Based on Macbeth’s coronation banquet and knowledge of plot and character, this is a fantastic mini project that can be done quickly as a lesson and a couple of homeworks or can be expanded to be more cross-curricular. Students invent fortunes based on knowledge of events in the play after the banquet scene and engage in research so that they can make (faux or real) fortune cookies for the characters in ‘Macbeth’. Amazing for creative learning. Works well as end of term work or a project homework or cross-curricular writing.

After a reading of the story, this will help students explore short story form and the literary contexts of the story as a fairy tale/Bildungsroman/cautionary tale. All three assessment objectives are covered and there is an exemplary high-level response provided for students to learn from and revise. Suits Grade 5+ and aims to raise achievement by making closer links between contexts and writer’s choices and purpose. With this method, the AO1 follows naturally and all three assessed areas are covered. Goes well with two other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-tea-drinking-sequence-cultural-literary-biographical-contexts-study-11836763?theme=0 andhttps://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-literary-contexts-11836384?theme=1andhttps://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-literary-contexts-11836384?theme=1 Also available as a bundle for a considerable reduction on all three resources. …

Powerpoint learning sequence to enable students at KS3 to succeed at creating a chapter of a gothic/mystery/ghost story through blending character action and setting. New techniques to describe that your students may not have thought of before that really lift their creative prose work and secure progression. They plan, draft and edit before assessment and so follow the National Curriculum for the writing process. Easy to follow throughout and uses low threshold, high ceiling differentiation. Lots of scaffolding in the planning stage for those students who need it. Included is Powerpoint and the editing learning mat for them to self-edit their work to a higher standard. Also available as an economical bundle that includes the Improving Creative Writing Grid. See my bundles to locate the additional resource and save money.

This PPT resource with embedded worksheets enables students to complete an AO1, AO2 and AO3 study of ‘The Darkness Out There’ for the AQA Telling Tales anthology as part of Paper 2 Modern Texts. The sequence of learning looks at how knowledge of Lively’s writing style, her themes and beliefs, literary and cultural contexts help us to understand the rising action, crisis, climax and resolution of the short story that are contained in the tea drinking sequence. Activities for students to complete throughout and a final task of an extended task response. 2-3 hours of learning here at a grade 5+ level. Great accompaniment to https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-literary-contexts-11836384?theme=0 which looks at further literary contexts of the short story as a modern fairy tale.

Once they’ve done the first draft, it’s the (dreaded?) editing to second draft stage. Take the pain away with this resource. Stop your learners from reducing the skill of editing to mere proof-reading by using this writing editing prompt sheet. It works as a learning mat in its entirity or you can cut and paste sections to focus on one editing detail e.g The Cut or The Add. Wide range of prompts given in each section so plenty of choice for low threshold, high ceiling differentiation. Suitable for the older primary literacy classroom or for use at KS3 or KS4 in English.

A full lesson on PPT for use in KS2 Years 5 or 6 and KS3. Helps students focus on how writers use sounds to entertain the reader. Enhances knowledge of sound techniques in writing. Some numeracy activities for cross curricular links included. Great for inclusion in a unit on poetry or as part of whole school literacy during tutor time or as a discrete literacy lesson. Includes focus on alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme, sound patterning and plosive sounds.

Learning sequence that will last 3-4 lessons. Fully resourced PPT of 30 slides. Teach how structures and sequencing produce suspense, tension and drama through a guided reading of an extract from The Woman in White. Great for KS3 or early KS4, gifted and talented at KS2. Covers skills that lead directly to achievement at GCSE so no time wasting and helps avoid the KS3 dip. Reading 19th Century Fiction. Exploring suspense, tension and drama for AO2 Lit and Lang. Creative prose – introducing character and using suspense, tension and drama in own writing (consolidation rather than explicit teaching – this is mainly a guided reading resource). Employs range of learner modalities. Differentiated throughout. Monitors progress through self-reflection and assessment.

Invaluable resource for teaching those more nebulous skills for Grades 8 and 9. A high level modelled or exemplar response to a task on ‘Love’s Philosophy’ and the theme of desire. Compared with ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ for AQA English Literature Paper 2 Love and Relationships poetry cluster. Plenty of high level ideas ready to be learned within the response and also a good range of activities provided to encourage students to interact with the essay response, pick it apart, learn it, borrow the style and to encourage wider research. Rich in applied contexts and perspectives.

