successful do you think this answer is? What would you ACDC? What
would you steal and shape? Can you rewrite it?
For the purposes of this task,
the student laid out their letter
correctly.
Week 3: Letters
Task 6: Write a success criteria for what an effective letter should include:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

And so on…

Does this need to change depending on the type of letter you’ve been asked
to write?
Week 3: Letters
Task 7: Choose a question from the following slides and write a complete
answer (you should aim to do all of these eventually for revision purposes).

Time yourself for 30 minutes. There is no point writing for longer than this as
you only have 20 minutes in the exam!

Don’t forget to include your plan!

NB. If you have been working together until now, you should do this
independently. You may also want to do this in your feedback book, so you can
pass it to your teacher.
Week 3: Letters
1. Your school has been awarded a large sum of money to improve facilities and
has asked for suggestions from the students.

Write a letter to your Principal or Headteacher, suggesting ways the money

should be spent.

In your letter, you may wish to consider:

• which areas need improving

• how they can be improved

• how the improvements will benefit the whole school or college as well as any
other ideas you may have.
Week 3: Letters
2. In England you are required to stay in education or training until you are 18.

Write a letter to your local Member of Parliament, making it clear whether

you agree or disagree with this requirement.

In your letter, you may wish to consider:

• the benefits of staying in education or training

• the disadvantages of staying in education or training

• whether this will make a difference to young people’s lives as well as any
other ideas you may have.
Week 3: Letters
3. Your school or college wants ideas about how to improve the meals that are
served to students.

Write a letter to the Headteacher or Principal explaining how you think

the meals could be improved.

In your letter, you may wish to consider:

• what is wrong with the meals

• what improvements should be made

• why your suggestions should be chosen as well as any other ideas you
may have
Week 3: Letters
Task 8: Annotate your answer using your success criteria as a guide. You may
also want to use the MS to show where you are hitting the exam board
criteria.

What mark would you give yourself for each AO? Why?

Now get a friend to read through your answer and give you a mark. Do they
agree with the mark you’ve awarded? What target are they going to set you?

Do you need to refine anything?

Now, give it to your teacher for feedback.

Week 3: Letters
Can you write your own questions using your knowledge of the exam board?

Can you write questions which cover all the different types of letter you
might get asked to write?

Think: What topics are they likely to pick? Who are they likely to ask you to
write a letter to?
Week 3: Going one step further...
If you want to work further on writing letters, complete
the activities on the following slides.

You can also download and complete the letters work pack.

Remember, PMP (practice makes permanent).

A local
businessman
has proposed
holding a music
festival in a
nearby field.

Write a letter
to your local
newspaper with
your views
about this idea.
Week 4
Week 4: Articles
This is the text type students often struggle with the most. The reason for this is because
the exam question often asks you to write using a ‘lively’ tone or voice.

Unless you read articles regularly, you will struggle to replicate a ‘lively’ voice in your own
writing.

Therefore, the best thing you can do, is start to read articles with a strong sense of voice
and deconstruct them to see how they are created.

We recommend you start here: (Access the handouts posted on google classroom by your
teacher) and then google Katie Hopkins (she most certainly has a voice!)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnist-1104101/Katie-Hopkins-MailOnline.html (Katie
Hopkins)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/24/christmas-2014-john-lewis-sains
bury-ads-top-christmas-products (Charlie Brooker)
Week 4: Articles
TASK 1: Mind Map or list everything you can remember about writing
articles.

Articles
Week 4: Articles
TASK 2: Annotate the question below identifying the genre, purpose and
audience.
Week 4: Articles
Task 3: Watch the following video on how to write an article. It covers
article writing for a good day out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q45k5JD7cec

As you watch it, make some learning points. What are you going steal? What
have you learnt?
Week 4: Articles
TASK 4: Look at the three article examples on the next slides. You should
annotate them and make notes on:
● How they open and close their articles
● How many ideas they include and how they introduce them
● How they adhere to the conventions of the genre
● How they use persuasive language
● How they use discourse markers
● How they use planning (if shown)

How successful do you think each answer is? What would you ACDC? What
would you steal and shape? What would you rewrite? What do they all have in
common? Which is the most successful answer and why?
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Stuck? Answer the questions on
the following slides to help you
further deconstruct this
students’ answer.
Week 4: Articles
Task 5: Write a success criteria for what an effective article should include:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

And so on…
Week 4: Articles
Task 6: Choose a question from the following slide and write a complete
answer (you should aim to do all of these eventually for revision purposes).

