English Language Key Skills Checklist
More difficult skills
iGCSE Examination: Paper 2: Reading Passages Extended
Question 1 – Unlocking the Question
1A I am able to identify key words in the question
1B I able to identify WHO I am writing FOR + WHO I am writing AS
1C I am able to identify the TYPE/FORM of writing I need to do
1D I know the features of an interview, newspaper article, letter, journal, formal talk
Question 1 – Understanding the Text
1E I can read a passage and understand what I have read
1F I can read a passage and highlight information relevant to each of the bullet points
IG I can ‘read between the lines’ of a text (especially for bullet point 3)
1H I can pick up relevant details from the text and use them in my writing
1I I can DEVELOP some ideas that are in the passage
1J I can imagine what the people in the passage are thinking and feeling
Question 1 – Writing the Answer
1K I can write in an appropriate tone
1L I am able to write in paragraphs and ORDER my writing according to the bullet points
1M I am able to take the ideas from the text and put them in my OWN WORDS
1N I can use a range of vocabulary to express what my character thinks and feels
1O I am able to create a VOICE so my character sounds real
1P Everything I say can find its roots in the passage
Question 2 – Unlocking the Question
2A I can identify WHICH paragraphs I have to re-read
2B I can identify WHAT I am looking for in the specified paragraphs
Question 2 – Finding Words and Phrases
2C I can find FOUR words/phrases linked to the KEY DESCRIPTION in EACH paragraph
Question 2 – Answering the Question
2D I can notice patterns in different words/phrases
2E I am able to identify the meaning of the words
2F I can comment on the mood of the word e.g ‘scratch of claws’ sounds sinister
2G I can explain WHAT effect the word has.
2H I can answer BOTH parts of the question EQUALLY well
2I I am able to identify when an IMAGE is used and why
Question 3 PART A – Understanding the Passage and Writing Notes
3A I am able to highlight the main points in the passage
3B I know WHAT I am being asked to SUMMARISE i.e I am NOT being asked to summarise everything
3C I can select 15 specific quotations (or paraphrased ideas) in my notes.
Question 3 PART B – Writing the Answer
3D I am able to include several points in each sentence
3E I am able to stay focused on what I have been asked to summarise at all times
3F I do not use quotations from the passages – I DO put ideas in my own words (where possible)
English Language Revision Strategies for 1E
One of the main challenges of the English Language iGCSE examination is the need to read at pace,
as well as comprehend what has been read well enough to select relevant details.
To support the development of this vital skill, we recommend the following activities:
1. Read appropriate magazine and newspaper articles together.
2. As you read, ask questions to check understanding – this could be of difficult vocabulary
choices or of the content, as well as making links back.
For example:
Passage A: The Indonesian Rainforest
Pascal Sanches is a journalist for a conservation magazine what does it mean to conserve something?
His editor has sent him to the Indonesian rainforest to learn about the wildlife there what does wildlife
entail? and the threats facing the endangered animals. What does ‘endangered’ mean?
I meet my guide character has to be lead around by someone – what does this show? just before
sunrise so that we can navigate our way through the forest in the relative cool before the sun heats
the whole forest like an oven interesting simile – how does this compare to England? We meet on a
dirt track, surrounded by a wasteland of tree stumps the trees have been chopped down – what does
this show? and blackened soil has it been burnt? What else might have happened? In the grey morning
light, each stump looks like a gravestone in an abandoned graveyard another simile – what does this
link to? the flora around it dry and dead.
3. At the end of the reading, ask the student to outline the content of the article in exactly 30
words.
4. Ask the student to imagine they were a ‘character’ in the article. Who would they be and
why?
5. In character, ask them to:
 Describe the event/situation in their own words
 Outline difficulties/issues that occurred in their own words
 Predict what might happen in the future in their own words
Students have also been emailed a range of past examination papers, as well as mark schemes and
model answers.
To revise, students should be encouraged to highlight, write and assess their answers, comparing to
the models.
