1. Explain to students that they will encounter words which they do not understand in Paper 1 of their English GCSE exam. This starter is going to help them make educated guesses about the meanings of new or unknown words.
2. Give out Whiteboards and ask students to write A on one side and B on the other.
3. Explain that the students will be asked to give an answer to see if they can guess the correct definition.
4. Reveal the first word only on the OHT and ask students to say to their partner if they have heard of the word or they know what it means. Ask them to put it into a sentence – this should just be done orally. Do not take feedback.
5. Then reveal the word in context and read the sentence aloud. Give students 30 seconds in pairs to discuss the word in context and explain why it works so well in this sentence.
6. Reveal the options for a possible definition: A or B
7. Students hold up their whiteboards to show their answer.
8. Choose a student who has the correct answer and ask them to justify what they think is the WRONG answer then ask another student to explain why the RIGHT answer is correct.
9. Repeat for each word.
10. Ask students to explain what strategies they might use if they encounter an unknown word in a sentence: Look for ‘replace the word with their guessed definition and see if it sounds right’ and ‘look at the context and read around the sentence to see what definition makes sense’ and ‘use word families and stems to figure out meanings’.
HavocLet loose in the china shop, the bull reaped havoc.
A / B
Havoc is destruction, devastation and general chaos / Havoc is anger
Ancestral Spectre
The ancestral spectre of his dead great grandfather loomed heavy in his imagination
A / B
An ancestral spectre is an old fob watch / An ancestral spectre is a ghost that is a relative
Aligning
She was aligning herself with the view of that political party.
A / B
Aligning means to ‘fall into line’ with something / Aligning means to distance oneself from something
Hurricane Hits England Starter.doc