Time yourself for 30 minutes. There is no point writing for longer than this as
you only have 20 minutes in the exam! (5 minutes planning and 5 minutes
proofreading)

Don’t forget to include your plan!

NB. If you have been working together until now, you should do this
independently. You may also want to do this in your feedback book, so you can
pass it to your teacher.
Week 4: Articles
1. A teenage magazine is asking for articles on the topic ‘The biggest influence in my
life.’ Write your article explaining how you have been influenced
2. Your local newspaper is asking readers whether school uniform is a good idea.
Write an article for the newspaper giving your views.
3. ‘A dog is life, not just for Christmas.’ Write an article for a magazine aimed at
people your own age, inspired by this quotation, in which you give your views about
dogs, dog owners, or both.
4. ‘Ghosts don’t exist. Anyone who believes in them is being fooled.’ Write an article
for your school magazine or website in which you argue for or against this
statement.
5. A recent article on a travel website has stated: ‘There is no need to suffer the
expense and uncertainty of going abroad for a holiday; Great Britain has
everything anyone could desire.’ Write an article, in reply, which argues your views
on the statement.
Week 4: Articles
Task 7: Annotate your answer using your success criteria as a guide. You may
also want to use the MS to show where you are hitting the exam board
criteria.

What mark would you give yourself for each AO? Why?

Now get a friend to read through your answer and give you a mark. Do they
agree with the mark you’ve awarded? What target are they going to set you?

Do you need to refine anything?

Now, give it to your teacher for feedback.

Week 4: Going one step further...
If you want to work further on writing articles, complete
the activities on the following slides and download then
complete the articles pack.

Remember, PMP (practice makes permanent).

Week 5
Week 5: Reports
TASK 1: Mind Map or list everything you can remember about writing
reports. Do this from memory.

Reports
Week 5: Reports
The reports you will be asked to write in the exam will almost certainly be
based around school and this is a good thing because it means you can plan and
prepare the sort of information you might include/comment on in advance.

Topics are likely to include:

● Rewards and praise
● Behaviour and behaviour systems
● Litter, recycling and saving the environment
● The pastoral system (tutor groups, house heads, assemblies etc)
● Homework
● Bullying
● Food
● The school day and the curriculum
Week 5: Reports
Task 2: You may have already looked at this during your lessons, but remind
yourself of the exemplar report and how it should be structured.

What type of sentences should you use?

What type of register?
How should you lay it out?
What subheadings could you use?

Annotate the report identifying these things and anything else typical of the
genre conventions for this text type.
Week 5: Reports
A report into what provision is currently available for year 11 students approaching their GCSE
examinations

By: Charlotte Panesar

Prepared for: Ms Turpin

Date: 25th January 2018

Purpose: An investigation into the current provision available for year 11 during the run up to the GCSE
exams

Introduction
As a student in year 11, I have been asked to investigate provisions are currently available to students in
the run up to the GCSE examinations. A survey was given to all of year 11 and there were 150 copies
returned. Interviews were conducted with five year 11 students from each House including the House
Captain.
Week 5: Reports
What is currently available?

Currently, all subjects all offer a revision session for 1 hour per week that the students can attend.
Furthermore, some faculties, Drama, Humanities and PE, are also offering one to one appointments
that students can sign up to if they want help on a specific topic. In terms of Maths, there is a
compulsory period 6 lesson on a Monday that students are made to attend in order to improve their
skills. English are currently running revision during the holidays and on a Saturday although this is
invite only. There are also intervention tutor groups for Maths and English at break times, but this
is invite only. Finally, students have access to the break-out areas before school, during lunch and
break times and after school where they can download past papers and other resources from the
shared area and to use OWL.
Week 5: Reports
How do the students feel?

Students mostly felt that they were well catered for in terms of what they currently had available
to them, but some students were honest and said that sometimes, unless the revision was
compulsory, they did not always attend. 90% of students were frustrated by the printer issues
within the Academy, and during the student interviews it was revealed that it is difficult to print
work as they are always broken or out of ink. One student from Jaguar House stated that, “there
should be more credit available for students in our year as we have way more work to print than
someone in year 7!” Frustration was also felt during the interviews by the year 7 students taking up
large sections of the break-out areas to play computer games. Furthermore, students who are
aiming for top levels expressed that there often less opportunities for them as it is the borderline
students who are invited in during the holidays and on Saturdays. They sometimes feltl their needs
were neglected as they are not seen as priority students.
Week 5: Reports
Recommendations

The recommendations include:

· A compulsory period 6 for English and Science as these are the core subjects;
· Specific provision for students aiming for levels 7,8 and 9 in English and Maths;
· More printing credit for students in year 11 so they can print off past papers without running
out of credit;
· More efficient printer maintenance, such as repairing jams and replacing ink cartridges to
ensure that resources and past papers can be printed.

