Transition Support Material

The Deathwood Letters Three tales with a twist By Hazel Townson

Resources for The Deathwood Letters  Transition support material o A new start o Pastoral focus o In favour of academic transition o The problems o How to make transition work  How the Hazel Townson collection can be used for successful transition  Resource sheets o Note taking tips o The Deathwood Letters: writing Frame o Diamond Hunt: Storyboard frame o Two Weird Weeks: Writing frame o Tables from The Deathwood Letters activities  Matching Chart: Year 7 and Year 8  Matching Chart: Year 6

The following pages can be downloaded and printed out as required. This material may be freely copied for institutional use. However, this material is copyright and under no circumstances can copies be offered for sale. The publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to reproduce copyright material. Transition support material

A new start The move from Year 6 to Year 7 can be an exciting time for students. They have the opportunity to make new friends and apply and expand the knowledge they gained previously. It can also be very daunting. Students may initially have fewer friends in their new environment and must adapt to strange surroundings and unfamiliar teachers. The organisation of the school day is different and teaching approaches may not be the same.

Pastoral focus As a consequence, most schools have instigated transition programmes for students. Among the variety of activities that occur are visits to a new school, open evenings and meetings between parents and new tutors. Having arrived in Year 7, students are then faced with a ‘settling-in’ programme. As valuable as these transition programmes are, they tend to have a wholly pastoral focus. Now there is rightly more emphasis on academic transition.

In favour of academic transition The case for academic transition is strong. In many primary schools the academic focus wanes somewhat following the Key Stage 2 SATs. In secondary schools it can be several weeks before regular, uninterrupted teaching commences. The consequence is that students often go for several months without sustained academic input. Transition projects also produces recently assessed material from KS2 for their new KS3 teachers. This material is often of more value than raw KS2 SAT scores.

The problems Without doubt there are some excellent teaching materials in the ‘official’ transition unit provided by the DfES, yet for many reason its take-up by schools has been relatively patchy. Most teachers who have implemented successful transition packages argue that the teaching materials employed are of less significance than the logistics of setting up the project:  Communication is difficult. Teachers are difficult to contact via telephone and messages can often go astray.  Some staff are ‘initiative-weary’.  Primary school teachers often look forward to the post-SAT period, a time when the curriculum falls more under their control. It is often at this time of year when activities tend to be a little more fun and Primary teachers may not welcome such initiatives.  Students from a single primary school do not all go to the same secondary school. Implementing several different transition packages in Year 6 is extraordinarily difficult.  Primary school classes are often made up of students from more than a single year group.

How to make transition work Here are some ideas that have proved successful in setting up transition projects around the UK.  Senior management support for transition initiatives is important. It is well worth trawling the DfES and Standards Agency websites and obtaining copies of the case for academic transition. There is a strong link between successful transition projects and healthy performance in the Year 7 optional tests.  Track down any money that has come into schools in support of transition. Often project 2 monies have the habit of disappearing into larger budgets. If the school’s finance manager cannot help, try an LEA advisor, who should be able to tell you what money came into school, when it came in and what it should be used for.  Some transition projects have received local sponsorship. Companies are usually very keen to forge partnerships with schools as it provides advertising access into many homes. Schools have had reading logs purchased for them, for example, with the sponsors name printed on the rear.  It is essential to foster the good will of primary school colleagues. In reality, the secondary school should be the driving force behind a successful transition project. Consequently many schools organise meetings with primary colleagues and fund the supply cover for them. Some schools even organise teacher swaps, where Year 6 students get to meet their new teachers while their current teachers meet about transition. Pub lunches and evening meals have often slipped into the equation too!  Purchasing materials for primary schools is always a winner. No matter how tight a secondary school department thinks its budget is, their feeder primaries will always have less to work with. Providing folders for materials to be carried between schools, for example, is not overly expensive but always gratefully welcomed.  Primary schools are always providing information for secondary schools, yet the process is rarely reversed. Primary teachers appreciate catching up with old students, especially as the relationships are different to those found in secondary schools. This simple gesture is an excellent way to promote enthusiasm for transition. An ideal opportunity could be the ‘Open Evening’, an event many schools run to attract new students.  Clear project objectives can be set in KS2, and it is helpful to sell the idea to students that this material will be going to their new teachers. The importance of first impressions produces positive responses among students.  Start small and foster good working relationships and build on projects year by year. The simplest of transition projects could be just and exchange of student work. It can be displayed in new classrooms upon arrival in Year 7.  Involve the LEA advisory team. They may be aware of other projects that could be on use to you. They are often able to conjure financing under certain circumstances.

3 How the Hazel Townson collection can be used for successful transition

Hazel Townson’s work is perfect for transition projects. It is accessible for younger ages and lesser abilities but it has structural interest to engage the older and extend the more able.

The activity section has been designed with an approach that can be used for transition. A two part structure means the activities are ideal for local transition projects between secondary schools and their feeder primaries. Having read the appropriate stories as the primary teacher sees fit, Year 6 students complete Section A activities. After brief recapping exercises or even re-readings, Section B can be attempted at the outset of Year 7. The same stories can be read by both Year 6 and Year 7 classes, thus strengthening the notion of academic continuation.

The activities do not come as a package to necessarily be followed in entirety and is not overtly prescriptive. In acknowledging that circumstances differ widely in schools from different areas, the collection has a distinct advantage over the materials available from the DfES. The ‘dip-in’ approach is possible and Year 7 students can quickly pick up on anything missed if they have moved into the area.

