Homework, 22nd January, 2018

Read the article below and answer the questions that go with it. This is due tomorrow (Tuesday, 23rd January). 

Local Girl Wins X-Factor

Chisby Town resident Emma Sheridan was last night crowned 2016 X-Factor winner in front of a television audience of millions. She beat off stiff competition from the other contestants to win a whopping 62% of the public vote, and received high praise from all of the judges, even the often grumpy Simon Cowell, who described her performance of Whitney Houston’s ‘I’m Every Woman’ as ‘spectacular’.

Shock

‘I’m just shell shocked at the moment,’ she told reporters, ‘but in a good way. I never thought anything like this could happen to me. Not in a million years.’ 

Pride

Sheridan, 17, also talked about her pride at having been born and raised in Chisby. ‘I’m just an ordinary girl from a small town who dreamt big. I think coming from humble beginnings is what made me.’

Friendship

‘I’m just so pleased for her,’ said her best friend Maisie Birch. ‘When we were growing up, she was always singing and saying how much she wanted to be a pop star like Taylor Swift.’ The two girls attended Cooper Manor Secondary School before Birch went to college and Sheridan enrolled at the Brit School in London.

Local girl

Many Chisbians took to the streets last night to celebrate their local hero’s success. ‘It’s great for the town,’ shopkeeper Len Barber said. ‘It’s put Chisby on the map. We’re all so proud of her.’

Plans

Sheridan will be returning home tomorrow afternoon to spend some time with her family, and there are rumours that she will be making a special appearance at the Crowndale Shopping Centre in the evening. One thing is sure: if she does turn up, it will be to a hero’s welcome.

Questions

1. Where is Emma Sheridan from?

2. What percentage of the public vote did she win?

3. What adjective is used to describe Simon Cowell?

4. Who originally performed the song ‘I’m Every Woman’?

5. Did Emma think something like this could ever happen to her?

6. How old is Emma?

7. What is the name of Emma’s best friend?

8. What is the name of the barber who has been interviewed for the article?

9. According to the article, what kind of a welcome will Emma get if she turns up at the Crowndale Shopping Centre?

Extension questions

10. How can we tell that this article was written for a local newspaper?

11. Shell shock is something soldiers sometimes suffer from in wars. When Emma uses it to describe how she feels, it is therefore an example of what literary technique?

12. Why do you think the article includes a paragraph where Emma talks about how proud she is to be from Chisby?

13. Overall, the tone of the article is quite friendly and informal. Copy down three parts from it that provide evidence of this. 

Homework, Monday, 15th January, 2018

For the next few weeks, we will be looking at how to write articles. For this week's homework, I would like you to read the following article and answer the questions that go with it.

This is due tomorrow (Tuesday, 16th January). 

There’s a place for everyone at The Moat School!

The Moat School was founded in 1998 by a group of parents in the Fulham area whose children were struggling at school because they were dyslexic. Unhappy with the approach their children’s schools were taking, they took matters into their own hands and the Moat was born!

Humble beginnings

In the beginning, the Moat School was very small, with only four pupils, but due to its popularity has grown over the years to almost five times the size and. In September 2017, it became part of the Cavendish group of schools.

A nurturing environment

Nestling among the trees, away from the hustle and bustle of Fulham Palace Road, The Moat School offers a safe, comforting and nurturing environment for pupils who may have found their needs being ignored in bigger schools. With small classes, a laptop for every student, full-time Speech and Language therapists and teachers qualified to teach learners with literacy difficulties, there is no longer a need for children who struggle with reading and writing to feel that they can’t cope.

Great facilities

As well as all this, though, the Moat School offers everything you would expect from a secondary school, including a playground with football goals and basketball hoops, a Design Technology workshop, a Food Technology room and a Performing Arts suite.

Questions

1. In what year was the Moat School founded? (1 mark)

2. There is an example of personification in the first paragraph. Find it and copy it out. (2 marks)

3. Why did the group of parents who founded the school feel the need to do so? (2 marks)

4. According to the second paragraph, in what way has the school changed over the years? (2 marks)

5. Why might teachers at the school have found it easier to meet with teachers from other schools from September 2017 onwards? (2 marks)

6. Write down one of the words used in the third paragraph to describe the school. (1 mark)

7. Write down three of the facilities that are mentioned in the final paragraph. (3 marks)

8. In what does the writer of the article try to make it seem that the Moat School is not actually that different from other schools? (2 marks)

9. Overall, this article paints a very positive picture of the Moat School. Write down three ways in which it does this. (3 marks)

Extension task

Overall, this is a very positive view of the school which is designed to persuade parents to send their children there. Explain, in your own words, how the writer achieves this. Focus on:

·        The details the writer gives about the school

·        The kind of language the writer uses (including literary techniques) and how the information is presented

Try and write at least 100 words.