Collaborating & Creating in GCSE English
For GCSE learners, the Autumn Term is dedicated to honing their creative writing skills: using sophisticated language; attempting a variety of sentence openers; recognising and utilising language techniques; and experimenting with different narrative structures.
This week, learners in GCSE English participated in workshops where they were tasked with collaboratively editing and improving sentences from their peers' workbooks.
With support from tutor Jessica, learners wrote and re-wrote sentences describing a range of characters to demonstrate the "show, don't tell" technique and flaunt their ambitious synonyms.
Here are some examples...
Character: A frustrated employee
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, he felt anger build up in his body. He felt powerful. His face burning with rage, hatred poured from his every cell.
Character: A perfectionist ballerina
Wobbling like jelly, her unsteady legs struggled to stand. Excruciating pain yelled at her to give in. Failure taunted her but she chose to keep going. With a deep breath she told herself inspirationally, "You can do this."
Exhausted, but determined, she told herself not to give up. Sweating and trembling in her tutu, she stood still, breathing heavily.
Character: An exhausted waitress
Slouched over with a hunched back, she groaned like a zombie. Struggling to stand up straight, she moped around in circles.
Drained of energy, her brightness dimmed. Every muscle tensed and throbbed with pain.
Character: A class clown
Grinning broadly, he started to snigger, looking around the room for his classmates' approval. Smugly, he rested his arm on the chair in a proud and obnoxious stance.