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English lesson plan · 9th grade (Year 10 in England) · 45 minutes

Explaining the effect of a technique (GCSE)

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RL.9-10.4CCSS RI.9-10.4England: GCSE English Language Paper 1 Q2England: GCSE English Language Paper 2 Q3

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Explaining the effect of a technique (GCSE).

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Naming language techniques (GCSE); Tone and mood

Leads to: The effect of sentence forms: short sentences, fragments, lists, questions

Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Naming language techniques (GCSE); Tone and mood). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Which technique matches this description? Describing something as if it IS something else, without 'like' or 'as'. (sibilance / metaphor / juxtaposition / simile) → metaphorPrompt: Recall the key test for each technique: like/as? human actions? weather? s-sounds? exaggeration? contrast?
  2. Which technique is used here? In the gleaming shop window, luxury watches sparkled; on the pavement outside, a man slept under cardboard. (metaphor / juxtaposition / pathetic fallacy / simile) → juxtapositionPrompt: Check for 'like' or 'as' first, then human actions, then exaggeration.
  3. Type the technique (in English) that matches this description. Giving human qualities or actions to something non-human. → personificationPrompt: Recall the key test for each technique: like/as? human actions? weather? s-sounds? exaggeration? contrast?

Hook · 5 min

  • Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
  • Share the objective: Explaining the effect of a technique (GCSE). Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Read the question and choose. "Rain. Endless rain. It drummed, dripped and dribbled down the glass." What is the effect of the short opening sentences?
  • Step 1: A strong analysis links the technique to its effect: what it suggests, the mood it creates, or how it makes the reader feel.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: they emphasise the relentless, dreary weather
  • Answer: they emphasise the relentless, dreary weather
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Is the proposed answer correct? "The old factory stood silent, its broken windows staring blankly at the street." What is the effect of the personification? → it makes the abandoned building seem lifeless and eerie (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → yes, it is correctPrompt: Picture what the words make you see, hear or feel.
  2. Read the question and choose. "She was a mouse in meetings, but a lion on the pitch." What is the effect of the contrasting metaphors? (they suggest she is ill / they show she likes animals / they highlight how differently she behaves in two settings / they make her seem the same everywhere) → they highlight how differently she behaves in two settingsPrompt: Picture what the words make you see, hear or feel.

You do: independent practice · 10 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Is the proposed answer correct? "While the guests feasted on lobster, the kitchen staff shared a single loaf." What is the effect of the juxtaposition? → it highlights the unfair gap between rich and poor (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → yes, it is correctPrompt: Picture what the words make you see, hear or feel.
  2. Read the question and choose. "The wind howled through the empty streets." What is the main effect of the verb 'howled'? (it suggests the weather is calm / it tells us the time of day / it shows the streets are busy / it makes the wind seem wild and threatening, like an animal) → it makes the wind seem wild and threatening, like an animalPrompt: Picture what the words make you see, hear or feel.

Watch out for

  • Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
  • Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Naming language techniques (GCSE).
  • Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: The effect of sentence forms: short sentences, fragments, lists, questions.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-9.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Explaining the effect of a technique (GCSE)

Name

Date

Score/ 8

The Flood

The river had been rising for three days, but in the village nobody spoke of it. People hung out washing, argued about football and queued at the bakery as if the brown water swelling beneath the bridge were simply another neighbour, loud but harmless. Nadia noticed. From her bedroom window she watched the river swallow the lowest step of the old jetty, then the second, then the third. At night she lay awake listening to it muttering against the stones, a low, endless grumble that seemed to grow hungrier by the hour. On the fourth morning, the sky was the colour of a bruise. Rain did not fall so much as hang in the air, soaking everything it touched. Nadia's grandmother, who had lived in the village for seventy years, stood at the door, sniffing the wind like an old dog. "Pack a bag," she said quietly. "Now." They were halfway up the hill when they heard it. A roar. A crack. Then silence, which was worse. Below them, the bridge had gone. Where it had stood, the river surged on, carrying fence posts, garden chairs and a single red umbrella, spinning slowly, like a flower.

