This resource includes two full lessons introducing strategies for approaching a descriptive writing task for AQA GCSE English Language Question 5 that encourages students to ‘snapshot’ aspects of the image and track through these snapshots to create an interesting descriptive sequence. Teaching instructions are in the ‘notes’ section below the slides. Any printouts are included in the slides themselves. This lesson was awarded an ‘Outstanding’ a few years back during a half-lesson drop-in observation. Suitable for Years 9-11 depending on ability. Orginally used with a middle ability Year 10 class. My department uses these lessons as a base lesson to begin our Year 10 writing unit: ‘Places and People.’

This powerpoint is for lessons 4 and 5 in teaching Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. It focuses on comparing The Nurses' Songs in both Innocence and Experience and considering the differences between the two collections. Students work in groups to consider three key ideas in both poems (the pastoral context, relationships between people, and the nature of authority) and are prompted by AO specific questions and information. There are additional 'notes' at the bottom of each slide for the teacher. The last slide in preview is a homework task.

This includes two lessons in my unit for AQA GCSE Power and Conflict unit on war poetry (context and language).

These two lessons are on the Holy Thursday poems from both Songs of Innocence and Experience. The first lesson focuses on developing skills in alternative readings of methods with consideration to writer’s purpose for Holy Thursday (Innocence). Students will use passages from the Bible to consider both a positive reading and a negative undertone to the poem and complete the handout using through a class ‘Jigsaw.’ The second lesson focuses on independent analysis skills that build on those from the previous lesson. After a reading of the poem and consideration of key context, students are divided into groups and can either 1) complete the handout looking at different aspect of the poem or 2) (how I taught it) be assigned a group and have speedy responses to the different categories, essentially working as a class to develop an analysis. My students really enjoyed these lesson and it led them into a formative essay task. Hope you enjoy as well.

A revision pack for students studying A Christmas Carol for AQA GCSE English Literature. I originally created for a top set but since I’ve used it for a range of abilities. It has tips on how revise, links to websites, a summary (this is not my own but copies from online), a list of possible themes and characters to revise, a range of quotes selected by myself, where they occur, who said them, and space for students to write in notes on them, basic context, a checklist for success, a model response, and a few practice questions (without the extract attached so students can use their text). This took me ages to make but students have found it really helpful (and we use it for the whole department now) so hopefully yours do too! Just a reminder not to re-upload anywhere.

This is a FULL UNIT/SCHEME OF WORK with 115 slides on creative writing skills with a focus on describing people and places using for the new AQA English Language Paper 1 (Question 5) with some graded 'outstanding' lessons! This unit took 7 weeks to deliver to a Year 10 group and is appropriate for middle/high ability classes. (Targets 5-8) Everything you need is inside the slides! I worked really hard on this so I hope you enjoy teaching it as much as I did! If you'd like to buy the lessons separately, some of them are individually for sale on my shop as well.

These three lessons were created for a very low ability SEN Year 8 class. They focus on comprehension and building working memory skills through over-teaching. Resources have been differentiated for some students who struggle to write words and sentences but the extension is there for those who are ready to make some independent inferences.

Lesson 9 of my unit on AQA GCSE Power and Conflict Poetry (war poems). This lesson looks at how to approach an exam style question and has the students complete a formative assessment with the help of their notes from previous lessons. Handouts with model response are attached. This was originally created for a lower ability set (targets 3-5).

This is a double lesson if you include reading and annotation. This lesson opens considering a key quote from the assigned reading and literary criticism from Lesson 4. It then builds on students knowledge of Iago and introduces the ‘Vice’ character in morality plays. After a class reading of Act I Scene III, students are then asked to reflect on other ‘dramatic’ methods in Act I that suggest evil (e.g. the night time setting and Iago speaking in the shadows) and Aristotle’s Three Unities. In preparation for a mock exam, this lesson also includes a practice exam question and a review of how to structure a response.

A lesson covering basic terms of the tragedy genre including the five characteristics of the tragic hero as outlined in Aristotle’s Poetics. This lesson is to prepare students to begin reading Othello. Resources to print are included in the slides.

A glossary of language terms with definitions. Students can complete the last column ongoing in class or as a homework task. This was made for a higher ability group and should be cut down for lower ability groups by removing rows.

