English Key Stage 3: Travel Writing (Literary Non-fiction) Unit This unit is designed to teach key reading and writing skills in the context of travel literature and to help build some of the key skills required at GCSE level when studying non-fiction texts. It moves from reading to writing and is based on the study of a number of short travel extracts from writers such as Paul Theroux, Jonathan Raban and Dervla Murphy. It is aimed at Year 9 as preparation for GCSE and would work equally well with Year 8 groups. Outcomes include analytical as well as creative writing. All resources including key texts are included as are a set of teacher’s notes and a well-presented 42 slide PPT. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit as much as I did. You may also like English Key Stage 3 Creative Writing Unit for Years 7-8 This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help students write creatively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative texts, looking at excellent and varied models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses.A very nicely presented 83 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources.

AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 Hobbies Unit This Step Up to English unit of work is designed to prepare students for the Component 1 Literacy topics Hobbies unit. It supports students to engage with relevant text types, develop some of the key skills and practice the style of assessment questions before they tackle the actual AQA assessment papers. It is designed to last around 4-5 weeks depending on the number of English lessons you have. I have not broken it down into individual lessons as all classes are different and some will need longer on some activities than others. It is designed in a way that classes can practice how to answer the Step Up style of questions thus building confidence before completing the AQA assessments. It includes a 56 slide teaching PPT, all 12 student resources in both word and pdf formats plus 5 digital resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes explaining how the unit can be delivered. Please check current list of NEAs with AQA and note that information, guidance, support and resources are available from AQA. More Step Up to English Resources Complete courses and individual teaching units on all component 1 and 2 topics are available. They include teaching PPTs, all student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes and can be found at: RoseandMay’s TES English Classroom Resources New individual units: AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 STYLE Unit AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 CRIME Unit New Complete Course AQA Step Up to English: Complete Course (Leisure, Crime and Style Units) You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit

This sel-study CPD unit explores some of the most effective approaches and practical strategies that English teachers can take directly into the classroom to create a stimulating and engaging learning environment in which boys can flourish as writers. Although the strategies focus on how you can engage boys with writing, they represent good practice which can improve the learning for both boys and girls.

This self-study unit offers support and guidance in teaching the non-fiction writing component of these courses in an interesting and engaging way, helping teachers ensure their programmes of study and lessons are well-pitched, relevant and motivating and develop the key skills necessary for success at entry level. Suggested approaches are practical and can be easily differentiated for entry level 1 and 2 students making it ideal preparation for planning an entry level course and schemes of learning. It is generic and relevant to all main exam boards who offer this qualification.

This self-study unit offers support and guidance in teaching the creative writing component of entry level courses in an interesting and engaging way. It will help ensure your programmes of study and lessons are well-pitched, relevant and motivating and develop the key skills necessary for success at entry level. Suggested approaches can be easily differentiated for entry level 1 and 2 students making it ideal preparation for planning an entry level course and schemes of learning. It is generic and relevant to all main exam boards who offer this qualification.

This self-study unit offers support and guidance in teaching the speaking and listening component of English entry level courses in an interesting and engaging way, helping to ensure your programmes of study and lessons are relevant, motivating and develop the key skills necessary for success at this level. It is full of practical teaching approaches to key aspects of speaking and listening including group work, role-play and teaching the individual presentation - it is relevant to all exam boards.

AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Exploring Practice Unit This half-termly practice unit is aimed mainly at Gold award candidates however it is also applicable to those doing the Silver award if, like me, you have candidates doing both awards in the same class. It includes a well-presented 48 slide teaching PPT with lots of engaging activities and texts to ensure students develop the skills necessary to complete the assessment tasks for reading and writing. All 14 student resources are included in word and pdf formats as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes based on my experience of teaching the unit. Please note that the Exploring unit will not be assessed after 2023 therefore this is intended as a practice unit only. Please check current list of NEAs with AQA and note that information, guidance, support and resources are available from AQA. More Step Up to English Resources Complete courses and individual teaching units on all component 1 and 2 topics are available. They include teaching PPTs, all student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes and can be found at: RoseandMay’s TES English Classroom Resources New individual units: AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 STYLE Unit AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 CRIME Unit New Complete Course AQA Step Up to English: Complete Course (Leisure, Crime and Style Units) You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit

AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Heroism Unit This half-termly unit is designed to prepare students for their AQA Step Up to English Component 2 Creative Reading and Writing HEROISM assessment. It is aimed mainly at Gold award candidates however it is also applicable to those doing the Silver award if, like me, you have candidates doing both awards in the same class. It includes a well-presented 41 slide teaching PPT with lots of engaging activities and texts to ensure students develop the skills to complete the assessment tasks for reading and writing. All 11 resources are included in word and pdf formats as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes based on my experience of teaching the unit. Please check current list of NEAs with AQA and note that information, guidance, support and resources are available from AQA. More Step Up to English Resources Complete courses and individual teaching units on all component 1 and 2 topics are available. They include teaching PPTs, all student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes and can be found at: RoseandMay’s TES English Classroom Resources New individual units: AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 STYLE Unit AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 CRIME Unit New Complete Course AQA Step Up to English: Complete Course (Leisure, Crime and Style Units) You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit

Speaking and listening activities in the classroom are an important part of the learning process, helping to develop key communication skills required not only at school but also by colleges and employers. In the classroom, this will involve pupils participating in whole-class discussion, group work (with perhaps three or four pupils working together), paired work and in making individual presentations to the class. By promoting inclusion, teaching assistants can have a major impact on the success of these activities and a pupil’s learning outcomes. In this unit you will explore a range of activities which help you consider how best to support the teacher in explicitly teaching about spoken language and developing a pupils’ critical thinking skills and confidence as participants. This resource has also been published by Pearsons as a mobile CPD app.

Developing Literacy is a clearly a key element of a TAs role. In this unit you will explore how best to support pupils with reading. As we live and work in an environment in which the printed text is so important, the skill of reading is vital in helping pupils to make progress and ensure they don’t fall behind their peers. This unit aims to provide lots of practical strategies which TAs can use in the classroom or during intervention work with individual or small groups of students to help them become more experienced readers and ultimately more independent learners.

This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of non-fiction in the secondary or upper primary classroom. It takes you through a range of active approaches to promote engagement with non fiction texts such as travel writing, news reports, feature articles,speeches and formal letters, as well as ways of linking reading with pupils’ own writing. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach non-fiction in the English classroom.

This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of Shakespeare in the secondary or upper primary classroom. It takes you through a range of active approaches including practical drama activities to promote engagement with the themes, characters and ideas of the plays as well as suggestions for writing creatively about Shakespeare. This unit will support you in developing a repertoire of teaching strategies which you can apply to any of Shakespeare’s plays. They are based on the principles of ‘Active Shakespeare’ and includes lots of activities and advice which will help make the learning both enjoyable and effective. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach a Shakespeare play.

The aim of this training session is to support secondary teaching assistants in developing a set of key strategies for teaching pupils how to learn and retain spellings. It contains lots of paired activities and could be led by the SENCO or an English specialist. It is designed for a training session lasting approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. Some pupils find spelling a real challenge - the role of a TA is to reassure them, provide them with spelling rules and strategies and support them with active approaches to learning spelling. This training package will help them to achieve this. It will also help TAs to provide support for pupils in using and developing a subject-specific vocabulary which is vitally important for their writing.

THE TEMPEST Key Stage 3 English Teaching Unit This unit is based around Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. I have taught it to both Year 7 and 8 though it could easily be adapted for a Year 9 class. It is designed to fit into a half-term but, depending on how many lessons you have, could be taught over a whole term. There is a 65 slide PPT with a range of creative and enjoyable activities including drama-style tasks suitable for use in the English classroom such as a ‘guided tour’ of the island. There is also a homework project which runs throughout the unit and a Reading assessment essay built in. I have included a set of detailed teacher’s notes and a free CPD unit on teaching Shakespeare. Please note that all files are in pdf format.

This scheme of work is intended to be a creative and enjoyable way to explore the novel and is suitable for an able Year 7 or a Year 8 class. I taught it over the course of a term to my Year 7 but it could be condensed into a half-term. It includes preparation for Reading and Writing assessment pieces, (a piece of descriptive writing and a reading response) as well as lots of speaking and listening activities. There are also a number of engaging research/homework activities to which this novel lends itself and some activities which can be done as drama/role-play activities but which don’t require moving desks or classrooms! All resources to accompany the scheme are included. I hope your class enjoy the novel.

AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 The Next Step Practice Unit This practice unit can be used to help students build some of the skills required to then complete the assessed Step Up units… It guides students through the skills required for the speaking and listening assessment (group work task and individual interview) as well as preparing them for the reading and writing assessments with lots of opportunities for discussion and engaging activities. I designed it as a half-termly unit for my own year 10 Step Up class and linked it with preparation for their work placements. All eleven resources used in the scheme are included in both word and pdf formats in addition to a well-presented teaching PPT and detailed teacher’s notes based on my experience of delivering the unit. Please check current list of NEAs with AQA and note that information, guidance, support and resources are available from AQA.Please note that the Next Step unit will not be assessed after June 2023 therefore this is intended as a practice unit only.* More Step Up to English Resources Complete courses and individual teaching units on all component 1 and 2 topics are available. They include teaching PPTs, all student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes and can be found at: RoseandMay’s TES English Classroom Resources New individual units: AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 STYLE Unit AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 CRIME Unit New Complete Course AQA Step Up to English: Complete Course (Leisure, Crime and Style Units) You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit