Good books for Year 10 girl? English coursework a struggle

[fimac1]

A bit of background, dd always had her nose in a book, until she hit the teenage years, last books she read were the twilight series in Year 7, way before they reached the popularity they have today.

She has just had her first piece of coursework marked at B standard, we are convinced its her lack of reading and use of the english language that is down to it and want to find some books that she might actually want to read, she has quite a few more pieces of work to hand in so hopefully can up her overall grade.

Is there anything out there with good book choices for 15 year olds or Year 10's, to help with their English - she is also in the top set (of about 11 or 12 classes) to put it into context, she is expected a A or A* grade in all subjects

Thanks to anyone that can help

[webwiz]

My DDs are 16 and 18 now and they are both fairly voracious readers, I would just let her loose in the teenage section of your local Waterstones (or your local library). If mine really like a book they force me to read it too so some of the ones that I have tried as well are:

Uglies, Pretties And Specials a trilogy of books by Scott Westerfield (set in the future when everyone undergoes an operation to become a "pretty" on their 16th birthday but it isn't just appearance that is changed)

Red Tears by Joanne Kenrick (a teenager starts to self harm when exam stress gets too much for her - perhaps not one to start off with!)

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (a teenager is run over and the book tells her story from the "other side")

My girls have very different taste in books - one likes historical fiction and the other sci-fi and fantasy but they will meet in the middle if something looks exciting enough. The most recent book they have both read is Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink.

I would give her a reasonably free choice if you want to get her reading again. I wouldn't worry too much about her coursework levels yet as they are supposed to improve over the two years but as you say reading more can only help.

[JaneiteMightBite]

My dd is in Year 10 and in the last couple of years has particularly rated -

All of Jane Austen's except Mansfield Park, which she said was boring;

The Across The Nightingale Floor series;

Of Mice And Men;

Paula by Isabel Allende;

The Shopaholic books (but no good at all if you want formal, SE)

A couple of Marian Keyes' books (personally I think she's tosh)

Generally the difference between a B and an A in c/wk is down to the sophistication of their writing and the complexity of their analysis - eg: if they bring independent thought to the analysis, not just regurgitating notes from class / if they can discuss a text in the context of its social, cultural and literary 'origins' as it were etc.

[JaneiteMightBite]

Yes to His Dark Materials, although the 3rd one gets a bit stupid.

DD also liked one of the Kate Atkinsons but I forget which.

[fimac1]

JaneiteMightBite

Thanks - to be honest we are in the dark with the coursework as she is our eldest, she thought it was back for marking and return but the teacher has graded it! not sure if its my daughters error or not, it had been back and forth a few times, dd was under the impression she would be told before it was to be finally assessed, your comments are useful as it just may be her writing ability - they were given a titles of the stories only

[ShepherdsWashedTheirLocks]

What is the coursework on?

It may be that she needs to add more comments and quotations to support her opinions, giving an explanation of the effect of the language used/ what it shows about character/setting or theme.

[cory]

I would get this into perspective. If she is getting Bs she is not actually struggling, it may be that it's fairly small things that are needed to up her mark. Like Janeite and Shepherds suggested. I think she should have a word with her teacher about what she could do to improve.

[fimac1]

hi it was a fictional story - horror story, her teacher said the opening para wasn't strong enough

[mmrred]

Perhaps if it had gone back and forth a few times the teacher felt it wasn't going to get any better? Is creative writing a strength of hers? Quite a range of tasks are acceptable for original writing coursework so she may be able to submit something else in a style or form she's more confident with ( a diary, perhaps, or a descriptive piece)

As for the reading, go for adult books (not 'adult' books, just not teen fiction) and go for variety.

[fimac1]

mmrred

Thanks and I think you are right about what the teacher thought as the teacher said I thought it was your best effort and she didn't want dd getting stressed about it

We are keen for her to read proper fiction as in adult books - the teen novels are just not stretching enough, she was reading way ahead of her age proper even in Juniors, will check in the local waterstones for advice

[roisin]

I think you are 100% correct that if she were reading more, she would be widening her vocabulary and be able to write to a higher standard. It is a difficult thing to do though to get a student interested in reading again. Maybe set her a challenge to see how many of the 'top 100 books' she has read/can read in the next 6 months...

I also encourage all my students to start reading a broadsheet regularly, or at least a few sections of it.

These two worksheets give a user-friendly idea of what is required from an A/A* student.

How to get an A* in English

B to A in English

[fimac1]

Rosin

Thanks that is very useful

with the top 100 - is that the 100 top bestsellers?

[webwiz]

If she hasn't read anything since year 7 then the teen books may provide a useful lead in. If she rediscovers her love of reading then she won't have any problems with more challenging books. Mine read an eclectic mix of "easy" and "difficult" books depending on mood and work load.

[roisin]

There are various 'top 100' books lists about.

this one from the BBC is not a bad place to start

It's not a terribly 'worthy' list, there is some utter rubbish on there, but it's more accessible than some as a result.

There's a wide variety of genres and time periods on there, so plenty to choose from.

[Rafaella]

To improve her coursework, I'd also recommend the CGP English Language and Literature revision guides. My ds used these (as well as the York guides to specific books) and got A*s in both. I did keep telling him to rewrite in his own words and make sure he added his own ideas which he did but they helped him to get started. they also give an idea of the writing standard expected of A grade pupils.

[juneybean]

I still quite like the Gossip Girl series and I'm 24 lol. There's quite a few books but not sure it'd improve her coursework. A good read for a girly teen though.

[notanumber]

She's only a term into a six term course. getting a B at this stage is actually pretty good going. She's still learning the skills she needs to write well at GCSE standard.

Also(depending on the board), the overall grade for her coursework folder allows for 'progression' when earlier pieces are (understandably)weaker than the ones completed more than a year later.

However, I wholeheartedly agree that encouraging her to read more can only have a positive impact on her English work (as well as on many other levels too!)

Why not try her on some slighly risqué texts to whet her interest? Junk is a good starting point - always a winner, in my experience!