Exam Review Sheet Grade 6 2

Grade 6 English examination study guide

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What is the purpose of the examaniations? These end of year tests are designed to help you develop your skills in writing examinations in a formal setting with time-limits. Hand written (without spell-check) examinations remain the major instrument of assessment in most systems and it is important you get practice at taking them. Remember that your other major assessment tasks are also important, and you should make sure you spend time and effort on those as well. What will I do in the examaniation? In the exam you will need to write a news story based on facts that will be provided for you. You will have four options to choose from. Your job is to write the best, most realistic news story you can. What can I do to revise? Reading and writing skills (the major focus of these tests) take time to develop but there are, of course, useful ways to prepare for this exam. • • • • • •

Look through your folio pieces and work out ways to improve upon your weaknesses Read newspapers and news web-sites and think about how the stories are organised, written and the headlines that were used Work on your spelling and punctuation (practice, test yourself, have people test you) Practice writing in the past tense, look at how real newspaper articles use tenses Use the attached assessment criteria to work out what you skills you need to work on Use the vocabulary table to make sure you know and understand these words

Useful vocabulary to know

fact

opinion

headline

article

news

journalist

sub-heading

introduction

witness

spokesperson

quotation

report

motivation

invention

statement

public

accused

reality

response

expert

How will I be assessed? In keeping with the methods we have been using all year you will be assessed using the English department criteria.

Assessment Sheet (tick the descriptors that you think apply to you and give yourself a level) Level

9-10 S T R O N G

Ideas

Structures

Style & language

Questions to help you:

Questions to help you:

Questions to help you:

How perceptive, focused and well selected are the ideas in my newspaper?

How skillfully have I structured my newspaper and the individual items?

How accurate, varied and effective is my use of language?

How effective was my headline?

How well have I used sentences, paragraphs and titles?

I use numerous well-chosen relevant details that support and help my audience

My newspaper is purposefully organised

My language and vocabulary are very accurate.

I use a variety of sentence types accurately

I use punctuation skillfully.

I use paragraphs and transitions carefully and effectively

My choice of language is formal and appropriate for a newspaper. I use clear and precise language.

My headline grabs the attention of the audience and also lets them know what the story is about

How well did I choose language for a newspaper audience.

7-8 E F F E C T I V E

I use well-chosen relevant details that support and help my audience

My overall structure is clear

My language is generally accurate.

I use different sentence types

I use punctuation well.

My headline gets the attention of the audience and gives them an idea about the story

I use paragraphs and transitions

My choice of language is formal and appropriate for a newspaper.

5-6

I use relevant details that support and help my audience

I attempt to use a variety of sentence types

My language is fairly accurate.

I use paragraphs reasonably well

I use punctuation effectively.

D E V E L O P I N G

3-4 E M E R GING

1-2 NOT YET S T

My headline lets the audience know what the story is about

My ideas show a basic understanding of the task I develop some ideas

My ideas show a limited understanding of the task I attempt the task

There is an attempt to sequence my ideas

I attempt to organise my work I use basic paragraphs

I am unsuccessful in organising my work

My choice of language is generally formal and appropriate for a newspaper.

My use of language is not always effective There may be regular and errors in spelling and punctuation

There are significant weaknesses with the style and language I have used