6 ways to make your writing more compelling

Students identify the meaning of a range of language features which are divided into 3: words, imagery, sentences. They then have to find examples of each technique in Macbeth. This activity can be differentiated by allowing weaker students access to a list of answers which have been mixed up into random order.

A worksheet detailing all terminology and definitions for students to revise from for the area of study ‘Rhythm and Metre’. A powerpoint is also available which explains all terms with musical terminology and musical examples.

Your Shoes Comprehension questions

Starter: List words associated with rain. Learning outcomes: To identify features of Dickens’ style To apply knowledge in a piece of descriptive writing To evaluate against the success criteria Next students examine the methods Dickens uses to describe the fog in an extract from ‘Bleak House’ and the snow in an extract from ‘A Christmas Carol’. There is differentiation so students of different ability can examine different methods used by the author. Students must then try to write a paragraph in the same style about rain. There is a differentiated success criteria. The plenary can be done in the form of peer and self assessment and has sentence stems linked to the success criteria.

A series of 4 lessons which explores the rooms of the Titanic through music. Students are introduced to the upper deck, casino, engine room and ballroom for which they must create the music. There are differentiated success criteria (4 levels of differentiation) and a glossary describing all of the music terminology in the success criteria. A pp with room descriptions and tasks is also included.

A series of 2 lessons which use the elements from Bizet’s Habanera and Toreador melody to create a stylistic performance. All instrumental parts and composition tasks are differentiated and Sibelius files are also provided. PowerPoints for the lessons are available with differentiated and push your thinking tasks.

A 10 page help guide for GCSE music students to guide then through composing a piece of blues music. This focusses on chords, bass line, blues scale and texture.

Cards linking to listening, appraising or understanding music which can be used to push the best students when completing a task. They should select a card (which are general so can suit any scheme of work) and complete it on the graffiti sheet provided. Often this makes students think differently or makes them extend their other musical skills other than simply performance or composition.

Write a letter in role as Oliver to Mr Sowerberry. 3 levels of differentiated offered in the 3 worksheets.

An 11 lesson scheme of work (can be extended to 12 by extending the Wagner lessons). All resources are detailed along with ideas of how to differentiate.

PowerPoint covering 4 lessons on Stave 1. Lesson 1: Prepare for assessment on Scrooge in Stave 1 using GCSE style extract and help sheets. Lesson 2: Complete assessment Lesson 3: Respond to feedback using model essay to help. Differentiated. Lesson 4: Test on 28 key quotations from Stave 1.

A lesson exploring how Scrooge is presented in Stave 1 with questions, model answers, writing frames, starter, plenary and success criteria.

Some templates and ideas for making marking more time efficient for teachers. It includes generic targets that can be set for any creative writing or any reading analysis task. Also contains a writing wheel which is useful for self, peer or teacher assessment. Also includes a literacy tracker that can be used by all departments across a school to check that students are maintaining high standards of literacy across all the different subject disciplines.

Using this marking code will speed up your marking without compromising the quality and specificity of your marking because it moves the time-consuming job of writing the targets from you to the students. Your marking will look something like this: WWW 1. 3. 7. EBI 4. 10. 15. Read the work and select 3 ways they have met the generic success criteria (WWW) and 3 ways they can improve further (EBI). The students have to then write out the target before trying to meet the target. The 20 criteria start with the basics of using P.E.E. to more advanced targets such as exploring more than one interpretation and commenting on the overall structure of the text. They should work with any text. Also includes a version for A level English literature.

A worksheet for comparing quotations from Stave 1 and 2 of A Christmas Carol. Also includes detailed PowerPoints containing analysis of the key quotations in Stave 1 and 2. Students complete a mind map on each Stave with the PowerPoint guiding students through each section.

2 differentiated worksheets to support students with gaining a perceptive understanding of how Dickens presents Scrooge’s past in Stave 2. Worksheet 1: I have broken up Stave 2 into 5 extracts. Each group will explore the an extract in detail and carousel to share their ideas with the other groups. Worksheet 2: Differentiated questions to help students explore Stave 2.

A grid of key quotations from Stave 2, a model example and a success criteria. Students analyse the quotations which have the biggest impact on Scrooge.

Just a bank of ambitious vocabulary for creative writing.