ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
MEDIUM TERM PLAN
YEAR 8 / The Scene of the Crime
AIMS:
· This scheme of work aims to develop students’ understanding of and skills in the adaptation of both speech and writing for different audiences and purposes, including a formal situation.
· It is designed to enable them to engage in writing by simulating a real life situation. Students work in role as police officers and journalists producing a range of outcomes, both oral and written.
· The creation of written pieces aims to focus on developing skills in the whole writing process from notetaking to the final draft.
Duration: 6 weeks
Resources:
Reading texts: Scene of the Crime Resource Booklet
Newspaper Game
Worksheets
Mini whiteboards
Key Outcome: A police report/newspaper front page
Most students will: be able to discuss clues intelligently and listen to and build on other ideas. They will take part enthusiastically in a range of drama and speaking and listening activities – whole class, group and paired – to produce a range of outcomes both oral and written. They will understand writing not as a product, but as a process involving discussion, notetaking, vocabulary building, drafting and re-drafting, including proof-reading. They will understand how writing and speaking changes according to purpose, in particular they will begin to understand what is demanded by a formal situation. They will produce two key outcomes – a police report and the front page of a newspaper – and will be able to discuss how they have adapted them for audience and purpose.
Some student will not have progressed so far and will: be able to work out some of the clues and develop their own theory to a degree. They will take part in a range of drama and speaking and listening activities – whole class, group and paired – to produce a range of outcomes both oral and written. They will begin to adapt their writing according to audience and purpose, including the formal situation. They will produce two key outcomes – a police report and the front page of a newspaper.
Some students will have progressed further and will: search for clues in a poem, discussing their personal theories and formally presenting their ideas to the class, using appropriate vocabulary. They will write a detailed, extended police report. They will study evidence from a ‘real’ crime and create a front page of a newspaper. All speaking and writing will be accurately and creatively adapted for audience and purpose.
KEY TEACHING AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Pupils should be taught to:
TEXT LEVEL – READING
¨ Recognise bias and objectivity, distinguishing facts from hypotheses, theories or opinions (R6)¨ Make notes in different way, choosing a form which suits the purpose e.g. diagrammatic notes, making notes during a video, abbreviating for speed and ease of retrieval (R3)
TEXT LEVEL - WRITING
¨ Re-read work to anticipate the effect on the reader and revise style and structure, as well as accuracy, with this in mind (Wr2)¨ Describe an event, process or situation, using language with an appropriate degree of formality e.g. a school prospectus (Wr12)
¨ Present a case persuasively, making selective use of evidence, using appropriate rhetorical devices and anticipating responses and objections (Wr13)
¨ Develop and signpost arguments in ways that make the logic clear to the reader (Wr14)
SENTENCE LEVEL
¨ Develop different ways of linking paragraphs, using a range of strategies to improve cohesion and coherence e.g. choice of connectives, reference back, linking phrases (S7)¨ Identify the key alterations made to a text when it is changed from an informal to a formal text e.g. change from first to third person, nominalisation, use of passive words (S10)
WORD LEVEL
¨ Review, consolidate and secure the spelling conventions covered in Year 7 which include:c) word endings (Wd1c)
¨ Extend the range of prepositions and connectives used to indicate purpose e.g. in order to, so that, or express reservations e.g. although, unless, if (Wd10)
¨ Recognise how the degree of formality influences word choice (Wd12)
KEY TEACHING AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES (continued)
TEXT LEVEL – SPEAKING AND LISTENING
¨ Extend their spoken repertoire by experimenting with language in different roles and dramatic contexts (Building on S/L17, Yr 7)¨ Reflect on their individual strengths as contributors to group talk and identify points and opportunities for development (S/L9)
¨ Take different roles in discussion, helping to develop ideas, seek consensus and report the main strands of thought (S/L12)
¨ Explore and develop ideas, issues and relationships through work in role (S/L15)
¨ Use talk to question, hypothesise, speculate, evaluate, solve problems and develop thinking about complex issues and ideas (S/L10)
POSSIBLE TEACHING SEQUENCE
Week 1: Investigating the scene
Objectives:
¨ Recognise bias and objectivity, distinguishing facts from hypotheses, theories or opinions (R6)
