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Ben Hayes commented on the blog post KS3 assessment of classical civilisation 1 week, 2 days ago · View
Hi Catherine, I’m imagining we will assess “strands” (if that is the right term!) rather than whole levels at any one time: so for example we might do some source-based work relevant to levels 4-6 and then look at whereabouts pupils fall just with regard to the use of sources. Hopefully over the course of [...]
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That’s a great site Steve! Many thanks for a good tip!
In reply to - Ben Hayes posted an update in the group GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation : Hi everyone. Now that there are three books to cover in the Ovid option for the epic module, we are finding that pupils are getting increasingly confused about who’s who – Actaeon, Acoetes, Achelous, Athene, Artemis, Apollo! I can see why they might be struggling! [...] · View -
As a piece of literature Raeburn’s translation is great, but it is totally inappropriate as an introductory text to epic poetry! It really annoys me that this is the text the exam board uses: Ovid ought to really inspire a love of classical literature, but this version is just too high-powered for your average 15 year old, and simply leaves them cold! Exploring thematic development ought to be my focus as a teacher, but I spend most of my time simply trying to establish understanding. Like you Lucy, a lot of effort has gone into making the stories accessible! I was about to sit and go through all three books writing down every name yesterday, so that I could provide a reference aid/revision tool, but this topic has left me so drained that I simply could not sum up the energy or enthusiasm!
In reply to - Ben Hayes posted an update in the group GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation : Hi everyone. Now that there are three books to cover in the Ovid option for the epic module, we are finding that pupils are getting increasingly confused about who’s who – Actaeon, Acoetes, Achelous, Athene, Artemis, Apollo! I can see why they might be struggling! [...] · View -
Ben Hayes posted an update in the group GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation: 2 weeks, 2 days ago · View
Hi everyone. Now that there are three books to cover in the Ovid option for the epic module, we are finding that pupils are getting increasingly confused about who’s who – Actaeon, Acoetes, Achelous, Athene, Artemis, Apollo! I can see why they might be struggling! I don’t suppose anyone knows of a good glossary for the names in books 1, 3 & 8?
I agree there is rather too much to learn. My current year 10 pupils are generally of lower than average ability but even some of the more capable are finding both the translation and the number of characters difficult to remember. Does anyone else find the translation is very challenging for pupils? Mine tell me the English is more demanding, particularly in terms of vocabulary, than what they do in English Lit. Therefore I spend a lot of time producing summaries for them so they get an idea of the story first, then we tackle sections of the actual text. Yet I don’t have time to go over the whole text in detail as we have to keep stopping for dictionary checks or checking glossaries. Am I alone in this???
As a piece of literature Raeburn’s translation is great, but it is totally inappropriate as an introductory text to epic poetry! It really annoys me that this is the text the exam board uses: Ovid ought to really inspire a love of classical literature, but this version is just too high-powered for your average 15 year old, and simply leaves them cold! Exploring thematic development ought to be my focus as a teacher, but I spend most of my time simply trying to establish understanding. Like you Lucy, a lot of effort has gone into making the stories accessible! I was about to sit and go through all three books writing down every name yesterday, so that I could provide a reference aid/revision tool, but this topic has left me so drained that I simply could not sum up the energy or enthusiasm!
Is the following useful….
http://etext.virginia.edu/latin/ovid/trans/Ovhome.htm
It’s Tony Kline’s easy-to-access translation, and all key characters are hyperlinked and cross-reference in a mythological index. Click on Apollo and see all the places in the poem where he appears. The translation might help with understanding, though it’s not in fact a summary.That’s a great site Steve! Many thanks for a good tip!
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Ben Hayes commented on the blog post KS3 assessment of classical civilisation 2 weeks, 4 days ago · View
Hi Catherine, I have recently been working on this very same issue as we are required to provide “National Curriculum” levels on all KS3 reports. I tried explaining that they don’t exist, but this was deemed irrelevant, so I’ve had to make some up. I’ve just uploaded them to the library, so hopefully Steve will [...]
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Ben Hayes commented on the blog post The Bacchae 1 month, 1 week ago · View
Hi Jon,
Only just noticed your comment – it’s not a touring company, but rather the resident company of this small theatre in St Albans. For more details, use the link in the original post.
Ben
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Ben Hayes wrote a new blog post: The Bacchae 1 month, 2 weeks ago · View
Last Friday I went to see a local production of the Bacchae which I have to say is one of the best interpretations of a Greek play that I have ever seen. It’s on until this Friday (June 18th) at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans: if you live in the London area, see if you [...]
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Ben Hayes posted an update in the group GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation: 1 month, 3 weeks ago · View
I’ve uploaded an unofficial ”marksheet” for the controlled assessment. We gave our pupils a controlled assessment ”dummy run” as part of the revision for their Pompeii exam. They had to discuss whether the House of the Faun or the House of the Vettii was the most ”typical” Pompeian house. We then used the unofficial markscheme alongside the official one to help us work out the ”best fit” for each Assessment Objective, and to show the pupils more clearly where their strengths and weaknesses were (good diagnostics). We ticked one statement from each batch on the unofficial marksheet – these statements correspond to the OCR bands. Then we’d look at the overall trend and award marks accordingly. So, if for example we had mostly ticked band 2 statements but also had a couple of band 3s, we’d give them a low band 2 mark overall. It seemed to work really well, and we plan to use the same approach every time from now on. If yuo try it and come up with any improvements or additional ideas, I’d welcome any feedback!
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Ben Hayes joined the group GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation 1 month, 3 weeks ago · View
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Hi Nancy,
We’ve stuck with what we know in opting for the Olympics. A new form of major assessment is enough change to deal with for now!
Not sure how to confirm ”friend” requests, but more than happy to do so!
BenIn reply to - Nancy Moore commented on the blog post OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation Hey Ben Our other topics are currently Rome, Pompeii and the Odyssey. I am going to switch to Athens rather than Rome next year as it better informs the work we will do on the Antigone. I know that the school used to do the Olympics, [...] · View -
Ben Hayes commented on the blog post OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation 1 month, 3 weeks ago · View
Hi Nancy, We teach this specification, with Pompeii, Athens and Ovid as our choices for the examined units, and the Olympics for the Controlled Assessment. We had a “practice run” at the controlled assessment as revision for the GCSE Pompeii exam (which our Yr 10s sat yesterday). I created a marksheet which made the marking [...]
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