Print off enough of these sheets to ensure you have one skill per student or group. When students are rehearing for a speaking and listening performance, hand students or groups one skill each. They have to focus on improving that skill in their rehearsals. You may swap the skills to ensure students are focusing on more than one skill.

Print off the slides from the PPT. It is the students' task to match up the 'types' of connectives with the 'examples'. Once students have completed the match-up activity, ask them to come up with three example sentences using three different types of connectives.

Students must look at the definition on each slide and identify which type of 'voice' it is. The answer will appear at the bottom of the screen.

In this lesson students will develop skills in writing to argue, and structuring an argument. This is a fun and engaging approach to writing to argue. This lessons involves debate to get students actively arguing, but it also encourages students to articulate their arguments on paper, not just vocally. Two videos are also included in this lesson to encourage engagement in the central argument of: Is the internet a good thing or a bad thing? Instructions for the lesson are written on the PPT in the 'notes' section at the bottom of each slide.

Looking at both tragic and comic features, students decide whether Act 4, Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing conforms more to a tragedy or a comedy. Students find evidence for each feature before making a decision. This could lead into some effective class discussion and debate. Students are asked to consider the phrase 'tragicomedy'.

On this graph students are to read Candy's key moments in the story, written at the bottom of the graph, and then plot how much sympathy the reader feels towards Candy. Depending on ability, students can write a quotation and/or explanation beside their plots on the graph.

Students learn what a kenning is and how it originated. They then look at some examples, guessing what the title of the kenning is. They then have a go at writing their own. This is a fun activity which engages students with Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry.

Students need to be in pairs or groups of three. They need to match the words to the time period. They need to read the cards carefully as the clues are in the text. Everyone should be able to work out the correct answers if they look out for the clues in the text.

'Pass the Buck' Students explore Belfast Confetti in a fun and engaging way by working in small groups and answering questions about the poem. The questions encourage students to analyse the poem from a different angle and consider small details in the poem. Divide students into six groups. Give each group a question on a piece of sugar paper. They will have 2 minutes with each question. They are to jot down as many ideas as possible in response to the question, but they can’t repeat what has already been written. Allow 8 minutes at the end of the task for students to present their sugar paper. Other groups must annotate their poem with the key ideas they hear. Explain that they don’t have to write everything down, but they should write down relevant points that help their own understanding.

Assign different foci to pairs or groups either before reading or as a separate task for them to explore the play. Students are to find quotations relevant to their theme/symbol. After the task, students may teach other pairs/groups about their theme or symbol.

Students are asked the question: Is Macbeth Evil? Based on their simple 'yes' or 'no' response, they are split into two teams: prosecuting team and defence team. You - the teacher - are the judge. Teams are initially given their 'first piece of evidence' (an extract) to analyse and annotate with their agenda/argument in mind. They are then asked to look at the 'play as a whole' to find other pieces of evidence to support their argument. A mock court case is then held with Macbeth on trial. Both teams present their cases and debate whether or not Macbeth is evil. The teacher - playing the role of the judge - then weighs up the arguments and makes a decision. For homework, students are given the same question which has been formalized into an exam question. This is a fun and exciting way of exploring an exam question which allows students to really get their teeth into a question. All lesson guidance is in the 'notes' section on each slide on the PowerPoint. This lesson is about encouraging students to develop a 'critical, exploratory, well-structured argument' which is at the top of level 6.

Students I've taught struggle to remember key quotations. I wracked my brains to try and find a way to help them remember without just learning by rote and repetition. This activity was particularly successful with my students. Print the carefully selected quotations with their short explanation and issue to students. You may wish to print 2-3 times to give students 3 quotations each. Ask each student on a sticky note to illustrate the quotation. Albeit simple, this activity really helps students to recall quotations as they remember the illustration they do. Allow students to use colour as it makes the activity for memorable. An alternative activity may be to give each student one quotation each and an A4 piece of paper. Ask them to illustrate the quotation on a larger scale, using colour, and then make a class display which the whole class can refer to.

The idea of this exercise is to show students how a writing-to-describe question can be answered in a clever and interesting way. The question being 'Describe an average day at school', and the answer being given from the perspective of a pair of scissors.

This is a fantastic starter, guaranteed to engage the most disaffected students. Students look at images and decipher the message. For example, there is the letter 'X' made of cardboard boxes in one image, the message would be 'X-Box'. The practice image is 'hairspray'. The answers for each 'visual pun' are in the 'notes' box on PPT. This is a quick 5-10 minute starter that gets students thinking about more than what's at surface level. This activity could be a route into a lesson on looking for deeper meanings, inference and deduction.

Blow this worksheet up to A3 size. Students draw lines between the characters and note down how they're connected. They can also jot down notes and quotes for individual characters. This will become a revision aid for students.

Drama Assessment Use this grid to assess students in drama. Simply write the student’s name in the left-hand column and put a tick or ‘T’ in some of the boxes on the right to indicate whether the drama skill is something they do really well, or something they need to work on. You can write additional comments if you wish. The idea is that after the drama assessment you can give students praise, their level and their target in an efficient way. All students then need to do is write down their level and target on the blue sheet at the front of their small yellow exercise books. This grid focuses on nine key skills in drama, including facial expressions, spatial awareness, voice projection etc.

These are two little sheets to stick in the front of students' books. The 'marking key' is a simple guideline for students to understand your own little codes and markers that you use when marking their books. You would fill this in together at the start if the year by writing your own symbols on the board. The 'personal targets' sheet is for students to self-assess themselves at the start of the year. This allows you as a teacher to gauge an understanding of how the students self-assess. It is useful to look back on this at different points during the year to see whether students think they've made progress in certain areas.

This activity teachers students that good writers show us their characters rather than just telling us about them. Firstly, students look at an example of 'showing'. The example is a questionable supply teacher entering a classroom. Students are then asked to put their new-found knowledge to the test by transforming a 'telling' piece of description into a piece that 'shows' the character. This activity will last between 10-15 minutes.

Go through the PowerPoint slide showing statements about Shakespeare. Students move to the left or right of the room depending on whether they think the statement is true or false. Once students have made their decision, click the mouse and show the answer. Use the Teacher's Notes to give students a little bit more information about the fact. This is an interactive starter activity that students really engage with.

Issue 'Shakespeare Prologue' to pairs. Students work through the prologue as if they are detectives deciphering a piece of evidence. They must 'zoom in' on individual words, decipher their meaning and try piece together what the entire prologue actually means and what is going to happen in the play. Allow students 20 minutes to do this before discussing the prologue and finally handing them 'Prologue Explained' which is the prologue translated into modern English. Albeit simple, students love the detective element to this activity. It really helps to engage them.