This mini unit contains five lessons of preparation for the English Language GCSE examination 9-1 Paper 1 Section A. The PowerPoint contains all five lessons, divided by a -five-a-day starter activity based on questions on the four texts my class have studied for literature, plus one English Language question. These can all be adapted to match the units you are teaching and provide ongoing interleaving in preparation for the examinations. The first lesson looks briefly at Q1 and in more detail at Q2. Resources for this lesson are the Alex Cold insert and an extract from The Handmaid’s Tale. An extract from ‘Wuthering Heights’ is used for Q2. Lesson two looks at Q3 structure in ‘To the Lighthouse’ by Woolf and requires structure strips which are included. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I obtained the strips from, but will happily credit the person who made them if someone lets me know. Lessons three and four have a detailed focus on Q4, using structure strips (again, I didn’t create these) to support responses, plus an extract from ‘Power’ by Cope. Lesson five is a Section A practice paper based on an extract from ‘IT’ by Stephen King. Exemplar responses are provided for all questions based on the Alex Cold extract/paper. These are previously marked student exemplars from AQA and the marks are Q2 6/8, Q3 8/8 and Q4 20/20. I do not make any money from the sharing of resources, and do not claim all the work as my own. I magpie from many units to create a resource that works for my teaching style and classes. I share my units because I believe that we should be supporting each other as much as we can, without everyone re-creating the wheel! I apologise profusely if I have used your work without credit and will happily credit you for any work and/or change the unit to remove your contribution if you contact me directly.

Complete unit for the new GCSE in English Language, Paper 2 Section B - Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives. This is a 14 lesson unit with all resources (except for the sample paper and mark scheme available on the AQA website) based on developing an opinion, writing from a personal perspective and based on the 'Don't Get Me Started' unit I previously shared. Hopefully it will save someone hours of planning, and best of all, IT'S FREE!

Two posters I created for the classroom. The first is for descriptive writing using the mnemonic A COAST MAP The second is because I find correcting ‘alot’ tedious!

A complete lesson looking at the March 2020 supermarket response to bulk buying, comparing it to an article on food rationing in 1945. Lesson requires students to identify persuasive techniques used in both articles, and identify attitudes to shop keepers and food rationing. Main task is to write an article for their school newspaper where they argue for or against the idea of compulsory rationing. Totally free, completely adaptable. Hope it helps. Please leave a review.

Bingo cards with 30 unique cards, all with different answers for An Inspector Calls. The questions are also attached, but could be made more difficult (this was for a mod/low ability group so tend to be comprehension and recall questions). Cards can be made on http://myfreebingocards.com/ for free A great starter or revision exercise.

DAFOREST techniques for students, that provide a definition, examples and the effect on the reader. Ideal for language questions. Adapted from btmmadstuff’s/Mr Bruff’s resource.

An AQA style English Literature paper covering a variety of texts: An Inspector Calls Lord of the Flies Animal Farm Never Let Me Go as well as a comparison question on the Power and Conflict poetry cluster and two unseen poems. This is ideal for an additional mock in preparation for the new (2017) exams.

This book provides a grid for each poem in the Power and Conflict cluster to be analysed using the TSMILE mnemonic which is broken up into Title, Structure, Meaning, Imagery, Language and Effects. There is also space for links to other poems. Additionally, there is a blank grid to compare key themes, a breakdown of how to analyse using TSMILE and a two page detailed glossary of poetic terms which I have adapted off a free resource online. I have provided it in Word so that it can be adapted to suit your own mnemonic or analytical process. If you like it, please leave feedback.

A workbook using the TSMILE structure to analyse all fifteen poems in the Love and Relationship cluster for the 2017 exams. There is space for students to write notes for each poem; a comparison chart and a glossary of key terms. Word and PDF versions included so that they can be amended as needed.

Originally taught as part of the GCSE exam, adapted for Year 9 students.

I used this resource as a way of developing tone and formality with high ability Year 9 students. It uses CSP (#learningspy) to encourage students to proofread their own work.

AQA style mock paper with questions on Shakespeare: Macbeth and 19th Century Novel: Jeykll and Hyde and A Christmas Carol A detailed and indicative mark scheme has also been added. This is for the new style (2017) GCSE. Both word and PDF attached to enable editing as required.

This is a resource created for AQA Literature GCSE Power and Conflict poetry revision. There are a number of questions built into the board that are based on the cluster of poems. Rules: Play snakes and ladders as usual. Roll the dice and move to the corresponding square. Pass the dice to the next player. When it is your turn again, if you are on the question square you have to answer the question. If you answer correctly, roll the dice. If you are incorrect you have to miss the turn. First person to the FINISH line wins. You will need a dice/dice app and some counters. Please note that this is designed to print in A3.

Takeaway Homework, students choose a starter, a main and a dessert. Good way of differentiating. This has tasks for language and literature texts but is in an adaptable form so can be changed easily.

This is a PPT containing around 25 starter quizzes that interleave key films from the WJEC/Eduqas Film studies GCSE. I call it ‘Film Five’ as it is a number of 5 min tests of 5 areas within film: Hurt Locker Rebel Without a Cause/Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Attack the Block/Tsotsi History of Film Key terminology The answers are provided in the notes section on the PPT. As with all my resources, this is free to anyone who would like to use it.

A PowerPoint I created for my final lesson with Year 11 before their exam to remind them how to approach Paper 1 questions, and reminders of how to revise and prepare for the exam. I am planning to use it with the mini Paper One tasks and/or creative writing stimuli material to get them thinking and planning in advance. Please note that my group are a mid-low ability, so some of the suggestions are quite prescriptive.

AQA Poetry anthology: Power and Conflict Bingo cards with questions on both My Last Duchess and Ozymandias. Questions are also included. Bingo cards can be created on http://myfreebingocards.com/ A great revision or starter activity.

A whole lesson on teaching ‘The Laboratory’ by Browning, including context links and an image for each line of poetry. Particularly useful for teaching imagery and for helping students who are struggling with the language. A copy of the poem and a contextual document are also attached. Excellent for dual-coding as it provides images linked to lines from the poem.

This is the unit for WJEC Film Studies FM2b, British Horror. It is based on the films 28 Days Later and Eden Lake. There are powerpoints and resources for the unit which looks at all the aspects of the examination. I am an examiner for Film Studies as well as a teacher of Film and English.

This is a session on how to plan SOW that I delivered to English subject teacher trainees.