GREAT 10-MINUTE STARTER TO CEMENT THE FOLLOWING KEY TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS: Accent Adjacency pairs Back-channel features Blend word Contraction Deixis / deictics Dialect Discourse markers Elision Ellipsis False start Fillers Hedge Idiolect Interactional talk Initialism Jargon Micropause Non-fluency features Overt prestige Paralinguistic features Phatic talk Prosodic features Received Pronunciation Repairs Slang Sociolect Standard English Tag question Transactional talk Transcript Turn taking Utterance Vague language INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACTIVITY: Cut out these dominoes and laminate them (optional). Give individuals or pairs one domino, including you, the teacher. You begin by reading out the definition on the yellow side of your card. The student who has the term on the blue side of their card that matches with your definition then puts up their hand and says their term out loud. They then read aloud the definition on the yellow side of their card. All class members will have to listen carefully to see if their term matches with the definition they’ve just heard, and so the game continues until it goes full circle, every student has spoken, and you eventually hear the definition that matches with the term on the blue side of your card. Essentially, you’re playing a large game of dominoes, where students have to match key terms with definitions they hear. Depending on your group’s knowledge/ability, you may work altogether to match up the terms with definitions, or, alternatively, you may decide to play this as an actual dominoes game on the floor. This is a great 10-minute starter that really helps students to remember key terms and their definitions.

GREAT 10-MINUTE STARTER TO CEMENT THE FOLLOWING KEY TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS: Alliteration Assonance Enjambment Content Emotive language Form/ Structure Imagery Metaphor Onomatopoeia End-stopped line Rhyme Simile Stanza Tone Voice Symbol Rhythm Personification Mood INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACTIVITY: Cut out these dominoes and laminate them (optional). Give individuals or pairs one domino, including you, the teacher. You begin by reading out the definition on the yellow side of your card. The student who has the term on the blue side of their card that matches with your definition then puts up their hand and says their term out loud. They then read aloud the definition on the yellow side of their card. All class members will have to listen carefully to see if their term matches with the definition they’ve just heard, and so the game continues until it goes full circle, every student has spoken, and you eventually hear the definition that matches with the term on the blue side of your card. Essentially, you’re playing a large game of dominoes, where students have to match key terms with definitions they hear. Depending on your group’s knowledge/ability, you may work altogether to match up the terms with definitions, or, alternatively, you may decide to play this as an actual dominoes game on the floor. This is a great 10-minute starter that really helps students to remember key terms and their definitions.

A printable classroom aid for students to use to remember the necessary language skills for writing to describe - SIMPLES, with each letter standing for a different language skill. I used this with my GCSE classes and it proved really helpful for the writing section of the AQA non-fiction exam - the meerkat helped!

This is a 6-7 week scheme of work that can be adapted to suit your needs, but it basically leads students up to pitching their idea for a new type of fast food restaurant. Essentially, it leads up to a very engaging speaking and listening assessment. Students must learn to work in a team with different roles. They must learn to delegate tasks based on students' differing abilities. The SOW involves mind mapping, problem-solving and decision-making. Having done this SOW with students before, it really does get their creative juices flowing. They end up taking it very seriously and really do think about their restaurant's brand name, slogan, logo, target audience, USP, appropriate location etc. The competitive element of the SOW really engages boys as well. Not only do students hone their speaking and listening skills, but they gain a basic understanding of how to create a business that will be successful when considering several different factors. The SOW is all included within the PowerPoint with 'notes' added to most slides to be completely self-explanatory. The PowerPoint contains 31 slides, which are very easy to follow and tell students exactly what they need to do.

This SOW was created for Year 7 students of varying abilities. It contains 14 lessons with accompanying resources. The SOW has the following reading, writing and speaking & listening assessments: READING - Explore the relationship between one of the characters and the horse Joey. WRITING - Students are to describe a picture using the senses and one simile or metaphor. SPEAKING & LISTENING - Dramatic performance of a scene from War Horse. The SOW takes students through these learning objectives: LESSON 1 To be able to engage with the key theme of war in the novel To understand the main points about the historical context of the novel LESSON 2 To understand life on a farm in the early 1900s To develop inference skills LESSON 3 To be able to describe character To be able to make comparison To revise the use of connectives to compare LESSON 4 To understand the term ‘points of view’ To be able to compare points of view To be able to rewrite from an alternative point of view LESSON 5 To be able to analyse and describe a setting To develop descriptive writing skills LESSON 6 To develop inference skills LESSON 7 To be able to take different roles in speaking and listening tasks To develop drama skills LESSON 7.5 To be able to take different roles in speaking and listening tasks To develop drama skills LESSON 8 To be able to make links between objects, events and characters To be able to track themes and make logical links LESSON 9 To develop analysis skills To develop the ability to write about language To develop the ability to write about the words chosen by the writer LESSON 10 To be able to explain the relationships between characters LESSON 11 To be able to read independently To develop analysis skills LESSON 12 To assess students’ ability to make inferences about characters LESSON 13-14

The SOW takes students through the following learning objectives: Lesson 1 Obj: To be able to define ‘allegory’ and ‘satire’ Lesson 2 Obj: To be able to identify persuasive devices / To research the background and context of Animal Farm. Lesson 3 Obj: To be able to identify language used for characters in Animal Farm Lesson 4 Obj: To be able to identify differences between Snowball and Napoleon Lesson 5 Obj: To be able to use knowledge of the content of Chapter 4 to plan newspaper article. Lesson 6 Obj: To be able to identify improvements to be made through planning. Lesson 7 Obj: To be able to understand how power and language are interlinked. Lesson 8 Obj: To be able to understand how Animal Farm relates to Russian history. Lesson 9 Obj: To be able to analyse and interpret events in Chapters 8 and 9 Lesson 10 Obj: To be able to identify what makes an effective speaker and listener. Lesson 11 Obj: To be able to work effectively as a group and prepare a speech Lesson 12 Obj: To be able to present speech and peer-assess Lesson 13 Obj: To be able to analyse and discuss the film adaptation of Animal Farm Lesson 14 To be able to analyse and discuss the film adaptation of Animal Farm

