I have created a series of writing prompts for learners of L2 functional English in response to limited past papers / mocks. I teach in an areas where learners are offered multiple resits and so need a wide range of practice materials. Tasks range from full 35 min writing tasks to starters where the learner is asked to write only the opening paragraphs. Types of question covers persuasive letter writing, formal and informal writing, report writing, online forums, letters of complaint and articles. Please keep in mind that the TES preview often distorts the look of the materials and is not always a true reflection. I hope it helps.

A collection of different types of writing questions to help your learners practice their writing without doing the same practice papers repeatedly. Hope it helps

This fantastic and fun lesson can be used with either AQA or Edexcel exam boards for GCSE English language. This lesson focuses on writing skills, emphasising ambitious vocabulary, developing language / structural features and writing for an audience. It is a perfect refresher to build on already taught skills and is an excellent lesson to use after a break or half term to re-inspire students and re-engage them in to English. This full lesson has enough material to fill 3 hours and can be used as one complete session or broken into 2 sessions, it is designed to re-awaken students imagination and uses plenty of bite sized group and team activities to encourage self motivation and independent learning. This session starts off with the "design your dream house" theme and uses MTV Cribs and plenty of stimulating visuals to inspire students and get their engines running. It ends with a look at Tolkiens description of a Hobbit Hole and the use of structural features used to engage his audience and bring them on a journey , therefore progressing students skill level from simple descriptive writing to something more sophisticated. The final main task is for the students to write a piece of mind blowing descriptive writing of their own dream house using all the skills covered. Resources include ppt of the full lesson with slides which can be printed and distributed, Hobbit extract with Q&A section, video with accompanying worksheet, writing scaffold, MTV cribs blurb sheet for those who don't know the programme. This lesson has engaged and inspired students every time I have used it and has lead to some really great pieces of writing. Hope it helps.

This is a full lesson with 3 hours worth of resources and activities. This session breaks down and examine the comparative question A6 from paper 2 (WJEC / EDUQAS exam board) by using 2 texts which describe Manchester at different periods, Engels from 1844 and Bill Bryson from 1995. This session encourages independent / discovery learning and is filled with quick paced paired activities in which the students work together to identify and source conclusions from the text given. There is a short class discussion fore the students pool all their findings together in order to come up with a structured answer. Work sheets and support material is available to support weaker students and a starter paragraph is available to get the students into the swing of writing a prepared exam style answer. There is a start and plenary included in the session but there is also enough room for this session to be adapted any way you need it in order to suit your own students and teaching style. Please keep mind that TES previews sometimes distorts the PPT slides and this is not a reflection of how the resource looks. Hope it helps

This is a 5 page resource perfect for Functional Skills students or lower level students. This resource starts with a formal letter and works it way to informal messages sent on Facebook. It touches upon impressions made by poorly written messages. For higher level students this could be used as homework, and extension activity or as a starter or discussion about impressions made via social media. Please be aware that TES preview often distorts the resources and this is not a true reflection of how it looks. Hope it helps.

This is a simple card matching activity that can be used as a starter to help students with simple spellings by using mnemonics. This is great to use with lower level Functional Skills students or students with dyslexia. Feel free to use in a way which works with your students. Hope it helps

This is a L1 activity based around the idea of a bucket list. This activity has 3 parts to it which include creating a list, researching activity and a writing activity. This activity has been created in order to be flexible with your teaching style and can be used as an extension, homework or form the main part of your session. It can also be amended underpin a specific topic. Please keep in mind that TES previews can distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a complete mock exam for paper 1 of the AQA GCSE 8700 spec. The extract is taken from The Colour Purple. The lesson comes with a few small groups task starters and a selection of 2 videos - you can choose which one best suits your needs, keep in mind that Thug Notes does contain mild use of language and adult themes. As I teach in FE this is resource is fine to use however you can use the trailer or an alternative if you choose to. The session is created for you to use in any way you wish. You may want to sit a formal practice in which you can print off this powerpoint and be used as a paper document. This book contains theme of racism and sexism and so you can adapt this to underpin theme of equality and diversity. Be advised that Tes previews distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This booklet is full of motivational, inspirational and confidence building quotes. I like to have this booklet in my classroom for students to look at, or use its in my classroom displays. This can be used either way depending on your needs. Hope it helps

This is a lesson designed around the Flat Earth Theory for preparation for question 4 from paper 2 of the AQA GCSE English exam. This lesson compares two articles from two different writers about this topic. It is designed to help students understand what the question is asking them to do , which is why the sources are not from two different eras, and helps students to break down the way articles are written and how to structure an answer. This lesson comes with a video and support material including an answer scaffold. It is a quick paced lesson with plenty of group, paired activities ending with an independent writing task, starter, plenary, self and peer assessments. This can be adapted to suit your or your students needs. Please be aware that TES preview can distort the look of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This session explores structural features for paper 1 , question 4 of the EDEXCEL GCSE English exam by looking at an extract of Margret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale. This lesson is quick paced, engaging and exciting which explores human rights and human rights violations. This lesson helps to expose students to events that have and are taking place around the globe and to encourage awareness and tolerance, therefore embedding equality and diversity but also British Values. This is a great lesson to invite youth workers to attend and help support activities and group discussions as they can bring another dimension to this topic, therefore encouraging cross school or college participation in English and encouraging a holistic approach to education. Students work in groups and pairs to break down and examine the extract, they explore ideas of culture and individuality whilst also looking at the ways the Margret Atwood uses structural features to communicate atmosphere and repression to her audience. The lesson ends with a practice question, peer marking and a small self assessment plenary. The lesson comes with the full extract, powerpoint of the entire lesson, worksheets and two videos, one exploring human rights and the other is the trailer for The Handmaids Tale. I used to teach in a college where lessons came in 3 hour blocks therefore there is enough material for 3 hours in this resource, but it can be altered into smaller sessions depending on your timetable. Please note that TES previews an at times distort the look of the resource but this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This is a team based lesson with quick paced tasks based around an extract from Andy Weir’s “The Martian”. The aim of the lesson is to answer an exam based question on the structural features used in this extract. The lesson comes with 7 worksheets which includes the extract and tasks which range across all abilities and can be used at your discretion. This resource also comes with the trailer (which does include the S word, so feel free to use at your discretion) and the full lesson on powerpoint. This resource is designed to be used in which ever way you feel works for your classes and is adaptable to accommodate your teaching style. The lesson is created for students who are already aware of structural features but again, you can adapt this session to either introduce or reinforce structural features, depending on what you have covered so far. The session comes with a start and short self assessment plenary, there are plenty of team tasks, group and class discussions and some peer assessment. It ends with a individual task which is exam focused. Please note that the TES preview does distort the look of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps.

