Get SET to teach secondary English with Sian's English Toolkit.
These resources are based on my experience teaching secondary English for thirteen years. During this time I gained experience teaching language and literature to all ability levels within the age range 11-18. I also have extensive experience of writing schemes of learning as I was a department lead for ten of those years.
Get SET to teach secondary English with Sian's English Toolkit.
These resources are based on my experience teaching secondary English for thirteen years. During this time I gained experience teaching language and literature to all ability levels within the age range 11-18. I also have extensive experience of writing schemes of learning as I was a department lead for ten of those years.
Christmas/Festive Anagrams includes two different anagrams worksheets all connected to Christmas and the answer sheets. These worksheets are designed to help KS3 pupils develop their language skills (such as the alphabet) and extend their vocabulary. The anagrams on each worksheet are listed in alphabetical order. Each sheet will take 10-20 minutes to complete, depending on the age/ability of the class.
In these tasks, pupils will unscramble the letters to identify the words. They will also be required to apply their knowledge of the alphabet and elements of language to help them unscramble less familiar words. An answer key for staff is included for both worksheets.
General anagrams are also available in the following:
Anagrams 1-3
Anagrams 4-6
Anagrams 1-6 (bundle)
A Christmas Carol revision worksheets includes ten different worksheets for learners to complete after reading the novel. Some encourage learners to think critically about the text, whilst others test their recall of key events, characters and quotes. The time taken for each activity will vary, depending upon the level of confidence. Times are likely to vary between 5-20 minutes. Worksheets could be given as individual resources or used to produce a revision booklet for learners. Answer keys are provided for all tasks, where needed.
Activities require:
sequencing of key events
sequencing of key quotes
linking quotes to characters
considering mood and atmosphere
thinking critically of characters and their personality traits
£2.50 for the resource means that each activity costs only 25p!
If you find this resource useful, you may be interested in other A Christmas Carol resources available in my shop:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-revision-board-game-12989845 - a board game is a brilliant way of engaging learners in revision without it feeling like work!
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-annotated-extracts-12933695
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-quotes-revision-12938348
‘Of Mice and Men’ revision worksheets includes ten different worksheets for learners to complete after studying the novel. Some encourage learners to think critically about the text, whilst others test their recall of key events, characters and quotes. The time taken for each activity will vary, depending upon the level of confidence. Times are likely to vary between 5-20 minutes. Worksheets could be given as individual resources or used to produce a revision booklet for learners. Answer keys are provided for all tasks, where needed.
Activities require:
sequencing of key events
sequencing of key quotes
linking quotes to characters
considering mood and atmosphere
thinking critically of characters and their personality traits
£2.50 for the resource means that each activity costs only 25p!
You may also be interested in these resources:
Narrative tasks: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12970442
Essay structures: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12970873
Of Mice and Men Essay Structures provides two different types of structures for learners, depending on ability/level of confidence with the novel. These have been tried and tested with groups of differing abilities in preparation for the Unit 1 Literature exam (WJEC).
The first set of essay structures is for pupils who don’t have much exam practice. It provides them with a detailed scaffold for some of the key ideas they may want to discuss and in which order. There are spaces for them to add notes about context and key quotations to include. There is an essay structure for each character and for the theme of ‘loneliness’. This has worked very well with C/D borderline learners.
The second set of structures are brief notes for learners who are more confident with writing essays, or as a quick revision tool. There is an essay structure for each character, in addition to three thematic structures. This has worked well as a revision resource for all abilities, and as a lighter form of scaffolding for B+ grade learners when beginning to produce essays.
You may also be interested in the following:
Narrative tasks: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12970442
Revision activities: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12945645
Punctuation of Speech Peter Pan Worksheet
This worksheet comprises an extract from ‘Peter Pan’ which contains 50 errors relating to the punctuation of speech. There is also an answer sheet. This is a good starter activity for learners who are developing confidence with punctuating speech or a more substantial activity for those who are less confident.
The errors include:
speech marks before and after direct speech
capital letters to begin speech
a form of punctuation mark before the closing speech mark
Sense and Sensibility Narrative Overview is a comprehensive account of key events within each chapter. It is divided by volume and chapter. When a new character is first mentioned, their name appears in bold so that students can create character webs/lists prior to reading the novel.
