Hero image

WordsmithDFA - REAL Resources for REAL Teachers

Average Rating4.65
(based on 64 reviews)

Examiner created, trialled before posting and always update with any changes. Paid reviews rewarded with any resource under £5 free-heavily animate PPTs with step-by-step/click-by-click organisation and if there's anything I can make more visually enticing - I will. Download some of my free resources to see the quality, as I put the time and effort in to ensure free and paid resources are worthwhile. Requests, fixes or complaints: leckyletters@gmail.com using 'TES Shop' in the subject bar.

98Uploads

53k+Views

65k+Downloads

Examiner created, trialled before posting and always update with any changes. Paid reviews rewarded with any resource under £5 free-heavily animate PPTs with step-by-step/click-by-click organisation and if there's anything I can make more visually enticing - I will. Download some of my free resources to see the quality, as I put the time and effort in to ensure free and paid resources are worthwhile. Requests, fixes or complaints: leckyletters@gmail.com using 'TES Shop' in the subject bar.
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - Example Written Responses
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - Example Written Responses

(9)
A wide collection of written responses for AQA 8700 exams. I’ve used these as examples and have written them with ideas from marking real exams. I asked others to write some so they appear more authentic. I’ve had students who, for whatever reason, find it hard to grasp an example answer if it’s typed. So I thought this would help. They have seemed to work better once they’ve decided the scruffiest must be mine! No work has been replicated, here. But they are very good examples, particularly the Jigs and Reels responses. The structure ones were based on what I was hoping to see but never actually did. Students over complicate it most of the time and map out the text gaining 2-3 marks. These examples show how differently the question can be approached. Students can mark them, with some support and you yourselves can have a practice if you’re new or haven’t marked for AQA. DISCLAIMER - All marks are close approximations. Having marked for a few years, I have noticed that sometimes standards can minutely shift from year to year.
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language Creative Writing - Genre Vocabulary Boards
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language Creative Writing - Genre Vocabulary Boards

(3)
I use these as an extension or starter task - also in drop-in sessions, particularly closer to the exams. They are great for practising varying and matching vocabulary to genre. Having also posted some free A3 Image Planning Boards: these would be good prompts for planning a creative piece and also to aid learners who are struggling. Ask students to: Create/plan a story in a specific genre. Write an opening/ending to a narrative. Write a character breakdown/description. Write a setting breakdown/description. Match vocabulary to genre. Research Synonyms. Research letters of the Alphabet which aren’t present! They don’t make a bad poster, either!
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - Creative Writing Image Revision Cards
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - Creative Writing Image Revision Cards

(3)
Just what it says on the tin! With the added extra of multiple choice and student-led differentiation.=-) Print them off double-sided and one side covers only description, whilst the other covers a narrative approach. Laminate them to keep them from wear and tear and they make a great addition to my Paper 1 Revision Cards Pack - in which you get 64 reading questions plus another 2 sets of these for £3.50. There is also a bundle of 152 cards covering every AO from both exam Check them out VIA THIS : https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-8700-1-english-language-revision-cards-paper-1-12191208
English Language - Punctuation Workbook & Answer Booklet
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

English Language - Punctuation Workbook & Answer Booklet

(3)
Got this online and removed all copyrighted content. Images are all from www.pixabay.com - where ALL images are free to use, even for commercial purposes… Useful booklet with answer booklet and is nice as a homework task. There is a more advanced and updated, Fantasy Fiction, version in my shop. It has grammar included and a fully animated answer powerpoint in addition to a booklet. It has different texts in it - check it out! https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-8700-gcse-english-language-ao6-fantasy-fiction-spag-workbook-and-ppt-12184776
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - AO1 Excplicit & Implicit
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - AO1 Excplicit & Implicit

