We worked with education consultants, the BBC and schools to develop the English revision modules for Writing, Reading and Drama, as part of the BBC Bitesize GCSE revision program.
The modules set a new bench-mark for interactive learning and aim to inform, educate and entertain 13-14 year old students when revising for English in the run up to KS-3 tests.
The target audience is a difficult demographic to interact with, as they play with their identity, shifting definitions, parameters, language and image in an effort to evade ‘grown ups’ (parent’s organisations and brands) and discover their own developing personalities.
Not only do they have short attention spans, but they are also notoriously fickle when it comes to likes and dislikes and therefore challenging to engage and entertain.
Online plays an important role in their day-to-day life and serves as a key portal for influence and learning, through search, play and peer opinion and sharing.
Taking all this into account, and by drawing on nearly a decade of experience engaging teens, we developed the following highly successful modules.
The overall theme of the activities is light-hearted and humorous. The content delivered with a level of maturity that encourages learning at a GCSE level and the results are fun, positive, unpredictable and ultimately relevant to their audience.
Brush-up on your English and take a look for yourself:
Task 1 – Preparing, Planning & Checking
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/preparing_act.shtml
When planning your writing, use TAP (Text, Audience, Purpose). Write the TAP for a news script aimed at scared parents to inform them about a gang of youths who’ve been releasing zoo animals into shopping centres.
Task 2 – Argue, Persuade & Advise
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/argue_act.shtml
When writing to argue you need to consider both sides of the argument before coming to a conclusion. When writing to persuade you need to convince the reader or listener on a point of view. When writing to advise you need to give the reader guidance about a certain subject
Task 3 – Explore, Imagine & Entertain
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/explore_act.shtml
When writing creatively make sure you use your imagination, draw inspiration from your favourite stories, films and TV shows (but don’t just nick stuff!), try to be original and use descriptive and emotional language.
Task 4 – Formal & Informal Writing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/formal_act.shtml
Formal English is used in more serious writing like essays and official letters. Informal English is used in more casual writing, like text messages and when speaking with friends.
Task 5 – Inform, Explain & Describe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/inform_act.shtml
If you are writing to inform a reader about something you generally stick to the facts. If you are writing to explain, you need to give the facts and justify or give reasons for those facts. If you are writing to describe, you should try to paint a picture in the readers mind by including interesting details and personal thoughts.
Task 6 – Analyse, Review and Comment
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/analyse_act.shtml
An analysis presents a balanced viewpoint. A review also breaks an issue or text into its key parts, but unlike analysing it makes a judgement about how well those parts work together and independently. A comment looks at a topic from a personal viewpoint and makes judgements based on the writers ideas and opinions.
Task 7 – Sentences
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/sentences_act.shtml
A simple sentence has one clause built around one subject and one verb. The verb states what the subject is doing. A compound sentence contains two or more main clauses, each joined by connectives, most often ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’. A complex sentence has two clauses joined together. One clause is dependent on the main clause and adds extra information about it.
Task 8 – Structure and paragraphs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/structure_act.shtml
The beginning of a piece of writing must grab the readers attention. You can do this by opening with a question, starting with a bang, building some suspense or setting the scene.
Task 9 – Tone and style
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/writing/tone_act.shtml
Style is all about the language you choose to suit a particular text, audience and purpose. Tone is the way your ‘voice’ comes over in your writing. It shows your attitude to your audience and topic. Tone can be friendly, formal, angry etc.
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