Courtesy of @MrsLCavalier who provided the source texts over on Twitter (via @Team_English1), I have produced an AQA English Language Paper 2 Walking Talking mock exam via SMART Notebook slides, complete with reminders about the focus of each Q; the timings; how to approach each Q; exemplar responses and Q by Q slides with interactive timers. PLEASE NOTE: If you don't use SMART Notebook interactive whiteboards in your school, you can download a FREE SMART Notebook viewer which enables you to open and view/project the slides in a format that it akin to Powerpoint. (Occasionally, due to formatting glitches some of the graphics or text can go a little wonky!) Or you can just download the source texts and the question paper. It is hoped that this is of use to you and your colleagues. Matt :)

Made using copyright free images from www.unsplash.com and the free software package Adobe Spark, here are thirteen key quotation display posters for use in your classroom. When printed, the posters are approx 40cm x 40cm and the images are high resolution - perfect for display. They also only take a couple of minutes to make each one! Have a go!

Designed for less able students at Key Stage 3 or 4, this is a practice exam paper for the NEW AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading Fiction texts. Here, I have adapted an extract taken from Charles Dickens' classic novella, 'A Christmas Carol', simplifying vocabulary and sentencing so that the text is more accessible for pupils whose reading age is significantly lower than their chronological age. (I know it's a 19th C fiction text but it's just to practise the exam skills!) I've also designed a series of SMART Notebook slides for whole-class interactive teaching of the workbook resource, Q by Q. The format of the paper is as follows: Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise focusing on how the writer uses language Q3a - sequence a series of statements to show understanding of narrative events / structure Q3b - cloze activity, modelling Q3 response, for pupils to complete. I know that the new GCSE paper is untiered and students will not be given this level of support in the exam. However, this resource is intended to provide an appropriate point of access and opportunities for students whose literacy is a barrier to learning to practise the reading response skills demanded by this exam - and to support the teachers who have to deliver it! I hope that it is of some use to you. I have produced other resources just like this one using extracts from Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Monkey's Paw, The Hobbit, The Sniper, The Pearl, Z for Zachariah, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Machine Gunners, Buddy, Skellig, Dracula and War of the Worlds. NOTE: I've also uploaded loads of specimen new AQA Language Paper 1 and 2s to my 'shop', all available free of charge. Please leave a review and help yourself! Matt :)

A new practice exam AQA English Language Paper 1: 'Creative Explorations in Reading' paper which uses a dramatic moment from 'Dracula' where Johnathan encounters the three hags during his stay at Castle Dracula. The resource contains 4 exam questions which adhere strictly to the format of the specimen paper. Also included is a series of SMART Notebook slides, to aid your whole-class interactive teaching of the paper Q by Q, for textual annotation. I've added a model response to Q3: structure, too. NOTE: If you don't use SMART Notebooks, you can still view the slides by downloading a FREE, SMART Notebook Viewer (which will open the Notebook in a format similar to Powerpoint on your computer). Very occasionally some of the graphic / text moves a little (a formatting glitch in the software!) You can access the viewer FREE of charge here: http://express.smarttech.com/ Loads of other Paper 1s and 2s, as well as differentiated versions, ALL FREE at my 'shop'. Please leave a review and help yourself! Matt :)

A Practice GCSE Paper 1 Section A exam paper, using an extract from J R R Tolkein's 'The Hobbit', published in 1937. In this extract, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins enters the lair of a dragon named Smaug and steals a golden cup. The dragon awakens and is infuriated at the theft of his treasure. UPDATED APRIL 2017 - a set of REVISED SMART Notebook slides to assist you in teaching the 4 exam Qs, question by question. I've added a new Q3 key terminology starter, a modelled Q3 structure response and a new Q4 slide. The Notebook slides can be unlocked and the content easily amended to suit any other text and Qs you might wish to use in the future. Also available FREE at my 'shop' is a highly differentiated version of this paper for less able pupils to respond to. Works well alongside this in mixed ability groups or just for less able candidates. Help yourself - there are loads of specimen Paper 1s and 2s at my 'shop'! I hope this is of some use to you. Matt :)