(2)
This free resource is just a compilation of images taken from AQA Yr 7, 8, 9 books (less than 10% of each and shared for educational purposes ONLY) and put into a displayable format in order to run students through the basics of AO1. It has all answers animated into it, step-by-step/click-by-click, and some handwritten ones that can easily be replaced. Went for the authenticity of a pen on a Microsoft Surface…it looks pixelated in the preview but once downloaded as a PPTX file it’s very smooth and gives a feel of authenticity as examples of what students might have actually written. If you like the animation - have a look at my other free resources which are available. I do put a great deal of effort into the free ones as well as the sold ones - please review and let me know what you think, especially if you think there can be any improvements. I’ve had some external feedback for this. Some the answers were not from the correct lines - this was to gear students for the following task, however: that wasn’t clear - so I’ve modified and added some guiding notes. Hope you find it useful!
AQA 8700/2 GCSE English Language - Nonfiction: Using Expert Opinions
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/2 GCSE English Language - Nonfiction: Using Expert Opinions

(2)
PLEASE READ BEFORE REPORTING! WARNING the street name: ‘Bell End’ is featured in this hand out. It was made with my own students in mind who are 16-18 but always makes them giggle. Please also bear in mind that this is a street name. It’s not an insult until YOU make it one… This is fantastic to use with adults and there are some very significant issues which are readable in the subtext. Great to push students to contextualise and finally reach that grade 4!
AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Analysis Triangulation & Patterns Workbook
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Analysis Triangulation & Patterns Workbook

(2)
In an effort to promote triangulated answers and improve strategies like ‘pee’ - I thought I’d give this away for free. Guide even your struggling students towards writing better quality and more detailed responses via this engaging and interesting set. It stresses the important of triangulated evidence and inferences. The booklet is designed to be used in a classroom, at home and for 1:1 tuition . It is also good to give to parents and have them work with their children in their own time - to solidify their ideas of what good use of evidence is and how they can gain more detail from finding patterns in evidence. The powerpoint presentation is made from it - so it can be taught but it can also be student-led as there are brief instructions and it begins from a general level, working towards more complex ideas. This is also a small part of a 100 page complete workbook I’ve created for each of the academic objectives from AQA (8700) - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-8700-english-language-revision-workbook-12212036 This link has the book and a 131-slide powerpoint - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-8700-english-language-complete-revision-workbook-and-131-slide-ppt-display-12111223 There is also a very complexly planned and animated pair of sessions to purchase which works alongside this booklet - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-8700-english-language-ao2-analysis-introduction-finding-patterns-12131920 Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! I hope you find it useful.
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - "Unsullied" - Mock Paper 1
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - "Unsullied" - Mock Paper 1

(3)
I put this together because I saw one on here and then got a real excitement for it and made a full walkthrough presentation with example answers for every question. I hope you find the Paper itself useful as an extra - we know these papers are still rare so I made it as close to a real one, structurally, as I could. Check out my FULL PAPER 1 Walkthrough for this paper! https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-new-spec-gcse-english-language-paper-1-game-of-thrones-unsullied-full-intro-revise-pack-12128418
AS/A level Essay Writing - Writing for Academia
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AS/A level Essay Writing - Writing for Academia

(3)
This has been updated with animated answers for the connectivity task. This aims to introduce students to essay writing and academic language. It goes in from a conceptual angle based on teleological connections. Everything, including essays, is a smaller/larger version if something larger/smaller. It will last about 2 hours or so but I made it when I first started so there might be some alterations needed.
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language Creative Writing Starters
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language Creative Writing Starters

(3)
Just something fun and engaging that kids have played all over the world - Boy/Girl is something I’ve turned into a vocabulary builder - hope your students like it! There’s also a Boring Sentences challenge which has served as a differentiated worksheet - challenging students with perhaps adding in one or two descriptive words and others: all of them. I also get them to research synonyms and try to get even more advanced words than those on the sheet. Now, there is also a more advanced Boring Sentences group challenge included. Hope you find them useful!
AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Paper 1 - Bissett's 'Boyracers' Colour-coded Mock
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Paper 1 - Bissett's 'Boyracers' Colour-coded Mock

(3)
Made this over the weekend and would love some feedback… This mock features a couple of pages from Alan Bissett’s ‘Boyracers’ - a Scottish novel which is written partly in a Scottish vernacular form. I have removed all major profanity so words are literally silenced when reading so some assumptions can be made. It is really funny reading it out and can be very engaging with students. So I thought I’d share it in the form of a mock paper. Can be used in classes or as homework/independent revision - please be doubly aware of the audience aim. Let me know what you think! =-)
AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Complete Revision Guided Workbook
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Complete Revision Guided Workbook

