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.

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

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.

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 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

This is a list of 'symptoms' of Asperger's syndrome. Display these around the classroom before students enter. As a starter activity, ask students to tour the room, find the 'symptoms' and jot them down in their books. This opens up a discussion about Asperger's Syndrome. Video also attached which offers a very intriguing insight into autism and Asperger's Syndrome. This resource is taken from my KS3 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time SOW which you can buy from my shop.

Go through the PowerPoint slide showing statements about Shakespeare. Students move to the left or right of the room depending on whether they think the statement is true or false. Once students have made their decision, click the mouse and show the answer. Use the Teacher's Notes to give students a little bit more information about the fact. This is an interactive starter activity that students really engage with.

In Act 2, Scene 1 Macbeth is deciding whether to kill Duncan or not. Read Macbeth’s soliloquy to students from ‘Is this a dagger which I see before me?’ Ask students to listen carefully as you read aloud to them – try to be quite dramatic and theatrical! Instruct students to jot down any words or phrases that they think are especially important. Ask students to feedback. Also, ask them about their first impressions of the speech. Issue Lesson 5 – Macbeth’s Soliloquy (High Ability Students) or Lesson 5 – Macbeth’s Soliloquy (Low Ability Students). Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pusU90ov8pQ This will aid understanding. With Lesson 5 – Macbeth’s Soliloquy, give pairs three highlighters to share. They must identify how Macbeth is feeling at the prospect of murdering King Duncan, exploring three possible choices: 1) Macbeth is intent on the murder. 2) Macbeth is undecided. 3) Macbeth is horrified by the prospect of murder. They’re to use 3 different colours to represent each of the three choices. They should try to highlight each line in a colour. Issue Lesson 5 – Macbeth Chart to students. They’re to create a line graph which illustrates Macbeth’s decision making. (20 mins) Students are to answer the following question: Why does Macbeth decide to kill King Duncan? Students should refer to the soliloquy, but also what’s happened in other scenes from the play. They should use the PEE format in their response. You may decide to make this form the basis for an extended piece of writing. Select quotations for low ability students to work with, rather than them trying to find their own. (Macbeth's Soliloquy - with helpful definitions - was taken from The RSC Shakespeare Toolkit for Teachers.)

An informative PPT explaining how to use speech marks correctly.

This exam question PEE plan is applicable to all questions on AQA's English Literature Paper 1. It allows a space for the question, and then separates it off into the two bullet points, then allowing students space to plan their PEE paragaphs. Students find this plan very clear and simple to use. It allows them to organise their thoughts and plan a coherent exam response.

Students sometimes use the word ‘of’ where they should use the world ‘have’. This may be because the shortened version of ‘have’ sounds like ‘of’. Students learn about the common error as described above, before correcting sentences.

Powerpoint offering definitions of tragedy, tragic flaw, tragic hero to aid discussion of the play and its title character. This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.

How to use resources: Ask students: What do you already know about the structure of newspaper stories? You may need to establish the term ‘structure’ – I find asking them how a Big Mac burger is structured helps (two bread buns, burger, relish etc.) Display PowerPoint. Discuss with students. Issue Article students. Read through and discuss the structure. Go to slide 2 on PowerPoint. Students are to answer the questions in their books. Issue the Card Sort to pairs of students. Display slide 3 on PowerPoint to assist students. Ask students to write a short paragraph in their books explaining how they approached the task. What did they find easy or difficult? What language clues helped them to unscramble the text? Remind students that they were presented with a pyramid diagram at the start of the lesson to illustrate a news story structure. Ask students to draw a new diagram in their books which will help them remember the structure of a news story. Compare with a partner. This resource is taken from my KS3 English Newspaper/Journalism SOW which you can buy from my shop.

This PPT looks at new words and where they come from, which includes looking at blended words (jeans + leggings = jeggings), clipped words and new, organic words. They begin to understand how new words are added to the dictionary. If possible, allow students access to computers and let them explore the Oxford Dictionaries website which has lots of information about new words added to the dictionary.

Students learn what a kenning is and how it originated. They then look at some examples, guessing what the title of the kenning is. They then have a go at writing their own. This is a fun activity which engages students with Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry.

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

Drama Assessment Use this grid to assess students in drama. Simply write the student’s name in the left-hand column and put a tick or ‘T’ in some of the boxes on the right to indicate whether the drama skill is something they do really well, or something they need to work on. You can write additional comments if you wish. The idea is that after the drama assessment you can give students praise, their level and their target in an efficient way. All students then need to do is write down their level and target on the blue sheet at the front of their small yellow exercise books. This grid focuses on nine key skills in drama, including facial expressions, spatial awareness, voice projection etc.

This activity teachers students that good writers show us their characters rather than just telling us about them. Firstly, students look at an example of 'showing'. The example is a questionable supply teacher entering a classroom. Students are then asked to put their new-found knowledge to the test by transforming a 'telling' piece of description into a piece that 'shows' the character. This activity will last between 10-15 minutes.