What the resource includes: How do you get ideas from the news. 8 story writing ideas from the news How to pick a news story to turn into a narrative Model answer using Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Model answer reworked so it is only 500 words long What the examiner wants 8 Things great writers do, explained 9 steps to writing your story

Here’s the beginning. Hope you like it. Something wasn’t right. The van didn’t belong here. It stood out, orange in the sun’s haze, and seemingly brand new. Although it’s windows were clean and unbroken, in dramatic contrast to the house, I could see no one inside. Yet the engine growled menacingly, like some hunting leopard, crouched in the scorched grass. Standing miserably beside the VW was a dilapidated house, squashed and ripped, a toddler’s discarded Christmas present chucked away as soon as opened. The windows, cracked into sharp and jagged pieces, looked out at me like a miserable face. Its brickwork appeared shoddy, built by workmen who knew they wouldn’t be paid much for doing a good job. One sad door hung on its hinges, groaning like a teenager watching a black and white film. Above, the roof sagged and decayed, revealing wooden struts to the merciless midday sun.

Here is the beginning. I hope you like it. The Swindle Kanye was exhausted. Another night shepherding the most photographed woman in the world around the Paris nightlife. Nothing was private. No trips to the patisserie or the boulangerie, no casual stroll to the Eifel tower, no romantic walk along the Seine. No, treats were ordered in; the atmosphere was artificial and air conditioned, in SUVs with blacked out windows. Even the Lamborghini involved endless goes at the outfits, each one posed and carefully styled for Instagram, before he could even turn the engine on. Tanya, the make-up artist, and Tony, the very camp dresser, would be called for 20 minutes before the photographs, taken with professional lighting and made to feel authentic by the hand held iPhone, limited edition – a diamond encrusted gift from Apple. Priceless. Like the jewellery – diamonds from Tiffany’s. Yes, the rich got richer. Everything Kim touched turned to gold, or platinum, or diamond. Always in the headlines, always in the press, but much more importantly, always on social media – Snapchat, InstaG, Facebook, Whatsapp – she might just as well have invented them all. She played them all, like a grand master, moving pieces around countless boards, seeing patterns and moves that took him days to catch on to. She made sure the paparazzi were everywhere, and where they weren’t, her social media stepped in like a presidential campaign. Everything and anything to keep Kim in the news.

What this resource includes: Sample question 6 Steps: Just tell me what to do The mark scheme explained Mnemonic for persuasive techniques: MAD FATHERS CROCH 19th century text Original modern text Perfect model answer to teach from, 530 words Perfect model answer annotated and explained How to analyse a writer’s tone How to infer Here is the beginning of the model answer: Model Answer Dominic Salles uses direct address to take the reader on a journey around the city, “as you walk the battlements”. While Salles tours this city, Dickens uses direct address to take the reader to the centre of Greenwich fair, “imagine yourself… in the very centre and heart of the fair.” Both writers therefore experience the city on foot. This metaphor, and the positive connotations of “heart”, imply that the fair will be a joyous experience. Salles begins with similar praise, using the hyperbole of the reader “gasping at the beauty of the town.” However, Salles takes the reader on a series of experiences which will make the reader wish to leave. Thus the alliteration of “cramped and crowded” lanes emphasises how little you might enjoy walking the streets. He uses the threatening simile of tourists “swarming like locusts” to convey his horror at being trapped in the crowds. In contrast, Dickens celebrates being in “an extremely dense crowd”, using language from the semantic field of play, so that the crowd “swings you to and fro” like a game, before delivering you to the “centre”.

What This Resource Includes 11 Steps: Just Tell Me What to Do Sample Question What the mark scheme says Why students should always write about complex sentences How to write great complex sentences in students’ own writing How to write about contrast and juxtaposition Model text, based on Brighton Rock 3 Further texts for practice: Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, Household Worlds extracts Model Answer, to get 100% Model Answer which can be written in the 12 minute time limit, to get 100% 15 skills to learn from the model answer How to move on from PEE paragraphs so students can write more in fewer words, and sound like an expert 10 great jokes

Here’s the beginning. Hope you like it. Tycoon I loved being a Geezer, a wheeler, a dealer. Loved it. Every Christmas we’d celebrate; a great family get together. And I was always The Man, Top Dog, El Numero Uno. I started out in stations, really small. You’d barely notice me: one more ant in the ant hive. Nostalgia was my USP then. I set up as a shoe shine boy and many passengers enjoyed the anachronistic joke. I made a few bob. But coins, and I wanted some of the folding. Who doesn’t love money? The crisp feel of it, fresh out of the bank. And then it hit me. The Victorians. Top hats, bowler hats, starched collars, canes. I started to dress the part, and the customers began to flood in. What next? Moved to a bigger station: King’s Cross, then franchised a mate in Euston.

