Home Learning Project
Unit: Novel
Year 9 Term: 1
Task:
Firstly, choose a book which has been adapted into a film. Then, read the book and
watch the film. Complete a review of both. Then, write an article in which you compare
the two, saying which you liked best and why?
Success Criteria
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Complete a detailed book review
Complete a detailed film review
Write a detailed comparison of the two
Include:
o Does the film leave anything out?
o Are there changes in time or sequence?
o Is there anything completely different?
o What are the best elements of both?
o How effective is the film version?
 What things did you dislike in both?
Date due:
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Home Learning Project
Unit: Year 9 Shakespeare
Year 9 Term: 2
Purpose:
The purpose of this activity is to help you really get to know one of the characters in the play. By
thinking about their actions in the play and looking closely at the dialogue, you will have to make
conclusions about the character. What do they like to eat? What is their favourite film? What are
their interests? By answering questions that are not directly in the play, you will begin to see how a
character is created in the mind of a playwright. You will better understand why the character does
and says certain things.
Your Task:
Create a Facebook profile and wall page for one or more characters in the play. You will have the
freedom to pick which character you want to do it on, and can do as many as you choose. Think
critically about your character and come up with details about their life that are most likely not
written in the play. You will also need to either draw a picture of what they look like or cut one out
of a magazine and glue it on the page. You could produce this on a computer if you have the skills
and access to one; otherwise use the attached sheet to help you.
Part One: The Profile Page
This is the informational page in which you write their activities, interests, favourite music, TV
programmes, films, books, quotes, and an ‘about me’ section. You can also fill in who their friends are
and other information like their relationships status, birthday, and current city. Use your imagination
and make it as detailed as possible.
Part Two: The Wall
You will also need to create a wall for you character. This is where your friends are able to say things
on your wall through posts. There are spots for new friends added, relationship status changes,
invitations to event, and photo albums. When filling out this portion, ask yourself the questions: What
characters would be posting on my character’s wall? What would they say to each other? Who would
my character add as a friend? Use your imagination!
Part Three: Reflection
After you have completed your profile page and wall, write a reflection on the task. What was the
hardest part of the task? What was the easiest and why? Pick three items on the profile page and
explain why you thought the character would have these as interests. You can use events in the text or
general perceptions about the character to give your reasoning. Then pick two aspects of your wall
page and describe why you
included30
these
elements.
This homework
part of the per
taskweek
should be about 1 1/2 pages
Complete
minutes
of English
hand written.
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Home Learning Project
Unit: Controversy
Year 9 Term: 3
Task:
Read the famous speeches attached to this HLP. Choose two and write critical
appreciations of them.
Success Criteria
 Read the speeches
 Choose two
 Write critical appreciations of each that include:
o What it is about (summary)
o Why you like this speech
o What rhetorical devices does it use?
o How are they effective?
o What do you think the effect on the audience will have been?
o Which bits would you stress when delivering it; which are the most
important bits?
Date due:
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
A battlefield speech given by Lt. Col. Tim Collins, a commander of the Royal Irish
battle group just hours before his troops went into battle in Iraq.
"The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his Nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful
destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the
fires of Hell for Saddam. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show
them no pity. But those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I
expect you to rock their world.
"We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free
a people, and the only flag that will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Don't treat them as
refugees, for they are in their own country.
"I know men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. They live with the mark of Cain upon
them. If someone surrenders to you, then remember they have that right in international law, and ensure
that one day they go home to their family. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please. If there are
casualties of war, then remember, when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to
die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly, and mark their graves.
"You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest, for your deeds will follow you down history.
Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood, and the birth of
Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright
people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality, even though they have nothing...."
"There may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their
sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow. Let's leave Iraq a better place for us
having been there. Our business now, is north."
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Martin Luther King – I Have a Dream
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a
dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold
these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former
slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of
injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the
words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and
black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and
brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the
rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew
out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling
discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work
together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis
of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from
every mountainside, let freedom ring."
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s Inaugural Address 1961
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of
human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our
forebears fought are still at issue around the globe - the belief that the rights of man come not from the
generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time
and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born
in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and
unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always
been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation
know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.
Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to
its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to
battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year
out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation", a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny,
poverty, disease, and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, north and south, east and west, that can
assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom
in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it.
I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The
energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavour will light our country and all who serve
it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your
country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what, together, we
can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high
standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward,
with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and
His help, but knowing that here on earth, God's work must truly be our own.
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Winston Churchill - We shall fight on the beaches
This speech was delivered to House of Commons on June 4 1940
Turning once again, and this time more generally, to the question of invasion, I would observe that there
has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast when an absolute guarantee against
invasion, still less against serious raids, could have been given to our people.
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best
arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our
island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if
necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's
Government - every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend
to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even
though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the
Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we
shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and
growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the
streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment
believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas,
armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New
World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Barack Obama election victory speech 2012 - The Best is Yet to Come
Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own
destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. It moves forward because of you. It
moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression,
the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the
belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family,
and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.
Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been
hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way
back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.
That's why we do this. That's what politics can be. That's why elections matter. It's not small, it's
big. It's important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and
complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go
through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions,
stirs up controversy. That won't change after tonight. And it shouldn't. These arguments we
have are a mark of our liberty, and we can never forget that as we speak, people in distant
nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter –
the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.
America, I believe we can build on the progress we've made and continue to fight for new jobs
and new opportunities and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise
of our founding, the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or
where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn't matter whether you're
black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, abled,
disabled, gay or straight. You can make it here in America if you're willing to try.
I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics
suggests. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our
individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are,
and forever will be, the United States of America.
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Home Learning Project
Unit: BBC NEWS / ICTAC
Year 9 Term: 4
Task:
Watch a documentary on a contemporary social issue. Write a review.
Success Criteria
 Watch the documentary
 Write a review that includes:
o What it is about (summary)
o Who was the intended audience? How do you know?
o Why did you like it?
o What did you learn from it?
o Did it use a voiceover or narrator?
o Were they effective? Why?
o What were the most convincing facts/images. Why
o What do you think the effect on the audience will have been?
Date due:
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Home Learning Project
Unit: Narrative/Exams
Year 9 Term: 5
Task:
My History in 3 Objects: give a presentation to classmates on your 3 most treasured
possessions and how they help people to understand who you are.
Success Criteria
 Select 3 important items in your life; they could be photographs, teddy bears,
dolls, jewellery, anything.
 Write a 2 minute speech wherein you explain why the object is important to you;
include how and where you got it, for example.
Date due:
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week
Home Learning Project
Unit: Poetry/Non-Fiction
Year 9 Term: 6
Task:
Poets of the great War: research a WW1 poet of your choice and give a brief
presentation to fellow group members on them including an appreciation of one of
their poems.
Success Criteria
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Select and research a Great War poet
Give a timeline of their life
Read a selection of their poems
Choose one and prepare an appreciation of it:
o Discuss what it is about and why you like it
 Present your research to fellow group members; print out and discuss the poem
you have chosen.
Date due:
Complete 30 minutes of English homework per week