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T H E E N G L I S H N A T I O N A L P R O G R A M M E
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T H E E N G L I S H N A T I O N A L P R O G R A M M E
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Year plans and priorities for each collège year can be accessed via these hyperlinks:
The overall teaching aims for the collège years are as follows:
These cover all four collège years although, in the final year, 3ème [year 9], pupils are already starting their two-year GCSE course and have moved from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 work. This year acts as a transition between collège and lycée. This will be made clear in its year plan, given at the end of this section.
Pupils in all four collège years have four periods of English per week.
One of these, which takes place in the English National library (L29), is devoted to developing their skills as autonomous readers: they are helped to borrow books of an appropriate and increasing level of difficulty and taught to explain and analyse their choices both orally and in writing. They are encouraged to read widely for pleasure and information, to develop their understanding of English through exposure to a wide variety of genres of writing, modern and pre-twentieth century, including classic fiction, drama and poetry. There is careful differentiation here: each pupil is set individual targets, helped to read at his or her own level and encouraged to develop personal tastes and preferences which can be explained, discussed, explored and shared with others. Reading is also essential for vocabulary building – even those who speak English outside the classroom are exposed to a very limited vocabulary which reading can enrich.
The library is well-stocked in up-to-date fiction and non-fiction and the stock is continuously being reviewed and increased on the basis of pupil recommendations, short listed or award-winning works, staff research and donations.
The other three teaching periods are more whole-class based though they too involve individual and group work. They are organised around a series of units of work (listed below). An increasing number of classes also include a language-based ‘starter’ - a short session or series of sessions on word and sentence based language and grammar points. This move toward more explicit language teaching, in line with recent changes in the UK, is one to which we are committed at Key Stage 3; we are presently in the process of incorporating this type of work into our planning and teaching.
The core areas of the literature curriculum for Key Stage 3 include the study of classic fiction from a wide range of cultures, poetry and drama including a play by Shakespeare each year.
The classic prose strand includes non-fiction, fiction, fiction closely based on fact and autobiography; pupils explore the boundaries between these writing styles and are encouraged in their independent reading to read other books from similar genres. In 6ème [year 7] they read Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter, a novel closely based on fact and set in Germany in the 1930s which stylistically introduces first person narration and elicits a very strong reader response. In 5ème [year 8] with Walkabout, by James Vance Marshall pupils discover a 1950s text dealing with a culture clash - the meeting of western children from a developed society with an Australian aboriginal boy on walkabout; they look both at its original presentation and its 1970s reinterpretation on film by Nicholas Roeg. In both, pupils explore and compare methods of characterisation, the presentation of period, setting and conflicting values. They also see how time has changed the perspective on both societies. In 4ème, pupils move to political satire and techniques of persuasion with Orwell’s Animal Farm; they also analyse extracts of autobiographies, including Laurie Lee’s Cider with Rosie and extracts from texts such as Richard Wright’s Black Boy.
More popular fiction genres are explored in all three years as pupils move from The Haunting, a Carnegie Award winning ghost story by Margaret Mahy, to The Wizard of Earthsea, a demanding fantasy by Ursula Le Guin and finally to the young adult challenge of I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier where we meet an emotionally disturbed teenaged boy ostensibly being questioned in a mental hospital about his history. They have been chosen to encourage pupils to learn about features of some of the most popular literary genres and also to help them develop as writers as they themselves experiment with writing in similar styles.
The poetry studied includes narrative (story poetry) moving from ballads in 6ème to Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallott’ and Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ in 5ème and 4ème. Shorter nature and animal poetry is also introduced.
The three first years of collège introduce Shakespearean comedy with the emphasis on enjoyment and dramatisation in 6ème, greater emphasis on character analysis in 5ème and the writing of an extended literature essay in 4ème. The plays in question - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night - have been selected, in part, because excellent modern film versions of them are available which make the texts more accessible and enjoyable. The pupils easily come to understand how Shakespearean comedy works. In 5ème they also read, dramatise sections of and write their own scripts based on elements of A Game of Soldiers, a play set in the Falklands during the war in 1982 by Jan Needle.
In parallel pupils develop their skills in the reading and writing of non-fiction texts. Using a range of non-fiction text types - letters, reports, newspaper and magazine articles, brochures, explanations and arguments - as models, pupils learn to recognise and analyse the features of the texts and to write in the same styles.
Over the three years pupils learn to write and read in limited time - they have in-class assignments and end-of-year examinations which give them practice in disciplining themselves to working in examination conditions and prepare them for taking more serious examinations later on in their school careers. Realistic targets are set for individual pupils so that they can trace their own progress.
In 3ème pupils prepare the final, end-of-year Brevet examination which is taken by all collège students. English National pupils who are taking the history and geography option take examinations in English as well as history and geography as part of the International Option of the Brevet; those who are taking Maths do not take this examination. It is, however, prepared for by all the pupils and the mock examination for it [the Brevet blanc] is taken by all pupils as their 3ème, end-of-year examination.
