Creating parody
How humorous intent can be created through parody in writing.
Focusing on close reading of key sentences in '1066 and all That' by WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman, this clip explores how parody can be created by imitating the style of an academic text. It exemplifies how the use of phrases, connectives and punctuation can work together to create humorous intent.
Exploration of language at word and sentence level
Trevor McDonald explains why an extract from 'Out of India' has an impact on him.
Trevor McDonald's explanation as to why he enjoys and can identify with an extract from Jamila Gavin's 'Out of India' shows how writers can bridge the gap between what they write and how the reader reads it. McDonald focuses on word and sentence level features, describing how the language conveys images, how the use of repetition provides a poetic quality and rhythm to the extract and how the sentence variety is key to the impact of the piece.
How fake news is presented
Tina Daheley looks into the difficulty of determining the trustworthiness of online news.
What is fake news?
Reporter Tina Daheley looks at the way Fake News is presented and examines the problems of trusting online news stories.She looks at what fake news is and gives pupils a guide to determining which stories are fake and which can be relied on.
In a conversation with senior broadcast journalist Megha Mohan, she separates genuine and fake news. They show how deliberately misleading stories are often presented as real news stories and unpicks some of the reasons why fake news exists.
The main drivers of money-making, influencing readers’ opinions and satire are explored with a look at stories about high profile people. Several examples of stories that appear to be from trusted sources are shown and the problems with these stories are discussed.
Daheley and Mohan look at some of the fake news stories that appeared around the time of the 2016 US election campaigns that were shared on social media. They discuss how features of genuine news stories are used in fake news, such as headlines, photos, and the names of news providers. Advice is given about searching online for the news providers and finding an example of the same news story on a credible news site.
Fake news can be convincing and Daheley explores how we can avoid being lured in by false stories. A group of young people are shown a sequence of fake and real news stories and they attempt to sort them. They discuss the importance of logos, trusted news sources, bias and language. The young people also talk about the trustworthiness of news stories and fact checking and how the use of quotations and opinions can make a story seem more convincing.
Daheley summarises by explaining how searching for stories online and checking the reliability of a news source can help us to identify false news stories.
How dialect can be used in a poem or song
Two singers discuss the use of dialect in song lyrics and perform extracts of these songs.
Two singers from the band Pickering White explore how they use dialect words in their song lyrics. Their discussion is illustrated by sung and spoken lyric extracts, some accompanied by guitar. They use the song lyrics to discuss how context, setting and class can be referenced by use of accent and dialect in poems and songs. The discussion also touches on how dialect may be linked to alliteration, rhyme, simile and metaphor.
How performance technique can change the emotional impact of a poem
A songwriter discusses how performance techniques affect her song ‘Stranger Things’.
Singer-songwriter, Jem, explores a range of performance techniques and reflects on how these can affect the emotional impact of a song or poem. She explains that relationships are a source of inspiration in her song writing so emotion is key in performing these songs. Jem gives contrasting performances of her song, ‘Strange Weather’, and comments on the impact of varying pacing, movement, repetition and tone.
How referencing other texts can help a writer communicate their ideas
Rapper Double S explores how he uses references to Harry Potter books in his own writing.
Writer and rapper, Double S, explains how he used references to JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books when writing about his own family. He describes his own enjoyment of the Harry Potter books and some of the underlying messages he feels they contain. His explanation is accompanied by extracts from performances of his draft and finished pieces. He compares using these references to making analytical points about a text.
How stories are adapted for a young audience
An insight into the making of CBBC’s Newsround.
An insight into the making of CBBC’s Newsround.
Journalist Tina Daheley explores how Newsround, which started in 1972, presents the news for its young audience.
She speaks to reporter Ricky Boleto at the CBBC Newsround studios and asks how he makes news stories appropriate for six to twelve year olds. They talk about the importance of explaining everything in a story and not assuming that the audience knows anything about the details.
Using an example of a news item about Donald Trump winning the US election, Tina and Ricky explain how Newsround reporters simplify complex news stories for their audience. They also discuss the use of friendly and informal language and short concise sentences that are easy for children to understand.
Newsround’s intention is that news stories will be shared by young viewers and the language that reporters use supports this. Daheley and the Newsround reporter focus on the use of specific words in the bulletin and look at the effect of specific adjectives. The effect of words with impact and describing words are shown through real examples. The clip also focuses on the use of opinions and vox-pops in Newsround and explores how interviews with children and young people are used to reflect and appeal to the young audience. As with adult news, both sides of an argument are presented.
They look at the use of puppets and animation to bring Newsround’s stories to life. A comparison between the Newsround and main news handling of the Donald Trump inauguration story is used to highlight how the programmes present the same story in different ways.
How to use point, evidence, and analysis to comment on a literary text
An explanation of how to make an analytical point about a text illustrated by a song.
Pickering White demonstrate how to use point, evidence and analysis to make supported comments about literary texts. The country blues duo explore their song lyrics about the character Magwitch, from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
How to write a news report
Journalist Tina Daheley looks at how English language is used when writing news stories.
Journalist Tina Daheley demonstrates English language techniques as she prepares a TV news bulletin about American President, Donald Trump's immigration ban.
Tina explains how, when planning your report, a good way to start is by thinking about the '5 W's'; What is the story about? Who is involved? Where and when is the story taking place, and why is it happening? She talks about the difference between writing a sentence with a 'passive voice' and an 'active voice', and looks at how to construct a paragraph. Tina highlights the importance of 'Linking words' such as 'Therefore' or 'However', and demonstrates how crucial it is to choose the right language formality for your audience.
More on Reading skills
Find out more by working through a topic
- count1 of 4
- count2 of 4
- count3 of 4
