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Mrs Shaw's pass-time

I have taught English for thirty four years and have LOTS of really useful resources as a result! I have taught English Language and Literature to GCSE and English Language to A level as well as creating faculty assemblies and quizzes. My resources are user-friendly, time-saving and aimed at getting high grades.

I have taught English for thirty four years and have LOTS of really useful resources as a result! I have taught English Language and Literature to GCSE and English Language to A level as well as creating faculty assemblies and quizzes. My resources are user-friendly, time-saving and aimed at getting high grades.
Romeo and Juliet conceptualising
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

Romeo and Juliet conceptualising

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A group activity worksheet focussing on key concepts in Romeo and Juliet - e.g. fate, youth/age, love, honour - for AO1, level 6 of the markscheme. Students should work in groups to find appropriate extracts, make a list of key points and then write an opening paragraph to an analysis. Their finished copies can be printed out so that they have a revision resource about concepts in Romeo and Juliet. Full guidance for teachers given.
Romeo and Juliet context - historical and social
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

Romeo and Juliet context - historical and social

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This is a PowerPoint thoroughly presenting contextual factors in Romeo and Juliet including: religion + sin, patriarchy, setting and Artistotle. This resource is extremely useful for introducing AO3 factors (exploration of ideas/perspectives/contextual factors ) present in the play with references and some suggestions for discussion.
A level English Language Child Language Development theorist activity
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

A level English Language Child Language Development theorist activity

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This resource is a grid to be cut up and given to each student. It has the principal theorists for Child Language Development (such as Chomsky, Pinker, Aitchison, Vygotsky, Piaget) and can be used as a simple revision device, or as a way into constructing a well-supported discursive essay about CLD. Some guidance is included for the teacher.
Spelling strategies
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

Spelling strategies

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This PowerPoint was devised to help students understand that there are strategies for helping with difficult spellings rather than simply learning spelling lists. It covers techniques like words-within-words, mnemonics, letter strings and more, and includes activities for each one as well as a paired task at the end. It is very useful as a way to examining what makes certain words tricky and how they are often widely misspelt.
Child Language Development phonology
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

Child Language Development phonology

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Document detailing the specifics of the manner and place of articulation, for analysing the phonology of language acquisition. Very useful for developing AO1 skills (apply linguistic methods and terminology; apply different levels of language analysis) and for understanding sound production. Can also be used for the Accents and Dialects unit.
A level English Language: Child Directed Speech
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

A level English Language: Child Directed Speech

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PowerPoint explaining Child Directed Speech for the Child Language Development question (Paper 1 Section B). There are two video examples to watch alongside lists of features of CDS so that students can identify them. Also plenty of examples of theorists and their ideas about CDS. Very useful for exploring Bruner’s LASS.
A level English Language: the brain and language acquisition
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

A level English Language: the brain and language acquisition

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A level English Language resource for paper 1 section B, child language development. It is a worksheet exploring language acquisition and the brain, with information about Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area etc. I use it to encourage discussion about which of the main theories - Innateness, Behaviourist and Social Interactionist - are supported by the physical aspects of the brain.
Spoken Language workbook:  A level English Language
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

Spoken Language workbook: A level English Language

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A comprehensive workbook for introducing analysing spoken texts for A level English. It starts with transcribing, gives a full table of definitions of key features and introduces main theories such as Face and Grice’s Maxims alongside plenty of transcripts. Activities range from discussions to essay-writing. Very useful for preparing students for understanding the way speech works and leads nicely into Paper 2, Section A topics of accent and dialect, occupation and gender.
Assembly: Courageous women
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

Assembly: Courageous women

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This is the script and PowerPoint for an assembly I made about courageous women. I tried to include some women who weren’t familiar at all to students as well as ones like Greta Thunberg. There are some YouTube clips included as well. Courageous women: The Night Witches, Nancy Wake, Edith Cavell, Charlotte Marsh, Rosa Parks, Ei Thinzar Maung , Maslala Yousafai, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Greta Thunberg.
An Inspector Calls: Gerald
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

