This student-friendly guide is designed to support students in developing their skills in preparation for the Cambridge First Language English IGCSE Paper 2 Section B: Composition exam. It is intended for use at home and includes lots of interactive and practical tasks to help them embed the key skills required at this level. It was written with my own mid to high ability IGCSE group in mind. It includes a work booklet as well as accompanying resources in Word and PDF formats including planning frames, narrative extracts and creative writing tasks for exam practice. It will be invaluable for teachers who wish to set revision tasks for their classes or for parents who wish to support with exam preparation. You may also like: Cambridge IGCSE English Language: Imaginative Writing Unit This unit of work is designed with a particular focus on Component 2 or 3 Imaginative writing. It explores descriptive and narrative writing within the context of gothic fiction, and includes a superbly presented 104 slide teaching PPT plus all 19 student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes. Cambridge IGCSE English Language: Speaking and Listening Unit This unit prepares students for their Cambridge IGCSE Speaking and Listening test (individual talk and conversation) on a specific topic agreed with their teacher. It guides students through the whole process by looking at aspects of effective talks such as openings, rhetorical devices, endings, use of cue cards to structure a talk and responding to questions. A 40 slide PPT is included as well as all eight resources in both word and pdf formats and a detailed set of teacher’s notes.

This unit prepares students for their Cambridge IGCSE Speaking and Listening test (individual talk and conversation) on a specific topic agreed with their teacher. It guides students through the whole process by looking at aspects of effective talks such as openings, rhetorical devices, endings, use of cue cards to structure a talk and responding to questions. Strategies include exploring good examples of talks as well opportunities to try out a variety of techniques to help make their own talks lively and engaging . A 40 slide PPT is included as well as all eight resources in both word and pdf formats and a set of teacher’s notes. **More Cambridge IGCSE resources Cambridge l IGCSE English Language: Imaginative Writing Unit This unit of work is designed with a particular focus on Component 2 or 3 Imaginative writing. It explores descriptive and narrative writing within the context of gothic fiction, and includes a superbly presented 104 slide teaching PPT plus all 19 student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes.

High School English: Travel Writing Unit This highly engaging unit of work on travel writing is designed to teach reading and writing skills in the context of travel literature and to help build some of the key skills required 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 wonderful writers such as Paul Theroux, Jonathan Raban and Dervla Murphy. It is aimed at Grades 7-8 and would work equally well with Grade 9 groups. Outcomes include analytical as well as creative writing. All eleven student resources including key texts are included as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and a beautifully presented 42 slide teaching PPT.

Research suggests that AfL or formative assessment, can have a significant impact on the motivation, behaviour and attainment of students as well as their ability to work independently. This very practical unit is intended for self-study and can also be used by teachers working together to support each other’s professional development and reflection. It includes questions and tasks throughout and focuses on some of the key aspects of AfL such as setting learning objectives and outcomes, peer and self-assessment, helping pupils recognize the standards they are aiming to achieve, written and oral feedback and target setting. I hope you enjoy working though the unit and applying some of these strategies in your classroom. Please note it has also been published on the nimbl platform by Pearsons.

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 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. Outcomes include analytical as well as creative writing. All ten resources including key texts are included as are a set of detailed teacher’s notes and a nicely presented 42 slide PPT. Learning outcomes (from Junior Cycle Specification) addressed in this unit include: Reading 3. Use a wide range of reading comprehension strategies appropriate to texts. 8. Read their texts to understand and appreciate language enrichment by examining an author’s choice of words, the use and effect of simple figurative language, vocabulary and language patterns, and images, as appropriate to the text. 11. Identify and comment on features of English at word and sentence level using appropriate terminology, showing how such features contribute to overall effect. Writing Demonstrate their understanding that there is a clear purpose for all writing activities and be able to plan, draft, re-draft, and edit their own writing as appropriate. Discuss their own and other students’ written work constructively and with clear purpose. Write for a variety of purposes, for example imagine, explore, engage, amuse, narrate, inform, explain. Respond imaginatively in writing to their texts showing a critical appreciation of language, style and content, choice of words, language patterns, tone, images. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit as much as I did.

When designing effective lessons, there are a number of factors to consider, all of which feed into the planning stage. Models of teaching, the learning objectives and specific teaching strategies as well as the climate for learning within a particular classroom are all part of that process. In this unit you will explore these key aspects of planning and how they can support you in preparing lessons which move the learning forward in an inclusive and engaging way. This resource has also been published by Pearsons as part of a mobile learning platform.

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 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 reading fiction and non-fiction components 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 this level, making it ideal preparation for planning an entry level course and schemes of learning. Suggested approaches can be easily differentiated for entry level 1 and 2 students by simplifying texts, reducing the amount of content and having one clear objective per lesson. The skills referred to are relevant to all exam boards.

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.

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.

This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the Junior Cycle exam with particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative writing, looking at excellent and varied models of texts and identifying successful features before moving to students composing their own creative responses. The 63 slide teaching PPT is included in PDF format as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested teaching approaches and all eleven classroom resources in both Word and PDF formats. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit as much as I did.

