Get SET to teach secondary English with Sian's English Toolkit.
These resources are based on my experience teaching secondary English for thirteen years. During this time I gained experience teaching language and literature to all ability levels within the age range 11-18. I also have extensive experience of writing schemes of learning as I was a department lead for ten of those years.
Get SET to teach secondary English with Sian's English Toolkit.
These resources are based on my experience teaching secondary English for thirteen years. During this time I gained experience teaching language and literature to all ability levels within the age range 11-18. I also have extensive experience of writing schemes of learning as I was a department lead for ten of those years.
English Anagrams 1-6, includes six different anagrams worksheets and the answer sheets. These worksheets are designed to help KS3 pupils develop their language skills (such as the alphabet) and extend their vocabulary. The anagrams on each worksheet have a common theme and are listed in alphabetical order. Each sheet will take 10-20 minutes to complete, depending on the age/ability of the class.
In these tasks, pupils will unscramble the letters to identify the words. Once they have unscrambled a few, they will be able to identify the common theme. They will also be required to apply their knowledge of the alphabet and elements of language to help them unscramble less familiar words. An answer key for staff is included for all three worksheets.
Also available as two separate resources: English Anagrams 1-3 and English Anagrams 4-6.
Of Mice and Men | Quotes Revision | I Have Who Has | GCSE
This resource is targeted towards high school students in need of key quotes revision. It is a great way to get students revising whilst making it feel like a game.
There are 60 cards included, and these are divided into two games of 30 cards each.
Each card contains a quote and act. The two games have been colour-coded - blue and green - for ease of use.
A student will read the quote on their card, and students must identify which character said it, or which character/setting the quote relates to, depending on which version is being played. They must also identify whether the quote is from the chapter specified on their card.
Full instructions are included in the resource, as are all of the answers on a separate teacher sheet.
There are also suggestions for differentiation, including making the game more or less challenging, as needed.
If you found this resource helpful, you may also like:
my essay planning tool: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/of-mice-and-men-essay-planning-tool-wjec-12972679
an essay structuring pack: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/of-mice-and-men-essay-structures-12970873
Capitals, Punctuation & Spelling Worksheets for 11-14 Year Olds
Quickly monitor the progress of your pupils in relation to capitals, punctuation and spelling with these worksheets. This pack contains 17 no-prep worksheets with answer keys for quick completion and self-marking. With only printing required, you can have students on-task within seconds of walking through the door.
Four different elements are included: capitals, apostrophes, dialogue & spelling. With minimal writing required, teachers can secure meaningful & useful outcomes for even the most reluctant writers. There are also two challenge sheets that cover all four elements, for when a full progress-check is required. All they have to do is identify and correct the errors, which gives a clear demonstration of their confidence level with that element of punctuation/spelling.
There are different levels of challenge across the different worksheets so there’s something for every middle-school learner here, whatever their ability.
Differentiation can be applied in numerous ways:
the literary text given to a student
the total number of errors a student’s required to identify
the element a student is being assessed on
You will get:
six capital letters worksheets
three apostrophes worksheets
three dialogue worksheets
three spellings worksheets
two ‘all-elements’ worksheets
answer sheets for all of the above
two pupil result trackers (one blank & one pre-populated)
Prep is quick and easy. Just print and go! And there’s no need to frantically answer them before the lesson…all answer sheets are included.
Bonus! These worksheets will introduce your students to multiple classic literary texts. Reading & punctuation in one…win-win!
Halloween Word Games & Activities Pack for High School
Keep your students engaged this Halloween with these short, seasonal literacy activities. This pack includes 10 no-prep English word activities with a seasonal twist to keep students focused. With only printing required, you can have students on-task within seconds of walking through the door.
Four different seasonal activity types are included. Wordsearches, word grids, anagrams and a colour-by-number. Students will enjoy these activities that will feel like a Halloween reward but in reality gently encourage them to think about consonants, vowels, spelling and language features: trick or treat!
