A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, using two non-fiction texts based on the same theme or topic, here being: NURSING - THEN AND NOW! Extracts used here are Florence Nightingale's 19th C account of nursing wounded soldiers following the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War and a 21st C article taken from Nursing Times about the findings of a survey of NHS nurses regarding pay and conditions. Section B: Writing task (linked by topic to the theme of the texts used in Section A) is also included. The 5 exam questions adhere to the format of those published by AQA in their specimen exam papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice exam Papers 1 AND 2 to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Help yourself - just leave a review! Thank you. I hope this is of some use to you. Matt :)

Designed for less able students at Key Stage 3 or 4, this is a practice exam paper for the NEW AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading 20th C Fiction texts. I have adapted an extract taken from H G Wells' classic sci-fi novel, 'War of the Worlds' (1898), simplifying some of the vocabulary and sentencing to make the text a little more accessible for students whose reading age might be lower than their chronological age. I've also designed a series of SMART Notebook slides to accompany the Word resource for interactive whiteboard teaching of the questions, Q by Q. The format of the paper is as follows: Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise focusing on how the writer uses language Q3a - sequence a series of statements to show understanding of narrative events / structure Q3b - cloze activity, modelling Q3 response, for pupils to complete. I know that the new GCSE paper is untiered and students will not be given this level of support in the exam. However, this resource is intended to provide an appropriate point of access and opportunities for students whose literacy is a barrier to learning to practise the reading response skills demanded by this exam - and to support the teachers who have to deliver it! I hope that it is of some use to you. I have produced other resources just like this one using extracts from Frankenstein, Skellig, A Christmas Carol, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Monkey's Paw, The Hobbit, The Sniper, To Kill a Mockingbird, Z for Zachariah, Dracula, The Machine Gunners, The Pearl and Buddy. I've also uploaded loads of typical specimen exam papers for the new AQA Language Paper 1 and 2s to my shop, all available free of charge. Please leave a review and help yourself! Matt :)

A set of 15 resources, made available in PPT and SMART Notebook formats. Each resource offers students a variety of tasks on an individual poem, encouraging them to ‘think hard’ about the poem, its form, structure, language and themes. These resources have been designed for classroom use, or can be set as homeworks, or used as exam preparation tasks. Hope they are useful. Please leave a review. Matt :)

A 35 page workbook of differentiated activities, designed to support students in their study of John Steinbeck's classic novella, 'Of Mice and Men'. To accompany the workbook is a set of SMART Notebook slides, which replicate the pages of the pupil workbook, to support teachers in their whole-class, interactive teaching of the text and the material. PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have SMART Notebook, you can STILL download and view SMART Notebook files by downloading a FREE Smart Notebook viewer. It opens the file on your PC in a format akin to Microsoft Powerpoint (with very occasional wonky movement of graphics due to a formatting glitch!) Anyway, you can access the FREE SMART Notebook viewer by copying and pasting this link into your web browser: http://express.smarttech.com/ I hope you find these useful. If you do, then you may find of interest similar resources available FREE at my 'shop' here on TES for 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and also 'The Highwayman', aswell as differentiated AQA English Language exam paper 1s and 2s. Matt :)

The inspiration and original idea for this resource was @MrsSpalding on Twitter, and this is the product of a collaboration with two other Twitter users. The three GCSE Literature texts addressed are: * Macbeth * A Christmas Carol * An Inspector Calls and a range of critical theories are applied to each, including: * Marxist theory * Feminist theory * Jungian archetypes * Freudian theory * Aristotelian theory * Structuralist theory * Nietzschean philosophy * John Locke's theory of 'tabula rasa' (nature vs nurture) and is geared towards use with more-able students so that they can make conceptual interpretations of the literary texts studied to access the highest bands in the exams.

Designed for less able students at Key Stage 3 or 4, this is a practice exam paper for the NEW AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading 20th C Fiction texts. I have used an extract taken from David Almond's novel, 'Skellig', published in 1998. I've also designed a series of SMART Notebook slides for whole-class interactive teaching of the workbook, Q by Q. The format of the paper is as follows: Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise focusing on how the writer uses language Q3a - sequence a series of statements to show understanding of narrative events / structure Q3b - cloze activity, modelling Q3 response, for pupils to complete. I know that the new GCSE paper is untiered and students will not be given this level of support in the exam. However, this resource is intended to provide an appropriate point of access and opportunities for students whose literacy is a barrier to learning to practise the reading response skills demanded by this exam - and to support the teachers who have to deliver it! I hope that it is of some use to you. I have produced other resources just like this one using extracts taken from Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Monkey's Paw, The Hobbit, A Christmas Carol, War of the Worlds, The Sniper, Z for Zachariah, Dracula, The Pearl, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Machine Gunners and Buddy. NOTE: I've also uploaded loads of specimen new AQA Language Paper 1 and 2s to my 'shop', all available free of charge. Please leave a review and help yourself! Matt :)

