These are a collection of English subject terminology posters to decorate classrooms and to be used for reference by students when analysing texts. Additionally, they could be used, as a display, when teaching terminology so that prompts are available and visible during all lessons. They are designed to be clearly seen and to be displayed alphabetically for ease. Additionally, the formatting and layout has been influenced by ‘The Learning Scientist’ and their principles on how to make resources most accessible and memorable. Take a look at my other resources. :)

AQA GCSE students will benefit from these example unseen poetry questions and responses using the latest question format (May 2019). These poems would be useful as stretch activities for more able students, although it would be possible to run through these as class activities for less able students. They may be useful if students are failing to understand the impact of context on the writing of a poem. For students who are just coming across unseen poetry for the first time, it would be useful to run through question one and poem one separately, before focusing on language comparison and poem two. Students approaching the exam could do this as a timed practice or it could be set as cover. Additionally, the formatting and layout has been influenced by ‘The Learning Scientist’ and their principles on how to make resources most accessible. Difficult words are translated and there is some planning space provided. Take a look at my other resources!

GCSE students will benefit from this example ‘A Christmas Carol’ exam-style extract question for the current examination series (May 2019). This focuses on the Cratchits and their Christmas dinner. Provided are two exemplars, one more stretching and the other more supportive, as well as the extract itself. This would be useful as an independent stretch activity for more able students, and it would be possible to run through it as separate, timed class activities for less able students. It may be useful if students are failing to explain the writer’s language in depth. For students who are just coming across extract essays for the first time, it would be useful to run through how to annotate and understand the extract, how to plan as a class, modelling how to answer before encouraging students to write their own paragraph. Students approaching the exam could do this as a timed practice or it could be set as cover. Additionally, the formatting and layout has been influenced by ‘The Learning Scientist’ and their principles on how to make resources most accessible. Take a look at my other resources.

AQA GCSE students will benefit from this example ‘power and conflict’ exam style question for the current examination series (May 2019). This focuses on Exposure and Bayonet Charge. This would be useful as an independent stretch activity for more able students, and it would be possible to run through it as separate, timed class activities for less able students. It may be useful if students are failing to explain the writer’s language in depth. For students who are just coming across comparative poetry essays for the first time, it would be useful to run through how to plan as a class, modelling how to answer before encouraging students to write their own paragraph. Students approaching the exam could do this as a timed practice or it could be set as cover. Additionally, the formatting and layout has been influenced by ‘The Learning Scientist’ and their principles on how to make resources most accessible. Take a look at my other resources.

AQA GCSE students will benefit from this example unseen poetry question one and response using the latest question format (May 2019). This would be useful as stretch activities for more able students, although it would be possible to run through as a class activity for less able students. It may be useful if students are failing to understand how to explain language. For students who are just coming across unseen poetry for the first time, this would be useful to run through question one and poem one using an example, before focusing on language comparison for question two. Students approaching the exam could do this as a timed practice or it could be set as cover. THIS GOES WITH ANOTHER RESOURCE (SIMILARLY TITLED). The other resource has an additional poem and includes question two. Additionally, the formatting and layout has been influenced by ‘The Learning Scientist’ and their principles on how to make resources most accessible. Difficult words are translated and there is some planning space provided. Take a look at my other resources!

AQA GCSE students will benefit from this example unseen poetry question two and response using the latest question format (May 2019). This would be useful as stretch activities for more able students, although it would be possible to run through as a class activity for less able students. It may be useful if students are failing to understand how to explain language. For students who are just coming across unseen poetry for the first time, this would be useful to run through question one and poem one using an example, before focusing on language comparison for question two. Students approaching the exam could do this as a timed practice or it could be set as cover. THIS GOES WITH ANOTHER RESOURCE (SIMILARLY TITLED). The other resource has an additional poem and includes question one. Additionally, the formatting and layout has been influenced by ‘The Learning Scientist’ and their principles on how to make resources most accessible. Difficult words are translated and there is some planning space provided. Take a look at my other resources!

This is a resource which runs through A Christmas Carol exam questions. They would be easy to use with an appropriate extract, which could be found through using the highlighted quotation used. For each question, there is an example paragraph to consider and there is space for students to write their own paragraph at the bottom of the page. I’ve used this as a lesson a number of times and have found it useful with classes in enabling them to really visualise the way in which to structure their paragraphs and extend their analysis. Thank you for taking the time to look at this. Do take a look at my other resources. :)