Using an extract from Conan-Doyle's non-fiction, "The Edge of the Unknown" and an article taken from the Discovery Channel online newsdesk, the theme of these two non-fiction texts is belief in ghosts. I have adapted the texts, simplifying some vocabulary and sentencing to make them a little more accessible to students whose reading ages are significantly lower than their chronological age, to provide an appropriate point of access to the skills demanded by the new AQA GCSE Language Paper 2A exam paper. I have adhered to the phrasing of the questions, but the tasks are differentiated thus: Q1 - same as the actual exam paper Q2 - cloze exercise of the summary (this could be easily tweaked to sentence stems) Q3a - highlight and write down 3 relevant examples of language used to convey viewpoint Q3b - cloze exercise of use of language to convey viewpoint and attitude (again, could easily be tweaked to the sentence stems of a PEE paragraph where pupils supply the point, evidence and explain how it conveys the writer's viewpoint.) I have not included the Q4 'comparison of methods to convey attitudes' task as it is a skill currently beyond the ability of the students for whom I have produced this resource. SMART Notebook slides are also included for whole-class interactive teaching of the resource. Matt :)

In this dramatic opening, the narrator describes a man being thrown from a grounded hot air balloon which then begins to ascend. Alone and terrified, in the basket there is a small boy. I have adapted TES contributor Claire Mesher's resource for use with SMART Notebook, as a series of interactive slides to aid your teaching of this specimen exam paper Q by Q, for Qs 1 to 4. Also, I have added a model response to Q3: Structure demonstrating how pupils can apply subject specific terminology appropriately as this is mentioned in every band on the AQA mark scheme for this question. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop', ALL FREE. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thank you! Thanks :)

Designed for less able students at Key Stage 3 or 4, this is a practice exam paper for the NEW AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading 20th C Fiction texts. I have adapted an extract taken from Liam O'Flaherty's short story, 'The Sniper' (1923), simplifying a little of the vocabulary to make the text a little more accessible for students whose reading age might be lower than their chronological age. I have also designed a series of SMART Notebook slides for interactive teaching of this highly differentiated practice exam paper Q by Q. The format of the paper is as follows: Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise focusing on how the writer uses language Q3a - sequence a series of statements to show understanding of narrative events / structure Q3b - cloze activity, modelling Q3 response, for pupils to complete. I know that the new GCSE paper is untiered and students will not be given this level of support in the exam. However, this resource is intended to provide an appropriate point of access and opportunities for students whose literacy is a barrier to learning to practise the reading response skills demanded by this exam - and to support the teachers who have to deliver it! I hope that it is of some use to you. If you want others, the following are all available FREE at my 'shop': War of the Worlds, Skellig, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Machine Gunners, Buddy, The Pearl, To Kill a Mockingbird, Z for Zachariah, The Hobbit, The Monkey's Paw and others. I've also uploaded loads of typical specimen new AQA Language Paper 1 and 2s to my shop, all available free of charge. Please leave a review and help yourself! Matt :)

A set of five resources, made available on PPT and also SMART Notebook formats, offering students a variety of challenging tasks which demand ‘thinking hard’ about the text. They are useful in the classroom, set as homework or as a revision activity in preparation for the GCSEs Lit exam. Hope they’re useful. Matt :)

Designed for use with students in Y7 whose reading ages range between 7 and 10 years, a highly differentiated workbook of activities providing pupils with opportunities to develop and demonstrate their reading comprehension skills and subject knowledge. Activities include: * Cloze exercise summary tasks * Extension activities with sentence stems to support independent writing * sequencing activities to demonstrate an understanding of narrative structure, introducing key terminology in readiness for GCSE English Language * independent research task with prompts to scaffold * scriptwriting the dialogue which evidently takes place in the 'Missing Chapter', Chapter 13, teaching or consolidating conventions * AQA-style Language Paper 1 tasks on Qs 1 to 3, based on an excerpt from Stoker's 'Dracula' (adapted) * homophone activity arising organically out of the narrative in Chapter 25 * AQA-style Language Paper 1 tasks on Qs 1 to 3, using the climactic episode from the novel in Ch 27 * Post-reading book cover design task, with model and template Aswell as the 37 page pupil workbook, I have produced a set of SMART Notebook slides which replicate the workbook to support whole-class, interactive teaching of the resource. I hope that this resource is of use to colleagues who are teaching children with low-level literacy, providing an appropriate level of challenge and an appropriate point of access to build pupils' confidence and enjoyment of reading, promoting rapid and sustained progress. Matt :)

A new AQA-style English Language Paper 2 specimen exam paper. The 19th century text is an extract taken from Darwin’s ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ The 20th century text is an excerpt from Howard Carter’s diary, detailing his breach of Tutankhamun’s tomb The section B writing task is also available as a JPEG which can be displayed on an interactive whiteboard in your classroom. I hope that this is of use to you. Please leave a review. Thanks, Matt :)

A set of five resources, made available in both PPT and SMART Notebook formats, for use with Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. Act by Act, each resource offers a variety of activities designed to encourage students to ‘think hard’ about the text. Useful classroom resources, or set as homeworks, or use as revision of the text in preparation for the GCSE Lit exam.