Conclusion

Whilst the provision at Sidney Stringer Academy is actually very good, there are some things that
could be implemented in order to improve the student’s chances of doing their very best in the
forthcoming GCSE examinations.
 ● Rewards and praise
● Behaviour and behaviour
Week 5: Reports systems
● Litter, recycling and
Task 3: For each topic write down: saving the environment
● The pastoral system
1. What the current provision includes/what
(tutor groups, house
current procedures are in place/how things heads, assemblies etc)
currently work etc ● Homework
2. What the students would think (after an ● Bullying
imaginary survey, student focus group etc) ● Food
3. What recommendations you have for ● The school day and the
curriculum
improvements
4. An overall summary/conclusion
Week 5: Reports
Task 4: Now watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6zm8r-_1iM

What can you steal? What can you shape?

Write down learning points as you watch the video.

Week 5: Reports
Task 5: Write a success criteria for what an effective report should include:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

And so on…
Week 5: Reports
Task 6: Choose a question from the following slide and write a complete
answer (you should aim to do all of these eventually for revision purposes).

Time yourself for 30 minutes. There is no point writing for longer than this as
you only have 20 minutes in the exam! (5 minutes planning and 5 minutes
proofreading)

Don’t forget to include your plan!

NB. If you have been working together until now, you should do this
independently. You may also want to do this in your feedback book, so you can
pass it to your teacher.
Week 5: Reports
1. Your school college wants a report into behaviour. Write a report for
your Headteacher about behaviour in the school and the current
provisions for tackling behaviour issues. You should comment on both
behaviour around the school and inside the classroom.
2. Your school college wants a report into the praise and rewards systems.
Write a report for your Headteacher about praise in the school. You
should comment on both praise across the school and within subject
areas.
3. OR write your own question and write a report based on a topic of your
choice within the school.
Week 5: Reports
Task 7: Annotate your answer using your success criteria as a guide. You may
also want to use the MS to show where you are hitting the exam board
criteria.

What mark would you give yourself for each AO? Why?

Now get a friend to read through your answer and give you a mark. Do they
agree with the mark you’ve awarded? What target are they going to set you?

Do you need to refine anything?

Now, give it to your teacher for feedback.

Week 5: Going one step further...
If you want to work further on writing reports download
and complete the reports pack.

Remember, PMP (practice makes permanent).

Week 6
Week 6: Reviews
TASK 1: Mind Map or list everything you can remember about writing
reviews. Do this from memory.

Reviews
Week 6: Reviews
In order to understand how to write reviews, you need to read them regularly.
So, if you don’t, this is a good place to start. Get on google!

In the exam, you may be asked to write the following reviews:

● A review of a film, television series, latest fashion trend, book, band,
music trend and so on (usually for a teen audience)
● A review of a place you’ve visited (they vary the audience for this)
● A review of a place for a good day out (usually for a family audience)
Week 6: Reviews
Task 2: Watch this video for tips about how to write a review if you are
asked to review a film or television series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oyDV5YF0Sw

What are you going to steal and shape?

What have you learnt? Write down key learning points to show you have
watched and engaged with the video.
Week 6: Reviews
Task 3: Read the following webpage:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/z2t3rdm/revision/5

Steal ideas and make notes!

Week 6: Reviews
Task 4: Our advice to you, is to always review Coventry if asked to review a place. This
is because it will sound realistic and convincing because you live here and know the city.

1. Mind map everything you can see and do in Coventry.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Coventry)
2. Now make a list (from the mind map) of things teenagers would like to see and do,
then do the same for families (or people visiting with children). What differences
do you notice?
3. Now go back to your mindmap and be more specific about what you might see and
do there depending on if you are writing for a teenager or a family audience.
Example: The Memorial Park: Teenagers - play football, hang out, use the skate
park, use the tennis courts. Families - have a picnic, use the playground equipment,
get an ice-cream from the van, use the tennis courts.
Week 6: Reviews
Task 5: The basic principles for writing a review (whatever the audience) do not really
change.

