What will an A level in English Literature offer you as a school leaver?

This is a spider-diagram I have developed for potential students who are considering taking English Literature as an A Level option.

'The Jabberwocky' by Lewis Carroll

‘That’ poem for me was one I came across aged nine after receiving a children’s book of classic poetry from the primary school I was leaving. On the first page was ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ by Edward Lear and on the second ‘The Tyger’ by William Blake. But on the third page was a poem I had never heard of before: ‘The Jabberwocky’ by Lewis Carroll. The first time I attempted to read it I gave up after the first stanza; it was nothing short of silly nonsense I couldn’t make head or tail of. But it was in the book I carried around with me tucked under my nine year old arm and little did I realise that one night, before lights out, I would flick through the pages of that increasingly smudged book and give in to ‘The Jabberwocky’. It was a Harry Potter ‘swish and flick’ moment: the jumbled letters and curious phrases not only sounded right but there was plot to the nonsense –it was magically making sense!

For anyone unfamiliar with the poem Carroll enjoyed mixing words together creating a word that was tangible to the reader but without formal definition. These are called portmanteau words originating in meaning from the portmanteau bag which is an old suitcase made of two equal sides. I later discovered that Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the words in the poem. He explains the practice of combining words in various ways by telling Alice, “you see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.” It was not only the achievement of being able to understand the poem that filled me up it was also the fantastical story of the piece that really took me. The poem is about a little boy who is warned by his father to beware of beasts that lurk such as the Jabberwock, the Jubjub bird and of course the ghastly Bandersnatch! The child ponders beneath a Tumtum tree with his sword resting at his side and considers thoughtfully how best to rid the world of these beasts. It is at this time the Jabberwock crashes through the undergrowth and the boy engages in a courageous attack of the beast and whips off its head and drags it home as his prize. His father beams with pride and the poem concludes as it began with the descriptions of the thick turgid air –pure poetic bliss.

As you can imagine in recent years I have often wondered how I would teach ‘The Jabberwocky’ and after being introduced to Variation Theory I started to consider what broader issues I wanted to teach through the lesson. The research that surrounds Variation Theory would prove useful when planning a lesson that involves analysing ‘The Jabberwocky’ because of the language that has been used. Mun Ling Lo has noted that “according to Variation Theory, meanings do not originate primarily from sameness, but from difference, with sameness playing a secondary role.” If pupils were introduced to ‘The Jabberwocky’ they would be in a better position in terms of understanding if they were exposed to other forms of poetry. Perhaps I myself went through a similar learning experience with the poem; the first time I attempted to read it I had to abandon it. This could simply have been because at this stage I had not been exposed to a great deal of poetry. However, after flicking through the pages of my poetry collection several times I was more aware of the various forms of poetry and was therefore in a better position in terms of being able to understand it. Ling Lo observes, “if you do not know what English is and you hear 100 people speaking English, you will have no better idea of the meaning of “a language” –according to Variation Theory, meanings do not originate primarily from sameness, but from difference, with sameness playing a secondary role.” If I had read one hundred portmanteau poems I would not necessarily have had a better understanding of the meaning of the poetry. But, having read a wider variety of poetry of different forms, I developed an ability to comprehend the meaning.

A number of contextual layers surround ‘The Jabberwocky’ from its place in Through the Looking Glass to Carroll’s colourful life experiences. However, often context can cloud poetic analysis and so it would therefore be useful to teach pupils the context later. Keeping Variation Theory in mind it would perhaps be useful conducting a comparative lesson coupling ‘The Jabberwocky’ with a completely different piece of poetry. It could be coupled with another nonsense piece such as ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ or something entirely different like a war poem drawing on the portrayal of conflict. With lower sets it could even be useful incorporating a Claire Gadsby activity of having one person lead another blind-folded through the landscape of the poem. I think that by teaching a poem that excites you it would be easier to pass on your enthusiasm and for me ‘The Jabberwocky’ would be the ideal piece.
http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html

Evaluate a lesson you have clearly differentiated and explain the strategies and resources used

To differentiate effectively a teacher must recognize that pupils are individuals so must adapt for their individual needs. A great deal of attention is given to differentiating for lower ability pupils but it is of equal importance to differentiate for high ability to ensure they are being stretched. Tomlinson has stated,

with many differentiated lessons, all students need to understand the same essential principles and even use the same key skills. Yet because of variance in student readiness, interest, or learning profile, children must “come at” the ideas and use the skills in different ways. (Tomlinson, 1999, p.37)

It was with this notion in mind that when planning a lesson for my year nine set four class I resolved to differentiate for both high and low ability pupils. In an earlier lesson I prepared a differentiated hand-out for the lower ability pupils. I regretted not creating several different hand-outs to cater to the widely different needs of the lower ability individuals as well as not differentiating for the highest ability pupil in the group. With differentiation it is essential to know your learners as different issues present themselves in different ways.