Here’s the beginning. Hope you like it. Amarillo Slim So it happens one time in Mindy’s, which is a favourite with many prominent citizens on Broadway, when I get to talking to Amarillo Slim about this and that. Amarillo Slim is well known to one and all on account of his nose for the Vig. Indeed, many have got plenty potatoes following Slim’s nose and like many citizens, I am always happy to put more potatoes in my pockets. I notice Slim is not holding his whiskey and soda, which is his usual liquor, but is holding a bottle of cola which, as most citizens will tell you, does not offer a good time. Slim talks about this and that, being mostly horses, and five card stud, and I notice he has the Daily Post open to a page that has no horses on it. Slim says nothing about this and I ask him about the disappearing whiskey. He says, “you should try this cola, there’s plenty potatoes here.” Slim is not seen at Mindy’s for some time, but I get to think about him anyway, because he leaves behind the Daily Post open to a page on table tennis, which is little followed on Broadway. Indeed, there are many guys and dolls who suppose it is another name for making eyes and sneaking peaks at each other in a crowded restaurant when plans are made without words.

What this resource includes: Mnemonic to remember rhetorical, persuasive techniques: MAD FATHERS CROCH How to plan an answer 9 skills necessary in a top answer The mark scheme explained Model answer Model answer, annotated and explained Why exam topics will never be interesting Sample topics and question Here is the beginning of the text: Countdown to Grammar Schools I’ll have an opinion please Rachel. And a hyperbole. And another hyperbole. Yes, now an opinion…(repetition) Michael, you have a six letter word: Brexit. Congratulations. Yes, it is now in the dictionary. And Theresa, you have a seven letter word: grammar, where would we be without it? Congratulations, you are today’s winner. (anecdote and humour) And so we sprint towards an uncertain future, stiffened by the shouts of opinion and hyperbole: parents of progress or decline? The countdown clock will tell. (several metaphors, using emotive language, alliteration, contrasting pairs) But what if we count up, instead of down? What if we looked at some numerical facts about grammar schools? What if, unlike the fact-free Brexit debate, everything we needed to know were contained in one place, indeed, one spreadsheet? Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Gov.uk performance tables. Make yourselves at home in a world of facts.* (rhetorical questions, rule of three, creating an enemy, alliteration, emotive language, direct address, metaphor)* Opinion 1: grammar schools increase social mobility. Fact: The number of disadvantaged students in year 11 in selective schools in 2015 was 1389, 4% of their year 11. Social mobility, or mobility scooter? How do these students do? With these cherry picked few, 89% make expected progress in English, and similarly in maths. Not shabby. So, for disadvantaged students, grammar schools could work, if only they could push through the weighted doors. We need to dramatically increase their number. *(fact and opinion, statistics, metaphor, contrasting pairs, emotive language, metaphor, direct address) * By this stage, then, I have already used all the rhetorical techniques in MAD FATHERS CROCH. That’s in the first 215 words. You have 45 minutes, in which you ought to be able to write double this length. If you practise using these techniques, one at a time, they will become second nature to you. Here is an interesting fact for you. Yes, I am an English teacher, but I have only been commissioned to write articles since I published my book on the 15th of August 2016. In other words, the only training I have had in using these techniques is teaching them in class. This means that over the course of year 10 and 11 you can practise them at least as many times as I have.

AO1: The Ability to Quote and Explore Interpretations, Including Personal Response The presentation takes students through these four skills: Begin with the author’s purpose Link the author’s purpose to symbolism Refer to the characters as a construct Propose an alternative interpretation Watch my video to see how to teach it.

This resource includes two model pieces of writing, one at grade 6, the other at grade 9. Apart from the marking criteria, the grade 6 is characterised as such because it has several weaknesses: It’s too short for 40 minutes of writing Too many paragraphs start the same way Too many sentences start the same way There are few rhetorical devices (MAD FATHERS CROCH) Although it shows off with commas, it doesn’t show off other punctuation Although the beginning is a little original, the ending isn’t Paragraphs are organized, but not crafted for impact The grade 9 piece is divided into one sentence per slide, to show 3 rhetorical devices in each, which are made explicit. These are rhetorical devices contained in the mnemonic MAD FATHERS CROCH. The most powerful one of these, in that it helps facilitate most of the others, is the use of Triplets. There are also two instructional videos for this resource, one aimed at why students get stuck at grade 6. The other is explicit about how to get grade 9.

Teach students how to write about sentence forms. How to narrow this down to complex sentences, and see why nearly any description will have a list. How to write about the effect on the reader. See three texts which use complex sentences in a list. Teach students how good writers use complex sentences with contrast to manipulate the reader’s thoughts or feelings. Apply this to the specimen papers.

