Language and Literature
Students in KS3 and KS4 have been studying some differing text over Term 6, using visual representations to help them develop empathy and emotional literacy skills.
In Term 5 KS3 children started to explore the Elizabethan language as a way of introduction to Shakespeare, including creating some amazing Elizabethan insults, some of which were shared in Community Meeting.
Whilst studying Macbeth, we focused on the themes of ambition and power, the role of women in the Elizabethan period and we completed a character analysis of Lady Macbeth. Children managed really well with the Shakespearean text/language and enjoyed the challenge of de-coding Elizabethan humour.
One particular lesson, using red paint, we bloodied our hands and used them to represent Lady Macbeth’s guilt by smearing them all over her costume that we had on our mannequin. We then printed a red hand print into our books and used it for the basis for a mind map for our initial exploration of her character.
I have been really impressed with how confident and willing the children were to engage in the language of Shakespeare and would like to pass on my congratulations to all the children involved.
There was a homeless man sleeping in the English Classroom!
Well, not really, but read on to find out why…
Whenever we are studying a text, we always try and use visual representations of characters, such as dressed mannequins, in order to allow children to develop empathy and emotional literacy skills.
In Term 6, KS4 children have been reading the text Stone Cold by Robert Swindells, to practice Assessment Objectives for GCSE Paper 1 & 2 and consolidate their learning across the year.
This also allowed for some work around emotional literacy – where children identified the feelings that someone living on the street might have as well as Citizenship/PSHE, by researching the definition of being homeless, homeless statistics for our area, what organisations there are that could help and the many different reasons that people find themselves homeless.
Children practiced writing in Point, Evidence, Explain structures, using relevant quotations to back up their quotes. They used one of the key themes in the text to write a magazine article for The Big Issue and design a front cover. They were able to write in the voice of a character and using explicit and implicit decoding skills.
