1. English Language Coursework #1:
Writing to Inform

2. Coursework Notes:
Teachers must not mark, correct or edit draft material prior to submission of the assignment proper, as this is classed as improper practice. Students should draft and redraft their work, and teachers should give general advice.
The component description suggests ‘between 500 and 800 words’ for each assignment. This is a sufficient length to attract the highest marks. Work that is significantly under- or over-length is likely to be self-penalising.
You are reminded of the importance of careful proofreading of all your work. Typing errors, or the use of a wrong choice from a computer spell-check or thesaurus, must be counted as errors, and shown as such.

3. Coursework Notes: Work may be hand-written or word-processed.
Dictionaries may be used.
Candidates must include the first draft for one of the three assignments submitted. The first draft will not contribute to the final internally assessed mark, or to the externally moderated mark for the Portfolio.

4. Plagiarism
All coursework submitted by candidates must be their original work. Any work found to have been plagiarised must be removed before the Coursework Portfolio is marked. The Portfolio should then be marked in the normal way and a mark awarded for the overall quality. For each piece removed from the Portfolio, one third of the overall mark for Writing should then be deducted.
There will also be internal, school penalties for plagiarism. If you are not sure what constitutes plagiarism, ask your teacher or do some research.
Students are required to sign a statement declaring that all Coursework writing is 100% their own work (limited use of quotation is permitted in certain pieces of writing, where required, as long as all sources are acknowledged in a bibliography).

5. Assessment Objectives:
AO2: Writing
Candidates will be assessed on their ability to:
W 1 Articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined
W2 Order and present facts, ideas and opinions
W3 Understand and use a range of appropriate vocabulary
W4 Use language and register appropriate to audience and context
W5 Make accurate and effective use of paragraphs, grammatical structures, sentences, punctuation and spelling

6. Writing to Inform
List the qualities / characteristics you find most admirable in people.
EG:
Integrity
Open mindedness
Sense of humour
Risk taking

7. Writing to Inform
You might admire someone for something they have done (a scientist’s research to discover the cure for a terrible disease, an aid worker’s tireless efforts to help the poor in a particular part of the world, a football player’s successful career, etc).
You might admire someone for a quality or characteristic they have demonstrated through their actions (a friend’s relentless efforts to improve even though they are a weak student, a relative’s struggle to live a normal life in the face of a debilitating injury or illness, etc).

8. Writing to Inform Mother Theresa My Grandmother
Now list the people you admire and why you admire them.
Do they possess one or more of the qualities on your original list? (These should be real people, famous or not.)
Mother Theresa
Her generosity of spirit and her ability to give of herself in the face of overwhelming need.
My Grandmother
Her grit (she lived in a time when women had few rights and worked hard to raise 4 children) and her heart (she never lost her kindness or her sense of humour).

9. Writing to Inform
You are now going to choose one of the people you admire to research and write an informative essay explaining why you admire them.
IMPORTANT: If you choose a real person (one you know in your own life or one we know at school) you MUST gain their permission to write about them as we will be sharing our work when we do the Peer Review.

10. Writing to Inform
When you choose the person you wish to write about, make sure that you have a lot to say about that person (information about them and what they have done) and lots of reasons why you admire them. You could even write about how they, or their example, as influenced you or your life.

11. Writing to Inform Make sure you plan your work first.
You will need biographical information on your person (research or interview, depending on who they are).
Be care that, in planning and drafting, you keep in mind that you are writing to inform WHY you admire this person. You are not writing a biography so stick to what they have done that you admire and why you admire it.

12. Writing to Inform
Because this is a piece about YOUR opinion and ideas, you may use First Person.
You might wish to use some slang or colloquial language but remember that you are being assessed on your ability to fulfil the Writing Criteria so make sure your writing does not appear flawed.
You will need to carefully plan your structure to develop your point of view and present sufficient evidence to inform.

13. Writing to Inform: Introduction
You will need an imaginative, attention grabbing opening statement.
There are various strategies you can use to create this.
You can:
Start by identifying them.
Start with a saying or slogan associated with this person.
Avoid identifying them by name until either the very end of the first paragraph or even the end of the entire essay.

14. Writing to Inform: Body
Make sure that each paragraph has a single, clear topic.
Make sure that your ideas flow throughout the body of the essay and that paragraphs are linked properly.
Your essay should be approximately 800 words so you will need to be concise. If you need to go over, do so, but within reason! (Use your judgement.)

15. Writing to Inform: Conclusion
You need to end on a strong note so that the reader feels satisfied that you have fully explained exactly why you admire this person.
You could use a variety of techniques to do this:
End with a quote from the person (or about them).
End with a final example of why you admire them.
End with a strong statement about the influence they have had on you (or what you intend to do to show that future) ie: how you will live each day and take advantage of every opportunity because that is what this person’s example has taught you

16. Writing to Inform: Editing
Make sure that your piece has not become a simple biography of a person with just a brief mention at the end about why you admire them.
Your admiration and reasons for it should be embedded throughout the essay.
It is YOUR job to check grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structures (and variety), paragraphing and expression.
When it comes to peer edit, all technical errors should be fixed so that your peer can focus on the content. You may make changes at this stage but if they are huge changes, you will need to find someone to look at it again.
After it has been edited by at least one other student (preferably more!), your teacher will look at the ideas and the overall structure of the piece and return to you for polishing. Your teacher can only look at it once, so do not waste this opportunity.