The English Miscellany

Almond, David                  Skellig Ashworth, Andrea             Once in a House on Fire Bardugo, Leigh                  Six of Crows Blackman, Malorie          Noughts and Crosses Brooks, Kevin                   Martyn Pig Butcher, Tim                     Blood River Capote, Truman                In Cold Blood Carroll, Lewis                  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Card, Orson Scott           Ender's Game Colfer, Eoin                       Artemis Fowl Collins, Suzanne         ...

I have recently been reviewing all of the most recent research and guidance on the SATS / 11+ Exams for English and wanted to share with you what I found. Parents often ask how they can support their child, or feel they need to have a better understanding of what their English tutor is trying to achieve. I’ve collected some of the best research on exam preparation so that you can share some of the secrets of success. The main theme is the deep connection between reading and creative writing skills and how effectively they improve comprehension and vocabulary. Focus on the Exam It might sound obvious that children should only focus on the exam, which means that all the teaching and all the learning should consist of exam tests on comprehension, missing words (cloze), vocabulary, and shuffled sentences. One of the perceptions is that deviation from the exam is distraction; while it could be enjoyable it’s not really needed to pass the exam. However, it’s important to note that plea...

I have recently produced Macbeth: A Media Guide . Here is an extract from the introduction: Although the main focus in this guide is on the most influential film and TV versions of Shakespeare’s Macbeth , other audio and web-resources are also recommended. However, this guide begins by offering links to learning resources for younger children who are studying Shakespeare for the first time. Contemporary re-mediation is constantly refashioning the Shakespearean canon, drawn to the creative risk of playing with the brand and mixing up the source code, or simply aiming to make the drama more accessible to new audiences in a digital age. We have moved a long way since Mary and Charles Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare was the primary choice for children. In fact, there is a long tradition of lavishly illustrated editions of Shakespeare, revealing that the text was seldom required to function on its own (Richmond, 2008; Rokison 2013). For instance, high quality media reso...