I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
3 lessons designed to revise with students how to write an academic essay including introduction.
The first lesson models to students
The second lesson is a ‘we do’ lesson where, with teacher support, students structure an answer to a new Macbeth question.
The third lesson is designed to be an assessment where students answer a third Macbeth question independently.
Three Macbeth sample assessments included
A series of lessons following the I do, we do, you do structure that guides students through how to write an academic response to the GCSE exam question on Power and conflict poetry.
Students are guided through:
how to tackle the question
how to plan their response
how to write an effective introduction
how to structure an academic essay
Three exam questions included for students to work on.
A student booklet and teacher power point that takes students through how to answer and revise for the Romeo and Juliet AQA literature question.
Model answers included and guidance on how to structure an academic introduction.
Opportunities for students to write their own answers with and without scaffolds.
The resource uses two different exam questions.
This presentation was used as part of teaching staff CPD that introduced direct instruction.
The presentation guides staff through:
what direct instruction is
the pitfalls of inquiry based learning
examples of how direct instruction may look
benefits of direct instruction
Engelmann’s direct instruction
A student booklet and teacher power point that takes students through how to answer and revise for the ‘An Inspector Calls’ AQA literature question.
Model answers included and guidance on how to plan and then structure an academic introduction and essay.
Guidance is differentiated for character questions and theme questions.
Opportunities for students to write their own answers with and without scaffolds.
The resource uses two different exam questions.
A teaching and learning handbook that outlines the following areas:
Contents
Knowledge Rich Curriculum
Planning a great lesson
The non-negotiables
Feedback and assessment
Horsforth
Extended Learning
CPD
Princilpes of instruction
Quality assurance
Teacher files
Teaching and Learning group
A CPD presentation that introduces the strategies of:
presenting new information in small steps
modelling
scaffolding
This presentation is aimed at re-introducing teachers to these important elements of Rosenshine’s principles of instruction and includes some examples of how this may look in the classroom.
20 full differentiated (by colour) and meticulously planned lessons to support the teaching of reading and writing skills. These lessons are ready to go.
Ideal for transition from KS2 to KS3, for year 6, year 7 or year 8 classes.
Within these lessons students are exposed to a wide range of fiction, non fiction and literary non fiction texts and will use these as a stimulus for creating their own texts.
These lessons allow students to develop skills for accessing the new English language and English literature 9-1 specifications.
Students will explore the following texts/extracts:
- Article on bats
- Extract from the Twits & BFG - Roald Dahl
- Extract from Frankenstein
- Extract from A Christmas Carol
- Extracts from autobiographies
- Extract from Bill Bryson - travel writing (non-fiction literary)
- Extract from Bleak house
- The Lion the witch and the wardrobe
- blogs
- poetry - Sister Maude, Mother any distance
- articles about Friendship
Students will develop the following skills in preparation for accessing new 9-1 GCSE
- Synthesis
- Comparison
- Language. structure, form analysis
- Theme exploration
- Analytical writing
- Imaginative writing - narrative and descriptive
- Transactional writing
Assessment opportunities and homework tasks also included
14 lessons that are meticulously planned, fully differentiated and numbered for ease of use with activities included.
Homework tasks included.
Download and teach right away. These are ready to go.
Power point resources to support the teaching of the following poems from the new specification AQA power and conflict poetry collection:
1. Remains
2. Kamikaze
3. Tissue
4. Emigree
5. Charge of the light brigade
This pack also includes a comparison assessment which has been created in line with AQA format.
All resources are fully differentiated by colour. (Purple = low ability, blue = mid ability, yellow = higher ability)
All lessons are numbered for ease of use. There are 2 other packs available to support the teaching of the remaining 10 poems.
There are 2 to 3 power point presentations per poem which cover context, language, form and structure and contain assessment opportunities in line with new specification.
Over 13 fully differentiated and meticulously planned lessons to support the teaching of Beowulf as part of the study of the history of the English language. Lessons are numbered for ease of use.
These lessons re ready to go. Download and teach. The lessons help students to make progress against the skills needed for the new 9-1 English specifications.
Assessments included and homework tasks.
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue - middle ability
yellow = higher ability
Resources provide opportunities to:
- analyse language
- explore context
- write creatively
- explore myths and legends
- create villainous characters
- explore heroic characteristics
- compare characters
- work on extract to whole exam skills
Carousel activities which allow students to revise the context of Elizabethan England and practice analysing extracts from the play as well as referring to the play as a whole.
Differentiated to allow students to structure an exam response which culminates in an exam practice question.
Two exam questions also included in the structure of the 9-1 literature examination.
Extracts taken from:
Act 1 scene 5
Act 2 scene 2
Act 2 scene 3
Act 4 scene 3
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue - middle ability
yellow = higher ability
A well planned lesson that results in students writing a formal argument for a broadsheet newspaper.
Students will consider a range of statements and determine whether they are for or against and will justify their opinions.
Students will have an example argument modelled to them and will unpick the success criteria within the example.
Students will then use this as a basis for their own argument.
Fully differentiated (by colour) lessons to support the teaching of English language paper 1 and paper 2.
Lessons cover all 5 questions on each paper and include texts to use while studying.
Differentiation:
purple = lower
blue = middle
yellow = higher
Resources to support the teaching of transactional / non-fiction writing.
Included:
- templates
- speech writing lessons
- letter writing
- spoken language
- presidential speeches
- place mat
- writing to argue
- persuasive writing
A range of resources to support the revision of Animal Farm for new specification 9-1 with reference to the AQA literature paper
Included:
- character/theme revision
- extract to whole practice
- how to structure a response
- quotations with images - useful for learning quotations
- revision guide - useful as a homework project
After hearing how useful chanting quotations was, from a colleague, for students in remembering key quotes, I led a session for year 11 that guided them through ways of remembering quotes for their literature exams.
By the end of this session students will know 3 quotations relating to the inspector by heart. This is achieved through linking the quote to an image and possibly an action and then by repeatedly chanting the quotes.
The resource also walks through the mark scheme with students and highlights how crucial quotations are in achieving marks.
Students will also explore writer's methods used within the quotes
Students are also exposed to an example question paper so they can see the lack of support they will receive and refers to the other literature questions.
The final activity requires students to use the quotations they have learned to plan a response to an exam question about the inspector.
Lessons planned to encourage creative writing using a variety of stimuli.
Differentiation:
Purple - low
Blue - middle
Yellow - high
Resources for lower ability included
With very few sample assessment materials provided by the exam boards I have created my own.
They have been made to look exactly like the assessments that students will sit in the real 9-1 examinations and are phrased in the same ways too.
The student responses can then be marked using the relevant mark scheme for literature.
The extract in this assessment is taken from stave 2.
With very few sample assessment materials provided by the exam boards I have created my own.
They have been made to look exactly like the assessments that students will sit in the real 9-1 examinations and are phrased in the same ways too.
The student responses can then be marked using the relevant mark scheme for literature.
The extract in this assessment is taken from stave 3.