Essay

11 Plus English - Preparation and Information

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Metul

Essay

Post by Metul »

Does any one have any good essay titles that I could use as practice for the exam. Thank you :D
Sandy D

RE: Essay

Post by Sandy D »

A headmaster in a preparatory school in Harrow suggested that one of the best ways to practice creative essays is whilst driving around take any advert or name of a place, e.g. name of a pub, say Fox & Hound, and create at least three different scenarios/essays in your mind. For example take "The Escape" as a title, you could apply this to a World War Two thriller, or a last minute goal in a football match or it could be the name of a boat.

The idea is not to write them out but by discussion with a parent or friend create a short story and try and colour in the characters by giving them attributes.
Raam

Re: essay tips

Post by Raam »

For this topic, I would suggest that you find a title that is within your interests; for instance, if you like to play an instrument - such as the violin, etc. - write about that. Alternatively (or rather, when you gain more confidence in this area), you could decide to write about something you dislike.

Also, a tip for this aspect of the exams would be to do a spider diagram on this topic and list as many things as you can for the essay title you are working on. Then, simply incorporate these ideas onto paper. As you get better at essays, you will find that you can do the spider diagram in your head as quick as a flash.
Tom Beardsworth

Re: Essay

Post by Tom Beardsworth »

Metul wrote:Does any one have any good essay titles that I could use as practice for the exam. Thank you :D
Here are a few.

Describe your worst experience of fear
Describe walking down a corridor
Describe a beatiful picture or countryside
Zoe

essay questions

Post by Zoe »

I don't know, but I did find some creative writing resources which look helpful at:

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/contents2.htm
forumadmin
Site Admin
Posts: 1188
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2004 4:31 pm

Self-Promotion/ Essay Planning

Post by forumadmin »

Whilst we do not normally allow self-promotion Ms. Zoe Lowe, the link you have mentioned above is quite useful, and have therefore allowed it:

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/ ... yplans.pdf

It would compliment the essay section written by our 2005 11 year old Eleven Plus veteran, where he mentions essay planning:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/english_essays.php

If you wish to contribute pages to this website for benefit of other parents please contact the website administrator either by e-mail (11plus-forum@ElevenPlusExams.co.uk) or by telephone (020 8863 0066). Our contributors to date range from 10 year olds to a Mathematics Professor!
fatsia
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:14 pm

Reading short stories

Post by fatsia »

Hi

Does anyone know if reading short stories helps a child with imaginative essays?

My son's writing, grammar and punctuation is very good but he lacks ideas needed. This is not a problem if he has longer than 20 minutes.

We have eight weeks to prepare for his exams - any suggestions on what we should be doing?

Many thanks

Fatsia
Mike Edwards

Post by Mike Edwards »

To help students write more and improve quality of writing:

1. Don't tell them to plan, help them to plan i.e. "bubble planning"
They should have a theme, an introduction, three key events and a conclusion.

2. Use this list
What
Why
Where
When
How
Who

3. Use this list
See
Hear
Smell
Taste
Touch

Feelings/Emotions

4. Adjectives must precede all nouns.

5. First draft writing, whilst preparing for tests, should not be marked as a test piece of writing. Help the child by proof reading together and encourage them to suggest their own improvements.

The child will then be able to identify the standard of work they need to achieve in the test.

Oh!!! always ignore spelling, punctuation and grammar whilst the child is draft writing. The important things are structure, content and free flowing writing. SPG will improve through step 5.
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