For the lesson that I am evaluating I differentiated for both high and low ability during different periods of the lesson depending on what I anticipated they would need help with or where they could be stretched. During the lesson in question the class were introduced to the context of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and a number of teaching styles were drawn on in the lesson to stimulate and engage the class. I decided pre-lesson that when it came to class discussion I would have a hands-down policy so I could choose pupils who don’t always contribute to class discussion. To bring these pupils out of their shells and, most importantly, to make them want to contribute, I incorporated a tactile task using a black box filled with vampire props. I chose pupils to pick items out and explain to the rest of the class how the item relates to the history of vampires. One pupil in the class has autistic tendencies and behavioural issues; he is very reserved during lessons so I made a point of choosing him and asked him simpler questions in regards to the prop he pulled from the box. Similarly there is another pupil who is resistant in working with other pupils and sits away from the group by choice so I decided to ask him to pull a prop from the box as well. Again I differentiated the types of questions I asked this pupil. I made good use of the formal assessments the class completed two weeks previously when deciding to word the questions as this pupil and the previous one only managed to achieve an E. Overall the class enjoyed this task and through differentiating the questions these two pupils were able to engage with the task without feeling overwhelmed by speaking publicly and so they made a positive contribution to class discussion.

Later on in the lesson I asked the pupils to complete a fill-in the gaps context hand-out for the history of the vampire. One SEN pupil has motor skill issues and usually I provide him with an aid so that he doesn’t fall behind as he struggles to keep up with his writing. However, this task did not involve copying a stream of text down and the pupil was able to keep up with the pace of the activity along with his peers and this was nice to see. I did however differentiate this task for the high ability pupil in the group. There is one pupil who, during the formal assessment, achieved a grade B so it was important to differentiate this simpler task in order to stretch him. Instead of filling in the gaps I asked him to write a paragraph unaided in his book summarising the history of the vampire in his own words. I was pleased to see that by the time the rest of the class had completed their sheets this pupil had written a well-structured contextual synopsis of the history of the vampire and this was fed back to him; he was really happy with the work he produced and enjoyed the praise he received.

After this task the class were shown a range of fascinators designed to represent the various ways the vampire has been portrayed in the media and how it has evolved over the years. After engaging in a class discussion I asked the pupils to create two spider-diagrams in their books: one for the old presentation of the vampire and one for the new. I did not differentiate for the high ability pupil because I felt he would develop his ideas to a greater degree to the rest of the class. The pupil with motor skill issues would not have been able to complete this task unaided so I provided him with a sheet that had the two spider-diagrams drawn up to save time. I photocopied a few extra sheets just in case any other pupils struggled to keep up with the pace. One pupil who is being screened for Asperger’s had not completed drawing out the spider-diagrams after two minutes so I gave him a photocopy as well; this enabled him to start the critical thinking part of the task and he managed to complete it.

For part five of the TS I was graded a two: “have a range of effective strategies that they can apply to reduce barriers and respond to the strengths and needs of pupils.” To improve the quality of differentiation in my classes I now need to “quickly and accurately discern learners’ strengths and needs; [be] proactive in differentiating and employing a range of effective intervention strategies.” I must consider differentiating for other learners in the group and develop a wider range of resources for activities. This can be achieved by not just looking at assessments and SEN information but getting to know individuals and their strengths and areas for improvement. By doing this I may find that I have to differentiate some tasks for pupils who have lower abilities in one area but also have to differentiate because they have high abilities in other areas; by doing this I will have a greater impact on the individual learner’s progression .

Blog about something that has blown you away in a lesson and link it to the teaching styles

A lesson that comes to mind that I was impressed by was a year ten set four lesson from the summer term. There were two activities which have stuck in my mind from the lesson and they centred on the auditory teaching style but also included the visual. The class comprised of three girls and eleven boys and they were preparing for their war poetry C/A. In this lesson the group were being introduced to Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. I believe that the two activities were examples of ‘outstanding’ teaching practice so in my reflection I will refer to the grading of the Teachers’ Standards. 

Instead of reading the poem aloud herself, Miss R used an audio recording of Ben Wilshaw who speaks with a received-pronunciation accent. Beethoven’s Symphony number seven plays in the background making the reading particularly sombre. It had an emphatic effect on the group’s understanding of the difficult subject matter and seemed to contextualise the horror of the soldiers’ situation in a way that Miss R’s reading would not have done. The reading was a good example of how the auditory teaching style can be used effectively.  The recording was played twice. Firstly, the class were asked to close their eyes and simply listen after which they had a short pupil led discussion about the poem. For the second reading Miss R handed out copies of the poem so that they had visual aids and could read along to the recording. As a part of the lesson as a whole I would argue that this introduction to ‘Dulce’ could have been awarded a grade one for the third category in the Teachers’ Standards ‘demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge’: “plan confidently for progression and to stimulate and capture pupils’ interest.” Miss R knew that the Ben Wilshaw reading would help the pupils to engage with the topic emotionally to a greater degree than if she or a member of the class had read the poem aloud.

