(Hard Times) Edexcel English Language GCSE - Unseen 19th Century Extract

The resources make use of an extract from Dickens' Hard Times for the purpose of preparing students for Section A of Paper 1 of the Edexcel English Language GCSE.

The following are included:

A PowerPoint presentation and an extract from Hard Times in various formats -

1] The 594 word extract, full size on a page of A4 in both Word and PDF formats
2] The same extract reduced in size and copied, fitting twice onto a page of A4 (for the purposes of saving on printing) in PDF format
3] The same extract followed by 4 questions set out over five A4 pages in the style of the Sample Assessment Materials provided by the board. (This resource could therefore be used as a mock paper.) It is provided in both the form of a Word document and a PDF document.
4] PPT: For teachers not wishing to use the resource as a mock paper and wishing to utilize the extract as a resource for their teaching, a PowerPoint presentation is also included. The PPT has 25 slides. It includes the following:

i] Slides featuring each of the four questions
ii] For each question tips and guidance is provided for students
iii] Slides that set tasks to scaffold and plan their responses to questions 3 and 4
iv] 2 paragraphs of a model answer for question 4
v] The answers to questions 1 and 2 for students to self-assess
vi] The generic mark schemes for questions 3 and 4
vii] Advice for students on common errors and an example of what to avoid doing

If the PPT is used, the content could easily be spread over 3 lessons, perhaps in the following way:

Lesson 1] Students familiarize themselves with the extract, answer questions 1 and 2 and plan their answers for question 3.

Lesson 2] Students review their plan for answering question 3, write their answers and self-, peer or class assess.

Lesson 3] Students plan their answers for question 4 in small groups and write their answers individually.

The PPT can be used in all 3 lessons.

Please note that animated timers are used within the PPT and teachers should click on the timer in order to activate it. Timers can only be activated in Slide Show mode.

I am a qualified English teacher working in the UK's secondary state school education system.