coombeamy
Putting the subject’s heart at the centre of GCSE English Language planning
Bringing heart into English Language I thoroughly enjoy reading Chris Curtis’s blogs on creative writing. They’re packed full of...
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coombeamy
May 20, 20234 min read
What knowledge is most versatile?
‘We must ensure that we hand down our great literary heritage to our pupils, explicitly and carefully, so that even the most...
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coombeamy
Apr 1, 20238 min read
Sequencing an English Literature Unit
‘Curriculum, ultimately, is (metaphorically) a narrative, a journey, a conversation… a development of meaning over time. Our overarching...
2,078 views
coombeamy
Mar 11, 20236 min read
What do students most need to know for the English literature GCSE?
‘Time is finite, and so curriculum can never include all the knowledge, or anything close to all the knowledge in the field. As such,...
3,473 views
coombeamy
Jan 21, 20239 min read
A paired approach to the poetry anthology
GCSE English literature: a head-scratching conundrum As English teachers, we repeatedly grapple with the complexity of the literature...
325 views
coombeamy
Sep 2, 202215 min read
Rethinking English Revision Booklets
Too many students revise ineffectively or not at all, which is a source of huge frustration for teachers and parents. We might assume...
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coombeamy
Feb 7, 202210 min read
Infinite possibilities without infinite time
How to prioritise knowledge when creating a GCSE English Literature unit plan ‘Memorable knowledge is the best route to academic...
251 views
coombeamy
Dec 20, 20217 min read
The Brilliance of the Booklet: Part 2
In Part 1 of this two-part blog series, I explored these four advantages of booklets: They avoid duplication in planning and reduce...
983 views
coombeamy
Dec 6, 202110 min read
The Brilliance of the Booklet - Part 1
Booklets are, in my view, simply brilliant. The concept of the booklet is a simple one, yet the impact of their use in the classroom can...
3,156 views
coombeamy
Nov 23, 20219 min read
The Multi Paragraph Outline: a logical sequence for extended writing
As explored in my previous blog posts here, writing in any subject is an extremely complex task, and one that we must break down into...
1,830 views
coombeamy
Nov 3, 20215 min read
The Single Paragraph Outline: a roadmap to better paragraphs
‘Athletes, architects, artists, playwrights, chefs, physicians, lawyers, and members of countless other professions rely on plans to...
9,447 views
coombeamy
Oct 18, 20215 min read
The Art of the Topic Sentence
‘A sentence is a complex and powerful thing, the mastery of which is often overlooked.’ (Doug Lemov: https://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/...
959 views
coombeamy
Oct 4, 20214 min read
What ‘The Writing Revolution’ taught me about teaching different sentence structures
One of the key principles of Hochman and Wexler's 'The Writing Revolution' is that sentences are the building blocks of all writing. Even...
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coombeamy
Sep 13, 20214 min read
Why do we need to plan a sentence?
In the first post of this series, I explained how I came across 'The Writing Revolution' and its key principles. This post will look at...
545 views
coombeamy
Jun 6, 20215 min read
The text that revolutionised my approach to writing in the classroom
Like many other English teachers across the country, I have often agonised over how to demystify and break down the ever-complex process...
2,629 views
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