This short novel is riveting, so ideal for a boy-heavy class or those not too keep on reading. The lesson begins with a true or false starter dressed up as 'Would I Lie to You': depending on the group you could invite students to come up with their own facts, perhaps researched for homework and present them with more spin, or divide the group into two opposing teams. These facts are chosen for their general relevance to the story. The next phase is looking at the opening of the novel to notice how succinctly so much is said - a good exercise in inference. The PP takes students through the thinking process and the handout sheet enables them to annotate the text without re-writing the sentences. The lesson ends with a writing exercise in which they try to emulate Sedgwick's concentrated writing in 75 words. These extracts could also be used to supplement a unit on 'survival', or a focus on reading: 'how does the writer use language to...'

This is an exciting novel, especially for boys: short enough for reluctant readers to give it a chance and gripping enough for all readers to be engaged. The PP covering chapter 5 begins with a focus on the structure of the novel, introducing the term 'generating circumstance' and then structure at sentence level. Chapter 6 begins with a deceptively simple test: True or False to test recall and a] or b] to test understanding of imagery. The answers are on the Chapter 6 PP to enable peer assessment. For more able students there is an enrichment question on juxtaposition in imagery - expect a PEEL paragraph to the effect that contrasting God and the Devil, stroking and hammering emphasises how evil the man looks - and turns out to be .

The PP contains the lesson, which focuses reading: by practising finding apt quotes; inferring and deducing; and writing about reading by analysing key words. Slide one presents a starter question which partners can discuss briefly. This gives students a POINT. Subsequent questioning leads them to EVIDENCE and EXPLORE/ANALYSE and there are slides with possible answers to allow for self- or peer assessment. The lesson ends with a SPaG plenary on the use of quotation marks. There is also a differentiated handout, one page giving a condensed lesson for weak or visually impaired students - could work with TA outside the classroom [give the TA a slide handout for reference]- and another for slow workers who need to be given a copy of the quote rather than write it out.

The first Power Point gives contextual information about the Great Exhibition and a visual impression of the Crystal Palace. The handout consists of two 19th century non-fiction articles: an extract from a letter writer by Charlotte Brontë to her father about her visit to the exhibition and then extracts from Queen Victoria’s diary about her visits. There are simple questions on each passage reflecting the type of question that may be asked at GCSE: retrieval and inference. Then there are questions comparing the texts. Once students have answered the questions, they can self- or peer assess work as the answers are on a Power Point slide that can guide feedback. These extracts can also be used in conjunction with ‘The Diamond Necklace’ by Guy de Maupassant. For a modern writer’s version of the Great Exhibition, you could read Queenie’s description of her visit in Andrea Levey’s Small Island.

We all know it is no revision at all to tell students to write loads of past papers in timed conditions – only a few would do it. These tasks lend themselves specifically to the revision of essay questions of any topic or content subject [R.E., Biology; English; History; Geography...] and all you have to do by way of preparation is apply the tasks to the specifics of your subject, particularly your exam board and provide some guidance as to where students can find information, whether that’s in the text book, online or reference books. Your exam board’s website should be able to provide you with sample questions, mark schemes and sample answers. Before using these tasks you will need to prepare the material, but chances are you’ll have it to hand anyway as it is what you’d be revising: this resource helps you approach it in a different way and gets the students actively involved in their revision. On the task prompt sheet is a ‘You will need’ list to help you prepare. Slide one has 6 images – choose any icon to click on in a way that engages the class [throw a di, ask a question, choose a quiet student to make the choice]. A hyperlink will take you straight to the relevant slide, where the tasks will come up in steps on your click [adapt the wording of these to suit your specifics if you wish]. At the end of the lesson ‘end show’ to get back to slide 1 for the next lesson. Each task is explained in your ‘recipe for success’ word document and alternatives or ways to differentiate suggested. The central idea is to get students helping each other while you facilitate only when required. And I’ve added a bonus task in recognition of the price rise – you should get at least 8 lessons out of this pack – Enjoy!

These are the 100 words the DfE claims primary pupils should be able to spell in y3/4 – of course older pupils could do with a bit of revision too. They are divided into groups of five and after five groups there’s a test, But here’s the difference… Being dyslexic myself, I’ve written the words out in a way that makes learning them easier for others with a similar condition – by looking for patterns and words within words – without being a problem to good spellers. Use as a weekly homework, a fill-in starter while you call the register or an occasional filler for a quick worker. At the end of the list there’s a revision opportunity and words to find in a string of letters along with some unscrambling to do. Work is set out for ease of printing/photocopying and teacher’s answers are on the last pages of each set (week 1-5)– print or project as suits. A PP gives end of list answers to the strings and unscrambles. If you do these with older students, just do remember to remove the ‘year’ label with each test to avoid embarrassing them. 6 downloads gives you 5 weeks of daily spelling, 5 tests and 2 revision activities, all self-mark and dyslexia friendly!