Of course, an off-the-shelf transition project is not possible. There will still be a need for local adaptation and consultation. These materials, however, are more appropriately chosen, have a precise textual focus and build upon those skills most likely to be somewhat rusty.

This collection can also be used as a Year 6 or2 a Year 7 classroom reader. The structure of the activities can also be used within a single year group’s scheme of work.

Resource sheets

There are resource sheets for students to provide additional support in the activities that appear in the back of the book. These include:  a writing frame  a storyboard frame  a diagram showing note taking methods.

There are also additional sheets in Word that can be adapted to suit the needs of your school’s programme. They include:  an objectives matching grid – for Year 7 and Year 8  an objectives matching grid – for Year 6  all tables that appear in the activities.

4 1 Note taking tips

Brainstorming

This is a very good idea for description. It helps you to remember things and put your thoughts in order. Study the brainstorming example below before you start your own.

Skimming

This is reading text very quickly. You could do this if you have already read something once and want to refresh your memory. It is also a good technique for getting the main ideas from a larger piece of writing.

Of course, you should never do this all the time. There are many occasions when you have to read things far more carefully.

Scanning

This is when you are looking for a particular word (or small group of words) in a text. You can even do this backwards through the writing because you are searching for something, not trying to understand it.

Highlighters

It is always a good idea to use highlighter pens to make important ideas stand out. (IMPORTANT - you should always check that it is ok to do this.) Underlining in different ways is another way of achieving the same effect.

5 2 The Deathwood Letters: writing frame

Activity 4: Collecting Evidence (pages 201-203)

6 3 The Deathwood Letters: writing frame

Activity 1: Making Readers think (pages 204-205)

7 4 Two Weird Weeks: writing frame

Activity 2: Collecting Evidence (page 209)

The Grandada Palms Hotel Sunset Strip Malaga Spain

Dear Sonia, Let me say first that …

The Deathwood letters

Activity 1: Reading between the lines (pages 197-198)

Page Clue Information 4 dog George believes people ‘must be mad’ to risk themselves for a dog.

6 mistake

6 employment

8 cellar

11 education

11 watching TV

14 Killer

17 secrets

17 car

The Deathwood Letters

Activity 2: Putting the pieces together (pages 198-199)

Page Clue Information 22 Blackpool George had to thumb lifts home from Blackpool. Dex was arrested as the car he was driving was taken without the owner knowing. Dex claims he forgot. 24 memory

27 night activity

31 hole

33 late nights

33 Megsy

33 Killer

Diamond Hunt

Activity 2: Character profiles (pages 205-206)

Pages Evidence What is learned about the character 72, 80 Conversation about living with Adam is not happy to be away Gran from home. He misses his friends and is worried about starting a new school. 75 Not speaking or smiling

73, 81 Thinking about Jenny

80, 81

92, 93

105, 106

109, 110

116, 117

Diamond Hunt

Activity 3: Character development (pages 206-207)

Question from Lucy Melling’s Mum Lucy Melling’s reply When did you meet this Adam? He started at school last month. He was a new boy in my class. You made friends right away?

Two Weird Weeks

Activity 1: Believing characters (page 208)

Page What Sonia says/thinks The truth 141-142 Owen is just dawdling when Owen is choosing a car to break tapping his fingers on car door into and on the lookout for handles. valuables.

13 Matching activities to Framework Objectives – Year 7 and Year 8

Activity Year 7 objectives Year 8 objectives The Deathwood Letters Task 1 R8 – inference and deduction R4 – review inference and Wr6 – character portrayal deduction Wr5 – narrative description Task 2 R8 – inference and deduction R4 – review inference and Wr6 – character portrayal deduction Wr5 – narrative description Task 3 W5 – homophones W1 – homophone consolidation Task 4 Wr10 – text organisation Wr10 – presenting information Wr2 – assembling ideas Wr1 – approaches to planning Diamond Hunt Task 1 Wr7 – narrative devices Wr7 – imply meaning SL1 – clarifying ideas Sl10 – talk for evaluation Task 2 Wr6 – character portrayal Wr13 – evidence Wr16 – evidence R12 – character Task 3 Wr8 – infer and deduce Wr6 – sense of character Wr5 – structure SL16 – script Two Weird Weeks Task 1 Wr8 – infer and deduce R7 – irony Wr15 – personal view Wr17 – evidence Task 2 Wr8 – infer and deduce Wr6 – sense of character Task 3 SL10 – main points SL10 – talk for evaluation Wr6 – character portrayal Wr6 – sense of character The Author’s Craft Task 1 R12 – structure R10 – structure Task 2 Wr5 – story structure R8 – different forms Wr5 – narrative Task 3 R12 – structure R 10 – structure Task 4 Wr5 – story structure R8 – different forms Wr5 – narrative

14 Matching activities to Framework Objectives – Year 6

Activity Year 6 objectives The Deathwood Letters Task 1 T17 – effective text appraisal Task 2 T17 – effective text appraisal Task 3 W1 – identify mis-spelt words Task 4 T17 – effective text appraisal Diamond Hunt Task 1 T17 – effective text appraisal Task 2 T17 – effective text appraisal Task 3 T17 – effective text appraisal Two Weird Weeks Task 1 T17 – effective text appraisal Task 2 T17 – effective text appraisal Task 3 T17 – effective text appraisal The Author’s Craft Task 1 S1 – narrative revision Task 2 S1 – narrative revision Task 3 S1 – narrative revision Task 4 S1 – narrative revision