The units of work in 3ème are more obviously lined to the requirements of GCSE English language and literature examinations which are examined through a combination of examination (in May of the 2nde year) and coursework produced over the two-year period. By the end of 3ème pupils have completed the creative writing coursework and that pre-twentieth century prose, R. L. Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The have also written on Romeo and Juliet though another Shakespeare play will be studied in 2nde. In preparation for an examination paper on non-fiction and media, they have become familiar with U.K. newspaper and magazine writing and presentation styles.
More details about the GCSE are given in the section dealing with GCSE.
A very brief outline of the course content of each of the collège years follows below.
1 Developing pupils’ ability to use speaking and listening to communicate effectively in a range of situations through discussion, role play and drama
2 Developing pupils’ ability to learn through discussion, role- play and drama and to evaluate and improve their oral performance skills through whole class, group, pair and individual presentations
3 Developing pupils’ ability to read, discuss and write both creatively and analytically about an increasingly demanding range of fiction and non-fiction texts
4 Developing pupils’ ability to apply techniques identified in the reading of texts in their own writing
5 Development of a range of writing skills in both timed and extended writing sessions
Unit 1
Unit 2
Poetry unit: Introduction to ballads
· Oral presentation of storyboard on ballad
· Diagnostic test: reading
Unit 3:
Classic text: 'Friedrich' by Hans Peter Richter
Unit 4:
Poetry unit 2 : Animal poetry
Unit 5
Introduction to ghost story genre
Unit 6
Shakespeare: 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'
Unit 1: Classic fiction: Walkabout
Unit 2: Poetry
Unit 3: Contemporary Drama : A Game of Soldiers, Jan Needle
§ development of performance skills
§ creative writing - playscript
§ use of IT for drafting
Unit 4: Independent and guided read - introduction to fantasy genre - A Wizard of Earthsea
§ understanding of generic features of fantasy
§ creative writing in the genre of fantasy
§ in-class writing on text studied
Unit 5: Poetry unit 2: ‘The Lady of Shalott’
Unit 6: Drama: 'Much Ado About Nothing '
Unit 7: Non-literary, non-fiction: Theme Park
Priorities:
1 Developing understanding of and skills in a variety of types of oral work, including increasingly formal and more demanding situations
2 Developing the ability to read, understand and respond to an increasingly demanding range of fiction and non-fiction texts
3 Developing skills of analysis and commentary (both oral and written) of a variety of texts
4 Developing ability to apply techniques identified and appreciated in reading texts to students' own writing
5 Development of a range of writing skills, in both limited time and extended writing sessions
6 Developing explicit understanding of features of language relevant to analysis of reading and the practice of writing
7 Developing examination skills and aptitudes for end of Key Stage tests
4eme English 2007- 2008 / Outline year plan
First half term
October half term (Toussaint)
Christmas holidays
February Holidays
Spring/ Easter Holiday
End of May (no half term in this term)
Each week throughout year: one library lesson focusing on pupil’s own private reading and development of this, as well as on responses to books read (both written and oral) and on encountering new texts in specific genres, such as non-fiction, autobiography, poetry, etc.
Priorities:
1 Preparation for GCSE examinations in English and English literature taken at the end of 2nde including both examination practice and the completion of at least two pieces of coursework
2 Development and assessment of pupils’ oral ability using GCSE criteria with a grade in each of the main assessment areas [explain, describe, narrate; explore, analyse, imagine; discuss, argue, persuade]
3 Development and assessment of pupils’ ability to read increasingly demanding texts including 19th century fiction [Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde] and Shakespearian tragedy [Romeo and Juliet] and to write extended coursework essays based on these
4 Development of a range of creative and imaginative writing skills and the selection from the pieces written of one for submission as the writing assignment for the GCSE coursework folder
5 Development of pupils’ examination skills both through exam practice and understanding of assessment criteria
Troisième Year Plan
Unit 1: Shakespearian tragedy - Romeo and Juliet
§ introduction to tragedy and sonnet forms
§ analytical essay on tragedy [GCSE coursework practice - English and English literature]
§ in-class analysis of a scene
Unit 2: Media: English newspapers and non-fiction text; advertising
§ familiarization with U.K. newspaper styles and conventions
§ introduction to a range of non-fiction texts
§ GCSE creative assignment – drafted and finalised
Unit 3: Literary non-fiction
§ study of a range of the texts in the GCSE anthology
§ creative and analytical writing based on these
Unit 4: Pre-1914 Prose - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
§ development of ability to read pre-20th century prose analytical essay - GCSE essay
§ Examination practice – Brevet blanc preparation Written in-class assignment using GCSE criteria
Unit 5 Study of a selection of the poems for GCSE
§ oral assessment in-class poetry comparison
Unit 6: Modern Drama A View from the Bridge
§ introduction to GCSE text
§ performance
Summer holiday: pre – 1914 poetry [independent summer reading]
§ a selection of poems grouped under the theme of Love and Loss with exploratory questions to aid pupil response