  1. Question 1

    Read "The Flood". What is the effect of the personification 'muttering' and 'grow hungrier' in paragraph 2?

    • A. it makes the river seem like a threatening creature that is growing more dangerous
    • B. it suggests the river is lost
    • C. it shows the river is drying up
    • D. it makes the river seem calm and friendly

Who Has Seen the Wind? (Christina Rossetti, 1872)

Who has seen the wind? Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling, The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by.

  1. Question 2

    Read "Who Has Seen the Wind? (Christina Rossetti, 1872)". What is the effect of the word 'trembling' to describe the leaves?

    • A. it shows the leaves are cold and ill
    • B. it makes the scene noisy and violent
    • C. it makes the leaves seem delicate and alive as they move
    • D. it suggests the leaves are falling off

The Flood

The river had been rising for three days, but in the village nobody spoke of it. People hung out washing, argued about football and queued at the bakery as if the brown water swelling beneath the bridge were simply another neighbour, loud but harmless. Nadia noticed. From her bedroom window she watched the river swallow the lowest step of the old jetty, then the second, then the third. At night she lay awake listening to it muttering against the stones, a low, endless grumble that seemed to grow hungrier by the hour. On the fourth morning, the sky was the colour of a bruise. Rain did not fall so much as hang in the air, soaking everything it touched. Nadia's grandmother, who had lived in the village for seventy years, stood at the door, sniffing the wind like an old dog. "Pack a bag," she said quietly. "Now." They were halfway up the hill when they heard it. A roar. A crack. Then silence, which was worse. Below them, the bridge had gone. Where it had stood, the river surged on, carrying fence posts, garden chairs and a single red umbrella, spinning slowly, like a flower.

  1. Question 3

    Read "The Flood". In paragraph 1, what does comparing the river to 'another neighbour, loud but harmless' suggest about the villagers?

    • A. They dislike their real neighbours.
    • B. They are complacent and underestimate the danger.
    • C. They are frightened of the river.
    • D. They are planning to leave.

  1. Question 4

    Read the question and choose. "The wind howled through the empty streets." What is the main effect of the verb 'howled'?

    • A. it shows the streets are busy
    • B. it makes the wind seem wild and threatening, like an animal
    • C. it tells us the time of day
    • D. it suggests the weather is calm

  2. Question 5

    Is the proposed answer correct? "She was a mouse in meetings, but a lion on the pitch." What is the effect of the contrasting metaphors? → they highlight how differently she behaves in two settings

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

  3. Question 6

    Read the question and choose. "The motorway was a river of red tail-lights." What does the metaphor suggest?

    • A. the traffic is slow, continuous and flowing together
    • B. the road is empty
    • C. the cars are racing
    • D. the motorway is flooded

  4. Question 7

    Is the proposed answer correct? "The old factory stood silent, its broken windows staring blankly at the street." What is the effect of the personification? → it makes the scene cheerful

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

  5. Question 8

    Read the question and choose. "Hissing, the serpent slid slowly through the shadows." What is the effect of the sibilance?

    • A. they show the snake is lost
    • B. they speed up the pace
    • C. the 's' sounds echo the snake's hiss and create a sinister mood
    • D. they make the snake seem friendly

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Answer key: Explaining the effect of a technique (GCSE)

  1. 1. A. it makes the river seem like a threatening creature that is growing more dangerous

  2. 2. C. it makes the leaves seem delicate and alive as they move

  3. 3. B. They are complacent and underestimate the danger.

  4. 4. B. it makes the wind seem wild and threatening, like an animal

  5. 5. A. yes, it is correct

  6. 6. A. the traffic is slow, continuous and flowing together

  7. 7. B. no, it is not correct

  8. 8. C. the 's' sounds echo the snake's hiss and create a sinister mood