Using an extract from George Orwell's non-fiction, "Down and Out in Paris and London" (1933) and an article taken from The Daily Mail online from 2014, the theme of these two non-fiction texts is attitudes towards the homeless in England in different centuries. I have adapted the texts, simplifying a little vocabulary and sentencing to make them a little more accessible to students whose reading ages are significantly lower than their chronological age, to provide an appropriate point of access to the skills demanded by the new AQA GCSE Language Paper 2A exam paper. Also included is a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole-class interactive whiteboard teaching. I have adhered to the phrasing of the questions, but the tasks are differentiated thus: Q1 - same as the actual exam paper Q2 - cloze exercise of the summary (this could be easily tweaked to sentence stems) Q3a - highlight and write down 3 relevant examples of language used to convey viewpoint Q3b - cloze exercise of use of language to convey viewpoint and attitude (again, this could easily be tweaked to the sentence stems of PEE paragraphs where pupils supply the point, evidence and explain how language is used to convey the author's viewpoint.) I have not included the Q4 'comparison of methods to convey attitudes' task as it is a skill currently beyond the ability of the students for whom I have produced this resource. The students I plan to use these resources with have reading ages between 6 years 6 months and 10 years old. I hope that it might be of some use to others. I have produced 8 of these resources now, all FREE at my 'shop'. Help yourself! Matt :)

Using an extract from Washington Irving's 'Old Christmas', published posthumously in 1886, and a newspaper article written in 2016, these non-fiction texts present contrasting viewpoints and attitudes to the festival of Christmas. The Qs adhere to the format used by AQA and the section B writing task has also been uploaded as a 200 Word Challenge, where students must strive to include the three rhetorical devices listed on the image. Thought this might be useful to explore contexts if teaching A Christmas Carol, or just use as a Christmas themed practice exam paper. Hope it's useful. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA Language Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing. UPDATED: April 2017 - a REVISED series of SMART notebook slides to teach Q by Q in class, which can be unlocked and adapted for other Paper 1A practice exam papers I have uploaded to the TES site, all available free of charge. Q3- STRUCTURE - modelled response and a new Q4 slide. This extract is taken from Harper Lee's novel, 'To Kill a Mockingbird', published 1960. In this extract, set in America during the 1930s, a mad dog has been reported roaming the streets of a small town. The local sheriff, a man named Mr. Tate, has been called to shoot the dog for public safety. The narrator’s father, a lawyer named Atticus Finch, shoots the dog – much to the amazement of his two young children - Jem and Scout - who have no idea their father possesses such skill with a rifle. The text and the format of the exam Qs 1 to 4 follows that of AQA's approved specimen papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice exam papers for Papers 1 AND 2 to my 'shop' and ALL are FREE! Help yourself - just leave a review. Thanks! I hope this is of some use to you.

A 36 page pupil activity workbook for less able students to complete as they study 'The Hound of the Baskervilles.' Also available to download is a set of SMART Notebook slides, replicating the pages of the Pupil Workbook for the purpose of whole class, interactive whiteboard teaching. UPDATED FEB 7th 2017: SMART Notebook slides now also include newspaper report task and cloze activity version. There are a variety of activities including: * cloze activity chapter summaries for almost all chapters * chapter summary completion activities using sentence stem prompts as an extension activity * 'The Missing Boots' - diary entry as cloze exercise and also with sentence stems for extension * Watson's first letter to Holmes, as cloze or with paragraph topic sentence stems as extension * Watson's second letter to Holmes, as cloze or with paragraph topic sentence stems as extension * Newspaper report - as cloze or with some prompts to scaffold more independent writing * Post-reading explanation of aspects of plot devices - applying inference and deduction skills * Book cover design and blurb task: including design task memo, planning page and book cover template I have designed this workbook for use with a published abridged prose version of the novel but as the abridged version is very faithful to the original novel, it is suitable for use with the original, too! UPDATED: The abridged version is this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Level-Baskervilles-Pearson-English-Readers/dp/1405862483 I hope this of use to you. Feel free to download the workbook - please leave a review and let me know what you think of it! Matt :)

Inspired by fellow English teachers @Team_English1 over on Twitter, I've produced these essay plan starters for use with AQA GCSE English Literature: MACBETH. The intention is to use them frequently as starters to maintain retention and to develop students' recall skills, which are essential in the context of closed book examinations. I have produced the resource in TWO formats: EITHER as Powerpoint OR as SMART Notebook. Hope it's helpful to you. Matt :)

This resource was inspired by an excellent blog on Twitter by @LauraLolder and a subsequent resource for R&J that was produced by @MissMFrost and shared via @Team_English1 Using @MissMFrost's PPT presentation format, I have produced 13 essay plan starters for use with A Christmas Carol and have uploaded them in Powerpoint format and also SMART Notebook format should you prefer to use this instead. I hope they are of use to you. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA Language Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing UPDATED: APRIL 2017 -included is a REVISED series of SMART notebook slides to teach Q by Q in class, which can be unlocked and adapted for other Paper 1A practice exam papers I have uploaded to the TES site, all available free of charge, including a new Q3 key terminology matching starter; a modelled response to Q3 structure and a new Q4 slide. This extract is taken from Ray Bradbury’s short story, 'The Whole Town's Sleeping', written in 1950. In this extract, a woman is walking home alone after watching a film at the cinema with friends. She fears that she is being followed and descends into a state of paranoia and terror. Is someone really following her, or is it just her imagination? The text and the format of the exam Qs 1 to 4 follows that of AQA's approved specimen papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice papers for Paper 1 AND 2 to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself and leave a review. Thanks! I hope this is of some use to you.