This includes two lessons in my unit for AQA GCSE Power and Conflict unit on war poetry (lessons 14 & 15) on War Photographer. It is originally created for a lower ability group (targets 3-5). This particular set of lessons was developing students' ability to engage with context and writer's purpose. Some linked videos from this unit are from GCSE Pod (paid service). I suggest Mr. Bruff on YouTube as a substitute.

This includes five lessons in my unit for AQA GCSE Power and Conflict unit on war poetry (lessons 18-22) to help students revise for an exam or assessment. Lessons include: themes revision, looking at a model response, how to reach your target grade & practice questions. It is originally created for a lower ability group (targets 3-5). Some linked videos from this unit are from GCSE Pod (paid service). I suggest Mr. Bruff on YouTube as a substitute. All handouts are included.

This is 2-3 full lessons (depending on your lesson length) to support development of describing places for AQA GCSE Paper 1 Question 5. I usually follow these lessons on from my Lesson 1 and 2 of the series. In lesson 3, students complete a carousel to develop their skills in quick planning of a descriptive writing piece, descriptive writing itself under a set time in small groups, and reflecting through peer feedback and editing. In lesson 4, students complete their first formative assessment from a choice of two tasks with a focus on AO5, pausing to check progress, and annotating their success when finished. This was originally created for a middle ability year 10 class, but is suitable for years 9-11 depending on ability. I (and other members of my department) have used it with many groups over the last few years quite successfully. This lesson also tends to highlight student weaknesses quite well due to the time pressures to help inform teaching going forward if you choose to skip the assessment task at the end. The carousel lesson was awarded an ‘Outstanding’ a few years back during a departmental drop-in observation with the original group of year 10s. This is quite a showy lesson. You will need: felt tips sugar paper Post-It notes print outs of the images that are provided on the slides I’ve included

These lessons focus on having students create a specific effect, tone, or dominant impression of a place in their writing by looking at careful use of vocabulary, synonyms and then antonyms. They go through a series of short writing tasks where they practice using vocabulary to create different impressions on the reader and then apply this to an extended writing task where they write two opposing descriptions of the same place. This lesson begins to review and build on the skills in the other lessons in this unit (Lessons 1 to 4) but can be used independently of this as well. Instructions are in the notes section under the slides. This resource was originally created for a middle ability year 10 class but is suitable for years 9-11 and I have successfully used it with a range of abilities with some changes to timing and tweaks in differentiation. I always find this lesson really brings on students’ descriptive writing if they’ve been struggling with creating a specific effect and teaching this use of vocabulary can then be further applied to narrative writing and creating shifts in tone to indicate conflict. This usually takes me two lessons but can be turned into 3 if you want to look in more detail at the written model provided.

This is my third lesson on William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience for AQA A Level English Literature. This lesson focuses on applying key aspects of the 'Songs' to the poem. Specifically, students look at the representation of spring, the village green, and the importance of play in the poem. They also reflect on the presentation of authority and are prompted to compare to poems I already taught (Introduction and The Shepherd).

This is the first lesson in my unit for GCSE AQA Power and Conflict poetry on war poems. This lesson looks at the themes of power and conflict using stream of consciousness writing and images as prompts.

This includes two lessons in my unit for AQA GCSE Power and Conflict unit on war poetry (lessons 10 and 11) on Remains. It is originally created for a lower ability group (targets 3-5) but this lesson is also suitable for students moving towards a grade 6 as it introduces students to alternative interpretations. Some linked videos from this unit are from GCSE Pod (paid service). I suggest Mr. Bruff on YouTube as a substitute. One of the linked videos (documentary) does have the original words of the poem (a swear!)

This includes two lessons in my unit for AQA GCSE Power and Conflict unit on war poetry (lessons 16 & 17) on Kamikaze. It is originally created for a lower ability group (targets 3-5). These lessons focus closely on context and figurative language (similes and metaphors). Some linked videos from this unit are from GCSE Pod (paid service). I suggest Mr. Bruff on YouTube as a substitute.

You can never have too many practice papers. This looks at an extract taken from The Great Gatsby describing the valley of ashes. The additional resource is the start of a model response for Q2 and a full model response for Q3 aimed at higher ability students.