Later on in the lesson the class were given ten minutes to write a one paragraph monologue from the perspective of the speaker of the poem. They were then given highlighting pens and swapped books. The group were asked to highlight a line from their peer’s monologue which they felt effectively portrayed the horror of the soldier’s situation like in Owen’s poem. When this was done one by one the pupils read their one line aloud until everyone had done so in turn; the outcome was astonishing. Collectively they had written and read aloud an incredibly poetic and stirring monologue. Like the earlier activity this task centred on the auditory and visual teaching styles and is another example of how the two can be used effectively. This task was not a simple one but it ran very smoothly. Again I would argue that the task could have been awarded a grade one for number four in the Teachers’ Standards ‘plan and teach well-structured lessons’: “takes risks when trying to make teaching interesting, able to deal with the unexpected and ‘grab the moment’; often imaginative and creative.” I felt that Miss R had taken a risk with this task. It involved the class writing creatively about a new and difficult topic, having them peer assess and then, riskiest of all, having them go around the room without teacher intervention reading their collective piece aloud. This was, in my eyes, a brave task to attempt and yet it ran successfully. There was a collective satisfaction from the class and I was impressed by the imaginative and successful implementation of the auditory teaching style in particular. 

Ben Wilshaw ‘Dulce’ recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5zT01lm3lw

Interview question: what are the different teaching styles and how can they be utilised to aid pupil progress?

There are four different teaching styles: visual; auditory; kinaesthetic and tactile. In English lessons it is easy to incorporate the visual and auditory styles with aids on the board and reading aloud as a group. It may seem, initially, that it would be challenging to cater to kinaesthetic and tactile learners but it is possible to incorporate these teaching styles into an English lesson. Kinaesthetic refers to movement so these learners enjoy physical tasks. Moving around the room such as when we do drama activities or carousel tasks appeal to this type of learner. Tactile learners respond with their sense of touch and so tasks which involve props and physical aids such as whiteboards and pens suit this type of learner. It is much easier to incorporate the visual and auditory teaching styles in English lessons but it is evident that the kinaesthetic and tactile styles can be used at intervals and will keep learners engaged and stimulated. It is important to note that learners do not have to be taught through their preferred styles all of the time. Studies have shown that a multi-sensory approach is the most beneficial although their preferred style makes them feel more comfortable when attempting something new and challenging.

Observe a lesson and write a commentary on planning and timings

For the observation task this week I observed a year eleven set three group and I will be referring to section four (‘plan and teach well structured lessons’) in the Teachers' Standards, specifically, 4.a, 4.c and 4.d. The class are preparing for their English Language exam in November and are taking the foundation paper. The learning outcomes for the lesson were: “to understand what inference is and be able to use it in your responses; to be able to explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, structural  and presentational techniques to achieve effects; to be able to support comments with quotations.”

At the start of the lesson (9:10) Mrs F gave feedback to the group for the work they had completed in the previous lesson; they had attempted to answer questions 1.a, 1.b and 2. During the exam the pupils should spend roughly thirty-five minutes to complete these questions so Mrs F emphasised to those who hadn’t completed their answers they must be aware of the time restraints in the exam. One issue Mrs F found with the work was that they were not making enough inferences in their answers. Mrs F asked members of the class to give a definition and they made notes in their exercise books. This process related to 4.d in the TS: “reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching.” After assessing the quality and quantity of work from the previous lesson Mrs F made the class aware of what they needed to improve on.

At 9:20, using purple pens, the group had to identify and make improvements to their answers from the previous lesson. Mrs F had to warn the group about low level disruption; the exam is on the 5th November so it is imperative that they are aware of the time restraint. Mrs F also spoke to the pupils who, in the previous lesson, had wasted time and had not completed enough work further enforcing the importance of time management. After another ten minute period Mrs F put example inferences up on the board and with the purple pens the class added any inferences they had missed. 

 

At 9:40 the class moved onto exam timing which was broken down in a diagram on the board and Mrs F emphasised the importance of streamlining planning and writing time in the exam. At 9:45 the class read the source together and underlined sections. Question three is a language question and they should spend around eighteen minutes. The class were given five minutes to do this and they worked in silence of their own accord presumably because Mrs F had mentioned time management several times. At 9:50 the group discussed their ideas and made inferences. Mrs F let the class know that they would be given a question from a past paper as homework next lesson. This linked to 4.c in the TS: “set homework and plan other out-of-class activities to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding pupils have acquired.”