Before becoming an English teacher, I was a journalist. I used my skills and knowledge gained there to create a scheme of work to teach students about how language is used in news writing. The SOW proved very successful with Year 9 students of varying abilities. The SOW is 8-10 lessons long, depending on your students’ ability. It leads up to students writing their own news article using the skills gained in the SOW. The SOW uses the following learning objectives in its lessons: LESSON 1 To understand how newspapers use layout LESSON 2 To compare and contrast online and printed newspapers LESSON 3 To explore the power of images in newspapers LESSON 4: To understand more about the language of types of newspaper writing LESSON 5 To explore the way newspaper stories are structured LESSON 6 To identify and understand emotive language, and its effect on readers. LESSON 7 To understand how to write clearly, concisely and correctly. LESSON 8 To understand how to put a whole article together

Ask students to create a social network for the characters using this user-friendly sheet. On the characters' connecting lines write how the characters are connected. Around each character's face write key quotes and characteristics. An example is shown.

Ask your students to graph the build-up of tension in each act. Differentiation would include asking students to add quotes to their graph or illustrate pictures to help their understanding.

A fun, accessible resource for students to revise the key tips for questions 1-4 in Section A of the AQA Non-fiction Higher paper.

Students work as detectives investigating a crime scene based on Roald Dahl's short story Lamb to the Slaughter. There are two lessons included with the learning objective 'To select, understand and describe evidence; To interpret information and develop explanations.' These lessons have proved hugely successful and fun for students. They absolutely love walking into the classroom to see a crime scene and it's amazing to see even the most disruptive of students get completely into character. There's a little preparation involved in these lessons, but you and your students will reap the benefits.

This scheme of work contains 13 lessons with over 35 resources, taking students right through the play. It is a comprehensive scheme of work that was incredibly successful with Year 9 students of varying abilities. It includes a reading, writing and speaking & listening assessment. This SOW includes film clips and drama to really engage students with the play. Opportunities to differentiate tasks for higher or lower abilities are highlighted in green in the SOW. Whilst the scheme was put together by me, some resources are taken from the RSC Shakespeare Toolkit for Teachers. The SOW has the following reading, writing and speaking & listening assessments: READING - Starting with this speech (Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 1), explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a tragic hero. WRITING - Letter from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth arguing for or against her ideas. SPEAKING & LISTENING - Dramatic performance of Act 3, Scene 4 (the banquet scene with the ghost of Banquo) The SOW takes students through the following learning objectives: LESSON 1 To understand the characteristics of a tragedy and to understand the battle described at the opening of Macbeth LESSON 2 To explore the meeting between Macbeth, Banquo and the Witches and how to make interpretive choices about the stage of the scene. LESSON 3 To develop an understanding of characters’ thoughts and motives LESSON 4 To understand the persuasive tactics that Lady Macbeth uses to influence Macbeth. LESSON 4.5 To construct a letter that has a clear purpose. LESSON 5 To understand how Macbeth makes the decision to kill Duncan LESSON 6 To understand the Macbeths’ reactions to their murder of Duncan LESSON 7 To understand the motivations of Macbeth and Banquo in the aftermath of the murder of King Duncan. LESSON 8 To understand how Act 3, Scene 4 works dramatically. LESSON 9 To recap the plot and to develop an understanding of how Shakespeare has presented Macbeth as a `tragic hero. LESSON 10 To understand the rise and fall of Macbeth / To identify dramatic devices and to start planning your essay LESSON 11 To structure an essay response to Macbeth which analyses language and dramatic devices. LESSON 12 To see a performance of Macbeth LESSON 13 To see a performance of Macbeth

Revision booklet full of activities for students to do at home, lasting 10 weeks. It gives clear activities and reading for students to do each week. There are practice exam questions throughout the booklet. The booklet functions as a workbook that students can hand in once they've finished. It's proved incredibly successful with GCSE students.

The idea of this exercise is to show students how a writing-to-describe question can be answered in a clever and interesting way. The question being 'Describe an average day at school', and the answer being given from the perspective of a pair of scissors.

Issue the worksheet to students and ask them to identify whether the line comes from Shakespeare or a contemporary singer. After 5-10 minutes, go through the answers using the soundtrack to show which lines are from contemporary singers. The exercise proves to students that contemporary singers use similes, metaphors and other poetic techniques in the same way Shakespeare did.

Sheets for students to stick in their books or for teachers to display in their classrooms that describe requirements for levels and sub-levels in reading, writing and speaking and listening. An accessible resource that allows students to take responsibility for their own progress. It's also a helpful resource for teachers when setting targets. Students find their level on the sheet and they can then look to the next level where it says 'To get a level 5b, I need to...' Also included is a marking key sheet for students to stick in their books to enable teachers to state the particular markers they use to marks students' books. Also, a personal target sheet for students to self-assess their ability at the start of the year. Students may review this at different times of the year to assess their own progress. There's also a target record sheet for students to keep in the front of their exercise books to keep a record of their targets. The idea is that they start filling in their targets from the bottom of the sheet so they're effectively climbing "the ladder" and making progress. Students should regularly review the sheet with their teacher to assess whether they're meeting their targets and whether their NC level is improving over time.