They make great individual activities but can also be used as group/challenge task. Students love competition: why not set an activity a day and build up points towards the end of the week? Or why not have them as reward tasks for early finishers?
There are different levels of challenge across the different types of activity so there’s something for every learner here, whatever their ability.
You will get:
three wordsearches
three sheets of anagrams
three word grid activities
one colour-by-number activity
This resource is perfect for your regular English class and is one I use as starter activities in the build-up to Halloween. This then leaves the colour-by-number as a reward once we get closer to the holidays. You could also use it with a form to give them a daily literacy boost in the build up to Halloween: cross-curricular skills…check!
Prep is quick and easy. Just print and go! The resource has been designed so that the colours are seasonal but the worksheets are still clear if you have to print in grayscale. And there’s no need to frantically look through wordsearch grids…all answers are included for all activities.
You may also like:
Halloween Mega-Wordesearch, which turns into a colour-by-number once all words have been found: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13125178
Of Mice and Men Essay Structures provides two different types of structures for learners, depending on ability/level of confidence with the novel. These have been tried and tested with groups of differing abilities in preparation for the Unit 1 Literature exam (WJEC).
The first set of essay structures is for pupils who don’t have much exam practice. It provides them with a detailed scaffold for some of the key ideas they may want to discuss and in which order. There are spaces for them to add notes about context and key quotations to include. There is an essay structure for each character and for the theme of ‘loneliness’. This has worked very well with C/D borderline learners.
The second set of structures are brief notes for learners who are more confident with writing essays, or as a quick revision tool. There is an essay structure for each character, in addition to three thematic structures. This has worked well as a revision resource for all abilities, and as a lighter form of scaffolding for B+ grade learners when beginning to produce essays.
You may also be interested in the following:
Narrative tasks: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12970442
Revision activities: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12945645
Christmas 2024 Advent Calendar of English Literacy Activities
Keep your students focused and on-task with this English Literacy Activities Advent Calendar. We all know that students find it harder to focus in the build-up to the Christmas holidays, so why not give them something festive to keep them occupied?
This advent calendar has a literacy-based activity for each school day in December. With only minimal writing, students will complete activities that feel fun, but that also encourage them to think about words, spelling, vowels, consonants, and to apply their speaking, listening and reasoning skills.
There are numerous different types of activity across the different days, so there is something for every learner here. These tasks are versatile and can be used as starters, treat tasks to end lessons, or even as a mid-way break during a lesson where focus is particularly hard to find!
Examples of activities include:
placing festive words in alphabetical order
deciphering Christmas anagrams
discussing the ideal Christmas dinner options
visualising based on what they hear
There is no prep required. Just load up the PowerPoint before the session and the day’s hyperlink will take you to the relevant activity. And if you need to get back to the main page, just click on the date icon in the corner.
Create a sense of community. This advent calendar can create a sense of community within class or, better yet, across a whole year/school if every student starts their day with the same festive activity.
NB: for anyone who purchased the 2023 version, activities are the same but hyperlinks have been updated
King Lear Revision Materials for A-Level contains two different resources that have been proven to support exam practice and revision for A-Level students, in particular for whole text responses where the text isn’t allowed into the exam. This is 15 pages of support, in total.
This includes:
A thorough narrative summary detailing key events, divided by Acts/Scenes, including a character-web activity at the end
A comprehensive quote pack including quotes characterised by character, theme and imagery/language
If this is useful to you, have a look at the ‘Critical Approaches’ resource in my shop, which also support A-Level teaching of the play.
This ‘Heroes’ by Robert Cormier unit of work and PowerPoint is tailored towards teaching GCSE English Literature Unit 2 (WJEC). It has been trialled successfully in a classroom with learners with A*-D targets.
The unit of work contains tasks that deal with different sections of the novel, and encourage learners to think about character, theme and language analysis. The structure of the unit accounts for time spent on each section, main learning activities, key vocabulary and the corresponding PowerPoint task. (There is also a suggested whole text question activity at the end).