Here's a little something to challenge your top students: persuasion the classical way. The Ancient Greeks worked out how a persuasive speech should be structured to make it effective, Shakespeare played around with the form in many of his most famous speeches and even Barack Obama's speech writers follow the formula. Along with their connectives and persuasive devices, give your most able a tried and tested structure to lift their persuasive writing above the ordinary. There's a handout explaining the structure, a PP to test it's been understood and a worksheet to guide preparation for students to write their own speeches.

Here the focus is on crafting paragraphs for effect, as part of improving the quality of creative writing at both KS3- particularly in preparation for the new spec. English exam - and KS4, enabling students ‘to demonstrate their narrative and descriptive skills in response to a written prompt, scenario or visual image’... For more able students the lesson ends with a challenge to change the mood between the opening paragraphs and the one students go on to write.

Everything you need for exploring the short story 'Subha' by Rabindranath Tagore. [Multiculturalism in the context of Empire has a firm place in 19th century writing ; this is a good place to ensure it's not lost with the new syllabus]. The lesson begins with prediction, requiring students to infer and deduce, then looks at 3 extracts with imagery that suggests things about the character while describing something else. The focus then moves on to how language is used to present the character, while the plenary asks students to consider other ways in which the character is presented. The extracts to be annotated are given on a handout, with key phrases to be noticed in bold. The teacher's note also has links to the text, a reading and information about Rabindranath Tagore, along with the outline of the lesson and possible homework or extension tasks.

‘Practise makes perfect’ is the idea behind this resource: I believe in the ‘drip-feed’ approach because it is important to keep doing something until it becomes second nature. These starters cover all types of reading: poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, modern and 19th century. Essentially students should pick out what they see as key features to write about - you can decide whether their annotations should be formulated into paragraphs as a plenary or homework. The two opening slides on the PP bear repeating a few times to remind students what to do and get a strategy to become second nature. Each quote slide is followed by a ‘possible ideas’ answer slide and supported by a handout of the quote which can be annotated, either as differentiation for slow writers, or generally to speed the process. If speed and cost is an issue, the task can be done as a ‘whole class’ exercise, especially if you have an IWB or a way of annotating the projected text.

Using a variety of sentence openers is an effective and easy way to improve writing. The PP begins with a reminder of the ways in which sentences can be opened more effectively. The worksheet task - 2 to a page to cut costs - is to label the openers in a piece of writing, using the reminder slide if needed. Students check their own work from the next slide, writing in correct answers. This task is also useful preparation for any task that requires close reading. A final slide challenges students to complete the story in at least 4 more sentences, each with a different opening, a task which could be set as homework, a plenary or extension work.

Shakespeare Day this year has the added thrill of marking 400 years since the Bard’s death [or 452 since his birth!]. To help you mark the anniversary, here’s a ‘Where’s Will?’ competition with quotes, student fill in sheets and an answer sheet. Set up the competition school wide, departmentally or as a class activity to get students reading quotes and finding where the action is set. The competition is really easy – its merit is exposure – participants have to find the posters, read a quote and be alert to where the action is set. At the very least they’ll have heard of a few more plays. This activity is easy enough for upper primary pupils. That’s just one activity. On the quotes PP you have a template you can send to students and colleagues on which they can write their favourite Shakespeare quotes [even if it is from the play they are currently studying] to display around the school. Primary pupils could display insults they've generated. Each subsequent slide can be printed [on coloured A3?] to make a display for the classroom or to boost the display around the school. Longer term, there is the set of starter quotes that could introduce students to Shakespeare’s language, as a Shakespeare ‘quote of the half-term’, or for 6 lessons in April… the idea is to get students to think about both the literal and figurative meaning of memorable lines, as well as expose them to a wider range of plays. The ‘fill-in’ version allows you to set the whole task as a one off lesson activity or a self-mark homework. For anyone who has missed the lesson, quotes and answers are available as a paper version too. The Teachers' Guide also provides useful links and ideas. Enjoy a super Shakespeare Day!

Use Halloween as an excuse to focus on close-up description to cut out the waffle, create atmosphere and promote concise writing. This resource offers a lesson on how to make monsters seem scary using extracts from 19th century novels, on PP with the text extracts available as a handout. The cre-ATE PP hyperlinks you via pictures to vocabulary that can help get the description started - great for letting students refer to when they're stuck. The 'you try' worksheet suggests a step-by-step structure illustrated with quotes from 'Game of Thrones' that can be used as a model.

