Lessons are designed to be read alongside Sherlock Holmes: The Speckled Band. Had some good success with this scheme as a way of getting students to improve their inferential skills.

Hopefully this will spare some of you the torture of having to create your own mock exam papers within the IGCSE English format.

I've taught this to top set year 8 and year 9 - had more success with the year 9s to be honest, but I think this would work with year 8s further in to the year. This was a series of lessons taught over the enormous 8 week half term. Hope the resources are useful to you!

MASSIVE success with this scheme. Trouble is, what I can't get on here is the music files I downloaded and threaded into the lessons. If you want to do this, use a site like keepvid.com to download some sinister music - I used the little girls song from 'The Ring' and a series of songs from the original QUAKE video game soundtrack (one is literally just a whisper getting louder and louder). I played these sounds over the top of the creative writing assessment and got a decent response (true, one or two of the kids MAY have nightmares...). Best of luck!

The first part of a poetic investigation using all those old copies of the AQA anthology from yesteryear. The assessment is designed to focuse on RAF2,3,5 and 7. Each poem is split into two lessons; the first focusing on the cultural aspects and the second on the language. ALL of these power points are rendered in pink to allow Dyslexic students to read them without the text glaring. Second part to follow....

I am vexed (greatly vexed) at the generally poor quality of creative writing with students these days - they do tend to have a lot of their thinking done for them. Sadly, it seems to be something that is leeched out of them by a combination of an aggressive curriculum and teenage priorities. So, this is my answer - DUNGEONS and DRAGONS (Or D6 Dungeons and Dragons as I am now calling it). Simply put, it's a very simplified version of the original Dungeon's and Dragons - you need only a D6 (One dice), pens, paper and this power point to play. Try it out - I had some huge success with year 8, 9 and 11 classes instead of playing DVDs in the build up to the Christmas Break - it would work just as well for Easter, Summer and stand alone lessons where you have an awkward space to fill. Use this lesson when you are trying to answer this question - how can I teach kids to be more creative? There is some initial effort required on your part though - you will have to be the Dungeon Master in the example - but once you've got past this part, I am willing to bet you could leave the room and the kids won't have noticed. Additionally, I will be creating a series of themed "mission packs" for Christmas, Easter and Summer - you'll have to buy these (they take a while to make), but the start point is yours for free!!! LINK to Christmas Mission Pack - THE CASTLE OF TERROR! https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/d6-dungeons-and-dragons-christmas-mission-pack-the-castle-of-terror-11462671

The worksheets allow a GCSE Prose essay to be built up. They focus on the Introducation, components of the essay specific to answering the essay question AND the conclusion. There are suggested starter sentences. All resources are Dyslexic friendly (Comic Sans Font). Suitable for lower ability year 10 classes, or classes with reliance upon the TA's and outside class learning. The resources refer directly to the Lord of the Flies book. I have used the Faber and Faber Educational Edition (ISBN:0571056865).

Here you will find the reading lessons for my Lord of the Flies SoW for the low to mid ability (Learning outcomes measured against Levels 3 - 5). \nIMPORTANT: Lessons 6 and 7 use sound-clips which I couldn't upload - you will have to find suitable sound effects yourself.\nPlease feel free to add feedback and any suggestions.

Contained within this pack is all the resources i used with a bottom set 9th Grade group. I had mixed success but i felt my teaching got stronger as i went through this topic. A starting point for those wondering where to start perhaps, or another way of looking at a topic thoroughly done.

OK - the power point (Lesson 6) is actually a FOUR hour revision session. The two other worksheets are the articles and worksheets required to complete the lesson. You'd also need mini-white boards, whiteboard pens and post-it notes to run this lesson right off. Hope this will prove useful.

Having some great success with this continuation of the reading scheme. Inside, you will find resources to create a detective pack and lessons that will help students create and sustain characters. Really fun group of lessons!

