8 Sensory language

Assessment objectives IGCSE examination

AO1 Reading • Paper 1 Question 1
R3 Analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions • Paper 2 Question 2
R4 Demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve • Paper 3 both sections
effects

Differentiated learning outcomes Resources

• All students must be able to name the senses and find • Student Book: pp. 32–3
evidence of these in a text (Grade E/D).
• Most students should select a range of different senses and
• Worksheets:
1.8a Sensory language (1)
use them to infer meaning within a text (Grade D/C).
1.8b Sensory language (2)
• Some students could select and link sensory descriptions,
tackling complex usage and analysing how meaning is being
conveyed (Grade B/A).

Exploring skills
As a class, read through this opening section of Student Book p. 32, checking that
students understand the importance of appealing to the senses in writing and the
meaning of the word ‘connotations’ (refer back to Key terms on p. 28 if necessary).
For Q1, hand out Worksheet 1.8a and instruct students to complete the sensory
connotations flowchart.

Give extra support by helping students to think about what sense the phrase links to,
how the narrator would react, and what mood or atmosphere it creates.

Feed back as a class, drawing out the different sensory connotations and effects on the
reader of each phrase.
Read through the extract about a summer’s day. Ask students to work in pairs on Q2,
again using Worksheet 1.8a to make their list of different words or phrases that use
the senses. Feed back as a class, collecting ideas for each of the five senses.

Building skills
Set students the Q3 writing task and give them ten minutes to try to use each of the
senses in an effective way.

Give extra support by helping students to select sense words, or by giving them
sense pairs to include (such as: sun, hot; girls, laughing).
Give extra challenge by encouraging students to use the full range of senses.
Key reading skills
Chapter 1

Use the last sentence of the extract to show students how the senses can be used
in quite unusual ways.

Either get pairs to swap their work and spot each other’s use of senses, or feed back as
a class. If doing the latter, for fun, perhaps divide the class into five and allocate them
one of the senses; each time they spot that sense being used in someone’s writing they
have to stand up. This could lead to discussion of why some senses are used more
than others.

20 • Lesson 8 © HarperCollins Publishers 2013

 Developing skills
As a class, read through this section on Student Book p. 33. Discuss the use of the
adjective ‘slush-grey’ and encourage students to consider the connotations of ‘slush’
(suggesting a dirty grey, perhaps – thinking about snow – a sense of something being
spoiled or horrible). Check students understand the meaning of noun, adjective, verb,
and adverb before they undertake Q4.
Ask students, in pairs, to complete the table exploring the impact of using different
word types in Q4, using Worksheet 1.8b. Take feedback as a class, asking students to
explain and explore the effects of the words they have selected.
As an extension, introduce students to the idea of ‘nuances’: subtle differences in
meaning. Ask students to revisit the beach extract in pairs, exploring how the
language and senses used in the first paragraph create a more positive mood than
those in the second paragraph. Share ideas and discuss students’ findings as a class,
trying to draw out the different effects of language and senses. Responses might
include:
• see – ‘toddlers wrestle over plastic spades’ suggests play and togetherness, while
‘stray flip flops’ suggests desertion
• hear – ‘giggling carelessly’ suggests happiness and freedom, whereas ‘there is no
laughter in my mouth’ uses a lack of sound to suggest unhappiness
• touch – ‘the warm wind’ sounds nice and comforting, but ‘water sucks at my feet
pulling me inwards’ seems threatening
• smell and taste – ‘sweet smell of candyfloss’ sounds innocent and pleasurable,
whilst ‘salt spray lingers’ sounds harsh and difficult to get rid of.

Applying skills
Ask students to answer Q5, making use of their notes from Worksheets 1.8a and b.

Give extra support by helping the students with a sentence starter. For example:
The writer makes the beach seem... or The phrase ‘sticky toddlers wrestle’ suggests
that the beach is...
Give extra challenge by encouraging students to select a variety of phrases that
cover all the senses, and to use technical language (such as verb, adjective,
personification, simile, etc.) as part of their explanation of effects. Advise students to
link phrases together in order to show how mood is built up by a writer.

Feed back as a class, paying particular attention to the quotations that students have
selected and their accompanying analysis. Encourage students to add depth to their
comments by asking them focused questions about how specific words or techniques
create an effect upon the reader.
Invite students to assess their work in pairs, using the Sound progress and Excellent
progress criteria on Student Book p. 33 to see how well they have done and how they
can improve.

Towards To achieve the highest marks for reading, students need to select a range of the
Key reading skills
Chapter 1

A/A* most effective sensory words and phrases. They need to link information together
and to analyse how senses can convey different moods and ideas.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2013 Lesson 8 • 21