English Literature Key Skills Checklist
More difficult skills
Literature examinations: An Inspector Calls/Crucible, Of Mice and Men, Conflict/unseen poetry
Basic Essentials
1A I spell the author's name and the text title accurately throughout
1B I use tentative language: possibly, perhaps, suggests, maybe, could, might, suggests, hints at
Response to Text/Task
2A I can identify the focus for the task
2B I self-select relevant ideas in relation to characterisation/theme/plot and/or setting
2C I explain the literary effect of characterisation/theme/plot/setting, staying relevant
2D I select perceptive details in terms of characterisation/theme/plot/setting
Writer’s Ideas and Attitudes
3A I identify clearly what the key ideas/attitudes in the text are and stay true to these throughout
3B I am clear about whether the voice/s in the text is the same as the author's and I identify any
differences in ideas/attitude
3C I keep referring to the writer's choices throughout, using evaluative phrases to express my
appreciation of how the ideas and attitudes are presented
3D I select details that are more subtle and imaginative in terms of attitude - what is the wider
picture/the implications
Interpretation
4A I self-select relevant detail from the whole text
4B I take time to identify the BEST detail that will allow me to draw out multiple meanings
4C I select 3-5 precise 'loaded' quotations/moments that I can 'explode' confidently in terms of meaning
and form/structure/language
4D I ensure that at least one of my quotations is more subtle and imaginative and offers multiple
possibilities for how readers/audiences may respond.
Structure
5A I self-select and explain the effect of 2-3 structural features and give the specific impact upon the
reader/audience
5B I am able to bring structure to the fore where it is relevant - for example:
beginnings/middles/endings, foreshadowing, triggers, climax, linear structures (or otherwise)
5C I analyse structural features to the extent that it convinces my reader that I fully appreciate the
choice made by the writer and the possible (dramatic) impact on the reader (audience)
Language
6A I self-select and explain the effect of 2-3 language choices (words/phrases or named features if
relevant) and give the specific impact upon the reader/audience
6B I explain any language use within my 3-5 best quotations and I include emotional impact on the
reader/audience
6C I analyse my precise quotations using evaluative phrases to convince my reader that I appreciate the
impact of writer's word/language choices
6D I analyse my choice of subtle and imaginative textual detail using evaluative phrases
Comparison: CONFLICT POETRY ONLY
7A I self-select 2-3 relevant points of comparison from the texts that are appropriate to the question
7B I explain the links and/or points of comparison using thoughtfully selected textual detail
7C I evaluate the similarities and differences within links/comparisons using linking words/phrases
Context: AIC/CRUCIBLE AND OMM ONLY
8A I self-select and embed comments about context
8B I identify at least 2 relevant contextual details for each text
8C I consider the 'then and now' impact on the reader/audience
English Literature Revision Strategies
Where Literature is concerned, the most important strategy for revision for students is to re-read
key texts.
For most students this is:
 ‘An Inspector Calls’
 ‘Of Mice and Men’
However, students in 11X1 have read ‘The Crucible’ instead of ‘An Inspector Calls.’
 All students have also studied the Conflict cluster of poetry in ‘The Moon on the Tides’
anthology.
 For unseen poetry, there is a list of specified authors: Blake, Keats, Hardy, Rossetti, Auden,
Robert Frost, Wilfred Owen, Dorothy Parker, Maya Angelou, Wendy Cope, Tony Harrison, Jo
Shapcott, Sophie Hannah, Owen Sheers and Brian Patten. However, any poem could be
analysed as this is a skill-based question.
In the examinations, students will have access to ‘clean’ copies of each of their key texts to refer to.
Additional strategies:
 Buy and use CGP revision guides. These contain useful information: annotations, character
and plot overviews, key quotations, comparison points.
www.cgpbooks.co.uk
Select from current GCSE resources exams in 2016
Text Guides and Plays: AIC (ETI44), The Crucible (ETC42) and OMM (ETO44)
English Literature and Poetry: GCSE Anthology AQA Poetry Study Guide (Conflict) Higher (ACHR42) or
Foundation (ACFR42)
 Watch film versions of the texts. This will help to cover plotline, though students should
always remember that these won’t always exactly follow the plotline of the text.
An Inspector Calls, 1954, Director: Guy Hamilton
The Crucible, 1996, Director: Nicholas Hytner
Of Mice and Men, 1992, Director: Gary Sinise
 Discuss the texts/poems using the following questions as prompts:
How are the characters presented and developed through the text/poem?
What are the key themes of the text/poem?
What is the writer/poet trying to show you and how does the text make you/the reader feel?
What was happening in the time the novel/play was written/set? (AIC/Crucible and OMM only)
How can you compare ideas/techniques in the poems? (Conflict poetry only)
As a reminder, English revision sessions are running over the Easter holidays:
 Tues 29th: English Literature – 9-12pm and 12-3pm
 Weds 30th: English Language iGCSE – 9-12pm and 12-3pm
Students will be given revision packs in these sessions.