Using part of a Parliamentary speech by Lord Shaftesbury, given in 1842 to the House of Commons and a newspaper article from 2014, both of these texts deal with the topic of CHILD LABOUR in different cultures and in different centuries. I have adapted the 19th C text slightly, simplifying some vocabulary and sentencing to make it more accessible to students whose reading ages are significantly lower than their chronological age, to provide an appropriate point of access to the skills demanded by the new AQA GCSE Language Paper 2A exam paper. To follow is a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole-class interactive whiteboard teaching of the resource. UPDATE: To view the SMART Notebook slides, simply download the SMART Notebook Express viewer, FREE online. It is a piece of software published by SMART Technologies and is completely safe to use. (express.smarttech.com) I have adhered to the phrasing of the exam questions, but the tasks are differentiated thus: Q1 - same as the actual exam paper Q2 - cloze exercise of the summary (this could be easily tweaked to sentence stems) Q3a - highlight and write down 3 relevant examples of language used to convey viewpoint Q3b - cloze exercise of use of language to convey viewpoint and attitude Section B writing task is included, but it is not differentiated. I have not included the Q4 'comparison of methods to convey attitudes' task as it is currently beyond the ability of the students for whom I have produced this resource. I hope that it's of use to you and your students. I've produced ten of these highly differentiated papers for Paper 2A now and all are available FREE at my 'shop' with accompanying SMART Notebook resources, too. Please help yourself and leave me a review! Matt :)

This is a set of 16 x weekly SPaG review PPT slides. Each slide comprises 6 common error SPaG review tasks. The template was designed and shared by Chris Curtis (@Xris32 over on Twitter!) Hope it’s useful. NOTE: Just don’t sell it or you’ll be cursed!

Attached are a couple of context based exam questions I have mocked up for use with the NEW AQA English Literature Paper 1: 19th C Novel, which invites students to write about the "here" and "elsewhere" to show their understanding of the novel as a whole. One practice paper invites discussion of attitudes to Christmas in the novel The other paper invites discussion of how Dickens presents ideas about poverty in the novel. The length of extract as stimulus and the format and wording of the Qs adheres to the format published by AQA on their specimen paper. Hope they are of some use. Matt :)

A highly differentiated resource to support students whose literacy is a barrier to accessing the new GCSE English Language exam papers. I have adhered to the question format of Qs 1 to 3 of the exam paper but have scaffolded the responses to enable less able students to practise the skills demanded by the new AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading exam. To accompany the pupil workbook, I have produced a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole class interactive teaching of the resource. Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise Q3a - sequence the statements to show understanding of narrative events Q3b - cloze exercise to show comprehension of narrative events, using specialist terminology I have uploaded lots of these differentiated practice papers now, using extracts from texts including: Frankenstein, War of the Worlds, Dracula, Buddy, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Sniper, The Pearl, The Monkey's Paw, Z for Zachariah, A Christmas Carol and The Hobbit. Also FREE at my 'shop' are lots of Paper 2s, differentiated in similar ways, as well as loads of specimen Paper 1s and 2s with SMART Notebooks for whole-class teaching Q by Q. Help yourself and please leave a review. Matt :)

25 x PPT slides, each containing 5 retrieval practice Qs to encourage regular recall of previously learned information. The latest research suggests retrieval practice improves transfer of knowledge to long-term memory. Hope they’re useful. Please leave a review.

A set of 15 editable PPT slides, one for each of the poems in the Literature P&C anthology, inviting pupils to explore a quotation in terms of a close analysis of the poet’s choice of methods, the contexts of the poem and its links to other poems. I hope that you find them useful. Please leave a review. If you like these, there are sets for A Christmas Carol, Macbeth and An Inspector Calls - all FREE at my shop here on TES. Resource cover image courtesy of Mervyn Chan, at Unsplash.

Designed for NEW AQA Language paper 1A: a practice exam paper using the opening of Robert O'Brien's novel, 'Z for Zachariah', published in 1974. This extract, written in the form of a first-person diary, is narrated by a 16 years old girl named Ann Burden who believed herself to be the only survivor in her town after a nuclear war. She thinks someone is coming and she is no longer alone. Is this person a friend or a foe? The format of the exam questions matches those in AQAs specimen exam papers. UPDATED APRIL 2017: included is a REVISED series of SMART Notebook slides for teaching the exam paper Q by Q; a Q3 key terminology matching starter activity; a modelled Q3 structure response and a new Q4 slide. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of AQA practice exam Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop' ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thank you! I hope this is of some use to you.