year9

=**__Year 9__**=


 * By the end of KS3 in Year 9, students are expected to make 2 levels of progress from their KS2 SATs results in both reading and writing. By now students should be fully aware of their curricular targets in Reading and Writing after the End of Year 8 Test and be regularly using key skills learnt in English to read capably and critically and write competently and creatively in other areas of the curriculum. Improve your reading and writing skills by completing activities below:

IMPROVE MY READING SKILLS IMPROVE MY WRITING SKILLS

You can also get ideas to boost your speaking and listening AND drama skills: IMPROVE MY SPL AND DRAMA SKILLS**

The skills developed in Year 9 are aimed at fully preparing pupils for success in achieving their target grades at the end of KS3 and also giving pupils the necessary skills to succeed at GCSE level. By now, you should be **reading regularly, be involved in extra-curricular activities and regularly using the website to boost the skills you know you need to improve on! Your Progress Log is key to your success:**

=**__Assessing Progress in a Personalised Learning Environment (APPLE)__**=

You will already know which different skills in **Reading** and **Writing** you need to develop after your Year 8 Optional Test. To remind yourself of the skills tested in both Reading and Writing, click on the Assessment Focus (AF) document below:



You should already know your current Working At Level and your **Target Level**. If you are unsure, consult your **PROGRESS LOG.** You should then use your teacher's guidance and the information in the different skill areas (AFs) for Reading and Writing to think about **how** you move from your working at level to your target level. By now, you should be **reading regularly, be involved in extra-curricular activities and regulalrly using the website to boost the skills you know you need to improve on!**

Download the National Curriculum Level Ladders in **Reading, Writing** and **Speaking and Listening** by clicking below and find out how to climb up the Levels:

[|ReadingLevelLadders.pdf] [|WritingLevelLadders.pdf] [|SPLLevelLadders.pdf]

At the end of Year 9, pupils will complete 2 assessments which assess both Reading and Writing. These are very important and will allow us to judge how much progress you have made in your 3 years at Heartlands. It will also give your teacher an indication of what GCSE grade you are likely to achieve.


 * __English Learning Conversation:__**

When you come back after a half-term holiday, during the second week, you will have a Learning Conversation. During this lesson, you will receive your APPLE Task completed with feedback from your teacher. It will be corrected and you canm see what you need to improve on. You will then need to fill in your Progress Log which is in your 'Progress and Independent Learning' mini-folder in a plastic wallet in your English folder.

The most important bit: YOU MUST THEN WORK INDEPENDENTLY to try to improve in the skill areas (Assessment Focuses) you didn't do so well in! You will have a lesson to explore how to do this more and learn a bit more more about the different assessed areas and what you can do to improve in each area each half-term to help you to improve independently.

To catch up on your key skills, play some fun You should work independently on fun [|'Grammar Games'] to improve your key skills before the end of key stage assessment at the end of the year.

=**__Literacy Activities in Form Time__**=

Your form tutor will give you Writing Tasks linked to your assembly themes to further build on and develop your key skills in writing and you will also continue to **read independently** and complete regular book reviews for your Record of Achievement folders. These activities will be completed in Tutor time and they help you to practise skills required to succeed in English - and other areas of the curriculum too!


 * __Developing Literacy In Form Time__**

- Independent Reading**
 * - Writing Tasks

Your tutor will encourage you to develop your literacy skills by completing the writing tasks linked to your assembly themes with prizes given in assembly for the best ones **and encouraging you to continue to read independently and complete book reviews for your Record of Achievement.**

Download the Book Review guide and start writing your reviews!:

=**__The Topics You Will Study in Year 9:__**=

You will study a range of topics in Year 9, aimed at building your skills around these topic areas.


 * Different Cultures

Text Types - Revision of Writing Styles

Shakespeare - Much Ado About Nothing

Travel and Tell - Non-fiction

Media Unit

GCSE Transition Unit**

=**__Skills you will develop in Year 9:__**=

General Skills

Students will learn to:

- Review all aspects of spelling covered in Years 7 and 8, spelling new words from across the curriculum. - Recognising and combining clauses to create complex sentences and reviewing the impact of these sentences. - Explore the impact of sentence structure/length (longer and shorter sentences) - Build speech, reference and quotation effectively into what you write; - Choose adjectives and adverbs for particular effect - Develop different ways of linking paragraphs through a variety of connectives - Explore how to use sentences for effect within a paragraph (for comparison) - Analyse and use different ways of opening, linking and closing paragraphs. - Assess the organisation of differfent non-fiction texts. - Use punctuation effectively including semi-colons and colons - Explore the effects of changes in tense (past to present) - Use direct and repoorted speech effectively - Understand the difference between formal/informal language - Investigate ways the language has changed over time - Understand different text types and how they relate to writing in different subjects across the curriculum

=**__Reading__**=

You will read a range of fiction/non-fiction in lessons in Year 9 to prepare you fully for the end of year exams and we will encourage you to use the Library to research around topics across the curriculum and to read fiction independently. These are important skills when you are moving towards GCSE level.

