An activity designed to help students understand difficult words. The students are asked to try and work out what the word means just by seeing it in a sentence/in context. Can be easily adapted, or students who are struggling can use a dictionary for additional support.

A PowerPoint designed to be a basic introduction to the idea of past, present and future tenses. Can be added to with own examples, and followed up with worksheets or examples dependent upon the ability of the group.

This scheme of work is designed to cover the various learning objectives linked to the new Edexcel GCSE English (9-1) curriculum for 19th Century Fiction. Contained in it are 12 lessons, each labeled with a skills focus and a theme, along with LO's and notes for each session. The Resources mentioned within the scheme are going to be added over the coming weeks, but R1 resources are aimed for students with a D grade, and R2 resources are aimed at students with E or below grades. The PREVENT opportunities sheet is created to support establishments in identifying links to the governments PREVENT agenda.

Two sets of Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Practice activities - one based on the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, the other based on Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. These activities are designed to allow students to practise their punctuation correction, as well as identify and correct spelling and grammatical errors. For both texts, there is an answer sheet, and two differentiated sheets. This resource can be easily adapted and simplified if needed. ***The extracts are the intellectual property of the author***

These resources form Session 1 of the Edexcel GCSE (9-1) 19th Century Fiction Scheme of Work. They are designed to introduce the student to the unit, and focus on the skill of summarising. ***All extracts are the intellectual property of their author***

A set of two PowerPoints, Prompt and Revision Sheet used to help students plan, prepare and perform in a formal debate. These can be easily used or adapted for different questions and issues. The revision sheet is loosely based on an internet-found source.

A series of PowerPoints, Activities and Information around the topic of HMS Titanic. All of the PowerPoints and activities are designed to encourage students to write about what it would have been like to be onboard, living at the time the Titanic was launched. These resources are great for diary writing and newspaper article writing, and can be easily adapted for different age and ability groups.

An activity to revise and test students understanding of a story. Using Harry Potter allows the students to connect to a well known text. ***The extract used is copyright of the author J.K Rowling.

A comprehension practice activity using Wallace Hartley, the bandmaster of the RMS Titanic, as the topic. The information links to the questions and requires the students not only to read carefully, but to read between the lines and pick out alternative information. * The source of the information is indicated on the information sheet*

An activity designed to explore how we all read descriptive passages but see them differently. It requires students to read the extracts from the novels and then draw their interpretation of the description. Both extracts are copyright of their authors.

A PowerPoint on the skill of predicting what might happen in a book, leaflet, etc. Students are asked to predict the contents of writing using various sources, and are able to identify primary and secondary elements in texts. The Activity 'What does the Cover say?' asks students to say what they think a book may be about from the cover&'s primary and secondary elements. * Image links are included and can be easily found on the internet.

A powerpoint talking students through how to write a letter of complaint. This explores a possible structure, and demonstrates how addresses should be correctly presented. Following the information section, there is a task asking students to write a letter of complaint about a mobile phone.

A powerpoint explaining an appropriate method for approaching an unseen poetry question in an exam. This shows students a step-by-step simple approach that can be accessed by most students. ***You will need t select a poem for the students to use - possibly one from a previous paper***

A practice exam question for any students undertaking an unseen poem. This particular activity focusses on the poem Island Man by Grace Nichols, and asks the students to complete a planning grid, helping them to focus and note down their ideas. ***The poem is the property of Grace Nichols***

An activity to help students understand textual extracts by annotating them. It's really interesting to do this with groups that struggle to take the information within the text and develop it further. ***All extracts belong to the authors who wrote them***

A PowerPoint and resources to introduce the idea of annotating poetry to upper KS3 and all KS4. This allows whole-class annotation followed by peer work and answering questions to aid understanding. Both poems are freely available on the internet - just look for 'Mirror' by Sylvia Plath and 'Mid-Term Break' by Seamus Heaney.

A PowerPoint and activity around the idea of instruction writing. Students are asked to identify why instructions are important and what instructions they have followed - always interesting to see how many realise they are following instruction 95% of the time! The activities concern household chores, so hopefully all students can identify with them.

These activities have been created for groups of KS3 (and LA KS4) to give the students a challenge at the end of term. I like that they take time to do, when doing them properly. These activities are not like the usual Christmas activities, so the students really engage with them also!

A sheet of questions designed to prompt students to examine articles in more detail. This activity could be easily adapted for lower ability groups, purely by adding examples and more structure. ***Articles/Adverts not included***

Two assessment pieces designed to assess the reading skills of higher ability Yr9 students. However, the poems used can be given to KS4 students as a pre-exam revision task also. The task is designed to assess all elements of reading skills. *The poems being assessed by these questions can be downloaded via the internet for free.