A four-part sequence exploring reading and writing skills in crime fiction:
Crafting a setting description
Exploring locked room mystery
Making inferences on Helen Stoner
Reflecting and re-drafting
This engaging lesson is specifically designed to enhance students’ writing skills in preparation for LP1 Question 5, focusing on the concept of conscious crafting. Students will learn how to thoughtfully select language, structure, and literary techniques to enhance their writing and achieve maximum marks.
Key Features:
Slow-Writing Border: Students will utilize a scaffolded slow-writing border, which provides prompts and guiding questions to help them think critically about their writing choices. This structure encourages reflection on their style, tone, and audience, leading to more intentional and polished pieces of writing.
Personal Checklist: To support their writing process, students will receive a personalized checklist that outlines key criteria for success in LP1 Question 5. This checklist will include elements such as the effective use of varied sentence structures, incorporation of vivid imagery, and the development of a strong narrative voice. Students will be encouraged to self-assess their work against this checklist, fostering a sense of ownership over their writing.
Conscious Crafting Techniques: The lesson will introduce various techniques for conscious crafting, such as:
Imagery and Descriptive Language: Students will explore how to evoke emotions and create vivid images in their writing.
Structural Choices: Discussions will focus on how the organization of a piece can influence the reader’s experience and understanding.
Tone and Voice: Students will practice adjusting their tone to suit different contexts and audiences, enhancing the overall impact of their writing.
Collaborative Learning: The lesson will include opportunities for peer review and group discussions, allowing students to share their writing and receive constructive feedback. This collaborative approach fosters a supportive learning environment and encourages students to learn from one another.
Practice and Application: To reinforce the skills learned, students will engage in a writing task where they apply the concepts of conscious crafting. They will draft a response to a prompt using the slow-writing border and personal checklist, followed by a reflective session where they evaluate their writing choices and areas for improvement.
This lesson aims to equip KS4 students with the skills and confidence needed to excel in LP1 Question 5, ensuring they can produce high-quality writing that demonstrates conscious crafting and thoughtful decision-making.
A bundle of engaging knowledge recall starters for a study of ‘An Inspector Calls’. Recall explores:
Language Paper 1
Language Paper 2
An Inspector Calls
A Christmas Carol
Power and Conflict: War Poems
Tier 2/3 Language
A sequence of lessons testing LP2 Q3 and Q5 skills through the darts speech in Apple TV show, Ted Lasso, and building up into a methodical construction of an inspiring speech.
A lesson exploring tips and tricks to help ‘ace’ Language Paper 1, Question 5. Based on the 2019 past paper: The Sound of Thunder.
Including a follow up lesson to consolidate learning.
Q4 detailed deconstruction is also available.
All resources are formatted at the back of the PowerPoint.
For higher ability students, this section of the post-reading booklet offers challenging activities designed to push their analytical thinking and deepen their engagement with A Christmas Carol. These advanced tasks encourage students to explore the novella from multiple perspectives, linking it to broader literary movements, critical theory, and socio-political discourse.
This fully-resourced during-reading booklet builds on the foundations laid by the pre-reading activities, guiding students through a deeper, critical engagement with J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls. The booklet is structured to enhance understanding of key themes, characters, and contextual links as students read through each act, ensuring ongoing reflection and analysis.
A question by question breakdown booklet of the LP1 Section A ‘The Sound of Thunder’, complete with models, stucture strips, whole-class feedback, vocabulary banks, re-draft templates, and much more!
An academic reading, pre-reading booklet to study ‘Macbeth’. This pre-reading academic booklet is designed to build a thorough understanding of AO3 (context) for Shakespeare’s Macbeth, tailored for students preparing to dive deeper into the play. The booklet serves as an essential foundation, offering a scholarly approach to exploring the contextual influences behind Macbeth—historical, social, and cultural factors—enabling students to grasp how these shaped the play’s themes, characters, and narrative.
Through engaging activities, critical discussions, and thought-provoking tasks, students will explore topics such as the political climate of Jacobean England, the role of King James I and the divine right of kings, the significance of witchcraft, and the play’s reflection of societal anxieties. This resource not only provides valuable background but encourages students to engage in higher-level critical thinking, offering key AO3 insights to enrich their textual analysis.
Ideal for pre-reading preparation, this booklet equips learners with the contextual tools to approach Macbeth with greater academic depth, ensuring that they are well-prepared to understand and analyze the play in light of its complex historical and literary backdrop.
A booklet comprising of response tasks and exam strategies tackling the exam question: How does Priestley present Mr. Birling as self-centered in ‘An Inspector Calls’?
A booklet comprising of a series of tasks and exam strategies to develop the quality of response to the essay question around the portrayal of change in ‘A Christmas Carol’.