Most resources I develop are geared towards GCSE 2016-18 (AQA and Edexcel) curriculum and are practical solutions to classroom teaching. I keep most of these black and white for simple/cost-effective print.
I read each novel/play/poem and break down into manageable parts.
I find this most effective within classrooms where students require chunks of information they can order, in sequence. The 'study-packs' I create can apply to any book/play/poem and provide visual tools for memory recall.
Most resources I develop are geared towards GCSE 2016-18 (AQA and Edexcel) curriculum and are practical solutions to classroom teaching. I keep most of these black and white for simple/cost-effective print.
I read each novel/play/poem and break down into manageable parts.
I find this most effective within classrooms where students require chunks of information they can order, in sequence. The 'study-packs' I create can apply to any book/play/poem and provide visual tools for memory recall.
Examples of language features from A Christmas Carol, within a two-page resource containing a table for students to develop their own features and then incorporate one or more of these in a paragraph. Useful for students who can identify language features but who need to respond more fluidly with writing their own.
A read and respond resource.
Whole Book Summary in a single-page.
Student chooses eight items to banish from the current system/reality then narrow down to two and describe in a table the full reasons to support their choices.
Then:
Fourteen items to take to new planet.
Then:
A4 page response relating to the student thoughts on ‘whole’ book summary.
A nine-page resource, prints as five-page double-sided.
Initially discusses Sir Robert Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto', then mentions modern-day books influenced by this genre, such as the Twilight series.
Provides a template of an 'ancient book' so the students (suited more to KS3) can create a cover/title and a synopsis.
The pages then contain 'gargoyles' to suggest the student plans their own Gothic Story and complete this within the lined-pages provided.
Used this resource in class this week - works with fantastic results when students asked to complete second draft using 'Effective Connectives' - found a full table of these online and projected it. The difference between the Year 7 first-draft response compared to the second draft, incorporating 'and' highlighting the connectives was amazing in terms of the fluidity of their writing.
Currently using with Year 7's so they can achieve a snapshot of the entire storyline.
First-page summary used for shared classroom reading.
Then in pairs the students describe their own understanding of the story.
They then feed this information back to the whole class.
Then tackle a first draft - summary writing in their own words.
Finally, they complete a final draft of the summary, introducing connectives.
A four-page resource, printing double-sided 2 pages.
Very effective to achieve an general understanding of the novel through writing and discussion, not solely through reading.
Used in class with all year groups. Effective because the student can file the sheets in a specific order and review their progress. The sheet provides an alternative to often messy alterations within exercise books and helps the teacher maintain a working file to allow Ofsted the opportunity to see valid attempts made by student and teacher to develop SPaG. Can also be used as a lesson starter/end or a homework sheet.
A six-page resource used with Year 8's, 9's and 10's exploring questions the students discuss and then research in response to. Can be used alongside the Timeline resource by the same author.
A piece of writing intended as a study piece to generate discussion.
Can be used as a poster.
Could be used alongside Desiderata, to compare.
The Lead Your Life piece was written in 2015 by Tor Alexander Bruce.
A two-page resource analysing three student responses to Heart of Darkness (1902) by Joseph Conrad – later developed as ‘Apocalypse Now’, a film (1979) and a documentary ‘Hearts of Darkness’ (1991) by the Director Francis Ford Coppola.
The student is asked to read the extract and respond in their own way to identifying language features, incorporating connectives within their own draft(s).
NUTRITION PROJECT: Since childhood you have consumed foods that were initially prepared for you. Now that you are developing, you are becoming responsible for making your own choices. These ‘nutrition-options’ will be carried in to adulthood, where a whole range of diseases and disorders await you, each one of these with direct and scientifically-proven links to your diet. By enhancing your awareness of certain foods and gaining an understanding as to how these items are created, marketed and make their way in to your fridge, your cupboards and on to your plate, you can improve your chances of reducing and even eradicating certain ailments associated with the consumption of the ‘wrong’ types of foods. This project will put YOU in the driving seat. Your destination, is an improved sense of well being.
