Home – Ian Crichton Smith

The latest tasks for National 5 and Higher to explore understanding of the story were to complete a character profile for both the husband and wife we meet in the story. This included evidence of how each of them made their first impression as a character and how they developed.

After this, I selected 21 quotations from the story for annotation – this was to encourage learners to take a closer look at moments of the story in detail.

A challenge was posed after this: How can learners express the way Scots language and the main character go on a journey throughout the story?

Home first tasks

October Holidays!

Higher and National 5 classes have both ended the term by doing a full Scottish text paper. The Higher class even had the added challenge of starting a Havisham critical essay within the allotted timeframe. If you missed either of these practice papers, please download them from here:

October Timed Paper (Higher)

National 5 October paper

and complete them for after the holidays, so I can track your progress.

Both Highers and National 5s should also ensure they complete the word choice questions in their close reading booklets during the October break.

The Advanced Highers took part in a creative writing workshop this week where they looked at prose fiction exemplars from a variety of candidates and professional writers, discussing the standards they would have to meet. They have all been allocated dissertation supervisors and given the deadline of 24th October for their notes and detailed plans to be submitted, now that their proposals have been edited.

Remember, remember: first drafts of Advanced Higher portfolio piece one are due 5th November!

Havisham

We started a lesson off a fortnight ago by recapping all of the knowledge we knew about Havisham from National 5. After annotation of the poem and talking through the trickier bits, I challenged the class to put the poem in its correct order with no support, then to look at a series of questions on the poem in mixed groups.

The class had as long as they needed to answer 4-8 questions on each stanza before they moved on to a different base.

Havisham Questions

20180920_120717

After this, the class looked at exemplar essays before planning an essay as a whole class based around an atmosphere of despair (SQA 2018).

Havisham mock essay 1 despair

Individual essays of this were written over the course of a double period then marked on merit, to great success! 🙂