Is that a mode continuum in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?

Today's ENGA1 revision post (the first of a few in the next week) is a tip that can work for pretty much anyone, anywhere.

Here's one I made earlier...

The first thing is to turn out your pockets, find your phone, laptop, tablet (or similar electronic device) or even gather a bundle of things off your kitchen table (see picture above).

• Have a look through the things you find: bus tickets, receipts, prescriptions, books, notes from school/college, text messages, tweets, emails, voice mail recordings.
• Choose 5 or 6 of the "texts" that you find. Basically, you can treat any of these as "texts" of some sort.
• Locate each item on a selection of dimensions from the mode continuum (see here). So, for example, you might choose the formal/informal, standard/non-standard and planned/unplanned dimensions.
• Find a piece of language evidence from each text to back up your mode placement (e.g. "I can tell that this text is planned rather than spontaneous because of this complex sentence" or "I can tell that this text message uses some non-standard features because of this non-capitalised first person pronoun").
• Find the right linguistic label from one of the top bands of AO1 to apply to the feature you've noted.
• Try to write an analytical paragraph about each text, making reference to the purpose of each text, the mode characteristics and the language features.
• Bob's your uncle.

I managed to find:
NUT magazine
Blurb of son's book
Letter from school
DPD missed delivery note
Markscheme
CD cover
Sainsbury's Active Kids token