Question 5 (Foundation and Higher) Recap

Recap on Question 5 – the shorter of the 2 writing tasks. 16 marks available here – 10 for contents/structuring and 6 for accuracy/sentence variety. You will spend 25 minutes on this task – 2 minutes planning, 20 minutes writing and 3 minutes rereading.

You might be asked to:

• Describe
• Inform
• Explain

Or you could be asked to do a combination of the above!

Describe – do not tell a story but paint a picture with your words:

• Start with a nice short sentence.
• Adjectives (describing nouns) – colours, size, age, material etc.
• Adverbs (describing verbs) – why not start a sentence with an adverb? Quietly, I entered the room…
• Powerful verbs – why not start a sentence with a verb? Screaming I feel the air drain from my lungs.
• Imagery – similes, metaphors, personification.
• Variety of sentence length – short to build tension, longer for description.
• 5 senses – touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell.

Inform – to give facts. Remember the 4 Ws: what? when? where? who?

• Use straightforward language to convey information. Remember the 4 Ws: what? when? where? who?
• If asked to explain as well this means give more details and often reasons –  why and how the facilities could be improved.
• Remember to give specific examples and perhaps add in a few AFOREST techniques to make it interesting!
• Remember to still vary your sentence lengths even if it is inform.

Explain – simply means to give reasons. If asked to explain it might be alongside another purpose such as Describe and Explain or Inform and Explain. Remember you must be clear and answer the following questions.

• Why?
• How?

Previous Question 5s have included:

Higher

• A website called The Best and the Worst is asking for contributions. Write an entry for it which describes the best meal you ever had and the worst. Explain the reasons for your choices.
• Write an entry for your blog describing your favourite time of year and explaining why you like it.
• Write an entry for your online blog which describes a time when you felt uncertain or unsure about a situation you were in and explain how you overcame it.
• The travel section of your local newspaper is inviting readers to write about their favourite place. Write a letter to the editor describing a favourite place you know and explaining why others would like it.
• Write a letter which you hope will be published in your local newspaper. Inform readers what leisure facilities are available for young people and families in your area and explain how you think they could be improved.
• Sometimes difficult decisions have to be made. Describe a decision that you, or someone you know, had to make and explain the consequences. Your piece will appear in the Real Lives section of your local newspaper.
• Write a brief article for a website of your choice telling (describing to) your readers about an interesting or unusual journey or travel experience you have had. Explain why it was memorable.

Foundation

• Your local council is holding an awards ceremony called ‘Amazing Local People’. Write a letter to your local council, naming someone you know for an award, explaining why they deserve to win.
• A new website called Outdoor Exploring for Kids has just been set up. Write a short article for the website describing a place you have explored and the most interesting thing you found there.
• Your local newspaper is running a weekly column called The Food I Couldn’t Live Without. Write a short article for the column explaining which food is your personal favourite and why.
• Your school or college has set up its own radio station. Write the script for a short radio broadcast informing students about a good place to visit in your area.\
• A new TV series ‘Dream Jobs’ is giving people the chance to work in their dream job for a day. Write a letter to the producers explaining what your dream job would be and why you would love to try it.
• Write a letter to your headteacher explaining how to improve your school or college.

You could have ago at the above questions – you could plan a response or even write a response. Alternatively make up your own questions (you never know they might be in the exam) and plan/write a response.

Alternative revision tasks:

1. Look outside of your bedroom window. List four things you can see. For each thing, describe how it looks, sounds, tastes, smells, feels. Write four sentences, each one beginning with an adverb or an adjective or an exciting verb. For example: Whirling across the road, the leaves brushed the tarmac, bruising the cold concrete with the fresh, acrid smell of decomposing life.
2. Plan this essay in 15 minutes: Journeys can be exciting, boring, or a mixture of both. Describe a journey you have made so that the reader can imagine it clearly. Focus on vocabulary choices, using a thesaurus, and build up detail and description. Remember to make it interesting and to gain marks as soon as your pen hits the paper: ‘It was a matter of life or death.’ ‘Arriving on time was essential.’ ‘Panic exploded in my ears as I sprinted towards the train.’
3. Describe a memorable holiday. For each thing, describe how it looks, sounds, tastes, smells, feels. Write four sentences, each one beginning with an adverb or an adjective or an exciting verb.

