Emily Senior English Tutor
Emily's Tips
Knowing your Shakespeare
English Literature students need to know their Shakespeare quotations, and they will remember a quotation better if they also understand the meaning. Macbeth, after committing two murders, speaks the line: “I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as to go o’er.”
This was the first Shakespeare quote that made me suddenly think, “Ah, I get it!” It expresses a feeling that many young people may recognise, that we’ve done so many bad things and are in so much trouble already, we might as well carry on.
Analysing the language in this quotation can help to fix it in a student’s mind, starting with a translation, something like: “I’ve gone so far that it will be just as difficult to go back as carry on.” Macbeth uses the metaphor of a pool of blood to represent his evil. The verb, wade, means to move through liquid which comes high up your legs. This suggests how deep in trouble Macbeth is and also how difficult he finds his criminal path.
A simple technique for learning quotations
I really sympathise with young people who are daunted at the prospect of having to learn quotations for their English Literature exams. Many of my students find that the following simple technique works for them and takes the fear away:
Write down the quotation correctly, including punctuation, at least three times WITHOUT LOOKING. They may not be perfect first or even second time, but if they persist they will get there. And they should definitely not leave this learning until the night before the exam!
Learn with a classic game
Classic games played by all the family are a great way to stretch and encourage English skills in a fun way. Instead of us worrying about what academic English work our children should be doing, or trying to get them off their phones to read books, games they play with adults that they don't see as work are in my experience the fastest and most effective way for them to learn.
The game Articulate increases vocabulary and also develops the ability to describe and explain, building up a bank of synonyms and antonyms. Scrabble also develops vocabulary and improves spelling, while cultivating an intimacy and ease with the written word. Scruples develops a child's ability to formulate persuasive discourse (and find out things about the other players they never knew before!)
Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
Many children don’t know the difference between the parts of speech: a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb and they need to know this from SATS onwards.
This game can really help. Tear a piece of A4 paper into eight. Each person (you need at least two and teams of two work well) writes down a mixture of verbs, nouns adjectives and adverbs as shown. One person must explain to the other as many words as possible in one minute, always stating which part of speech it is and the answer must be the correct part of speech. For example the verb to sprint; the noun a puppy; the adjective shiny; or the adverb simply. The winner is the one who guesses the most words.
A practice activity for GCSE English Language
Find an article in a newspaper that is arguing a point of view and preferably on a topic that a teenager might be interested in. The Guardian is worth trying and is free online.
Get all the family to read the article and then have a discussion about it; I suggest once a week, perhaps at a mealtime. In English Language Paper Two (AQA), the set texts in Part A often include such an article, always arguing a point of view. The writing task in Part B is also often although not always an article, but it always requires persuasive, or argumentative writing that presents the point of view.
Would I lie to you?
Young people who don’t really enjoy reading sometimes find it hard to invent a story. But GCSE English Language asks students to do just that.
You can play this game with friends or family. It's not quite the same as the TV show but it's a similar idea. Each person must tell three stories and only one is true. For example it could be how mum and dad met, or driving incidents or bad things that people have done.
In order to make a story convincing it needs: a believable plot-line; realistic characters; dialogue; a beginning, a middle and an end and also some kind of problem which is resolved.
Emily’s verbal spelling game
This is a spoken word game, no materials necessary. It’s fun for all ages, including adults, and I particularly recommend it as a way for KS1, 2 and 3 children to grow their confidence with words and spellings.
How to play:
Three or more people can play, each player starts with three ‘lives’. The first player thinks of a word but says only the letter the word begins with. The next player thinks of a word that starts with that first letter but says only the second letter. The third player thinks of a word starting with those two letters but says only the third letter. And so on. Eventually, they will have spelled a word together.
However, players must avoid being the one to say the letter that completes a word, or saying a letter that prevents any recognised word eventually being formed. In either case, another player must issue an immediate verbal challenge, and the challenged player must defend their choice of letter or lose a life. An incorrect challenge loses a life for the challenger.
I suggest using a recognised dictionary (if required) for challenges. No proper nouns are allowed, ie those normally starting with a capital letter.
Example:
The first three players pick B - U - R. If the next player then says ‘N’ they would be completing a word, so if another player challenges, the player suggesting the N loses a life. If the player had instead said ‘J’, then this could also be challenged as a word cannot be built from BURJ. However, if the player had said ‘D’, this could be built on to make a word, such as BURDEN or BURDOCK.