A no-frills ppt that can be used with students just before the transactional writing examination or as a straight forward revision tool for them, especially those you suspect might do very little wlthout you! Covers quick ideas on how to plan, how to introduce the forms, developed and detailed paragraphs, conclusions.

Three homeworks or classroom activities that help lower grading students 1-4 revise or establish straightforward ways to regard Carla Carter in the beginning, middle and end of the story. Contains key quotes and key informed personal responses. Also a sheet on Dunmore’s writing style. Low price reflects the ‘no frills’ worksheets which are clearly presented by have no graphics to anchor learning.

Get them to write the stories you will need them to create for GCSE right now! This PPT sequence of learning has everything you need for a 4 week unit (it would dovetail beautifully to reading short stories alongside or a class novel). Lay the foundations of creative prose for the remainder of the secondary years. Designed following extensive visits to KS2 classrooms to absorb the rigour and with the aim of avoiding the wasteland years of Years 7 and 8. Unit has had a full run through by my department and has differentiation for lower ability and challenge built in to the tasks for higher ability. Covers: Plotting Character Setting Dialogue Action-Description-Emotion triangle Narrative order and Story Order Builds to a 300-500 creative prose assessment. Includes the Improving Creative Writing Grid for writing and a Learning Mat for self-editing which can be used throughout all years and are really classroom tools that are essential beyond this unit.

Neatly avoiding the ubiquitous ‘autobiography unit’ - believe me, they have already been there and done that at KS2, this PPT sequence of learning has everything you need for the first 3-4 weeks of Year 7, helping them aim for a Grade 3+ story and lay the foundations of creative prose for the remainder of the secondary years. Designed following extensive visits to KS2 classrooms to absorb the rigour and with the aim of avoiding the ‘national dip’ in Year 7. Unit has had a full run through by my department and is pitched at Grade 3 but with support for lower ability and challenge built in to the tasks for higher ability. Covers: Plotting, Character and Setting, Dialogue, Action, Description, Emotion writing, Narrative order and Story Order. Builds to a 300-500 creative prose assessment. Includes the Improving Creative Writing Grid for writing and a Learning Mat for self-editing.

Ease the pain of unseen poetry. Developed using my skills as a professional poet and Lead Teacher in English with an emphasis on calming the nerves of students in this ‘unseen = unknown’ part of the EDUQAS Literature exam. An A3 sheet that includes a framework built around a mnemonic comprehensively covering unseen poetry skills. Differentiated so that the first parts of the mnemonic support lower grades to comment or allow higher grades to give a rapid overview. Moves through to the skills that help Grade 5 achieve - by exploring language closely - and ends by helping extend the achievement of grade 5+ by exploring poetry as a form that is highly structured, employs aural sensibility and enables exploration of how ideas develop over the course of the poem. Rich in terminology to help support extension into AO2 from AO1 ideas. Methodical to use in class for practice and easy to remember in the examination as a framework.

Suited to KS2 Years 5 and 6 or early Year 7 as transition work, this unit of work takes students through the heritage of children’s books and leads up to leaflet/webpage writing. Skills included: evaluation, numeracy, plan, edit, draft, publish skills. Dips into Aesop, The Bible, Shakespeare, Gulliver’s Travels and more modern children’s fiction characters to show the timeline of literature read by children. Great for post SATs pre-transition for light-hearted fun linked to NC.

Ease the pain of comparing poetry. Developed using my skills as a professional poet and Lead Teacher in English with an emphasis on calming the nerves of students in Component 2 Section B AQA Literature exam. An A3 sheet that includes a framework built around a mnemonic comprehensively covering reading poetry skills. Differentiated so that the first parts of the mnemonic support lower grades to comment or allow higher grades to give a rapid overview. Moves through to the skills that help Grade 5 achieve - by exploring language closely - and ends by helping extend the achievement of grade 5+ by exploring poetry as a form that is highly structured, employs aural sensibility and enables exploration of how ideas develop over the course of the poem. Rich in terminology to help focus on AO2 in poetry. Methodical to use in class for practice and easy to remember in the examination as a framework.