This is ideal for:
students to read before they read the book so that they can be clear on character and plot points
for essay writing when they need to practise quickly locating key scenes
as a revision guide (plot overview and to locate key extracts)
Heroes by Robert Cormier Narrative Overivew is a four page account of the novel.
This is particularly useful to give to GCSE English Literature students prior to reading the text, to provide them with an overview of key characters and events.
This is also helpful during the revision stage when students can get confused about the order in which events appear in the text as the narrative isn’t linear.
GCSE English Language Writing Tips & Tricks (WJEC) is intended to give specific instructions for less confident students to follow to help improve their mark for accuracy in the written elements of the exams. In my experience, this has a positive impact, in particular, with learners who have C targets or below.
It includes some very specific rules to follow to help show accuracy with some aspects of spelling, punctuation and grammar that were recurring issues amongst some of the learners in key classes.
It includes:
some key spellings
aspects of sentence structuring
including different vocabulary/language features
If you are interested in this resource, you may also want to look at the detailed GCSE English Language exam revision pack also available from my shop:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12969501
GCSE English Language Reading Skills (WJEC)
This card sort contains the success criteria for the main reading skills that feature in the GCSE English Language Unit 2 & 3 exam papers. This is for the WJEC - Wales - specification. A colour-coded version is also included to support with self-/peer-/teacher assessment.
The reading skills included are:
identifying information
interpreting information
true/false
sequencing
summarising
explain how
explain cause & effect
word definitions
synthesis
comparison
This is a useful revision activity in the build-up to exams. It is also a useful progress tracker throughout the course to ensure that learners retain the success criteria.
GCSE English Language Writing Planning (WJEC) is a resource to support learners with preparation for the writing section of Unit 3. It is particularly useful as a revision activity for learners at the C-D borderline.
There are four separate writing tasks included in this resource, three sheets per task.
Sheet 1 - a blank worksheet with the writing task at the top for learners to fill in
Sheet 2 - scaffolding with general advice on planning
Sheet 3 - an exemplar essay plan for the task
There are two ‘persuade’ tasks and two ‘argue’ tasks. The genres covered include:
article
speech
formal letter
If you find this resource useful, you may want to look at the other GCSE English Language (WJEC) resources in my shop:
Revision Pack - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/gcse-english-language-exam-revision-pack-wjec-12969501
Writing Support for C/D Borderline Learners - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/gcse-english-language-writing-tips-and-tricks-wjec-12969667
Reading Skills Card Sort - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/gcse-english-language-reading-skills-wjec-12979433
Individual Presentation Preparation Booklet - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/gcse-english-language-irp-booklet-wjec-12970177
‘A Christmas Carol’ Colour by Number is a revision activity to support recollection of key characters and plot points. Whilst learners of all abilities can complete this activity, it may support revision amongst lower ability pupils best.
It will take 15-30 minutes to complete, depending on the learner’s level of confidence with the book. An answer key is included for both elements of the worksheet.
If you like this activity, have a look at the other ‘A Christmas Carol’ resources in my shop:
Revision activities
Quotes revision
Extract analysis
There is also a board game, which I find particularly useful in engaging learners in revision in a less traditional form:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-revision-board-game-12989845
Inference Worksheets 2 - Treasure Island / The Secret Garden
These worksheets support learners in developing the skills of reading for meaning and making inferences. The teacher guide at the start helps you navigate through a series of activities that support learners in understanding a text. Each text will take approximately an hour to complete. These work particularly well with small groups of 3-6 learners but can be used 1-1 or with larger groups.
These activities help learners to practise:
making connections with current knowledge
visualising
questioning
word meaning
explaining subtext
empathy
prioritising
summarising
The two texts in this pack are extracts from Treasure Island and The Secret Garden.
Also available in my shop are:
Inference Worksheets 1: Peter Pan & The Wind in the Willows
Inference Worksheets 3: A Christmas Carol & The Wizard of Oz
A bundle offer including all six extracts
An Inspector Calls Essay Planning Tool support learners to plan responses for whole text questions in the GCSE English Literature Unit 2 exam (WJEC).
The use of shapes supports some learners in planning more effectively than bullet points/mind-maps. In this resource, the triangle shape reminds learners of the importance of the rule of three when producing whole text responses. Additionally, having a set space for each element of planning ensures that no element of the success criteria is missed.