¨ Use talk to question, hypothesise, speculate, evaluate, solve problems and develop thinking about complex issues and ideas (S/L10)
¨ Learn complex polysyllabic words and unfamiliar words which do not conform to regular patterns (Wd4)
¨ Devise their own ways to improve their spelling, building on strategies from Year 7 including:
a) maintaining a personal record of spelling difficulties and development
b) applying spelling rules and recognising exceptions
c) using dictionaries and spellcheckers where appropriate
d) sounding out and syllabifying
e) memorising critical features
f) drawing on word structures, families and derivations
g) using analogy (Wd6)
(add in teaching activity)
¨ Describe an event, process or situation, using language with an appropriate degree of formality e.g. a school prospectus (Wr12)
¨ Review, consolidate and secure the spelling conventions covered in Year 7 which include:
c) word endings (Wd1c)
¨ Extend the range of prepositions and connectives used to indicate purpose e.g. in order to, so that, or express reservations e.g. although, unless, if (Wd10)
Resources: Scene of the Crime Resource Booklet
'About his Person’ by Simon Armitage
FOCUS:
Ø Explain to students that for the next few lessons they will be working in role as different characters – this is important to make the tasks as authentic and interesting as possible for the students. You could simulate a swearing in ceremony to aid realism (see page 1 of Scene of the Crime booklet). Give out picture sheets. Explain to students that they are training to be police officers and as part of their training they have to work out the story behind the picture through discussing the questions. Students write down the answers in their books. Underneath each of their answers they must write a justification of their answer. Explain that it is important for them to discuss each before making a decision. They do not have to agree on an answer. When they have finished elicit responses through questioning. Get class consensus on events and evidence. Make sure students distinguish between hard evidence and probability.
Homework: Watch an episode of a police drama, such as The Bill and create a dictionary of specialist police vocabulary.
Week 1: Investigating the scene (continued)
Ø Alternative activity for more able students, a similar activity could be created around the Simon Armitage poem About his Person. Students could read the poem in pairs and work out the story in a similar way. They should use words and phrases from the poem as evidence to justify their theories and make a formal presentation to the class, as the police officer in charge of investigations e.g: The poet here uses the word ‘slashed’ probably suggesting the method of suicide attempt and the ‘ring of ‘unweathered skin’ gives us the motive – possibly a broken marriage or engagement. The scheme of work would continue in a similar way with students writing a police report from the poem, developing drama work and newspaper report or further extension could look at the Craig and Bentley Case - read opening speech of prosecution, identify audience and purpose. Order events chronologically. Identify facts and opinions. Counter opinions. Write a newspaper story with aim to persuade.
Ø Suggested starter activities – formation of past tense – ed endings and/or spelling strategies for complex and unfamiliar words focusing in specialist police vocabulary such as revision of strategies for learning tricky words taught in Y7, including mnemonics and memorising critical features and/or syllabification and the significance of prefix root, suffix (breaking a difficult word down into manageable parts). Play the ‘Dictionary Game’: the teacher reads a word; students individually or in pairs must be the first to find the word and either spell it out or read out its definition. This can also be played in groups, with students taking it in turns to read out words from a given list or their own devised list of police words. This allows the student to become the ‘expert’. Create posters suggesting a helpful way to remember spellings. Students set spelling targets for the unit, including a list of strategies of how they will achieve this.
Ø Explain to students they will now produce individual work. Turn to page 2 in Scene of the Crime booklet. Explain that part two of the training course for police officers involves learning how to write an official police report. Brainstorm with class how they think they could best learn how to write a police report e.g: asking a police officer, looking at a model of a report etc. Read through the model of a police report as a class using the OHP – discuss narrative voice; style and vocabulary (students offer examples gathered as part of homework)/formality; content (what sort of details included/excluded; structure (need for logical order/chronological - connectives); formation of past tense (-ed). Students create their own draft police report, using features discussed, using writing frame if necessary.