I will post a few more posts about genre, accuracy and expanding your vocabulary to help with the writing section.

Miss O

Q5 – Writing to Describe and Explain

With Question 5 you will be asked to either describe, explain and/or inform. We will look at inform on Monday but if you are asked to describe and/or explain here’s a few pointers to use for revision.

5 paragraphs – 1 short but interesting one to hook the reader, 3 detailed, 1 short and memorable one to end. Remember you need to be a human camera – painting a picture with your words.

• Appeal to the senses e.g. see, hear, touch, smell, taste.
• Use adjectives – especially colour. Instead of the colour ‘red’ what shades could you use?
• start your sentences with adverbs or even verbs – Rapidly the snowflakes tumble to the floor or Looking out of my window I notice …
• Vary your sentences – ideally a few short sentences at the start of your writing.
• Vary your words – don’t use the same word twice!
• Try to show feelings and emotions.
• Use powerful verbs – instead of ‘run’ or ‘fall’ can you think of alternatives?
• Use similes, metaphors, personification.
• Try to zoom in as a camera would to focus on tiny details.

If the question also asks  you to explain remember to give reasons.

Practice questions:

1. Write an entry for your online blog which describes a time when you felt uncertain or unsure about a situation you were in and explain how you overcame it.
2. Write an article for a website of your choice describing an interesting or unusual journey or travel experience you have had. Explain why it was memorable.

There are 16 marks for this question:

• 10 for content including your paragraphing, use of structure and sequencing.
• 6 for accurate punctuation, sentence variety, accurate spelling and Standard English.

Spend 25 minutes on this task, 31 minutes if you receive 25% extra time. Feel free to hand in any work for feedback.

Miss O

Question 5 … the final frontier

We are just one question away. The final question for us to cover is … Question 5.

Question 5 is the shorter of the two writing questions. Worth 16 marks – 6 of those available for accuracy! It tends to ask you to write to write to:

• Describe
• Explain
• Inform

It may ask you to do a mixture or it may ask you to stick to just one!

Previous questions have included:

• Write a letter which you hope will be published in your local newspaper. Inform readers what leisure facilities are available for young people and families in your area and explain how you think they could be improved.
• Write a brief article for a website of your choice telling your readers about an interesting or unusual journey or travel experience you have had. Explain why it was memorable.
• The travel section of your local newspaper is inviting readers to write about their favourite place. Write a letter to the editor describing a favourite place you know and explaining why others would like it.

On Monday we will look at describe and explain. The revision session and lunchtime will be an extension of the lesson. It would be useful for you to attend to help with Tuesday’s mock.

A video here to take a look at before Monday’s lesson. Not the best commentary but you can clearly see an example response to a Q5 task.

Couple of tasks to help with Question 5 prior to Monday:

• Look outside of your bedroom window. List four things you can see. For each thing, describe how it looks, sounds, tastes, smells, feels. Write four sentences, each one beginning with an adverb or an adjective or an exciting verb. For example: Whirling across the road, the leaves brushed the tarmac, bruising the cold concrete with the fresh, acrid smell of decomposing life
• Plan this essay in 15 minutes: Journeys can be exciting, boring, or a mixture of both. Describe a journey you have made so that the reader can imagine it clearly. Focus on vocabulary choices, using a thesaurus, and build up detail and description. Remember to make it interesting and to gain marks as soon as your pen hits the paper: ‘It was a matter of life or death.’ ‘Arriving on time was essential.’ ‘Panic exploded in my ears as I sprinted towards the train.

Have a nice weekend – ensure you spend some time revising.

Miss O