It was evident that extensive planning had gone into the lesson and that Mrs F was aware of the fifty minute time period. Breaking the lesson up into ten minute segments worked well as the class is susceptible to low level disruption; this relates to 4.a in the TS as Mrs F did “impart knowledge and develop understanding through effective use of lesson time.” By breaking the lesson up in ten minute blocks she kept them focussed and from my observation it was apparent that all pupils made progress with their inferences.

Observe a lesson and explain clearly how a specific element of the appropriate POS for that key stage is met.

I observed a year ten set four group and for my observation I have chosen to concentrate on section 2.2 from the KS4 POS. The class comprises of twelve boys and it is apparent that there is mutual respect between pupils and staff alike as they are both proactive and polite. The group have been working through Of Mice and Men and in the previous lesson they were introduced to the ideas of foreshadowing and symbolism in relation to the novella. The learning outcomes for the lesson were “to recap what is meant by foreshadowing and symbolism; to be able to find examples of the techniques in chapter three; understand how Curley’s wife is presented in chapter three.”

For the starter Mr B chose an extract from chapter three and asked the class to discuss in table groups what the reader learns about George’s feelings towards women. This starter related to 2.2.a in the POS which states that students should be able to “analyse and evaluate information, events and ideas from texts.” Although I am concentrating on 2.2 from the KS4 POS I think it is worth noting that the task also encompassed section 2.1.j which states students should be able to “work purposefully in groups, negotiating and building on the contributions of others to complete tasks or reach consensus” and the table groups kept on task without requiring any intervention from Mr B or myself.

After this task Mr B recapped the symbolism that surrounds Curley’s wife and what the reader can infer about her life from her introductory description. The class discussed the various perceptions of Curley’s wife which linked to 2.2.h in the POS: “[students] recognise and evaluate the ways in which texts may be interpreted differently according to the perspective of the reader.” Mr B put an AFL ‘reading skills ladder’ on the board so that the class could identify the grade of their verbal analysis. By doing this the group identified not only where their verbal analysis fell on the grading ladder but also what they needed to do to achieve an even higher grade.

After the starter the class continued reading chapter three using the ‘popcorn’ method and Mr B gave positive feedback to readers for fluency and voice projection. After reading about the dream and Candy’s proposition to join George and Lennie the class began to look at foreshadowing and symbolism in this section. Four questions were put up on the board (i.e. 1. Why is the story of what happened in Weed important? 2. What happens to Candy’s dog? 3. Why is it significant that the dog is killed? 4. What do you think the dog symbolises?) Mr B asked the class to complete three bullet points for each question. The task related to 2.2.d in the KS4 POS as the students could “develop and sustain independent interpretations of what they read.” After completion the class shared their ideas and were given the AFL ‘purple pens of progress’ to add points that they may have overlooked promoting peer learning.

For the plenary Mr B asked the class why Candy wants to be a part of George and Lennie’s dream. The class discussed this as a group and, having looked at the ‘reading skills ladder’ earlier in the lesson, they seemed even more inclined to make points and find applicable quotations. This related to 2.2.e in the POS as the pupils could “select, compare, summarise and synthesise information from different texts and use it to form their own ideas, arguments and opinions.” At the end of the lesson Mr B introduced the learning outcomes for their next lesson: “summarise the content of the dream; explore and explain the content of the dream.” 2.2.k states that pupils should be able to “identify the purposes of texts, analysing and evaluating how writers structure and organise ideas to shape meaning for particular audiences and readers” and so the proceeding lesson will also encompass sections of 2.2 from the KS4 POS as well.

Comparing the POS for KS3 and 4

I've been reading through the POS for KS4 and have found it really useful having the KS3 POS at hand as a point of comparison. You will note that each subsection of the KS4 POS has been directly developed from the KS3 POS. For instance, KS3 POS 1.1.a. states a pupil’s competence should be noted by them “being clear, coherent and accurate in spoken and written communication.” This statement has been developed in the KS4 POS to “expressing complex ideas and information clearly, precisely and accurately in spoken and written communication.” So, between the two key-stages, pupils should progress from being “clear, coherent and accurate” both in verbal and written work and should be able to express complex ideas “clearly, precisely and accurately.”

You may have already taken note of this in the two POSs. If you haven’t I would say it is useful to sit for ten minutes and make a comparative note of development between the subsections of the POSs for the two key stages.

My first attempt at 'blogging'

This is week three of my School Direct English PGCE course. Week one and two were induction weeks the first at the school and the second at Staffordshire University. I will be adding material as the course progresses and reflecting on my experiences as a trainee teacher.