S4

Welcome to Mrs Gess's S4 page.

National 4 and 5 English consists of Listening, Talk, Reading and Writing elements.

The Talk and Listening elements are assessed in school by your English teacher.

National 4 The National 4 English Course enables learners to develop their literacy skills and to understand, analyse and evaluate texts in the contexts of literature, language and media. The Course also enables learners to create and produce texts, and provides opportunities to develop planning and research skills, applying language skills as appropriate.

There is no external exam element to National 4. Pupils must pass Unit Assessments in Creation and Production (Writing and Talking tasks) and Analysis and Evaluation (Close Reading, Listening and Critical Essay type tasks)

Pupils must also produce an Added Value Unit which is a mini research project.

National 5 The National 5 English Course enables learners to develop their literacy skills and to understand, analyse and evaluate a range of texts, including Scottish texts, in the contexts of literature, language and media. The Course also enables learners to create and produce texts and to apply their knowledge and understanding of language.

Pupils must pass Unit Assessments in Creation and Production (Writing and Talking tasks) and Analysis and Evaluation (Close Reading, Listening and Critical Essay type tasks)

There is a final exam consisting of a Reading for Analysis and Evaluation paper and a Critical Reading paper.

In additional to the final exam pupils must also produce a folio consisting of two writing pieces which is worth 30% of your final grade. You __will__ have the opportunity to work on these pieces so that when they are sent off to be assessed, they __should__ represent the best that you can do.

Close Reading

Talk

Writing

Texts

Useful Webpages

Regular homework is essential in making sure you are prepared for your exam. Just as an athlete would not prepare for a big race by spending all their time sitting down, you cannot go into your exam without having prepared your reading and writing muscles.

Read every opportunity you can - any reading will increase your reading speed. Try to read a broadsheet newspaper at least once a week - The Scotsman, Guardian, Herald, Times are all good examples and all available online.

Close Reading and spelling homework is set every week and due on a Wednesday - if you have been off it is YOUR responsibility to find out what homework is due.