A variety of starter activity puzzles: crosswords, anagrams, word searches with hidden messages to accompany the teaching and learning of Orwell's novel, a set text for the new AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2: Modern Texts examination. Hope they are of use to you.

A collection of starter activities for use with Theresa Breslin's novel, 'Whispers in the Graveyard', from simple wordsearches and anagram puzzles of key word vocabulary to crossword puzzles testing reading comprehension and more challenging cryptogram puzzles. Solutions to the puzzles are provided at the end.

A collection of starter activities based on events and characters in the play, ranging from simple to very challenging so they are suitable for pupils of different abilities. Complete with solutions for busy teachers! Ideal for use at Key stage 3.

A highly differentiated resource to support students whose literacy is a barrier to accessing the new GCSE English Language exam papers. I have adhered to the question format of Qs 1 to 3 of the exam paper but have scaffolded the responses to enable less able students to practise the skills demanded by the new AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading exam. To accompany the pupil workbook, I have produced a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole class interactive teaching of the resource. NOTE: I have produced lots of these differentiated papers now, using extracts taken from: The Monkey's Paw, The Hound of the Baskervilles, War of the Worlds, Dracula, The Pearl, The Machine Gunners, Z for Zachariah, The Sniper, A Christmas Carol, Frankenstein, Skellig, The Hobbit and more. Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise Q3a - sequence the statements to show understanding of narrative events Q3b - cloze exercise to show comprehension of narrative events, using specialist terminology I have also uploaded lots of differentiated new AQA 9 to 1 Language Paper 2s, all available FREE at my 'shop'. Also, loads of 'actual' specimen papers! Help yourself and please leave a review.

NEW AQA English Language Paper 1: 'REGENERATION' by Pat Barker, 1993 UPDATED: APRIL 2017 to include a Q3 key terminology matching starter activity, a model Q3 response and a new Q4 slide. In this dramatic extract, a soldier named Prior is in hospital suffering from shell-shock. Under hypnosis he revisits the event which resulted in his inability to speak. I have created a series of SMART Notebook slides to accompany TES contributor Claire Mesher's practice exam paper, so that you can teach this extract and Qs 1 to 4 interactively, supplying also a model response to Q3 where the focus is on structure and using key subject terminology appropriately. I hope this is of some use. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thank you! Thanks :)

A highly differentiated resource to support students whose literacy is a barrier to accessing the new GCSE English Language exam papers. I have adhered to the question format of Qs 1 to 3 of the exam paper but have simplified some of the original text vocabulary and sentencing, while also scaffolding the responses to enable less able students to practise the skills demanded by the new AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading exam. To accompany the pupil workbook, I have produced a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole class interactive teaching of the resource. Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise Q3a - sequence the statements to show understanding of narrative events Q3b - cloze exercise to show comprehension of narrative events, using specialist terminology NOTE: I have uploaded loads of these differentiated practice papers, as well as differentiated Language Paper 2s, all available FREE at my 'shop'. Also, loads of 'actual' specimen papers! Help yourself and please leave a review.

A new AQA-style English Language Paper 2 on the theme of HUNTING wild animals. To accompany the Word document version of the mock exam paper, I have produced also a set of SMART Notebook slides to be used in classrooms as a “Walking - Talking Mock Exam” in advance of the June 2018 exam. The slides provide Q by Q explanations, indicative content for each answer and then Qs with timers for students to practice responding in timed conditions. I hope that this proves useful to you. Please leave a review. Thanks, Matt :)

A variety of writing tasks: letters, newspaper articles, journal entries designed to consolidate pupils' comprehension of plot and characters. Useful classroom-based writing activities or set them as homeworks! Hope they're useful. Designed for use with students at KS3.