I take no credit for the creation of these (probably by now ) universal acronyms. However, with a lot of my classes i find providing them with this sheet a good starting point. Use PEE sheets for lower ability students in KS3 and 4. Use PETER sheets for higher ability students in KS3 and 4.

Have had major success with this activity with a low ability group. Concept is centered around "A Tavern in Verona" and deals with events after the finish of the play. Students create and develop their own character. I have had un-confident and uncooperative students sustain their identified roles for 20 minutes with a video camera in their faces. Give it a whirl...

I teach a very low ability year 7 group and they are missing a large amount of spelling and comprehension knowledge of the simplest words. These work sheets are designed to be printed out back to back, taken home and completed. They will allow you to identify which of your students is able to accurately spell and use these first 100 words. VERY useful for EAL students.

The power points and worksheets build upon the attached pdf SoW (not my work - but i include it for you). The power points work through the trailers and the film with targeted comprehension questions. These were built with a mixed ability Year 9 group in mind.

A series of lessons exploring a variety of different writing styles (using David Lodge's 'The Art of Fiction' as inspiration) then targetting L5,6 and 7 for EACH of the Writing Assessment Focuses. You will need a copy of the OLD AQA Anthology (The one with Limbo on the first page). Dracula, Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire, Catcher in the Rye and a copy of 'The Mysteries of Harris Burdick' Portfolio (Images can be downloaded, but it costs about £13 from ebay). TOP SET Yr 8 lessons.

Two lessons this time, both very much reliant on the students to do the contributing: hence the reduced price.

A summer spent playing word games with my kids lead me to this idea. The idea is that the students are supplied with a grid of letters. They use these letters to build words which cause damage to a cartoon monster. The bigger the word, the more damage done to the monster. I’ve made it more and more difficult as the monsters develop - you have to use certain letter types for example. I plan to give each child one grid per week to complete and have their peers mark it. So you are completely aware, I have left all of the grids blank apart from on a few. You will need to fill these in yourself. Also, I have left the challenge component blank too. This will allow you to create challenges that reflect the specific types of spellings you are looking at - double damage awarded for homophones for example. There’s massive scope for differentiation in here too. I’ve included a whole class version of the spelling levels, as well as a photocopy friendly version too. I have long believed that making school a little more like computer games can be helpful - this is my first attempt at exploring Gamer Theory as I have dubbed it. Watch this space for more. Have to figure out how to do something similar with the other components of SPAG and Reading now… ADDITION: I’ve included some completed versions of the pack to give you an idea of what they could look like. Pay attention to the NOTES section of the power points too. These grids have been designed to be used in tandem with the Escape From Kraznir scheme of work. ADDITION: I’ve also added a new powerpoint that works as a whole class exercise. You don’t need the sheets, just paper and the will to go on…

A powerpoint lesson designed to be taught either AFTER a class has sat AQA English Language Specimen Paper 4, or to be used WHILST a class is sitting the same paper in the form of a mock exam where feedback is given immediately. In this powerpoint, I refer directly to the model material provided by AQA and provide some feedback that can be given to the students. The idea with the feedback is that the person marking (teacher or student) writes down the letter/number and, when the marked work is returned, the owner of the response can either write the target down in full or highlight it in a printed version.

Similar to a number of other resources I’ve already posted. Designed to be used after the students have sat the associated AQA English Language Paper 1 GCSE Paper, though with a little tinkering, you could run this as a mock exam itself and then have the students peer/self-assess afterwards. The powerpoint goes through each of the five questions, placing a firm expectation on the students having a pre-established strategy for completing each task. The students are then encouraged to refine this strategy. Each of the sections contains a break down of the associated source, exploration of the stepped Model Responses provided by AQA, and then provides the students with up to FIVE Case Study responses written by students (containing mistakes and all). I’ve had a lot of success with these types of powerpoints and they are especially useful for students working in isolation, or as a revision tool. Hopefully this will be of use to you.