English in Year 8

4 Hours a Fortnight

Autumn Term:  Slam Sonnets - reading and creating poems. 

Spring Term: Animal Farm - allegory, satire, corruption and how to analyse the structure of a novel. 

Summer Term: Rhetoric and writing -

3 Hours a Fortnight

Teachers deliver dedicated grammar lessons where students master the knowledge and skills needed to craft their writing.  This results in all students having an improved command of academic language and an ability to express themselves with precision, confidence, and clarity.

Year 8  - Writing Mastery 3

Grammar component includes:

Adding detail to writing through  the use of multiple subordinate clauses
To punctuate lists correctly when they are part of a subordinate clause or a main clause within a complex sentence.
Adding accurate dialogue; to paragraph narratives for clarity
Maintaining clarity of subjects, objects and apostrophes by  the use of possessive pronouns clearly and avoiding common misconceptions.

The writing focus aims to enable students to write a narrative that is accurate, satisfying and engaging with only an image for stimulus.  The skills that are developed include: 

How to  structure logical narratives using a four part structure.
To sculpt satisfying and engaging narratives.
To write exciting, genre-specific narratives
To underpin writing with a useful plan
To edit writing to improve it

Students read together with their tutor. We have a wide, diverse range of texts  in our canon:  Pigeon English, Rooftoppers, Holes, Long Way Down, Private Peaceful, Refugee, Woman in Black, Last Paper Crane, The Black Flamingo,  Lives and Times, Ness, A Monster Calls, Treasure Island.

Students during DEAR