Edexcel IGCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Coursework Pack

This is my teaching booklet for the imaginative writing coursework task. In it I have explained the assessment criteria in student friendly terms, and have then set out a series of writing and reading tasks to build up the students’ imaginative writing skills. There is a top mark exemplar, 5 ideas for writing tasks, and a self-assessment checklist for students to use.

These skills include learning about and practising varied punctuation, varied sentence lengths/types, varied vocabulary, before we move on to practising how to ‘show’ not ‘tell’.

I have then selected 5 extracts from novels, which have excellent examples of certain features that I want to teach students. I have included ideas for ‘tasks’ that could be written or oral tasks that you could use to help you focus your analysis and discussion of the extracts.

1. An extract from Helen Dunmore’s The Siege has an excellent cyclical structure and uses sensory imagery in a really engaging way
2. Extracts from Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast and Michael Andrew Hurley’s The Loney have superb examples of quite gothic, complex and interesting imagery
3. An extract from Susan Hill’s The Small Hand is a fantastic example of a really short piece of writing that builds an ominous atmosphere and ends with a poignant, unsettling and emotional encounter with a ghost
4. The extract Whistle and I’ll Come to You by Susan Hill is taken from the anthology and I’ve chosen it for its use of imagery, setting, contrasts, and tone of voice.

I have also included an example of a top mark piece of coursework - it’s not perfect, but it scored in the top band, and was written about the student’s experience when out hunting. Again, I’ve included tasks to help students read with purpose.

There are then 4 detailed ideas for tasks that students could do for their coursework. One is based on the Susan Hill extracts, and the others are inspired by ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ and ‘H is for Hawk’ (as it helps students to revise those passages as well!). There is then a fourth task, entitled ‘The Storm’, which has a detailed planning sheet, prompts, vocabaulary and advice for imagery. This was the task that I set my previous class, and they all did really well in it.

To complete the pack, I’ve included a planning grid and a self-assessment checklist for students.