Letts 10-11

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fatbananas
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Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:03 pm

Letts 10-11

Post by fatbananas »

Hello,

does anyone have experience of the Letts English 10-11? DS has just completed the book - only 10 tests. He took quite a long time over each test because he faffs - A LOT- and huffs etc etc. but didn't do too badly. That said, they didn't look very challenging either, particularly the comprehension questions. What are other people's thoughts?

And the general English grammar/ punctuation questions. Did anyone think they were hard/ representative of a GL style paper (whatever that means these days)? The papers say they are level 5 ....
Seize the day ... before it seizes you.
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Letts 10-11

Post by mystery »

Sorry I am not going to be much help as I do not have the letts papers you refer to.

I would expect letts to be reliable about what is level 5. I would also think aiming for high level 5 by the end of year 5 sounds sensible as almost every man and his dog has level 5 reading by the end of year 6 these days.

Have you looked at the 8 gl assessment English papers to see how they compare with letts?
Daogroupie
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Location: Herts

Re: Letts 10-11

Post by Daogroupie »

When is your ds sitting? I would be doing proper past papers at this stage rather than books like Letts. The timing of a full length English paper is important to get comfortable with. So many students run out of time and miss important big mark questions. You can see the posts on this forum. After an exam has taken place parents post about their dc's running out of time and missing big mark questions. This is something that should not happen if students have prepared properly. Timing is a topic to learn as well as those on the KS2 syllabus. DG
Last edited by Daogroupie on Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
fatbananas
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Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:03 pm

Re: Letts 10-11

Post by fatbananas »

Daogroupie wrote:When is your ds sitting? I would be doing proper past papers at this stage rather than books like Letts. The timing of a full length English paper is important to get comfortable with. Do many students run out of time and miss important big mark questions. DG
Lordy, really? He sits in September. I thought I read on here that people recommended papers only from Easter-ish onwards, otherwise you run out and the DC get bored? I'd better get a move on.

I haven't looked properly at GL papers yet, Mystery. I only received all 8 lot a couple of weeks' ago and haven't had a chance yet, but I can see what I will be doing this evening ...

Ugh, I can't do any papers with him this w/e as too much on. But perhaps next weekend ... Time flies ... we'll be most of the way through January by next weekend. :(
Seize the day ... before it seizes you.
VH73
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Joined: Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:25 pm

Re: Letts 10-11

Post by VH73 »

I don't think you're too late yet. My son sits in September too and I just started proper tests at home.

I think I'll leave GL last, started with CGP (they're smaller chunks), then Bonds (halving them first) and finally the GL ones (I had a look at them, I don't think I would pass). By that time hopefully he'll be more confident with everything.

But I'm happy to hear any different suggestions. This is my first time.
wildwest
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Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2013 6:27 am

Re: Letts 10-11

Post by wildwest »

We are still working through topics and other bits with papers interspersed. Certainly, the advice that everyone has been giving is don't get too preoccupied with papers all the time because you should be plugging the gaps at this time.

Dao, please could you elaborate? We are doing the exam in September in Midlands
VH73
Posts: 216
Joined: Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:25 pm

Re: Letts 10-11

Post by VH73 »

Making him do the tests helps me recognize where his real gaps are. I don't time him yet, until he gets familiar with all things he needs to know.
dartmum2
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Re: Letts 10-11

Post by dartmum2 »

I cant comment on the Letts papers, but just try and keep everything low-key in my opinion - I had one daughter pass last September and we did not start anything until Feb half term and then only did about an hour a week during term time - we did not start doing proper papers until June. If your child is bright enough and you are not to worried about getting top marks I would try not to do too much, perhaps try to work on being familiar with the question types and then move onto timings when they know the question types. I have done nothing at all with my daughter who will sit the test this September yet..... Good luck and try not to worry too much, that way your child will be relaxed about it too.
Daogroupie
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Location: Herts

Re: Letts 10-11

Post by Daogroupie »

Dartmum, you are in Kent where there are lots of schools and therefore lots of places. So as you say no need to worry about getting high marks. So you have plenty of time before you need to start preparing. But nothing but the very highest marks is going to get you a place in a selective school in an area like North London where there are only one or two schools and thousands of students going for a couple of hundred places. By and large the students who do the most preparation get the places though there are of course exceptions. Students can dramatically improve their marks using the right materials. If you open your exam paper and the format is second nature to you then you are already ahead of the candidate who will need to be working out the format on the day. Like VH73 I believe that sitting papers will increase confidence because they will do better each time and also will really highlight weak areas. Then you can hone in on them and do focused work on those points. Students who sit lots of exam tend to do better in the later ones as they have settled down to the experience. If your first one is the one you want you need to create the format at home so the first real one will seem like a later one! There is so much material and within weeks you will not remember material you have already done. DG
Thingsbehindthesun
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Re: Letts 10-11

Post by Thingsbehindthesun »

I found these books to be easier than bond, but we didn't finish them all.We would do these books in the car or if we were waiting around. If your ds is sitting this September I would try to introduce him to longer papers and more challenging ones, but also have a go of doing two papers back to back with a 10 min break in between that mirrors the way the real exam is undertaken for your school.

Do you also do work at a set time? My daughter was resistant when we initially started, but she knew I would not compromise if we had agreed to a set time.
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