The editable PowerPoint includes 17 main activities that encourage learners to analyse different sections of the text. This is sold as an editable resource so that you can amend as needed for your classes, and so that you can incorporate appropriate exam practice as and when it is needed.
(Page references are for the Penguin edition).
You may also find these resources useful:
Narrative summary:https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/heroes-by-robert-cormier-narrative-overview-12970174
Essay structures: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/heroes-robert-cormier-essay-structures-12973423
A range of ‘An Inspector Calls’ tasks is also available if that is the second text you are studying with your learners in preparation for Unit 2.
Sport Events Literacy Activities Bundle contains a series of literacy activities for Euro 2024, the Olympics 2024 and the Paralympics 2024.
These editable PowerPoints each contain 20 literacy-based activities. These make perfect starter activities or form time tasks. Slides have a simple colour scheme so that they can be printed at a lower cost if hard copies are needed.
As well as being enjoyable and competitive, these activities will encourage learners to apply their knowledge of the alphabet, vowels, consonants and languages.
Activities include:
placing words into alphabetical order
matching terms to different languages
anagrams
identifying missing vowels/consonants
word grids
creating their own words
A Christmas Carol Revision Board Game
This is a great way to engage learners in revising quotations and elements of plot, character and theme. This is a particularly effective resource for learners who may struggle with engagement/motivation at times when it comes to revision.
This resource includes:
32 questions and answers about plot, character and theme
32 questions and answers about key quotations
A game board
‘How to Play’ guide
The cards can be used as a simple Q&A activity where quick revision is required. For a more sustained activity, the full board game version can be played. Full instructions are included on the second page of the resource.
The cards can be printed double-sided so that the question is on the front and the corresponding answer on the back. The page should be printed double-sided along the long edge.
Additional equipment you will need:
dice
counters
GCSE English Language Bundle (WJEC) provides different materials to support learners in revising for their Unit 2 and Unit 3 exams.
This bundle includes four resources:
an overall revision pack, including key materials for reading and writing
a card sort to support the revision of reading skills and their success criteria
a resource containing four Unit 3 writing tasks to plan, including modelled planning
general tips and tricks to support pupils in attaining SPG marks in the written sections of the exams
As a bonus, there is also a booklet to support individuals with IRP planning.
These resources have particularly supported C/D borderline learners.
An Inspector Calls Revision Activities Bundle includes a range of different ways in which learners can revise for their GCSE English Literature Unit 2 exam (WJEC).
This bundle includes:
a narrative overview of the play
five part essay structures for each character and four key themes
an essay planning tool that enables learners to incorporate all elements of success criteria, and using shapes to support different learning styles
a range of revision activities that can be used as a pack or as classroom activities
All of the above have been tried and tested in a classroom environment.
Heroes by Robert Cormier Unit & Revision
This bundle contains four resources that have been used successfully to teach and revise the novel Heroes by Roberts Cormier.
It includes:
a teaching overview for working through key aspects of the text
an accompanying PowerPoint, instructing pupils on how to complete tasks and some suggestions for discussion points in some key tasks
a narrative overview of the text to introduce the story/provide as a revision resource after the novel has been studied
essay structures for character and theme to support learners in preparing for whole text question responses in the exam
a range of revision activities to complete in the final sessions before the external exam, or to grasp learner understanding/confidence after the text has been taught
There are also numerous ‘An Inspector Calls’ resources in my shop, including a revision bundle, for those who are covering these two texts for the Unit 2 Literature exam:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12973433
A Christmas Carol Activity Bundle contains multiple resources to support GCSE learners with their revision.
It includes:
annotated extracts for the most important scenes in the novel
quotes revision in two different formats
revision activities to suit different learners and learning styles
a colour by number activity which tests understanding of characters (especially useful for lower ability/less engaged learners)
All activities have been tried and tested in the classroom setting.
