by Nikki Atherton,
Assistant Lead Teacher of English
It’s safe to say that I absolutely, categorically could not teach without the humble highlighter: the saviour of the stationery cupboard! Although a simple classroom device, it serves many important functions. First and foremost, it allows students to select appropriate and relevant quotations to respond to a Language or Literature response, thus helping them to plan the response. Furthermore, it encourages ‘active reading’ – to highlight, students must search for and locate specific things in a piece of writing, meaning they are more focused and have a greater concentration when reading the text.
Highlighters have never been more relevant and needed in the English Literature GCSE curriculum; successful students are required to have memorised quotations for all the characters and themes for Blood Brothers, A Christmas Carol, Macbeth and no less than FIFTEEN poems! Crazy! Although highlighting the quotes won’t make a student memorise them, it will cause them to stand out from the page when revising, thus making it easier to commit to memory. Many top students highlight quotations for different characters and themes in dissimilar colours, making it easier to memorise one theme or character at a time with a colour scheme. Hats off to the humble highlighter – I couldn’t teach without it!
Assistant Lead Teacher of English
It’s safe to say that I absolutely, categorically could not teach without the humble highlighter: the saviour of the stationery cupboard! Although a simple classroom device, it serves many important functions. First and foremost, it allows students to select appropriate and relevant quotations to respond to a Language or Literature response, thus helping them to plan the response. Furthermore, it encourages ‘active reading’ – to highlight, students must search for and locate specific things in a piece of writing, meaning they are more focused and have a greater concentration when reading the text.
Highlighters have never been more relevant and needed in the English Literature GCSE curriculum; successful students are required to have memorised quotations for all the characters and themes for Blood Brothers, A Christmas Carol, Macbeth and no less than FIFTEEN poems! Crazy! Although highlighting the quotes won’t make a student memorise them, it will cause them to stand out from the page when revising, thus making it easier to commit to memory. Many top students highlight quotations for different characters and themes in dissimilar colours, making it easier to memorise one theme or character at a time with a colour scheme. Hats off to the humble highlighter – I couldn’t teach without it!
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