This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the Junior Certificate exam with particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. I have written it with my own lower attaining class in mind. It supports students in developing some of the key skills required to write their own engaging pieces such as writing effective openings, writing dialogue, varying sentences, creating characters and planning responses. It supports and leads them towards a creative writing task (either narrative or descriptive) which they complete at the end of the unit. The 75 slide teaching PPT is included in PDF format as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes with suggested teaching approaches and all eleven classroom resources in both Word and PDF formats. I have also included extra creative writing tasks based on images. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit. Junior Cycle English Learning Outcomes include: Writing Demonstrate their understanding that there is a clear purpose for all writing activities and be able to plan, draft, re-draft, and edit their own writing as appropriate. Write for a variety of purposes, for example to imagine, explore, engage, narrate. Engage with and learn from models of oral and written language use to enrich their own written work. Use and apply their knowledge of language structures, for example sentence structure, paragraphing, grammar, to make their writing a richer experience for themselves and the reader.

AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 Unit - LEISURE This engaging and fully resourced unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for tackling the AQA Functional Skills Level 1 English exam paper. It is built around the topic of Leisure and includes two sections: Reading section – exploration of three related non-fiction texts including a website and leaflet Writing section – culminates in an assessed piece of work in which students complete a piece of review writing. This includes a well-presented 49 slide teaching PPT (editable PPT format) as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 12 resources in both word and pdf formats. Tasks and texts are relevant and engaging and ideal preparation for the Level 1 exam. You may also like: AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 - Complete Course AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 Unit - Climate Change Crisis AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 Unit - Taking the Next Step AQA Functional Skills in English: Speaking and Listening Unit

Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Unit - LEISURE This highly engaging and fully resourced unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for tacking the Edexcel Functional Skills Level 2 English exam paper. It is built around the topic of Leisure. There are two sections: Reading section – exploration of three different non-fiction texts Writing section – culminates in an assessed piece of work This includes a well-presented 49 slide teaching PPT (editable PPT format) as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 9 resources in both word and pdf formats. Tasks and texts are relevant and engaging and ideal preparation for the Level 2 exam. **More Edexcel IGCSE Functional Skills Resources Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Complete Course Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Unit -Climate Change Crisis Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Unit - Taking the Next Step Edexcel Functional Skills English Level 1 and 2: Speaking and Listening Unit

English Teaching Poetry Unit: Ted Hughes 'The Jaguar’ This highly engaging unit is designed to introduce and explore Ted Hughes’ poem ‘The Jaguar’ as well as develop students’ ability to write analytically using a specific, taught paragraph structure. This unit is collaborative in nature with lots of opportunities for paired, group and class discussion. It includes a very nicely presented 41 slide teaching PPT as well as all 15 student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes explaining how to deliver the unit. Outcomes include an analytical PETAL paragraph which can be extended into a longer essay using the structure provided and a comparative essay as an extension activity. Please note that all resources are in both Word and pdf formats with the teaching Powerpoint in PPT and pdf formats. You might also like: William Blake’s ‘London’ Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’ Wilfred Owen’s ‘Exposure’ Ted Hughes’ ‘Hawk Roosting’

English Teaching Poetry Unit: Ted Hughes 'Hawk Roosting’ This highly engaging unit is designed to introduce and explore Ted Hughes’ poem ‘Hawk Roosting’ as well as develop students’ ability to write analytically using a specific, taught paragraph structure. This unit is collaborative in nature with lots of opportunities for paired, group and class discussion. It includes a very nicely presented 40 slide teaching PPT as well as all 15 student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes explaining how you can deliver the unit. Outcomes include an analytical PETAL paragraph which could be extended into a longer essay using the structure provided and a comparative essay as an optional extension activity. I have also included a free self-study professional development unit on teaching poetry. Please note that all resources are in pdf format. You may also like the following poetry units: You might also like: William Blake’s ‘London’ Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’ Seamus Heaney’s ‘Digging’ Wilfred Owen’s ‘Exposure’

This unit of work is focused on developing the skills of reading between the lines and is based around extracts from the novel ‘Deep Water’ by Ann Turnbull. It is aimed at a first year Junior Cycle class and covers key skills such as inference and deduction, questioning the text, prediction and visualising the text. All short extracts are provided so you do not need a copy of the novel though you may wish to buy one to read and enjoy other sections with the class. I have included a 47 slide teaching PPT, all nine resources in word and pdf formats and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. Learning outcomes (from Junior Cycle Specification) addressed in this unit include: Reading 3. Use a wide range of reading comprehension strategies appropriate to texts e.g to retrieve information and to link to previous knowledge. 7. Select key moments from their texts and give thoughtful value judgements on the main character or a key scene. 8. Read their texts to understand and appreciate language enrichment by examining an author’s choice of words. 11. Identify and comment on features of English at word and sentence level using appropriate terminology. Writing 3. Write for a variety of purposes e.g to imagine, explore, narrate. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

This engaging and fully resourced unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for tacking the AQA Functional Skills Level 2 English exam paper. It is built around the topic of the climate crisis. There are two sections: Reading section – exploration of three different non-fiction texts including a letter, web pages and a blog. Writing section – focus on writing a speech and a blog and culminates in an assessed piece of work. This includes a 61 slide teaching PPT as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 13 resources in both word and pdf formats. Tasks and texts are relevant and engaging and ideal preparation for the Level 2 exam.