This resource helps learners to plan for:
context
content
analysis/evaluation
quotation
This pack contains:
a blank template
a labeled template
a plan for a Mr Birling question
a plan for a Sheila question
a plan for a Gerald question
a plan for a Mrs Birling question
a plan for an Eric question
At the end, there is a blank circle template in case any learners find this shape more manageable when planning.
An Inspector Calls Essay Structures provides essay structures for learners who are fairly confident with writing essays, or as a quick revision tool. There is an essay structure for each character, in addition to four thematic structures. This has worked well as a revision resource for all abilities, and as a lighter form of scaffolding for B+ grade learners when beginning to produce essays.
An Inspector Calls Revision Activities Bundle includes a range of different ways in which learners can revise for their GCSE English Literature Unit 2 exam (WJEC).
This bundle includes:
a narrative overview of the play
five part essay structures for each character and four key themes
an essay planning tool that enables learners to incorporate all elements of success criteria, and using shapes to support different learning styles
a range of revision activities that can be used as a pack or as classroom activities
All of the above have been tried and tested in a classroom environment.
English Anagrams 1-3, includes three different anagrams worksheets and the answer sheets. These worksheets are designed to help KS3 pupils develop their language skills (such as the alphabet) and extend their vocabulary. The anagrams on each worksheet have a common theme and are listed in alphabetical order. Each sheet will take 10-20 minutes to complete, depending on the age/ability of the class.
In these tasks, pupils will unscramble the letters to identify the words. Once they have unscrambled a few, they will be able to identify the common theme. They will also be required to apply their knowledge of the alphabet and elements of language to help them unscramble less familiar words. An answer key for staff is included for all three worksheets.
There is also a bundle available containing English Anagrams 1-6:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12934233
Language Features Colour by Number worksheet, including answer key. This worksheet is designed to help KS3 pupils learn/revise definitions for key terms relating to figurative language. This resource is suitable for KS3 pupils. It will take about 30 minutes to complete.
In this task, pupils will select the correct term to match the definition. Correct answers will provide a key to use to colour in the image. The image is of crackers, a present and a Christmas bauble so is suitable as a festive activity. An answer key for staff is included for both elements of the worksheet.
Inference Worksheets 5 - Little Women / Black Beauty
These worksheets support learners in developing the skills of reading for meaning and making inferences. The teacher guide at the start helps you navigate through a series of activities that support learners in understanding a text. Each text will take approximately an hour to complete. These work particularly well with groups of 3-6 learners but can also be used 1-1 and with larger groups.
These activities help learners to practise:
making connections with current knowledge
visualising
questioning
word meaning
explaining subtext
empathy
prioritising
summarising
The two texts in this pack are extracts from Little Women and Black Beauty.
Also available in my shop are:
Inference Worksheets 1: Peter Pan & The Wind in the Willows
Inference Worksheets 2: Treasure Island & The Secret Garden
Inference Worksheets 3: A Christmas Carol & The Wizard of Oz
Inference Worksheets 4: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & What Katy Did
A bundle offer including six extracts
Capital Letters Worksheet - The Secret Garden
This worksheet comprises an extract from ‘The Secret Garden’ which contains 19 errors with capital letters. There is also an answer sheet. This is a good starter activity for learners who are developing confidence with capitals or a more substantial activity for those who are less confident.
The errors include:
starting new sentences
use of the pronoun ‘I’
proper nouns
punctuation of speech
Group Discussion Activity Worksheets comprises of two discussion activities. Each sheet is set up similarly to the WJEC GCSE assessment sheets to help students familiarise themselves with the format. There are five sources on each sheet, including two links to audio-visual clips. **Note - your school must have enabled YouTube access for staff for you to access these clips.
The first worksheet promotes discussion around the question, ‘What makes a good citizen?’ which is directly linked to one of the speaking and listening topics given by the exam board for the individual researched presentation. The second worksheet leads students to discuss, ‘What makes a hero?’ which can be connected to the novel Heroes for any pupils studying that text as part of the Literature course.
Whilst there are strong connections to the WJEC English courses, both resources stand in their own right to support pupils in developing their discussion skills and can be used with higher ability KS3 pupils in addition to KS4 pupils.