Here’s the beginning. I hope you like it. The Face I don’t think you understand, do you? I mean, how could you, how could you possibly? I suppose, when you look at me, when you truly look at me, you don’t really see what’s there. That’s the point. My eye, how it fixes you with an open stare, how it dares you to look away. You’re not used to that, are you? You remember me. Everyone remembers me. England’s queen of starts, going on the B of Bang. The gold medals, always the gold medals, the impossible comebacks. 2020, 2024. I’m a legend, a national treasure, an inspiration. And of course the honours – Sports Personality of the Year, twice, Dame: Kathy Stringer, invincible, indomitable, incredible me.

Sheila Birling as you have probably never thought about her before, and in more detail than your students have thought about before. Here’s a sample from the beginning:

“He must be deformed somewhere”. This is part of a series of 5 short extracts on Hyde. They will enable your students to answer any essay on Hyde. Each extract is explicitly linked to the following 5 themes. Understanding any two of these fully ought to be enough to gain a grade 7. Referencing more than 2 is likely to propel students into grade 8. Key words and phrases are analysed in each slide and linked to each of the 5 themes. I’m pricing this as cheaply as TES will allow! If you really want a bargain, buy all 5 extracts in the bundle! If you want any help on how to teach them, follow the links to thee videos. Christian Morality Tale Fear of Scientific Progress Repressed Homosexuality Love of the Gothic and Detective Genres Hypocrisy of Middle Class Men

This beautiful presentation will help your students remember the 14 most important quotations to think and write about Macbeth’s character. They are also presented in the order you would use them in an essay on Macbeth. Print them off as revision cards. Get your students to write paragraphs on the back, incorporating the quotation. Put them together to construct the essay. Use the best essays to teach the rest of your class how to succeed.

This is a 20 minute assembly, or tutor period, or presentation to parents, showing students exactly how to revise so that they remember more of what they study. It shows them the cognitive science behind why revising in very small chunks works over time, and why only revising in the last month before the exams is a very poor strategy. It uses the analogy of eating an elephant to make clear why the best strategy is to revise in 10-20 minute chunks over the whole of year 11, or 10 and 11. It has a highly engaging embedded video of Twilight, Bad Lip Reading, in which you test students on what they have heard. It works - they all chant out the ridiculous answers. Example, what did he slap? Answer: A fish. You can use this to show how dual coding works: marrying images with speech really helps memory and explains why YouTube is your friend or, if you have bought it for your school, GCSEpod. Other explanations are of spaced learning, retrieval practice, interleaving, and elaboration. It also explodes three key myths about revision: reading, cramming and highlighting. You can see what the assembly might look like by watching my video on it in the link with this resource. There are over 50 slides - more than enough to adapt to your context.

AQA likes to test the novel by asking students to compare Pip to another character. This is my top tip for 2018. Students often struggle to find interesting comparisons and fail to write about Dickens’ purpose. This resource introduces four big ideas which will allow your students to write confidently about Dickens’ purpose. It also provides 20 ideas and 20 quotations for them to use in their essay. Most quotations, as you can see, are detailed, so that you can give your students practice in selecting judiciously, and so that they learn to embed quotations in their sentences. Below is a sample of the first 4 ideas:

“With ape-like fury”. This is part of a series of 5 short extracts on Hyde. They will enable your students to answer any essay on Hyde. Each extract is explicitly linked to the following 5 themes. Understanding any two of these fully ought to be enough to gain a grade 7. Referencing more than 2 is likely to propel students into grade 8. Key words and phrases are analysed in each slide and linked to each of the 5 themes. I’m pricing this as cheaply as TES will allow! If you really want a bargain, buy all 5 extracts in the bundle! If you want any help on how to teach them, follow the links to thee videos. Christian Morality Tale Fear of Scientific Progress Repressed Homosexuality Love of the Gothic and Detective Genres Hypocrisy of Middle Class Men

We all know rhyme and music aid memory. What if you could get your students to learn their quotations this way? Here is a rap, based on Eminem’s Slim Shady, to help your students remember 50 quotations! Most struggle to reach 10, because they don’t challenge their memory. Students will also love the challenge of setting their own quotations to a song they love - the rap need only be a way in to their own creativity. Students learn what they think hard about, and showing them how to adapt quotations to their own favourite songs is a tried and tested way to do this. You’ll find my video to help you - students will like this, as I am unable to rap, and feel they can do much better. There is also another video, by Spitting Ink, a real rapper, showing how to adapt the quotations to a song of their own. Here is a sample of the lyrics:

AQA typically asks students to write about two characters, Pip and another. This can lead to very superficial comparisons, or uneven essays. The attached resource gives students 20 ideas, and 20 quotations they could include in their essay. It also shows students the three big ideas connected to Dickens’ purpose, which will lead to grades 7, 8 and 9. Quotations are deliberately long, so that your students learn to select telling detail. Here is a sample of the first 3 ideas: