I am an Oxford graduate and recently qualified English teacher (PGCE finished in 2016) who was always told off for 'reinventing the wheel'. I thought I may as well share the fruits of my labours!
I am an Oxford graduate and recently qualified English teacher (PGCE finished in 2016) who was always told off for 'reinventing the wheel'. I thought I may as well share the fruits of my labours!
This resource is an article about Electronic Dance Music (which many of my lower ability pupils like), with questions matched up to the new AQA Paper 2 English Language GCSE - a true/false task and a language analysis task at the end to brainstorm. There is a separate worksheet which requires you to cut up the sentences so pupils can do a card sort, focusing on PEEL paragraphs and being able to identify which sentence performs which function. It is aimed at a lower-middling ability class, but you can differentiate and ask higher ability pupils to focus on planning the language analysis task without the paragraph/PEEL sheet (which they could present to the class).
Skills: analysis, synthesis, interpretation, close reading, paragraph writing, P E E, reading skills, language analysis, true or false
Designed for pupils studying for their English Language non-fiction exam. An example review with a task where they have to spot persuasive techniques. Can easily be used as a whole lesson if used with a starter recapping techniques, and an additional task of writing their own review of a meal they had recently.
Information sheets with little activities to introduce pupils to subject terminology and to signposting phrases which they can use in their own writing.
GCSE skills - subject terminology, analysis, evaluation, higher-level explanation.
Winter Swans is a poem in the GCSE AQA anthology for Love and Relationships. This lesson is aimed at a mixed ability group, and is differentiated and scaffolded, with a large element of personal choice for the final task. The powerpoint uses visual stimuli to appeal to visual learners.
Powerpoint, lesson plan and copy of poem altered to emit the most interesting language - give pupils this first so that they are forced to think about the interesting choices the poet makes.
close-reading, poetry, KS4, GCSE
This lesson is designed to be a one-off, complete lesson for KS3-4 English. The powerpoint is differentiated with examples and higher ability tasks, and contains many visual stimuli for more visual learners. The presentation uses several gifs, which always go down well! The lesson starts with an activity about the origin of the word 'hello', and goes on to analyse Adele's hit song Hello. Learning objectives are clear and shared. Good for teaching approaches to unseen poetry in a fun manner.
This is a resource designed to recap persuasive and letter features for pupils and give them a chance to improve a poorly written argument.
You can easily differentiate by asking higher ability pupils to focus on register, style, vocabulary and adding in techniques, while asking lower ability pupils to find the problems and suggest simple improvements.
The “voice” in the letter to improve is a teenage pyromaniac who goes off topic.
Resource includes a technique recap and reminders of the key ingredients for persuasive letter writing and arguments.
Could be set as a main activity, or a starter or plenary to recap prior or previous learning.
Could also be set as a homework task or project.
Perfect for revising or teaching the new GCSE AQA Paper 2 Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives Section B writing task. Discusses the need to be convincing and consider tone, style, register, form, audience and purpose.
A ‘pre-flight checklist’ style resource for A Level students learning how to write an language analysis response looking at how authors create meaning and representation.
Halloween theme, sort of - skeleton metaphor throughout.
Lesson created for comprehension skills for KS3 and KS4. Fully differentiated resources - worksheet pack includes differentiated choice-based activity, which the three different levels of Word doc correspond to. Can be used to teach the curriculum skills of inferring / deducing / synthesising which are important to the new AQA GCSE. Uses the idea of the Norse God Thor (popularised by Marvel comics and films) to engage pupils, and they have to solve the riddles in a story from Norse Mythology (which I translated). Interactive, engaging, always a success!
Descriptive language task with a picture prompt and teacher modelling of descriptive techniques and language devices. Suitable for GCSE and A Level pupils. Differentiated - task more able pupils with inventing their own examples for each technique, and use the modelling to scaffold the less able pupils.
Exam style question echoes the structure of the new GCSE AQA spec for English Language Paper 1 Section B - Creative Writing
Differentiated lesson materials aimed at a class of students ranging from A-D grades.
2 x lesson plans and 2 x lesson powerpoints, and differentiated support resources including definitions of difficult terms. Quotes to give to any struggling pupils while the table-fill task is underway.
Poem in the AQA GCSE Anthology on Love and Relationships. Powerpoint includes starter, main activities, annotation guiding questions to discuss, and plenary based on PEE paragraph writing.
Poetry, essay-writing skills, GCSE, close-reading, interpretation
2-3 WHOLE LESSONS
This resource was created at the end of a GCSE module on An Inspector Calls. The powerpoint covers 2 lessons - the cover sheet can be set as the first lesson without the powerpoint but using the two worksheets (ingredients of genres, who is Inspector Goole).
The powerpoint has interactive timers and visual stimuli to appeal to all learners and to keep the lesson at a good pace/ keep pupils engaged, and the starter worksheet should be done as a fast-paced discussion/ competition.
The writing part of the unit of work can be set as homework or completed in lesson time - you can either have pupils peer mark, feedback on and rework just 1 paragraph OR an entire short story.
Powerpoint slides to run alongside a 'create your own bucketlist' activity. This could be done individually with a prize for the best list, or collaboratively as a form group. This worked well with a vertical form group with ages from 14-18.
A teaching powerpoint, an original mock paper (with source booklet) I have created and original exemplar answers at different grades (differentiated) I have created using the text Mrs Dalloway, which fits the GCSE English Lang Paper 1 spec for the new AQA paper.
Also included - an original mock paper, source booklet, and differentiated exemplar answers at different grades for Lord of the Flies, which also fits the spec.
The teaching powerpoint includes advice on the skills needed (close-reading, analysis, inference, etc.), how to approach the paper etc., this powerpoint uses student-friendly language and could be easily adapted for a different text/ mock/ exemplar set.
The papers and source booklets have been painstakingly created in order to follow the format of - and print like - actual exam papers.
This resource includes the following files:
Teaching powerpoint for approaching paper 1 (Mrs Dalloway)
Original mock exam paper 1 (Mrs Dalloway)
Original mock exam paper 2 (Lord of the Flies)
Original source booklet 1 (Mrs Dalloway)
Original source booklet 2 (Lord of the Flies)
Original differentiated exemplars booklet 1 (Mrs Dalloway)
Original differentiated exemplars booklet 1 (Lord of the Flies)
AQA cover sheet for papers if set as a mock
When used with the reading/writing resources from the website TeachIt for the new Paper 1, this resource forms an entire scheme of work.
Resource created to use with GCSE poem anthology during revision. Students create their own diamante poem using the template on the worksheet. They have to think about structure and themes, and select the most relevant phrases, so it's great for making them really think.
As an extension, pupils can read and peer-review others' poems, create a new diamante poem from the same base poem (but flip the mood or atmosphere, for higher ability) or move on to a new base poem and complete the revision activity for the new text.
Work for Neutral Tones (GCSE Literature Love and Relationships Poetry Anthology AQA). Close-reading skills, comprehension skills, different perspectives and critical material, essay-writing skills, thinking skills.
Worksheet on responses (agree/ disagree) to poem to be done in pairs.
Task where pupils replace the emotive words to create a poem with a different mood or tone (higher ability).
A detailed worksheet introducing the different types of sentence: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex to pupils with tasks. Includes references to popular culture and Disney villains to assist understanding. Designed to try and make a rather dry topic a bit more fun.
Grammar, sentence structures, different sentence types, exam criteria, national curriculum.
Whole lesson on Before You Were Mine to fit specifications for the new AQA GCSE anthology on Love and Relationships. Questions designed to test pupils on exam criteria and get them really evaluating and analysing the text.
Worksheet to be done before analytical paragraph.