Outstanding teaching and learning resources from a Lead Teacher in English specialising in:
* Transactional Writing, * Creative Prose,
* Using creative modalities for Reading,
* Most Able,
* Well Being through English,
* Whole School Advocacy Days for Poetry, Reading, Writing, Literacy and WEllbeing
* Numeracy in English
Outstanding teaching and learning resources from a Lead Teacher in English specialising in:
* Transactional Writing, * Creative Prose,
* Using creative modalities for Reading,
* Most Able,
* Well Being through English,
* Whole School Advocacy Days for Poetry, Reading, Writing, Literacy and WEllbeing
* Numeracy in English
A collection of seven titles covering speech/talk, formal and informal letters, guide, report, review and article that are similar in style to GCSE examination titles for transactional writing. Gratis - enjoy!
A giveaway of tasks that help students practise and prepare for Eduqas WJEC Component 2 Section B. Full range of formats covered. Is the time saved from your PPA worth five stars? If you can spare a minute from the several this resource will save you, please leave a little thank you.
This learning sequence is your ‘one-stop shop’ for finally getting them to plan a short story for success. By the time the plan is done, all the events in the story have been worked out and tested for efficacy and so the pitfalls of short story writing are mainly avoided. The whole narrative arc is planned for using ‘The Rule of One’ with each step in the planning being afforded time and practice through this 40 slide PPT. All task sheets for students are embedded in the slides for convenience and quick location. Hugely methodical to use with no great bridges for the teacher to make between slides.
How often do student’s short stories get out of control and end up being of epic proportions?
How often do students set off with a vague idea then lose their way?
How often does a one sheet written plan end up NOT helping them to write a successful story and you are left scratching your head as to why?
I am both a professional and award-nominated creative writer and a Lead Practitioner in English. This resource combines both of my practices and, it is my belief, that it offers a pertinent insight into how a professional writer’s strategies translate to outstanding classroom practice in teaching and learning.
Put your feet up for a few minutes: this is a second giveaway of tasks that help students practice and prepare for Eduqas WJEC Component 2 Section B. Full range of formats covered. Is the time saved from your PPA worth five stars? If you can spare a minute from the several this resource will save you, please leave a little thank you.
One grid, a myriad of applications to improve your students' creative writing skills for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4. the grid focuses on those areas that are evaluable in the grading of creative writing - such as the quality of charcterisation and description and use of sentence structure and sentence types but does so in such a way that real creativity flourishes. Your students will be able to create descriptive pieces and creative prose pieces beyond what they thought they could.
The resource is a 6x13 grid of ideas that can be dipped into as writing is created or when creative writing is edited. The grid can be edited down into bookmark type strips to personlise editing or writing production for students. It is also easy to make a 6x6 grid to use with dice to ensure students keep in mind all the disciplines to gain marks for their creative writing. The grid also makes 78 cards that can be turned over every few sentences or during paragraph writing to ensure that students don't just lapse into telling the action in a story without reference to description, emotion or conscious crafting of sentences and language.
Developed from my experience as a writer and creative writing tutor and from my time studying for my MA in Creative Writing, I have brought that expertise to bear in the secondary classroom for teachers who have often been literature or language trained rather than creative writing trained.
A mat for lamination that can be used to move writing from a first draft to a second or 'published' draft. Divided into the skills of adding, cutting, replacing and so on, the mat encourages students to ask questions about their work and make changes.
Helps students to understand the editing process (which they often confuse with a proof-reading process).
Developed in creative writing workshops from my professional creative writing life and transferred to outstanding classroom practice, this learning sequence helps students broaden descriptive writing skills beyond the use of ‘regular’ linguistic and structural devices to lift their achievement through the GCSE grades. Plenty of quick delivery and small practice to build a piece of descriptive writing. All new techniques are easily memorable and fully transferable across any piece of descriptive writing. Learning mat embedded into the powerpoint, Hugely methodical in delivery. Students will have a developed piece of writing with opportunities to consolidate learning through a homework.
Developed in creative writing workshops from my professional creative writing life and transferred to outstanding classroom practice, this learning sequence helps students deal with the tricky middle parts of descriptive writing when things can get a bit flat and students run out of steam. The learning sequence broadens descriptive writing skills beyond the use of ‘regular’ linguistic and structural devices to lift their achievement through the GCSE grades. Plenty of quick delivery and small practice to build a piece of descriptive writing of exam length. All techniques are easily memorable and fully transferable across any piece of descriptive writing. Learning mat embedded into the powerpoint. Hugely methodical in delivery. Students will have a developed piece of writing with opportunities to consolidate learning through a practice task that can be done in class or at home for independent consolidation. Really suits the AQA English Language paper but also sufficiently generic for improving all descriptive writing.
Available as a bundle alongside writing great descriptive openings and endings.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/descriptive-writing-move-to-higher-grades-creative-writing-11848472
A 42 page booklet aimed at students targeted Grade 5 - 9, this course or revision booklet provides everything you and your students need to revise for EDUQAS Component Two Section B Transactional Writing. It includes the way to time the exam, how to plan, how to write detailed developed paragraphs, modelled examples of each of the writing formats, a guide on how to write each text type successfully and two practice questions for each text type. You and they need look no further. I have also included a revision ppt for the day of the exam that concisely reminds students of the approach to this section of the paper.