Of Mice and Men Revision Activities Bundle includes a range of different ways in which learners can revise for their GCSE English Literature Unit 1 exam (WJEC).
This bundle includes:
a narrative overview of the novel and a supporting task sheet to support recall of main points/characters/themes
five part essay structures for each character and three key themes
scaffolded approaches to essays, with space for learners to add supporting quotation
an essay planning tool that enables learners to incorporate all elements of success criteria, and using shapes to support different learning styles
a range of revision activities that can be used as a pack or as classroom activities
All of the above have been tried and tested in a classroom environment.
Inference Worksheets
These worksheets support learners in developing the skills of reading for meaning and making inferences. The teacher guide at the start helps you navigate through a series of activities that support learners in understanding a text. Each text will take approximately an hour to complete. These work particularly well with groups of 3-6 learners but can also be used 1-1 and with larger groups.
These activities help learners to practise:
making connections with current knowledge
visualising
questioning
word meaning
explaining subtext
empathy
prioritising
summarising
The eight texts included in this bundle are extracts from:
The Wind in the Willows
Peter Pan
Treasure Island
The Secret Garden
The Wizard of Oz
A Christmas Carol
Christmas 2024 Literacy Activities Bundle | High School | Answers Included
Keep students engaged in the build-up to Christmas with these Christmas-themed literacy activities. Including five different products, this bundle has something for all learners, whatever their ability.
Included in this bundle:
Christmas 2024 Advent Calendar: a literacy activity for each school day in December, including some great discussion topics! This editable PowerPoint is a brilliant way to start the day and the hyperlinks to each day’s activity make navigation really easy
Christmas Literacy Activities: 20 short activities, ideal for lesson starters or reward tasks for early finishers. Whilst being fun, they also encourage students to apply their knowledge of the alphabet, vowels and consonants.
Christmas Mega-Wordsearch: this 45 word wordsearch will keep students engaged and there is a bonus colour-by-number activity once all words have been found.
Festive Anagrams: two pages of 20 Christmas-themed anagrams, with the answer key included on a separate page.
Colour-by-Number (Spellings): this activity puts a festive spin on eight common spelling errors.
All of these products are also available to purchase individually from my shop. Or how about checking out some of these ‘A Christmas Carol’ activities:
Extract analysis: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-annotated-extracts-12933695
‘I Have Who Has’ Quotes Revision Game: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-quotes-revision-game-13120979
Revision Board Game: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-revision-board-game-12989845
King Lear A-Level Revision Bundle contains four resources to support learners in revising for their exam. This resource is targeted towards WJEC GCE English Literature Unit 4.
It contains:
Revision PowerPoint that focuses on key characters, events, themes, quotes and terminology
A thorough narrative overview and quote pack, organised by character and theme
Five annotated extracts linked to example exam questions (also includes blank and highlighted versions, depending on the needs of the learners)
A pack of quotes from critics to support learners with AO5
Lady Macbeth Shakespeare Unit of Work | With Resources
This Lady of Macbeth unit of work can be taught as a unit on its own or integrated into a larger unit on the whole play.
It has been designed to introduce learners to Shakespearean language in a less threatening way by focusing on two key scenes. Both scenes revolve around Lady Macbeth, and the unit comprises a character study.
A range of reading skills are developed throughout the unit, resulting in a detailed analysis and comparison of Lady Macbeth’s character between the start and end of the play.
This pack is ideal for non-specialists as teacher notes/answers are included for key tasks. This resource has been used with 13-14 year old pupils as an introduction to studying Shakespeare but could also support teaching of the play for 15-16 year olds.
This resource includes:
a two page teaching & learning overview, that can be taught as a standalone unit or integrated into a larger unit on the play
a 38 slide PowerPoint that covers all aspects of the T&L overview, including differentiated versions of language analysis grids that can be given to pupils of differing abilities
an additional 19 pages of resources, for pupils and staff, including annotated copies of the extracts
Teaching time is based on 3 weekly lessons of 50 minutes - 1 hour.