Students will learn to:

Research and Study Skills:

- Combine information from various sources into one text, changing things to meet the needs of the audience. - Review your own strategies for locating and selecting relevant information within texts. - Undertake independent research using a range of different sources and to review these sources (print media and ICT) - Increase the speed and accuracy of note-making building on skills developed in Years 7 and 8 - Acknowledge sources and review the reliability of these sources (ICT, print media)


 * Reading For Meaning Skills:**

- identify the main points and sequences of a text - read between the lines and recognise how writers use language to make meaning - comment on the writers' perspectives offered in texts on individuals, community and society in texts from different cultures - compare the presentation of ideas, values or emotions in related or contrasting texts - Identify the themes, values or ideas in a text and how they are conveyed (irony, satire) - Investigate how meanings are changed when texts are in different forms or different media - analyse how media and non-fiction texts influence and are influenced by readers - Identify how media texts are shaped by the technology they use (the use of sound, moving images)
 * -** evaluate your own critical writing about texts;


 * Understanding the Author's Craft:

-** compare themes and styles of two writers from different times - Comment on how writers create setting, character and mood through their choices of words or structure of sentences - analyse how an author’s standpoint can affect meaning in non-fiction as well as fiction texts - comment on interpretations of the same text or idea in different media, using terms appropriate for critical analysis - Recognise how writers' language choices can enhance meaning, e.g. //repetition, emotive vocabulary// - analyse and discuss the use made of rhetorical devices in a text;


 * Study of Literary Texts:**

- review and develop your own reading skills, experiences and preferences, noting strengths and areas for development; - recognise the conventions of some common literary forms, identifying genre - analyse the language, form and dramatic impact of scenes and plays - compare the themes and styles of two or more poets; - analyse ways in which different cultural contexts and traditions have influenced language and style, e.g. //black British poetry, Irish short stories// - extend their understanding of literary heritage by relating major writers to their historical context, and explaining their appeal over time - discuss a substantial prose text.

=**__Writing - You will complete 6 assessments__**=

You will be learning how to:

- experiment with different approaches to planning thinking about content and style - choose, use and evaluate a range of presentational devices - review your ability to write for a range of purposes and audiences, recognising strengths and identifying skills for further development - produce formal essays in standard English within a specified time, writing fluently and legibly and maintaining technical accuracy when writing at speed


 * You will be assessed in six different ways of writing this year. One of these assessments will be completed each half term:

1) __Writing To Imagine, Explore and Entertain__**

- structure a story with an opening, a development and a satisfying ending - experiment with figurative language to describe character and setting - create characters through their descriptions, speech and actions - explore different ways of opening, structuring and ending narratives and experiment with narrative perspective, e. g. //multiple narration// - experiment with presenting material in different forms and develop an imaginative tratement of familiar materials (updating traditional tales) - explore how non-fiction texts can convey information or ideas in amusing or entertaining ways


 * __2) Writing To Inform__**

- organise your text appropriately using paragraphs/sub-headings - present information using examples - organise and present information, selecting appropriate material and guiding the reader clearly through the text, e.g. //an information leaflet//


 * __3) Writing To Explain /Describe__

-** explain the precise connections between ideas with clarity and an appropriate degree of formality, depending on your audience - describe objects, people or settings in a way that includes lots of details and figurative language - make telling use of descriptive detail, e.g. //eye-witness accounts, sports reports, travel writing//;
 * -** exploit the potential of presentational devices when presenting information on paper or on screen, e. g. //font size, text layout, bullet points, italics//


 * __4) Writing To Persuade/Argue__

-** present a case persuasively, making use of evidence, using appropriate rhetorical devices and anticipating responses and objections;
 * -** present a case persuasively enough to gain the attention and influence the responses of a specified group of readers;
 * -** develop arguments in ways that make the logic clear to the reader;
 * -** make a counter-argument to a view that has been expressed, addressing weaknesses in the argument and offering alternatives

__**5) Writing To Advise**__

- offer general advice or guidelines for action, adopting an impersonal style to suggest impartiality


 * __6) Writing To Analyse, Comment -__**

- present a balanced analysis of a situation, text, issue or set of ideas, taking into account a range of evidence and opinions - use specific and relevant evidence from texts to justify critical judgements about texts, using PQC or PEE.

You will also need to **Write To Review** about one text that you have read in Year 9 :

Download your **Independent Reading Project** here to help you to complete your assessed **Book Review**



=**__Speaking and Listening__**=


 * Speaking - students will learn how to:**

- reflect on the development of their abilities as speakers in a range of different contexts and identify areas for improvement - make a formal presentation in standard English, using appropriate rhetorical devices; - use standard English to explain, explore or justify an idea; - develop interview techniques which include planning a series of linked questions


 * Listening:**

- reflect on and evaluate your own skills, strategies and successes as listeners in a variety of contexts - listen for a specific purpose, paying sustained attention - identify the themes and issues raised by a talk, reading or programme - compare different points of view that have been expressed, identifying and evaluating differences and similarities - analyse bias, e.g. //through the use of deliberate ambiguity, omission, abuse of evidence//


 * Group Discussion:

-** review the contributions you have made to recent discussions, recognising your strengths and identifying areas for development - discuss and evaluate different evidence to arrive at a considered viewpoint - contribute to the organisation of group activity in ways that help to structure plans and solve problems


 * Drama:**

- recognise, evaluate and extend the skills and techniques you have developed through drama - use a range of drama techniques, including work in role, to explore issues, ideas and meanings -** convey action, character, atmosphere and tension when scripting and performing plays - write critical evaluations of performances you have seen or in which you have participated, identifying the contributions of the writer, director and actors
 * - develop and compare different interpretations of scenes or plays by Shakespeare

For more information on drama at the school, visit [|www.heartlandsproductions.wikispaces.com] and click on 'Drama'.