These resources are the product of my retirement! After years as a teacher, I tutored. Tackling different exam boards, texts and aspects of English I had to develop lots of materials, which I'm hoping will help those of you still at the chalk face.
These resources are the product of my retirement! After years as a teacher, I tutored. Tackling different exam boards, texts and aspects of English I had to develop lots of materials, which I'm hoping will help those of you still at the chalk face.
A very straight-forward fill-the-blanks exercise to practise these frequently confused words. I made this for a KS3 pupil who just couldn’t get this right! It might help another student with the same issue.
These 12 extracts have questions similar in style and format to the sample assessment materials and past papers, to provide students with effective exam practice and revision for the GCSE (9-1) Literature paper. Questions are on character, theme, setting and relationships.
3 worksheets, one on abstract nouns, one on idioms, and one, harder one, matching idioms to abstract nouns. I made this for a bright Year 5 child I was tutoring, but used it with lower secondary pupils too. I’m always surprised at how difficult some idioms are for many students to fathom, yet they appear frequently in literature, so a little practice can be helpful…well, i hope you find it to be so!
One of the first horror stories, this famous and often copied tale is a good introduction to both the genre and the style of nineteenth century literature. Each of the 8 extracts is taken from a key moment and includes a range of questions, (vocabulary, language analysis, and information retrieval.) As such, I think they are similar to GCSE 9-1 papers and so might be useful for pre-GCSE students, or for tuition.
Another resource I made for a pupil who kept confusing these two words. It’s a very simple, unexciting fill-the -gaps exercise to reinforce the difference between whole & hole. It may help another similarly confused child!
I made this for a specific pupil and thought it might help another pupil with a similar confusion. It’s not exciting, just three fill the blank exercises, but it helped to reinforce the difference between the two words.
A short worksheet to practise the use of imperative verbs, specifically linked to persuasive writing. it might be useful as a starter task or to revise the structure.
A short extract from the start of the novel, with questions on vocabulary, character, and language analysis, and a choice of writing task. It would serve to introduce KS3 students to the style of Dickens’ writing; to a memorable character, Thomas Gradgrind; to Victorian times, raising some of the issues encountered in GCSE 9-1 literature and to a piece of brilliant writing! Hope its useful! I’ve now added an answer sheet. If this is useful, check out my ‘5 comprehensions from 5 Dickens’ novels’, or ‘3 comprehensions on literary baddies’, or my ‘4 non-fiction comprehensions’, which are on sale. These resources have a variety of questions, similar to here, answers and writing tasks…and are very reasonably priced!
An extract from near the beginning of ‘Wuthering Heights’ when Heathcliff arrives. The questions are a mix of vocabulary, information retrieval, language and character analysis, which could serve as a useful introduction to pre-twentieth century literature & to the styles of questions found on 9-1 GCSE.
If this is useful, check out my 3 comprehensions on literary baddies or 4 non-fiction comprehensions, with answers, and descriptive writing tasks…and very reasonably priced too!
Key extracts from the story have varied styles of question: vocabulary, language, information recall, author’s craft etc. This should provide useful practice for GCSE 9-1 for KS3 students.It’s a popular ghost story, but written in a typical Dickens style to introduce the language and Victorian context to pre-GCSE students. To see style and variety of questions, please look at my free resource on the start of Hard Times
These 4 comprehensions contain various types of questions: vocabulary, information retrieval and language analysis. They could be useful for introducing a pre-twentieth century text and for introducing some of the styles of questions now on the GCSE 9-1. They could be used individually or in pairs or small groups. To see a similar resource, check out my free comprehension on the start of Hard Times
These 3 comprehensions from Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels contain a mixture of questions on vocabulary, information retrieval and language analysis. Useful as a way of introducing pre-twentieth century prose, as well as introducing the types of questions which appear on the GCSE 9-1. They could be used in pair work, small groups or as an individual task. To see the type of resource, check out my free worksheet on the start of Hard Times.
These 5 extracts are taken from different parts of this ghostly short story. They include different types of questions on vocabulary, language and straight-forward information retrieval, making them useful exercises for KS3 students preparing FOR GCSE 9-1, or to test knowledge and understanding of the text. They are similar to my free resource on the start of Hard Times.
Taken from different parts of the story, these 5 extracts contain a mixture of information retrieval, language & vocabulary style questions. Designed to focus on key sections of the tale, these extracts should help introduce KS3 students to Conan Doyle’s writing, to the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, to the setting and to the content of this part of the 9-1 GCSE course. To see a similar worksheet, please see my free resource on Hard Times.
These 8 extracts (from: Speckled Band, Study in Scarlett, Hound of Baskervilles,Engineer’s Thumb, Boscombe Valley Mystery, Silver Blaze, 5 Orange Pips & Scandal in Bohemia,) all contain a mixture of language, vocabulary and information retrieval style comprehension questions. The comprehensions are suitable for introducing KS3 students to texts from pre 1914 and providing experience of the demands of the 9-1 GCSE . They focus on the more accessible, interesting sections of the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries & as such, hopefully provide an impression of the characters of Sherlock & Watson, as well as the language and setting, and the complexities of Conan Doyle’s work. To see a similar style resource, please look at my free worksheet on Hard Times.
Designed for KS3, these could also be used for KS2, or even as basic revision for KS4. These 11 sheets vary from word games, to simple exercises to reinforce knowledge. They could be used for tuition, quick classroom tasks, pair tasks or homework. Most are designed to take 10-15 minutes.
Based on the sample materials, these 10 extracts supplement my previous Christmas Carol resource, which focusses on different aspects of Scrooge’s character. These 10 extracts look at the ghosts, Fred, Bob, Tim, Belle and Mrs Cratchit and provide useful GCSE (9-1) revision and exam practice.
Based on the specimen materials, these 13 extracts from Othello, with questions a) & b) have been created to provide effective revision and exam practice for GCSE 9-1
Using the GCSE 9-1 specimen materials as a guide, these 10 extracts from part 3 of the novel, (chapters 40-59), have both questions a) and b) to allow effective revision and exam practice of firstly, close analysis of the extract, and secondly, linking its ideas to another part of the text.
