Grade Transformation Blog

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Archive for March 2022

Is your teen using ‘micro-quotes’ in their essays?

What makes ‘use of evidence or quotations’ in an essay, exam or assignment
‘discerning’ rather than ‘appropriate’ in the mark scheme?
What takes an extended response to ‘pertinent’, or ‘perceptive‘, in the success criteria?

There are multiple elements and Gemma, our English-Focus Coach went through ALL of them with our Next Level students this week.

One of the mistakes students are making is incorporating quotes that are too long.

The quote can be appropriate.
It’s perhaps even been analysed well.
But it’s not considered perceptive or discerning because the EXACT words in the quote that are pertinent to the focus of the question have not been identified.

Here are some excerpts of that session where Gemma explains how and why MICRO-QUOTES should be used instead of full sentences.

 

 

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Posted in Assignments, Essays, Exams, Techniques & Strategies
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Stop writing more than you need to – 2 ways to stop running out of time in exams

The 3 main fears students have around exams are:

1) Fear of the Unknown (What will they ask?)

2) Fear of Uncertainty (What does the Q really mean? What do they want in my answer?)

3) Fear of Running Out of Time.

That third one happens because students are writing more than they need to.

And that happens for two reasons:

  • 1. Not being sure what will get marks or what the Q really requires – see Fear #2 above – so they end up ‘throwing spaghetti at the wall’ and hoping some of it sticks (gets marks).
  • 2. Answering the same way they do every day in lessons or assignments – which is the opposite of what’s required in exams.

And there are 2 super-simple, instantly-actionable solutions that will give your teen back SO much time in every Q in every exam they sit from now on.

 

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Posted in Exams, Techniques & Strategies
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