Today's After School Revision

Thanks to the 9 or so people who gave up their free time to come along after school. For those who didn't come, we covered some writing techniques for section B. I will try and summarise all that was said very concisely. This is all VERY IMPORTANT. So take note:

Firstly, spend around 10-15 minutes planning your piece of writing. It is essential you kinow how you are going to structure it and what you paragraphs will be about. The class set me the following task:

"Write a LETTER to the school caretaker where you EXPLAIN to him the important of closing all of the windows overnight."

Very quickly, we agreed that my plan would look something like this:

-Name and address
-Dear Mr Whoever
-A paragraph about burglars
-A paragraph about how weather could damage the building
-A paragraph about how vermin and pests could be attracted
-A paragraph about how it makes the school look bad and untidy
-A paragraph about how squatters could be attracted
-A paragraph about how it would keep the heat in, saving on energy bills.
-A conclusion summing up you main points and politely asking him to take action.

However, I gave the class the following instructions

*Make sure that you are BRAVE and INVENTIVE.

It is all very well deciding what your paragraphs will be about, but the CONTENT needs to be attention grabbing and original. So...MAKE STUFF UP!!!

This is not cheating, it is what you are supposed to do!

So, make up FACTS and FIGURES, QUOTES, SURVEYS, STATISTICS etc to back up what you are saying.

For example,

"One reason why it is very important to close all the windows is because it prevents the possibility of the school building attracting vermin such as rats - something which I think we all want to avoid! A recent survey carried out by the local authority found that around 35% of local Maghull residents had had some sort of trouble with rats or mice on their property within the last two years. For a school our size, this is a figure which is quite simply very worrying. Anything which we can do to play our part in keeping vermin out of our beloved building should be done!"

*Be enthusiastic

Whatever the question is that gets thrown at you, it is important that we approach it with enthusiasm. If you have an attitude of "that question is boring/I don't care" then it will come across in your writing. Play a part and pretend you are MASSIVELY INTERESTED in whatever it says. This will benefit you. Trust me.

*Only use slang rarely and make sure you only use it if you are writing to a YOUNG target audience. (Speaks for itself really)

And finally - some presentational features.

For a website, make sure you include a URL bar, some picture boxes (with captions) and make sure you write in HYPERLINKS.

For example. "A recent survey highlighted the problem of rats in our local area. CLICK HERE to read the findings of the survey".