(1)
This 100 page Complete Revision Guided Workbook runs through a process of both finding patterns in texts and triangulating evidence to prove a point. With 8 sections covering: Triangulation Analysis: Language Analysis: Structure Evaluation Creative/Descriptive Writing Summarising & Synthesising Comparisons Writing with Persuasion It comes with 100+ slide Powerpoint presentation that’s been sequenced, step-by-step/click-by-click with screenshots and answers for the booklet’s build-up tasks. At the end of each section, there are exam-style questions to practise learned/revised skills and it truly is something I’m very proud of. I will be basing my EdD thesis on methods within this and so to encourage use, it’s totally FREE. Join the discussion! Like our Facebook page and join our group…share your experiences and ask any questions: https://www.facebook.com/funcenglish https://www.facebook.com/groups/232341065224383
AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Paper 2- Question 1 True/False Session
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700 GCSE English Language - Paper 2- Question 1 True/False Session

(1)
This is well-animated and is sectioned off by LO slides which tick each off as they are covered. The main formative task is also put together with step-by-step highlighted quotations which follows a set of statements which are set up to imitate the exam page. After revisiting the terms ‘explicit’ & ‘implicit’ - it provides an overview of P2Q1. There are two activities at the end - one to practice independently and feedback and then a summative one to end the session. Hope you find it useful and any feedback would be greatly appreciated. =-)
AQA (8700/1) GCSE English Language - Movie Structure Sheet
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA (8700/1) GCSE English Language - Movie Structure Sheet

(1)
My students hate the fact that I make a movie an educational experience but, here it is! A universal movie analysis worksheet for Structure. Whilst watching Christmas films or clips, even, students can fill in the sheet with copious notes and then discuss/write afterwards… Hope you find it useful! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! =-) Image taken from www.pixabay.com - where all top quality images are free to use, even for commercial purposes.
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - Paper 1 Revision Cards - Christmas
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - Paper 1 Revision Cards - Christmas

(1)
I have a smashing set of these for sale in my shop - covering both papers. This set is just Paper 1 - Section A and can only be printed single-sided. Also a card matching exercise once laminated and cut up. Brilliant Christmas starter. Essentially 8 reading micro-mocks using famous Christmas songs. Mince pie week makes me cringe so I try to do workshops as a lot don’t turn up! Enjoy! And, if you like, consider purchasing my full set: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-8700-english-language-revision-card-set-12197052
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language Creative Writing Planning Boards
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language Creative Writing Planning Boards

(1)
These speak for themselves, really. Great to aid planning for a creative piece of writing based on an image - word doc is included so that the box labels can be edited, or images replaced if you prefer. If you have time - you can fill one out as an example and print them. I took the pictures with a decent-ish camera, so they look great in A3. Lamination would enhance them as well. Work well in drop-in sessions, too. students have a range to choose from, with the free image cards I’ve also shared and a set of purchasable revision cards in my shop.
AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - AO5 Creative Writing Paper 1 Question 5
wordsmithDFAwordsmithDFA

AQA 8700/1 GCSE English Language - AO5 Creative Writing Paper 1 Question 5

(1)
Another detailed, complexly animated presentation with mark schemes, language features, tips, images, example answer, various tasks and homework. There is a great set of tasks which are there to solidify the use of Adjectives and Adverbs. Students may need some support with them but answers are animated on slides. It goes through strategies for approaching images and is actually two sessions in one. Session 1 focuses on Adjective/Adverb use and revisits some language & structure features as a visual reminder. There are then images split and annotated with animation to demonstrate how to approach the image and how important it is to plan. There are plenty of images for students to choose from and plan around. Session 2 is more focused on Titles and Genre - there is a set of tasks and animated lecture slides to provide ideas for tackling a narrative title in Paper1, Question5, as well as an example upper level creative response based on example plans provided in the powerpoint. . Two sets of objectives, one of which I print out and get them to stick in their books for a visual aid to remind them of the lessons when they look back over their notes in revision weeks.