Homework: Complete draft police report.
Ø Using Page 2. Students create a file on a criminal they invent. Again establish main features of such a document with class first – note form (dropping of pronoun; lack of adjectives/adverbs unless describing appearance); layout; clarity; content (type of details). Can use pro forma or create their own.
OUTCOMES:
ú Draft police report
ú Criminal record form
ú Police dictionary
Week 2 and 3: Gathering evidence
Objectives:
¨ Extend their spoken repertoire by experimenting with language in different roles and dramatic contexts (Building on S/L17, Yr 7)
¨ Make notes in different ways, choosing a form which suits the purpose e.g. diagrammatic notes, making notes during a video, abbreviating for speed and ease of retrieval (R3)
¨ Re-read work to anticipate the effect on the reader and revise style and structure, as well as accuracy, with this in mind (Wr2)
¨ Identify the key alterations made to a text when it is changed from an informal to a formal text e.g. change from first to third person, nominalisation, use of passive words (S10)
¨ Develop different ways of linking paragraphs, using a range of strategies to improve cohesion and coherence e.g. choice of connectives, reference back, linking phrases (S7)
Resources Scene of the Crime Booklet
KWL charts
Statement pro-formas
Assessment sheet
Model Police report
Transcript
Whiteboards
FOCUS:
Ø Suggested starter activity - games to develop confidence in dramatic use of specialist police vocabulary, such as role playing an arrest (or other similar incidents) using as many police words as possible etc
Using an evidence board (which should be kept for development in later lessons), teacher-in-role as chief constable, gathering facts so far and discuss areas for further investigation. Students then use KWL charts to develop their own questions before interviewing. Students practice using the skills of notetaking developed last lesson before beginning individual investigations. Acting in role as police officers, students interview Mrs Digby and other witnesses of the murder.
Homework: Using differentiated sheets students write eye-witness reports or statements in draft.
Ø Using top sheet, share assessment criteria for writing with students and as a class create a list of features of a successful police report e.g: past tense, formal style and vocabulary etc. Give students marked drafts and ask students to create a key for list of features and locate in their own work. Swap with a partner to confirm and extend. Revisit with students audience and purpose and highlight any sections which need to be further adapted – maybe modelling and example on the board first. Students could use white boards to re-draft sentences, developing their own more complex sentences to be added into their report and shared with the class in a plenary. With partner discuss ways in which report could be improved to develop report further. Re-visit model to remind students of features or read out good examples of students’ work. Finally students check each others work for accuracy.
Half way through this activity, introduce a new piece of evidence – transcript of a taped interview. Using white board, students have to add a paragraph to their police report adapting the informal language of the transcript into an appropriately formal style.
Homework: Re-draft onto police report forms or can create their own.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES:
ú Witness statements
ú Re-drafted police report
ú Police dictionary
Week 4 : Working Together
Objectives:
¨ Reflect on their individual strengths as contributors to group talk and identify points and opportunities for development (S/L9)
Resources Scene of the Crime booklet
FOCUS:
Ø In groups, students create range of different types of formal writing for different purposes, using sheet e.g: writing a will/sermon/medical history/wanted poster etc.
Students analyse model in groups before production of own individual text. Groups could feedback to class on features of their particular text before they begin production (a longer starter activity). Students should create a draft and re-draft in partners before final production, using similar re-drafting process.
Ø Starter activity for second lesson. Students write a short reflection on their contribution to group work before continuing. Alternatively, recap on roles in groups with students and groups devise and establish their own roles before beginning the task e.g. layout designer, copywriter, researcher etc
Ø Read 'Examination Day'. Prediction on ending of story. How does this story differ from 'Compassion Circuit'? What view of the future is presented here?