With assessments moderated and marked, one thing screamed out to the English department I’m a part of: the inference is missing. It wasn’t that student answers weren’t long enough, often they were. It wasn’t that quotes were missing, mostly they were well selected and supportive. It wasn’t that they’d missed the steer. It was that, where the inference should be, there were empty phrases: “*This makes the reader want to read on.” *“The writer uses language for emphasis.” * *“This creates more meaning.” I don’t know where students hear these phrases from but they seem incredibly universal! When I was thinking about a solution, it seemed clear that students struggle to know the difference between empty, space-filling phrases and actual analysis. Considering how to make this difference more evident, I realised that it might be worthwhile doing some phrase comparison and, thus, the ‘Inference Powerpoint’ was born. It consists of a series of slides, each one intended as a starter/bell work which should take five minutes. The aim is that students should select the phrase which includes the best inference and explain how they know it is the most analytical. Additionally, students can they decide on the flaws of the other answers. Not all of them have one obvious answer, in that the aim is that students are considering what makes inference effective, so it is worth sometimes warning students of that. Perhaps more usefully, it seeks to teach students about some other common errors. Often there are answers of exactly the same length or a really vague and meaningless longer answer so that students can rely on length as a guide. We’ve all had students who use that as a guide!

Here you’ll find reading tasks, focusing on non-fiction writing and nineteenth century context. Whilst both of the diary entries here are by Anne Lister in 1823, this resource provides a useful AQA English Language Paper 02A revision resource and an excellent opportunity into some SMSC work. Students often presume that they are developed, civilised and cultured, whilst those of the past lived rather more narrow, small-minded lives. Anne Lister proves this wrong. Use this as an opportunity for discussion about how wrong it is to generalise when discussing context! Please do note that these tasks mention Anne Lister and her life as a lesbian, including a mention of “making love”. It is no more gratuitous than that but it should be pre-read by the teacher and students may need to be spoken to about the content. Alternatively, let them read it and discuss it themselves, if they’re mature enough, and see which of them see the date! Please do contact me with any questions and check out my other resources.

This is a resource which runs through a couple of activities comparing power and conflict poems. For each question, there is an example essay paragraph to consider and there is space for a student response. I’ve used this as a lesson a number of times and have found it useful with classes in enabling them to really visualise the way in which to write comparative paragraphs. Additionally, the layout has been influenced by learning science, specifically The Learning Scientists. Thank you for taking the time to look at this. Do take a look at my other resources. :)

Here you’ll find a one page document, using a leaflet format, which gives students an opportunity to write for each different writing purpose. When I taught this, I asked students to write these alone in the top boxes. I, then, asked them to compare with a partner, considering whether they had managed to get a feel for the purpose. We ran through these together and I wrote models for each. Finally, I asked students to choose one purpose and to write the entire piece on the lined paper at the bottom of the page. This is EXTREMELY easily adaptable and could be used to teach any format or purpose required for paper two non-fiction writing tasks. Please do take a look at my other resources. :)

This is a resource which runs through a reflection on a poetry comparison task, similar to those in AQA Literature paper two. The task focuses on Langston Hughes’ ‘I, Too’ and Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’. How do Angelou and Hughes present ideas about strength in ‘Still I Rise’ and ‘I, Too’? It includes an example paragraph and a KS3 mark scheme which students can use to reflect on the piece, marking it and giving advice on improvements. Beneath this, there is space for whole class feedback (which is deletable) as I used this after a trial where I used this question. At the bottom, there is space for students to attempt the task for themselves. I’ve used this as a lesson a number of times and have found it useful with classes in enabling them to really visualise the way in which to structure analytical and comparative paragraphs. Thank you for taking the time to look at this. Do take a look at my other resources. :)

This is a resource which runs through AQA Literature paper one, including a Macbeth and A Christmas Carol extract questions. For each question, there is an example essay answer to consider and there is space for feedback on the answers, in case this has been used as a trial. I’ve included the feedback I gave my classes, in the form of WWWs and EBIs. They just need deleting. These sections are highlighted yellow for your ease. Additionally, this could simply form a structure for your own feedback from trials. I’ve used this as a lesson a number of times and have found it useful with classes in enabling them to really visualise the way in which to write the entire essays and to familiarise themselves with the mark scheme. Once this has been done, I’ve asked students to improve their own trial responses to enact what they’ve learned. Thank you for taking the time to look at this. Do take a look at my other resources. :)

This is a resource to sit alongside the Life Of Pi hyena extract English Language paper one exam. For each reading question, there are example answers to consider and there is space for feedback on the answers, in case this has been used as a trial. I’ve included the feedback I gave my classes, in the form of WWWs and EBIs. These just need deleting. These sections are highlighted yellow for your ease. Additionally, this could simply form a structure for your own feedback from trials. I’ve used this as a lesson a number of times and have found it useful with classes in enabling them to really visualise the answers and to familiarise themselves with the mark scheme. Once this has been done, I’ve asked students to improve their own trial responses to enact what they’ve learned. Thank you for taking the time to look at this. Do take a look at my other resources. :)