( Please note that the TES preview does distort the look of the resources and this is not always the full picture or a true reflection of the resource, therefore I have added some screenshots to help give you a clearer picture ) Mental health and well being are few of the pressures which are being identified and targeted as issues young people face today. To help support mental well being I started using positive thinking tasks and CBT techniques as small starter activities with my classes a year ago, and they have been incredibly successful in helping to get young people in a positive frame of mind, not just for class but for other aspects of life such as exam season and planning for the future. Incorporating these small 5 - 10 min tasks has been a big hit in my department and with principalship, therefore I have decided to share some of my most successful activities with you. These are selection of short, fun tasks to use with your class. These can be starters or incorporated into your main session. These activities cover a range of topics such as changing perspectives, managing positivity and gratefulness, tackling anxiety (a big issue among young people today) These are a mixture of team and individual tasks, giving students practice and positive tips they can use in their everyday life. This resource comes with a full powerpoint of 25 slides covering 6 over arching topics and 8 pages of supportive material / worksheets. Feel free to alter in any way which suits your sessions. Hope it helps.

Sourcing material for your classes can take up a large proportion of what precious little time teachers have. For this reason I have complied a resource pack of various news articles to use with Functional English or GCSE English Language students. This pack has 10 articles covering 22 pages from a wide range of news outlets such as The BBC, The Metro, The Sun, The Telegraph and many more. The articles cover a wide range of topics from Climate Change, gender identity to homophobia and looks at people such as Greta Thunberg and JK Rowling. The articles vary in length and layout to help reach students of all levels, some are individual articles regarding an individual news story, whilst other news stories have more than 1 article to show how writers create view points or potential bias when covering the news. You are free to use the resources in whichever way fits you and your students. You can create your own worksheets or use the links to project the articles onto an IWB or to show the videos attached. You can use the articles to discuss language, layout, bias, writers view points or to use as a catalyst for class debate. Please be aware that the TES preview can at time distort the look of a resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This quick paced, vibrant session is designed to introduce students to the comparison question on the exam paper. I have geared it towards the AQA exam paper, but can be easily adapted to suit any exam board. To help students become more familiar with this question, this lesson uses the Manchester 2017 MEN bombings as its subject and underpins the message of unity, one love and tolerance. As this is an introduction, it only uses current day articles and resources to ease the students in to this tricky question. This resource contains enough material for a 3 hour session. You have a full powerpoint lesson with starters, paired / team / individual tasks, self assessment plenary, videos, articles, activities and a mini class discussion. The lesson gives a small break down of the exam question and a simple example of an answer to helps students become familiar with the answer structure. The session contains tasks which are achievable at a wide range of levels. When delivering this session, I often will invite youth workers to help support as it’s over arching message is one of tolerance and British values and not terrorism, therefore youth workers / support workers will be a valuable assist in this session and help give a more holistic approach to your students education. This is something both my department heads and Ofsted have commented positively on in the past. Please keep in mind that the TES preview does at times distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. I hope this session helps.

This is a full GCSE English session which has enough materials to cover 3 hours. This session covers the critical thinking question of the English exam and is adaptable to any exam board. This session slowly builds and presents a scaffold towards to this difficult question through a series of team and paired activities and group discussions which underpin and practice P.E.E answers and writing to describe. There is room for students to learn at a even pace and tasks are structured to stretch and challenge higher achieving students. This session comes with 3 video clips and the extract. You can break this session into 2 sessions or adapt to whatever exam board you are teaching on. Please keep in mind that the TES preview often distorts the look of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This is a practice reading resource based on Greta Thunberg. The resource comes with 1 text and questions which are a selection of questions taken from the Pearson Functional skills exam paper. This resource is perfect for exam practice or to use with lower ability learners or those with anxiety around learning and exams. Hope it helps

If you have hair students like mine, then they hate English and only want to do anything related to hair then these resources may be helpful. I teach very short sessions (1 hour) to very low level and reluctant hair & beauty students who will disrupt any lesson to avoid doing the work. Naturally you can adapt and change the materials to suit your own class needs/lengths. This resource is designed to encourage the students to write and broaden their vocabulary. This includes a Power Point, paired matching task with extension worksheet and a short descriptive writing task all based around describing different hair styles. Hope it helps

I support at risk student with 1 hour support sessions in GCSE English, my materials are simplified and designed to be used in a 1-2-1 capacity. These materials are easily adaptable to suit your own cohort and timetable. This resource is a small section of text taken from the Hunger Games book and I have structured questions which reflect those found on paper 1, questions 2, 3 and 4. This is a quick and easy revision tool, can be used as homework or self study or in support sessions. Hope it helps