A study document highlighting a range of innovative techniques and classroom additions/resources used in what could become an 'alternative' inspection focus within classroom settings. There are 34 Performance Indicators linked to a learner-focussed environment and linked to a range of items including: Emotional Intelligence; Zero Isolation; Healthy Students; Environmental Awareness and Child Abuse (Confidence in Reporting).
This resource was designed in line with discussions had with a range of inspectors across a variety of education settings, from Primary to Secondary, SEN, Post-16 and in community-based training settings. The comments as feedback on the resource from inspectors was 'excellent'.
Used with Year 9's this week as a handout in class to show them the literature options at a glance which led to discussion on reasons for departmental choices on each book, play and poetry cluster. Then used to form an interesting group talk based on government dictatorship and freedom of choice, versus what would be the situation in a country with no centralised government. Includes a single lined sheet for student notes.
Resource shows one example I have filled in and one blank after this - 2 pages. Any school logo can be attached.
This was first introduced at a West-London High School where students I was teaching had low-esteem and needed tasks based on who they were as individuals, i.e. to get then develop their interest in the subject before they could tackle curriculum-based work. I developed it as a means of allowing face-to-face communication to discuss 'their' interests and I based the assignment(s) on this. When a 1000-2000 word assignment is returned to you, with Harvard-referencing notes and a proud, smiling face, by a student who, previously, didn't attend school, it kind of has one questioning whether 'personalised' subject matter can 'still' hit the assessment criteria and create a more harmonious environment.
LIMITED /MANDLESHTAM
BASIC AWARENESS
IDEAS FORMING/SIMPLE
VALID ATTEMPT
APPROPRIATE/SOME CLARITY
ACCURATE/ ORGANISED
RELEVANT/ CONSISTENT
CLEAR/ EFFECTIVE
CONSISTENT, DETAILED, DEVELOPED
CONFIDENT/LACKS ORIGINALITY
PERCEPTIVE/JUDICIOUS
SOPHISTICATED
This resource was used from a discussion with Year 10's who watched the PP 'Insight - A Writer'. This led to them describing how they felt they were not engaged enough in 'free-writing'. Each student then used a single page resource the same as this to express their thoughts, with some fantastic conversational results and some very interesting and quite often abstract subject material.
The student is asked to look at and discuss the photograph, taken on San Gregorio beach in California. The student is asked to describe their own trip overseas, where they can visit any destination. Useful if this can lead to a discussion relating to the 'wider' geographical picture and lead to some form of research. Additionally helpful if the student can identify their own homeland and find this on a map.
A four-page resource providing reading information relating to Planet Earth and the reality of its demise under the control of human beings. The resource then asks the reader to discuss the facts and construct a piece of writing (within a lined table) to explore the issues facing the current generation and potential routes to explore to improve the planet's chances.
Having a command of the English language can be such an enriching experience. Travelling from place to place, or from country to country around the world, the extent of your vocabulary and how you chose to make it work for you, can make a real impact on how your life develops.
An innovative resource which prints as a seven page booklet with each page containing the image of a quiver. The student labels the quiver, e.g. 'Metaphor', then lists words or a sentence linked to this.
After compiling several pages of words associated with each central title, the student uses these to create a speech, with space for Notes, First Draft and Final Draft.
The overall idea is that the student recognises the power of words, when used toward a particular 'target' audience.
A study-support resource. I have used this with all year groups so students can document particular websites/sources and capture/document information they find at the sites. I find that by using a well set-out resource, it keeps them 'on-task'. It also acts as an excellent reference tool, when filed or kept inside of their books.
This resource is four-page A4, containing 12 individual boxes and can be extended to suit.
I find that the four-pages is enough 'per-task', e.g. per Book/Play/Poem.
Used in June 2016 with Year 8's.
Three media extracts.
Students identify six key facts from each, then write a 50+ word summary of the article.
Worked well in line with discussion relating to sentence-structure and connectives and by media article number three the students ability had vastly improved.