You need to include:

A headline

An introduction

What was great

What wasn’t great

Whether or not you would recommend it (including an overall line)

Look at the review (which you may have already seen in lesson) on the next few slides. How
does it fulfil the requirements of the task?
Week 6: Reviews

‘Teen View’ , a magazine for teachers, wants to

publish lively reviews for its readers.
Write a review about a trip you have taken
recently. This can be a trip abroad or in your
country.
Week 6: Reviews
I took a trip to Coventry recently. Yes, I know that Coventry has a bit of a reputation for its 1960s and ‘70s concrete jungle
architecture (not its fault as most of the place got flattened during World War Two and had to be rebuilt). However, thanks to
the winning the City of Culture bid, I have to say, when I arrived it appeared to have had a bit of a facelift.

Besides what remains of the boxy concrete jungle, there seriously in an impressive array of activities particularly suitable for
teenagers like myself. And, if you are a teenager who has not reached the blessed age of ‘I can legally drive’, fear not as
everything is within walking distance. Put it on your To Do list. You must.

Shopping-wise, the list is pretty long, but I’ll keep it simple for you. There is an indoor market, a high street area, the
independent Greyfriars Walk, and three big shopping centres. In ascending order of awesome, they are Cathedral Lanes
Shopping Centre, Lower Precinct and finally West Orchards. Amongst these absolute beauties there is quite probably the
largest Primark in the UK. Girls, this place is like no other. There are endless bargains which could fill a wardrobe for less than
50 quid! And don’t worry, they regularly stock those crop tops that I know all us teenagers love. But, if a crop top is not for you,
boys, don’t worry, JD sports is just around the corner and stocks all the latest clothes.

There’s a couple of cinemas in the city, including an Odeon in the Skydome. If you’ve not heard of this then it’s an all-purpose
entertainment venue. As well as the cinema there’s an ice rink where the Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey team play and an arena for
concert gigs. Out of them, I would recommend watching an ice hockey match. It is not the match which is enjoyable, but rather
the absolute chaos that is caused by the spectators. Watching others shout ‘who are ya’ across the room to one another is
hilarious. What more could you want?
Week 6: Reviews
On my third day, the bank of mum and dad had ran out and I realised that I had no money. After my initial meltdown, and the fear that I
could no longer venture out, I realised that actually Coventry had a few ‘freebees’ that were pretty decent. Firstly, was the Herbert Art
Gallery and Museum. From fossilised sea critters through to weird modern art that nobody really understands, the Herbert has all your
bases covered. It was free to enter and has definitely helped my out with my Science homework on a few occasions since. Although if I am
honest, the true fun came from the fits of laughter my friends and I were left in after stumbling across some ‘questionable’ paintings.
Secondly, was the War Memorial Park. This is the biggest park close to the town centre, and a great place to kick back for an afternoon
with your mates.

As a growing teenager, food was of course continuously on the agenda when deciding what to do in Coventry. There is no surprise that it won
the ‘City of Culture’ as it quite literally had every food from every corner of the world available to buy. On the day when I had a little more
money, I went to a place called Habibis; I would 100% advise everyone in the world to go. I demolished an entire meze ranging from pittas,
dips, mini kebabs and curries. It was not cheap, coming in at about 25 pound, however every mouthful was like a taste of heaven. But, if you
are on a budget or your parents are a little tight, there are plenty of cheaper restaurants available if you wander around the city centre.
And don’t worry, I know the thought of not eating chicken and chips is already setting off withdrawal symptoms, there are chicken shops
everywhere. Every street. Every corner. Literally.

And finally, I would like to do a quick mention about travel on a ‘good to know’ basis. Surrounding the city was the grim looking – but efficient
- concrete ring road that links Coventry with direct routes from nearby towns and cities. However, you needn’t drive as once you are in the
centre, there was a bus station (Pool Meadow) that had numerous buses running regularly. However, as a young healthy teenager, you should
have no issues walking and everything I have mentioned today is within walking distance #winner.

Overall, Coventry is a true gem to visit. Set aside the stereotypes and take a trip to this city! It is a place that has an array of activities
that all of us teenagers can enjoy. You can even visit places for free and retain your dignity instead of begging mum and dad for yet another
tenner.
Week 6: Reviews
Task 6: Write a success criteria for what an effective review should include:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

And so on…
Week 6: Reviews
Task 7: Choose a question from the following slide and write a complete
answer (you should aim to do all of these eventually for revision purposes).

Time yourself for 30 minutes. There is no point writing for longer than this as
you only have 20 minutes in the exam! (5 minutes planning and 5 minutes
proofreading)

Don’t forget to include your plan!

