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Miss Smith's Shop

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I am an Oxford graduate and recently qualified English teacher (PGCE finished in 2016) who was always told off for 'reinventing the wheel'. I thought I may as well share the fruits of my labours!

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I am an Oxford graduate and recently qualified English teacher (PGCE finished in 2016) who was always told off for 'reinventing the wheel'. I thought I may as well share the fruits of my labours!
Directed Writing Task - Taboo language
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Directed Writing Task - Taboo language

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Resource for A Level language students to practise writing a directed writing task (exam task). Includes info on slang and taboo language, a card sort, powerpoints for two lessons, and two examples of opinion writing on the topic. A planning sheet/ info sheet on features of opinion articles and how to plan them can be found in my other resources.
Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy
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Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy

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Work for Neutral Tones (GCSE Literature Love and Relationships Poetry Anthology AQA). Close-reading skills, comprehension skills, different perspectives and critical material, essay-writing skills, thinking skills. Worksheet on responses (agree/ disagree) to poem to be done in pairs. Task where pupils replace the emotive words to create a poem with a different mood or tone (higher ability).
Reading and writing skills - EDM (more fun task)
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Reading and writing skills - EDM (more fun task)

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This resource is an article about Electronic Dance Music (which many of my lower ability pupils like), with questions matched up to the new AQA Paper 2 English Language GCSE - a true/false task and a language analysis task at the end to brainstorm. There is a separate worksheet which requires you to cut up the sentences so pupils can do a card sort, focusing on PEEL paragraphs and being able to identify which sentence performs which function. It is aimed at a lower-middling ability class, but you can differentiate and ask higher ability pupils to focus on planning the language analysis task without the paragraph/PEEL sheet (which they could present to the class). Skills: analysis, synthesis, interpretation, close reading, paragraph writing, P E E, reading skills, language analysis, true or false
Different types of sentence crash course
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Different types of sentence crash course

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A detailed worksheet introducing the different types of sentence: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex to pupils with tasks. Includes references to popular culture and Disney villains to assist understanding. Designed to try and make a rather dry topic a bit more fun. Grammar, sentence structures, different sentence types, exam criteria, national curriculum.
Confidence rating self assessment - exam skills for GCSE
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Confidence rating self assessment - exam skills for GCSE

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Can be used with KS3-KS4 towards GCSE skills for English. Pupils self-assess how confidence they feel about the skills they will eventually need. Great AFL/ Assessment For Learning when starting exam skills with a new class for the first time. Fits with National Curriculum and AQA GCSE Learning Objectives. Two versions - one for year 9 and one for GCSE years.
"The Great Gatsby" Exam style practice question
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"The Great Gatsby" Exam style practice question

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Exam style practice question for new AQA spec Paper 1 English Language using an abbreviated excerpt from The Great Gatsby. In the format of an exam paper it gives pupils practice with the layout and with the assessment objectives. The topic is designed to be engaging - it focuses on a party scene in Gatsby. It then includes a practice writing question around parties and music. Practice reading comprehension questions and creative writing for the exam. Boost your pupil's confidence and provide them with an understanding of the layout of the assessment. Can also be used as a mock paper (one class or whole school) as it is correctly formatted.
New AQA Paper 2 confidence skills rating (peer assessment)
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New AQA Paper 2 confidence skills rating (peer assessment)

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Peer assessment for the new paper 2 - reading and writing skills. Includes glossary document - do not provide Able and More Able/ Gifted and Talented pupils with this! Differentiation. Pupils assess how confident they feel with the skills needed for the paper. This allows the teacher to spend future lessons addressing the right areas. AFL/ assessment for learning reading and writing skills reading comprehension inference etc.
Winter Swans
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Winter Swans

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Winter Swans is a poem in the GCSE AQA anthology for Love and Relationships. This lesson is aimed at a mixed ability group, and is differentiated and scaffolded, with a large element of personal choice for the final task. The powerpoint uses visual stimuli to appeal to visual learners. Powerpoint, lesson plan and copy of poem altered to emit the most interesting language - give pupils this first so that they are forced to think about the interesting choices the poet makes. close-reading, poetry, KS4, GCSE
"Telling Tales" - creative writing lesson fits new AQA Paper 1 Section B
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"Telling Tales" - creative writing lesson fits new AQA Paper 1 Section B

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Entire lesson on creative writing with prompts, interactive powerpoint (with visual timers with sounds) and fun visuals to engage your class. The worksheet includes a series of criteria which match up to the run-through of the powerpoint, and a graph for them to plan their plot structure. Useful for teaching Section B of the new AQA Paper 1 - Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing. The exam will give them criteria and/or a picture prompt and ask them to write the opening to a story - this teaches those writing skills.
Telling Tales - Creative Writing around Inspector Goole's character
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Telling Tales - Creative Writing around Inspector Goole's character

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2-3 WHOLE LESSONS This resource was created at the end of a GCSE module on An Inspector Calls. The powerpoint covers 2 lessons - the cover sheet can be set as the first lesson without the powerpoint but using the two worksheets (ingredients of genres, who is Inspector Goole). The powerpoint has interactive timers and visual stimuli to appeal to all learners and to keep the lesson at a good pace/ keep pupils engaged, and the starter worksheet should be done as a fast-paced discussion/ competition. The writing part of the unit of work can be set as homework or completed in lesson time - you can either have pupils peer mark, feedback on and rework just 1 paragraph OR an entire short story.
Resources for Creative Writing in English Language A Level
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Resources for Creative Writing in English Language A Level

