This is a resource I have created which I have stuck in the front/back of student’s exercise books. Students can refer to this for any language and structural devices that they may find in texts whilst studying GCSE English Language. I stress to the students that it is vital they only use it as a last resort if they are REALLY struggling with identifying the language/structural device.

I have used this with my GCSE resits to help improve their language for the Imaginative Writing part of the English Language exam (Edexcel 9-1). Students normally complete this at the start of the lesson so that it will inform a writing task later on. I’ve also laminated them with my students so that they can refer back to them in future lessons. Helpful with expanding vocabulary! Students fill in the blank boxes with synonyms Feel free to edit to your heart’s content!

This resource is a full lesson based on analysis and evaluation of non-fiction. The text is taken from The Secret Footballer (an anonymous footballer writing about what it’s REALLY like to be a footballer). The lesson involves a spelling test to begin with, opportunities for whole class analysis with some quotes taken from the extract as well as the opportunity to answer both an analysis and an evaluation question with guided sentence starters for each.

This is a workbook I’ve created that I gave to my students over the Easter break. It is essentially a Paper 1 mock and a Paper 2 mock for the Edexcel spec with a few tips on how to tackle each question in between. There is also a mark scheme attached that could be used either by the teacher or by the students to peer assess their work.

In this PowerPoint is an example of a letter of complaint written by myself and can be used for anything from analysis to evaluation, as well as a modelled example of a piece of transactional writing to inspire students to write their own

This resource explores travel writing but it could also be tied into imaginative writing. The text is written by myself and is taken from my old travel blog from when I used to work in China. Students to explore what makes a good piece of imaginative writing and then try it for themselves

This is a resource made using a newspaper article taken from The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/11/lost-hands-making-flatscreens-no-help). The resource prompts students to find language and structural devices that could be used to answer an analysis question. This will help them to plan their answers as well as an opportunity to practice the skill of analysis with a very interesting text.

This is a full lesson on evaluation based on Emma Watson’s HeForShe campaign speech. In the presentation, there is a worked example of an evaluation answer to show students exactly how to develop points.

This is a resource I’ve used this year which is a great introduction to the skill of evaluation without actually looking at a text! There are pictures of 2 drastically different cars with the evaluation question of ‘To what extent is this a practical and useful car?’ Students must look at each of them in turn and evaluate whether or not they are practical. This resource could also be used for comparison!

Inspired by the structure strips that are all over Twitter! Students stick these in the margin of their exercise books to have a visual aid for a plan whilst they’re completing a piece of imaginative writing. It follows the 5 part story structure of: Exposition Rising action Climax Falling action Resolution

This is a resource to help students plan their answer to an imaginative writing question. There are 4 aspects to the whole planning phase which means this could be used as a full lesson: Plan out each part of the story to a 5 point plan Create a main character Think about what the character has learned from the whole experience described in the story to show character development Vocabulary Bank

This is a collection of 10 minute starter activities to be used at the beginning of an evaluation lesson to get students into an “evaluative mood” complete with some teacher answers!

This resource helps with the imaginative writing element of English Language. Students circle the images they want to apply to their character. Each image is symbolic of something so they have to think of a way they could show these character traits to the reader. I’ve used this resource to inform a writing task in lessons and it seemed to work really well!

This resource is a nice introduction to an imaginative writing lesson. To use this resource, you will require some 6-sided dice. Students roll the dice three times to give them a character, a setting and a situation. Students must then plan a story around whatever they roll!

This is a full lesson on evaluation with the 1966 World Cup final match report as the text. There is also the opportunity to develop analysis. I used it this year with disengaged groups because the text is fairly interesting to them. Link to World Cup final highlights on slide 2.

In this resource, students must read an example of a ‘poor’ piece of writing. Using the checklist in the bottom left hand corner, they write things that must be done to improve it. They can then pass this sheet onto another student who will look at what is needed to improve and then try to improve it in the space provided! There are 10 different pieces of writing in total in this pack meaning most students will have a different text to read.

This is a resource that students can refer to in lesson/in revision if they are struggling with how to structure their responses to analysis, evaluation and comparison questions. This is geared mainly towards Edexcel but could easily be adapted to other exam boards.

This is the transcript to the speech made by Prince Harry at the Toronto Invictus Games (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zFoMqsvXvk). This is a great speech that is perfect for evaluation as well as analysis. On the back page of the extract are some paragraphs to be focused in on for students to think about how successfully Harry has excited the audience. This is also a great resource to be used to inform a writing task where the students have to write a motivational speech or a speech persuading people to donate to a particular charity.

In this A3/A4 resource there is a poster for each of the assessment objectives in English Language with a breakdown of how to tackle each skill. I have used them in revision workshops as well as in lesson where students can use it as a reference point if they find themselves struggling with a certain question. ENJOY!

This PowerPoint is a full lesson based on characterisation in imaginative writing. The first set of activities provides the students with an image and they must come up with an example of a language device they could use to help describe it (e.g. adjectives, onomatopoeia, the 5 senses etc.) The next activity involves looking at a couple of characters which could be placed in the situations taking place in the images. The students must then think about a plot involving these characters to go towards a piece of imaginative writing.