NB. If you have been working together until now, you should do this
independently. You may also want to do this in your feedback book, so you can
pass it to your teacher.
Week 6: Reviews
1. Write a review for a good family day out for ‘A good day out with the
kids’ magazine.
2. Write a review for a teen magazine of the latest trend in music, fashion,
film, television or gaming.
Week 6: Reviews
Task 8: Annotate your answer using your success criteria as a guide. You may
also want to use the MS to show where you are hitting the exam board
criteria.

What mark would you give yourself for each AO? Why?

Now get a friend to read through your answer and give you a mark. Do they
agree with the mark you’ve awarded? What target are they going to set you?

Do you need to refine anything?

Now, give it to your teacher for feedback.

Week 6: Going one step further...
If you want to work further on writing reviews download
and complete the review pack.

Remember, PMP (practice makes permanent).

 Week 7
SPAG WEEK
(With a pinch of organisation thrown in for fun!)
Week 7: Spelling
1. Read, highlight and annotate with learning points the hand out about
spelling (particularly noting anything that is relevant to you!)
2. Then complete the Quick Test section.
3. Go back through your feedback book and make a list of any words you’ve
spelt incorrectly.
4. Learn to spell them using the spelling strategies you’ve read. It is more
than likely you will have to use them in the exam.
5. Find a friend and test each other on your commonly misspelled words. You
must keep practicing these or you won’t improve!

This website might help: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic-group/spelling

Week 7: Punctuation
1. Read, highlight and annotate with learning points the hand out about
punctuation (particularly noting anything that is relevant to you!)
2. Then complete the Quick Test section.
3. Go back through your feedback book and identify the key issues you have
with punctuation (ask your teacher if you aren’t sure).
4. Go back and correct this in your previous pieces of writing. Do this in a
different coloured pen so we can see where you’ve made corrections.

This website might help:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zw8vwxs/revision/1
Week 7: Sentence Structure
1. Read, highlight and annotate with learning points the hand out about sentence
structure (particularly noting anything that is relevant to you!)
2. Then complete the Quick Test section.
3. Go back through your feedback book and identify the key issues you have with
sentence structure (ask your teacher if you aren’t sure).
4. Go back and correct this in your previous pieces of writing. You might want to
select paragraphs from each piece to rewrite focusing on your sentence structure.
Do this in a different coloured pen so we can see where you’ve made corrections.

These websites might help:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/sentence-structure

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zxqnfg8/revision/1
Week 7: Text Structure and Organisation
This is very important, as if you forget to use paragraphs, you can only
get a maximum of 4 marks out of 12.

1. Read, highlight and annotate with learning points the hand out about text
structure and organisation (particularly noting anything that is relevant
to you!)
2. Then complete the Quick Test section.
3. Go back through your feedback book and identify the key issues you have
with text structure and organisation (ask your teacher if you aren’t sure).
4. Go back and correct anything you need to in your writing. You might want
to add in discourse markers, or change they ones you’ve used. Do this in a
different coloured pen so we can see where you’ve made corrections.
Week 7: Standard English and Grammar
1. Read, highlight and annotate with learning points the hand out about Standard
English and Grammar (particularly noting anything that is relevant to you!)
2. Then complete the Quick Test section.
3. Go back through your feedback book and identify the key issues you have with
Standard English and Grammar (be specific about what it is you need to focus on).
4. Go back and correct anything you need to in your writing. Do this in a different
coloured pen so we can see where you’ve made corrections.

These websites might help: https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zx3gr82/revision/1

Week 7: Bringing it all together...
1. Finally, complete the practice questions on all the different types of SPAG you
have covered during this week of revision.
2. Using the answers sheet, mark your work and the Quick Tests you have been
completing.

3. If you got something wrong, correct it.

4. Create an Action Plan based on your results, so what do you need to focus on? How
are you going to improve? What are you going to do and by when?

NB. Answers to these, and answers to all the Quick Test sections will be posted on
google classroom by your teacher so you can go back and mark your work.

DO NOT LOOK AT THEM BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE QUESTIONS! CHEATERS

NEVER PROSPER!
Example Action Plan

SPAG ACTION COMPLETED

Learn to spell disappointed Write it down 5 times

Ask my Mum to test me on
it
Use it in my next piece of
writing

Learn to use the comma in Go back over my writing

lists and make sure I’ve done
this
Watch a youtube video on
it
Week 7: Going one step further...
If you want to improve your SPAG even more, or still want
to work on it (remember improving SPAG will also improve
your ability to analyse SPAG for the reading sections)...

You can use the Grammar 14-19 book (we’ve scanned it in

for you) to work through areas you need to focus on. (No
need to thank us; we know we’re awesome).