Includes a no-frills ppt worth £2 for quick revision for those students you fear will do little or no revision or as a booster just before the examination.
Take the fear out of short creative prose for the Eduqas/WJEC English Language Creative Prose Paper 1 Section B with this 550 word exemplar short story with full story arc for use as what a good one looks like and to adapt and borrow from to inspire similarly structured and controlled work from your students.
20 PowerPoint slides to train secodary and middle school staff in seven Whole School Literacy reading techniques - one for each week of an average half term. When time for fitting in Whole School Literacy CPD is tight, this pack will enable secondary or middle schools to refresh and extend their staff’s teaching of Literacy Across the Curriculum. Each piece of CPD takes about a minute to present so will fit into staff briefing time, as a starter to whole staff meetings, curriculum meetings or weekly mailing bulletins. This pack is based on a model of reading that looks at each aspect of comprehension from spelling to how whole texts are perceived. Each piece of training is given rationale, a technique that is quick to learn, adapts to all curriculum subjects, has suggestions for stretch and challenge and differentiation and has been developed by an outstanding Whole School Literacy Co-Ordinator. The Literacy Boom Moments is certainly a favourite with my SLT and Governors!
This enables children to create a nonsense poem in the style of the Mad Hatter from ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Ideal for KS2 and KS3. Easy to follow PPT with methodical steps to help students create a nonsense poem. Low threshold, high ceiling differentiation so all achieve. Could be an extended starter or a whole lesson. Bring your own tea and cake and you could always dress up as the Mad Hatter, if you are that way inclined.
A 42 page booklet aimed at students targeted Grade 5 - 9, this course or revision booklet provides everything you and your students need to revise for EDUQAS Component Two Section B Transactional Writing. It includes the way to time the exam, how to plan, how to write detailed developed paragraphs, modelled examples of each of the writing formats, a guide on how to write each text type successfully and two practice questions for each text type. You and they need look no further. I have also included a revision ppt for the day of the exam that concisely reminds students of the approach to this section of the paper.
Includes a no-frills ppt worth £2 for quick revision for those students you fear will do little or no revision or as a booster just before the examination.
An anthology of extracts, each between one and three A4 pages, with a focussed reading task exploring 19th Century Gothic and Science Fiction Writing (note that the extracts are more Gothic in focus but the research tasks allow for working on Science Fiction writing).
Used as a KS3 introduction to 19th Century Literature in preparation for KS4 English Literature and the GCSE set texts, this workbook can be used as an anthology to offer range of reading and coverage of all the assessment objectives for English Literature study. Authors covered are Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Wilkie Collins, Daphne DuMaurier. Other cultures (though not 19th Century) is covered by two tales from the Arabian Nights.
It also has spelling lists to broaden vocabulary in Latinate terms to help with the reading of 19th Century texts.
There are a set of research tasks that can be used during class or set as a series of homework over a half term.
Easily edited up or down - I haven't included pictures for copyright reasons here - for shorter or longer terms or units of work covering 19th Century Literature.
I've used this both in class for guided reading, as a homework booklet and as a Drop Everything and Read and Shared Reading resource.
In the workbook, there is potential to compare the description of Dracula to the Cullens from 'Twilight'. For copyright purposes, I haven't included the Meyer's extract but it is easily googled as a PDF and I've included where from and to that are good start and end points.
A set of response notes on themes of isolation and belonging in ‘My Polish Teacher’s Tie’ with tasks for students to complete to braoden the notes e.g. adding short quotations and blending context with personal informed response. Useful for initial learning and revision and independent work or homework.
I’m sharing this freely as a basis for a homework task for Years 9, 10 and 11 to build skills in exploring unseen poetry. Supporting videos are available and I’ve provided links to these and the poem that they explore which is available on BBC bitesize. Aimed at supporting students to grade right through to grade 5-6. Please adapt to your students’ needs, should you need to.
I’m sharing this freely for subscribers to my YouTube channel as the workpack that is referred to in the support video. How to write a review of a website/websites for GCSE transactional writing. Please download if you think it will be useful but it will need adapting to suit your students.
Designed on PPT with any print offs on the slides, this resource takes students through a professional creative writer’s workshop to find a range of characters and potential problems to give them. Small activities so that it is pacy and none of the tasks ever seem too ‘taxing’ for students. This works as a discrete lesson from which they could go on to create a narrative.
The extended version of this sequence that takes students through the full version of plot planning is availabe for purchase here:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/planning-effective-short-stories-and-narratives-11846098
An A4 sheet to stick into exercise books (front or back covers are ideal for this) that becomes a homework and independent reading log for a half term. Parents find it easy to track independent reading - they have to sign to say they've heard it, seen it or discussed it - and any further homework that is set for the week. Template is great for KS3 when a one reading homework, one other homework model is used. Minimal input from teachers - you can just record that the homework was great and you gave a reward or you can note late, partially or not completed homework. Clear communication with parents and helps to organise students and get a sense of satisfaction as all the boxes are filled. I use a final reward in the half term if everything is complete for the half term. Save your sanity with this aspect of work that can easily get out of control otherwise.
A starter activity of a mid-grade task response introduction on 'Follower' that uses the 'journey' of the poem to briefly address structure and ideas delivered in the poem.
Students are asked to then suggest five ideas for the introduction that they will later cover in the response.