An Inspector Calls: Gerald

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A lesson resource for GCSE English Literature, An Inspector Calls focussing on Gerald. It has a list of quotations by or about Gerald in Act Two which students should sort into categories matching a list of statements. This is followed by a set of discussion points for students to work on in pairs. They are then asked to plan and write the essay: In Act Two of An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents Gerald as a dislikeable character. Discuss this statement with close reference to the play Pages 3 and 4 have the quotations which should be cut up for students to organise into groups. I found this a really useful way to consider Gerald’s role in the play in the context of patriarchy and capitalism. It also asks students to consider the subtleties of his character which make him more believable.
GCSE English Language paper 2 2021 q 5
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

GCSE English Language paper 2 2021 q 5

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This is a PP, plus style models, for preparing students for the 2021 paper 2 paper, question 5. It focuses on examiner expectations with close attention to the mark schemes. It asks students to do a couple of short tasks as well as look at two style models to get them to think of the kind of techniques used in writing to argue. Finally, students should complete the question in exam conditions and then 1) get feedback from a partner and 2) ideally have it marked by the teacher.
A level Language: Language Acquisition; Challenging Innateness
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

A level Language: Language Acquisition; Challenging Innateness

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An AQA A level English Language resource for Paper 1 Section B: Challenging Innateness Theory in Child Language Development. In 1986, Chomsky added to his theory of language innateness by putting forward the idea that the Language Acquisition Device contained a Universal Grammar, a set of basic rules of grammar that characterise all languages. Read through the following theories and decide whether they or PRO Innateness theory or CON. This is an extremely useful document for discussing the main theories of Language Acquisition with Innateness as a starting point. Students should spend five minutes reading through and deciding whether the statements agree with Chomsky’s theories or with Behaviourist/Interactionist theories. I have found that it generates a lot of discussion and improves students’ understanding of AO2, concepts and theories.
AQA A level English Language: Language Acquisition; lexical development
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

AQA A level English Language: Language Acquisition; lexical development

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Two PowerPoints introducing lexical development in children for paper 1 section B of the A level English Language paper (AQA). Powerpoint one outlines difficulties that children might have with synonyms, homonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms. The next PP introduces different kinds of over/under extension referring to Jean Aitchison and Leslie Rescorla so should follow on from the first.
The Sign of the Four: GCSE English Literature
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

The Sign of the Four: GCSE English Literature

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This is a collection of ten practice essays I made for The Sign of the Four (GCSE English Literature paper 1) covering most of the novel. They touch on themes such as: representation of women; representation of foreigners; the Gothic; drama and suspense; duality; friendship and more.
A level English Language spelling - a brief history
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

A level English Language spelling - a brief history

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I made this PowerPoint as part of the Language Change unit for A level English Language, paper 2. It briefly introduces some of the main influences on English spelling from Caxton, to the Great Vowel Shift to standardisation and finishes with a video called “Why is English spelling so weird?”
GCSE English Literature poetry knowledge organisers
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

GCSE English Literature poetry knowledge organisers

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These are knowledge organisers for 11 of the poems from the Love and Relationships collection. They are very useful for revision because they focus on the language, ideas/themes, context and story of the poems in a concise, easy-to-revise manner. Poems covered: Porphyria’s Lover The Farmer’s Bride Before You Were Mine Follower Love’s Philosophy Mother any distance Neutral Tones Sonnet XXIX Winter Swans When We Two Parted Letters from Yorkshire
Revising A level English Language child literacy theorists
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

Revising A level English Language child literacy theorists

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This is a booklet I made to revise children’s literacy theories for A level English Language paper 1, section B. It begins by dividing the theorists along ‘caught’ and ‘taught’ lines and then outlines theories from Kroll, Perera, Rothery, Britton and others. There are two past exam questions to work on too. Very useful for revision
GCSE Creative Writing paper 1 Question 5
JacquelShawJacquelShaw

GCSE Creative Writing paper 1 Question 5

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A comprehensive creative writing scheme I created to prepare students for Question 5 of paper 1, GCSE English Language both descriptive and narrative writing. My approach was to begin with reading extracts from interesting texts - e.g. The Thirty-Nine Steps, Great Expectations, I’m the King of the Castle and From the Here and Now (Ann Brashares) thus reinforcing skills for Section A of this paper. There are fun writing exercises as warm-ups (these can be successfully extended), a focus on technique and structuring and clear links with the mark scheme. Most of the assessment is peer assessment, although I often use a shared word document so that students can share their work and comment on each others. The final task is a GCSE task which would ideally be marked by the teacher.