5 weeks worth of daily spelling activities and self-mark tests! These are the 100 words the DfE claims primary pupils should be able to spell in 5/6 – of course older pupils could do with a bit of revision too. They are divided into groups of five as 'week 1' etc. with a test at the end of each week. Standard practice, but here’s the difference… Being dyslexic myself, I’ve written the words out in a way that makes learning them easier for others with a similar condition – by looking for patterns and words within words – without being a problem to good spellers. Use as a weekly homework, a fill-in starter while you call the register or an occasional filler for a quick worker. At the end of the list there’s a revision opportunity and words to find in a string of letters along with some unscrambling to do. Some y3-4 words are revisited in the last lists and tests. Tests are also designed to promote proof-reading skills, with 'you be the teacher' adding fun to the process - red pens work wonders here and cut your workload to quick checking , rather than marking. Work is set out for ease of printing/photocopying and teacher’s answers are on the last pages of each set – print or project as suits. A PP gives end of list answers to the strings and unscrambles. Y5&6 have an additional task – words to fill into a script, similar to SATs tests. If you do these with older students, just do remember to remove the ‘year’ label with each test.

The advantage of this ‘jigsaw’ way of preparing students to write an essay answer is that they will write much more, it will be well thought through and weaker students will benefit from working collaboratively, while more able students will spark each other. It can work with any text with a bit of tweaking and the resource can be adapted to suit your class. This work will cover several lessons, with the lesson PP giving clear instructions. The written guide gives the teacher the steps to follow as well as sharing friendly advice born of experience. The 'Methods' sheet lists the methods if required and the checklist helps students make sure their essays meet the criteria for top marks. A 'Targets'PP facilitates your marking and feedback to students. A print version of the targets enables you to give a set to each student if you don't think writing out their own target warrants the time.

The culmination of the series focuses on question A6 following a similar pattern as before. It begins with a ‘quick-fire starter’ when the technique required by the question is practised in its simplest form, first on the PP, then with written texts. First, to give students confidence, two short texts from speeches on immigration. This keeps the time pressure on so that working quickly becomes a habit. Then the question requirements are explored through the exam board’s directives and again quick and easy examples with answers build up to more demanding practise through the series. Visual texts and Extracts of both 19th century and 21st century texts are used in the series to ensure students are undaunted by older texts. In all cases answers and a simplified mark scheme are provided.

A word of the week is a great way to start a lesson and kids love using the new word, but don't think you can't use this resource if you haven't been doing the weekly words - simply print out each slide sans the WOW heading and display them in the classroom or put them on a 'help-desk' and turn the task into a Thesaurus lesson. The wordsearch is not one of those mindless exercises that have brought the genre into disrepute: here students need to find the WoW from the definition and list the words that need to be found. The favourite trick of highlighting anything that looks like a word has been thwarted by there being lots of words that aren't on the list - students lose a mark if they have highlighted an irrelevant word. Alternatively [or for another day] there's a spelling test. Answers make both tasks easy self-mark tasks.

Ideal task for World Space Week! Cover it! Descriptive writing, photo prompt, differentiated w/s, all printed, suits non-specialist. Sometimes you need a class just to get on with it, or you're supplying cover at short notice for a non-specialist - this series covers those times when it needs to be plain and simple on paper, but nonetheless needs to be worthwhile and relevant. In this task students have a picture and have to write a story inspired by it. There are 3 different levels - the simplest provides a frame and even some words to trace for those who can't write legibly and need help coming up with ideas. The next level up has just the prompts and the most able are challenged to go further with some story openings to inspire their creativity. The topic of this exercise is SPACE.

Here is everything you need for a fun media project - get your students making a montage. This is aimed at yr9s who will be doing a Media GCSE, so gives them a flavour of projects to come and is ideal for the end of the year. Although most will want to film, it is possible to deliver a montage on Power Point, so all skill and interest levels are accommodated. There are 6 lessons with instruction slides, links to lots of clips showing montages as well as tutorials for use at home. The note to the teacher guides you through the scheme and the montage outline gives students their instructions and due dates [you fill those in]. As well as a project review sheet to flag up problems, there is a self- and peer- assessment sheet for when the montages are done.

Because students work on paper and answers can be printed off so that no computer is needed, this differentiated work is ideal to set as last minute cover . The first set of tasks is linking words with their opposites, choosing from words provided, so that no cumbersome dictionaries are needed, though they can be used if desired. For those who finish that, there is a crossword puzzle. This contains clues from across the ability range, encouraging different abilities to work together and extending mid-ability students.