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These two sheets help pupils plan and write creative writing which fits the A-level exam specs. The planning creative writing sheet takes a total of 50 minutes and gets them to think about their commentary, so this could be a full lesson with the commentary set. The Writing Fiction Lesson doc is designed to be printed on A3. It is designed to be a whole lesson which works collaboratively with a class - split them into pairs. Firstly, get the original pair to write their name on the top of their worksheet. 1) Pass the sheet around as many sets of pairs as it takes to fill the planning chart, giving them a certain amount of time to fill in one row per pair (can be differentiated). 2) The original pair fill out 'story one' as an excerpt from a short story - they choose the guidelines from the grid and tick it off. 3) Pass it on and repeat step two with a new pair. 4) Pass back to original pair to evaluate the writing (using two different colours) using the evaluation grid. Peer marking! Can then set easily set an improvement task, if you want to.
Singh Song AQA Love and Relationships Poetry Anthology
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Singh Song AQA Love and Relationships Poetry Anthology

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Differentiated lesson materials aimed at a class of students ranging from A-D grades. 2 x lesson plans and 2 x lesson powerpoints, and differentiated support resources including definitions of difficult terms. Quotes to give to any struggling pupils while the table-fill task is underway.
Whole interactive and visual lesson - Hello
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Whole interactive and visual lesson - Hello

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This lesson is designed to be a one-off, complete lesson for KS3-4 English. The powerpoint is differentiated with examples and higher ability tasks, and contains many visual stimuli for more visual learners. The presentation uses several gifs, which always go down well! The lesson starts with an activity about the origin of the word 'hello', and goes on to analyse Adele's hit song Hello. Learning objectives are clear and shared. Good for teaching approaches to unseen poetry in a fun manner.
Letters from Yorkshire new AQA anthology 2 whole lessons
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Letters from Yorkshire new AQA anthology 2 whole lessons

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Two lessons on Letters From Yorkshire, a poem in the new AQA anthology on Love and Relationships. Matched to the exam specification, with questions to really get pupils thinking and discussing. Includes a gapfill activity to do before they encounter the poem, to make them really analyse the language the poet is using. Skills: analysing poetry, unseen poetry, close-reading, poetic technique evaluation
Template for complete mock paper and teaching powerpoint, new Paper 1
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Template for complete mock paper and teaching powerpoint, new Paper 1

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Have your department asked you to create a mock for Paper 1? This is a template for both a mock paper and a teaching powerpoint for the new AQA GCSE Paper 1 (Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing). All resources are basically completed for you - all you need to do is input your own sources which fit the spec, and edit the resources using those exemplars. The mock looks just like a real exam paper (use the cover sheet from here http://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/gcse/english-language-8700/assess/paper-1-specimen-question-paper to complete the look!) and the powerpoint repeatedly breaks down the key assessed skills and learning objectives fro the paper (many of which are new foci) and reinforces the previous points. Create a source booklet using the template, and then off you go! This could easily form a whole unit of work when used with teaching general reading and writing skills relevant to the paper.
Detective skills - inferring and deducing with Thor!
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Detective skills - inferring and deducing with Thor!

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Lesson created for comprehension skills for KS3 and KS4. Fully differentiated resources - worksheet pack includes differentiated choice-based activity, which the three different levels of Word doc correspond to. Can be used to teach the curriculum skills of inferring / deducing / synthesising which are important to the new AQA GCSE. Uses the idea of the Norse God Thor (popularised by Marvel comics and films) to engage pupils, and they have to solve the riddles in a story from Norse Mythology (which I translated). Interactive, engaging, always a success!
NEW SPEC GCSE English Language Paper 1: Teaching ppt, original papers & resources
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NEW SPEC GCSE English Language Paper 1: Teaching ppt, original papers & resources

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A teaching powerpoint, an original mock paper (with source booklet) I have created and original exemplar answers at different grades (differentiated) I have created using the text Mrs Dalloway, which fits the GCSE English Lang Paper 1 spec for the new AQA paper. Also included - an original mock paper, source booklet, and differentiated exemplar answers at different grades for Lord of the Flies, which also fits the spec. The teaching powerpoint includes advice on the skills needed (close-reading, analysis, inference, etc.), how to approach the paper etc., this powerpoint uses student-friendly language and could be easily adapted for a different text/ mock/ exemplar set. The papers and source booklets have been painstakingly created in order to follow the format of - and print like - actual exam papers. This resource includes the following files: Teaching powerpoint for approaching paper 1 (Mrs Dalloway) Original mock exam paper 1 (Mrs Dalloway) Original mock exam paper 2 (Lord of the Flies) Original source booklet 1 (Mrs Dalloway) Original source booklet 2 (Lord of the Flies) Original differentiated exemplars booklet 1 (Mrs Dalloway) Original differentiated exemplars booklet 1 (Lord of the Flies) AQA cover sheet for papers if set as a mock When used with the reading/writing resources from the website TeachIt for the new Paper 1, this resource forms an entire scheme of work.