Sociology London Riots & Knife Crime AO2

This lesson is designed to help students write more effective essay answers and give them a set of AO2 examples on the theme of Knife Crime and The London Riots. It includes a key term matching activity and an essay technique tool, alongside a powerpoint presentation. I noticed that my group were not getting credit for using topical examples in their answers, often as they were choosing the wrong examples or not wording it clearly. This lesson starts with a fun memory recall starter. The students then match up key sociological terms with key topical news stories relating to the current rise in knife crime or The London Riots of 2011 (a teacher solution is provided for non-specialists). Once they are armed with knowledge that they can apply, they do an activity that is based around 30 mark exam questions. For each question they have to select the appropriate topical example and write a sentence to show how they would include it in an exam answer. A framework is given with some completed examples, and there are then graduated activities which can be accessed at different levels depending on ability. Plenty of options for differentiation are available (as is the case with the earlier matching activity).
Once they have completed this activity, they not only have a range of examples that they can drop straight into a range of examination questions, but they also have the skill and ability to do so in an explicit way which will ensure they are rewarded. Hopefully this can help them to gain valuable marks in the exam!