The aim of this unit is to support teaching assistants in developing a set of key strategies for teaching pupils how to learn and retain spellings, though teachers wanting to develop their skills in teaching spelling would also benefit. Some pupils find spelling a real challenge - your role as a TA is to reassure them, provide them with spelling rules and support them with active approaches to learning spelling. Pupils should then be able to choose the appropriate strategy to help them to learn new spellings as they arise. This unit will also help you, as a TA, to provide support for pupils in using and developing a subject-specific vocabulary which is vitally important in writing successfully in different subject areas. This unit has also been published as a mobile CPD course.

This unit is aimed at English teachers and departments who wish to develop their practice in relation to teaching the whole class novel. It is a self study unit which includes lots of practical ideas for the secondary or upper primary classroom as well as opportunities for reflection and activities to help translate what you have learned into practice. The unit covers how to choose and introduce the novel, improving reading fluency, developing key reading skills, writing about the novel and drama approaches. It is an ideal unit for a teacher preparing to teach a novel to a Key Stage 3 or GCSE class. This unit has also been published as part of a CPD mobile learning platform.

This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of poetry in the secondary or upper primary classroom. It takes you through a wide range of practical, active approaches to promote engagement with poetry as well as ways of developing pupils’ own poetry writing. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach poetry in the English classroom. This unit has also been published by Pearsons as part of a CPD mobile learning platform.

This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of non-fiction in the secondary or upper primary classroom. It takes you through a range of active approaches to promote engagement with non fiction texts such as travel writing, news reports, feature articles,speeches and formal letters, as well as ways of linking reading with pupils’ own writing. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach non-fiction in the English classroom.

This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of Shakespeare in the secondary or upper primary classroom. It takes you through a range of active approaches including practical drama activities to promote engagement with the themes, characters and ideas of the plays as well as suggestions for writing creatively about Shakespeare. This unit will support you in developing a repertoire of teaching strategies which you can apply to any of Shakespeare’s plays. They are based on the principles of ‘Active Shakespeare’ and includes lots of activities and advice which will help make the learning both enjoyable and effective. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach a Shakespeare play.

The aim of this training session is to support secondary teaching assistants in developing a set of key strategies for teaching pupils how to learn and retain spellings. It contains lots of paired activities and could be led by the SENCO or an English specialist. It is designed for a training session lasting approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. Some pupils find spelling a real challenge - the role of a TA is to reassure them, provide them with spelling rules and strategies and support them with active approaches to learning spelling. This training package will help them to achieve this. It will also help TAs to provide support for pupils in using and developing a subject-specific vocabulary which is vitally important for their writing.

THE TEMPEST Key Stage 3 English Teaching Unit This unit is based around Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. I have taught it to both Year 7 and 8 though it could easily be adapted for a Year 9 class. It is designed to fit into a half-term but, depending on how many lessons you have, could be taught over a whole term. There is a 65 slide PPT with a range of creative and enjoyable activities including drama-style tasks suitable for use in the English classroom such as a ‘guided tour’ of the island. There is also a homework project which runs throughout the unit and a Reading assessment essay built in. I have included a set of detailed teacher’s notes and a free CPD unit on teaching Shakespeare. Please note that all files are in pdf format.

This scheme of work is intended to be a creative and enjoyable way to explore the novel and is suitable for an able Year 7 or a Year 8 class. I taught it over the course of a term to my Year 7 but it could be condensed into a half-term. It includes preparation for Reading and Writing assessment pieces, (a piece of descriptive writing and a reading response) as well as lots of speaking and listening activities. There are also a number of engaging research/homework activities to which this novel lends itself and some activities which can be done as drama/role-play activities but which don’t require moving desks or classrooms! All resources to accompany the scheme are included. I hope your class enjoy the novel.

AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 The Next Step Practice Unit This practice unit can be used to help students build some of the skills required to then complete the assessed Step Up units… It guides students through the skills required for the speaking and listening assessment (group work task and individual interview) as well as preparing them for the reading and writing assessments with lots of opportunities for discussion and engaging activities. I designed it as a half-termly unit for my own year 10 Step Up class and linked it with preparation for their work placements. All eleven resources used in the scheme are included in both word and pdf formats in addition to a well-presented teaching PPT and detailed teacher’s notes based on my experience of delivering the unit.** Please note that the Next Step unit will not be assessed after June 2023 therefore this is a practice unit only.** More Step Up to English Resources Complete courses and individual teaching units on all component 1 and 2 topics are available. They include teaching PPTs, all student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes and can be found at: RoseandMay’s TES English Classroom Resources New individual units: AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 STYLE Unit AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 CRIME Unit New Complete Course AQA Step Up to English: Complete Course (Leisure, Crime and Style Units) You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit