GCSE English Language - Summary/Synthesis (AQA: Paper two, Question 2)

This lesson focuses on the summary/synthesis question for paper 2.

Starter: Match the correct language to the phrase ‘Happy New Year’.
Objectives: To focus on understanding what to expect from paper 2 and develop the skills needed to compare texts based on their similarities and differences.
Overview of Paper 2: What to expect from each question and the exam as a whole.
Comparison activity: Students are given two different crisp packets of different brands (I have included an image of each in the PowerPoint, but in practice physically gave my students empty packets from multipacks I bought at the supermarket. This went well as they could also discuss the information on the back of the packets.) In groups students list all the differences and similarities between the two brands, then write about the differences in exam style paragraphs in response to a question.
Model response: An example response, highlighted strategically to show how it aligns with the criteria. I paused here to let students make notes.
Discussion on 19th century texts: Students are shown personal ads from 200 years ago and today. They then discuss how communication has evolved, touching on topics like technology making conversations more accessible and popular apps like Tinder making the search for relationships fast and informal.
Comparison activity: This activity allows students to practice summarising similarities between texts. They listen to ‘Hello my baby’ from 1899 (a modern cover) and ‘The Telephone Song’ from 1990. We discussed how communication has evolved since then and linked the subject back to our previous discussion. Students then practice writing a short exam response looking for similarities between the texts.
Plenary: Students write down something they’ve learned and would like to learn more about on a post-it note, and stick it on the board on the way out.

I’ve also included a worksheet for the second comparison activity. I encouraged students to annotate the texts and use examples from the lyrics in their responses.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of the images included in this PowerPoint but used publicly accessible images I found on Google images to make the presentation more interesting.