In Between the Lines is an interactive online learning resource designed for students working at Level 7 or above. The resource is made up of six activities, each created around a sequence of increasingly demanding tasks. Custom-built multi-media tools are used to enhance the cognitive challenge of these activities.
The resource is primarily aimed at English and Media Studies students and can be used to support high quality GCSE exam preparation and coursework, or in advance of QCA's Optional Tasks for More Able Pupils. The topics covered by the activities mean that they can also be used in Science, RE, PSHE and Citizenship lessons, whilst the discursive skills developed by the resource are applicable across the curriculum.
The six activities can be completed in any order, although students should follow the task sequences within each activity. Completed work can then be submitted online to a London Gifted & Talented e-tutor for assessment. Alternatively, you may prefer to assess your students' work online yourself.
This e-resource is flexible. The activities work independently, and can be used in a number of different ways:
Does advertising have an impact on children? Are they being put at risk because of it? In this activity you will analyse the different viewpoints aired in part of a television studio debate.
The argument about using animals in medical research is becoming increasingly heated. In this activity you will find extracts from newspapers, press releases and other documents. You will be asked to create your own newspaper front page.
Once signed in you can download the "sift and sort" classroom activity.
Freedom of information is an area where the interests of personal privacy, access to data and freedom of expression collide. In this activity you will find pages taken from four freedom of information websites in December 2004.
Genetic engineering, in the form of human embryo screening, is no longer science fiction, it's a reality. In this activity, you will find video clips of people talking about embryo screening and create a mini-documentary using a video editing tool.
Homelessness and begging are uncomfortable issues to address and for a long time the realities were largely unknown, hard facts just didn't exist. This activity presents you with part of a magazine article written by Tony Parsons in 1991 and information from two more recent reports on begging.
Why is there an argument between creationists and Darwinists? What different explanations do people accept or promote for the origin of life? This resource offers several points of view in this debate.
You can choose to look at this debate from four different curriculum areas – English, Religious Education, Citizenship or Critical Thinking. Choose which area you would like to explore the debate from.
The skills developed through the activities include the following:
Students are able to respond by appreciating and commenting on a variety of texts, and can evaluate the way that authors' effects are achieved through linguistic, structural and presentational techniques.
Students have the ability to select and analyse information and ideas, and can comment on how these are conveyed in various texts.
Students confidently sustain responses to a demanding range of texts, developing their own ideas and referring in detail to aspects of language, structure and presentation.
Students can compare texts pertinently and carefully, including an understanding of appropriateness for audience, intention and form.
Students are able to identify and analyse argument, opinion, and alternative interpretations, cross referencing as appropriate.
Students' writing demonstrates a variety of features or expressions to convey specific effects and interests to the reader.
Non-fiction writing is well-argued and makes good sense.
Students' writing has both shape and impact, demonstrating a range of styles, and maintaining the reader's interest throughout.
Here you can find downloadable classroom resources related to the activities.