Year 11 – Analysing a Writer’s Techniques lesson plan

Obj: To consider word choice Text: Extract from President Obama’s Inauguration Speech

Time Activity Purpose

10 Starter: Kinaesthetic activity to wake them up

Student picks a verb and class suggest other
verbs it could be replaced with (can mime). Sets focus on words with similar
Outline on board connotations of each verb, then meanings but different resonances.
repeat exercise with an adjective.

5 Read passage aloud political speech style, class Involves all students, brings text to life
vote on best speaker for a merit. and provides an opportunity for speaking
and listening

5 Merits awarded for spotting ‘obvious’ devices To motivate students to spot clear
(personification, power of 3, alliteration etc.) devices and then not be distracted by
them as we are looking deeper into the
text today

5 Individuals highlight text in different colours: ½ To select words for discussion

find interesting verbs and ½ find good adj

5 Pairs feedback to one another To check they’ve got the right parts of
speech!

10 Model ‘word/meaning/effect’ table for 1 verb To demonstrate task (explain difference

and 1 adjective between C and A* level answers)

10 Pairs complete table with 2 more verbs and 2 To help each other at this level, later
more adjective (dictionary available to help) they will practise this alone

5 Plenary: To share good ideas and get feedback

Pairs feedback to class their best from class and teacher
word/meaning/effect
Extract from President Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech
Everywhere we look, there is work to be done.
The state of our economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to
lay a new foundation for growth.
We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us
together.
We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and
lower its costs.
We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will
transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.
All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate
too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done,
what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to
courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political
arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works,
whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.
Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.
And those of us who manage the public's knowledge will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad
habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a
people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and
expand freedom is unmatched.
But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation
cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.
The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on
the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity,
but because it is the surest route to our common good.

Lesson Evaluation

The verb mime game was well received, and students raised some excellent words for discussion

Examples of work:
Verbs: we discussed the difference between ‘play’ and ‘frolic’ and students identified that play could
happen anywhere but was likely to be done by children whilst ‘frolic’ could only happen outside
(perhaps only in meadows) and had connotations of new life with its link to spring and baby animals.

Adjectives: we discussed the difference between ‘titanic’ and ‘colossal’. Students recognised that
people were more likely to associate ‘titanic’ with the ship than the gods and attributed hubristic
connotations to the word. Colossal brought to mind the Colossus of Rhodes and the Coliseum so
students felt it would suggest something ancient and impressive.

The speech was popular and most students read their paragraphs very effectively. They’re BIG
Obama fans and learning to recognise the way a politician is manipulating his/her audience is surely a
useful life skill! It was also a useful text because we’re currently working on Assignment 3 for
coursework and therefore revising persuasive techniques was particularly relevant.

As expected students were able to identify the wealth of rhetorical devices in this extract quickly.

Paired highlighting revealed some weaknesses in students recognising parts of speech with some only
highlighting adjectives they recognised for sure to be adjectives – but it was interesting to see how
often less ambitious words (big, small etc.) were used.

Word/Meaning/Effect table instantly enabled students to see how some of them had until now only
been explaining the first 2 columns. I was really pleased by the scope of their answers and
encouraged by the sphere of reference they were beginning to draw upon: from cartoons to hymns!

Examples of work:

Word Meaning Effect

call to summon someone Suggests a religious ‘calling’ or the patriotic ‘call of a country’
bold brave and fearless Suggests knights and also may link to forging new ground because
of ‘Star Trek’ tag line ‘to boldly go...’
bind to link with strong Echoes hymn ‘bind us together lord, with cords that cannot be
bonds broken’ which implies that there will be real unity and perhaps
even divine assistance with this task.
dignified Showing an Dignity is an emotive word and something that most humans,
appropriate level of especially the elderly, strive for. However, having a ‘dignified’
respect retirement suggests they’ll be morally rich rather than
prosperous, a promise he couldn’t keep.

Overall I felt the lesson was fun and interesting for students but simultaneously provided them with
some really concrete techniques they could use for the exam. My previous lessons on this area have
perhaps been too abstract and whilst they’ve helped to develop students’ sensitivity to language this
table formula enables them to tie down their thoughts better.