These resources span my career; from my period of teaching unqualified, through to an AST of English & Director of Teaching & Learning. Although my specialism is English, I have taught GCSE Citzienship, Language and Lit, Media Studies, Maths & History. I have also taught all of those at Key Stage 3, so there is an eclectic mix here. As the main trainer in my previous school, I have uploaded many insets and training session powerpoints too.
These resources span my career; from my period of teaching unqualified, through to an AST of English & Director of Teaching & Learning. Although my specialism is English, I have taught GCSE Citzienship, Language and Lit, Media Studies, Maths & History. I have also taught all of those at Key Stage 3, so there is an eclectic mix here. As the main trainer in my previous school, I have uploaded many insets and training session powerpoints too.
This is a full lesson on ppt. that has been put together to help students to understand how to achieve the 8 or 9 grade in English Lit. Using the ‘Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman’ question from AQA, this lesson deconstructs specifically how students can use the extract to go ‘in and out’ of the text, referencing everything that would be critical to a grade 8/9 response.
Success criteria:
To know the criteria for level 6 responses.
To understand what ‘going in and out’ of the extract means.
To know how to analyse key words / phrases to Grade 8 / 9 standard.
To understand the difference between quotes and references.
To understand what subject terminology is.
To better understand what a critical writing style is.
All of the resources are at the end of the ppt.
This is a full powerpoint with resources at the back of it, designed to help someone to lead a twilight session (approximately 1 1/2hrs to 2hrs) on why we need to differentiate and ideas of how it can be done.
The session is interactive with little exercises for the teachers to take art in s that they can consider the impact of the structures for differentiating in their own classrooms.
Training covers differentiation for different types of learners as well as ability.
If you're buying this, you will need to have some knowledge of differentiation to deliver it, so that you can deconstruct the activities after you have tried them with the trainees.
This is a series of lessons to help prepare students for the AQA Lit question on An Inspector Calls (new spec 2017 exam). All lessons presume that the play has been read and studied and these are purely to help revise key themes and to detail to students exactly how they need to write a response - pitched at that is from Grade 4 to Grade 9 - there are two sets of lessons and they are differentiated.
The first ppt. picks out key themes and encourages a framework for students to revise the key themes in the play on their own or by themselves. i.e they skim read looking for quotes.
The other ppt.s (differentiated versions - one is 4-7; the other is 5-9) show students how to write effectively about the play whilst hitting the mark scheme. Students are given copies of the generic AQA mark scheme that they break down and use to help them to understand how to succeed. They also mark sample answers / WAGOLLs for success against the markscheme to help their understanding of how to write their own.
There are example answers - never seen before, created by me with a formula for how to write responses to highest grades.
Best to teach the Revision lesson, followed by the TEE lesson, then let students answer the exam style question. In the next two lessons, then reteach HOW to shape and answer and introduce MAD (Make a Difference) Time - showing and reminding students exactly what they should have done. Also included is a really useful quote sheet for AIC to help students to learn key quotes.
This is a full and complete unit of work with PowerPoints for each lesson. Every lesson is fully differentiated with differentiated lesson outcomes that start at a lower end and travel up through the grades. The unit starts at F grade and works up in stages from F to A, helping students to work through every stage until they reach A, so the progress is absolutely tangible and demonstrable in pupil's books and in the lessons. All resources and materials and enclosed within each lesson and the PowerPoints are ready to play, but you will need to adapt them for your classes depending on how much you get through in each lesson. Activities are set up to engage all students, as much of the time as possible, with progress for all in mind at all times during the planning.
There are quizzes, differentiated goals, competitions, whiteboard work for AFL, corners for AFL, red, green and amber card games, self marking, peer marking, cooperative learning activities for engagement. And, all of this is set against a progress tracker that helps pupils to see how that are moving up from F to A grade.
The F to A can be mapped against 1-5, very easily, to adapt this unit for the future - you will see that when you download it.
The unit covers all of the following so that students are able to:
· Calculate with positive, negative and fractional indices and combinations of these.
· Use index laws to write expressions for integer, negative, and fractional powers and powers of a power
· Use index laws to simplify and calculate numerical expressions involving powers
· Be able to write very large and very small numbers presented in a context in standard form
· Calculate with standard form with and without a calculator.
· Convert between ordinary and standard form representations
· Understand ‘reciprocal’ as multiplicative inverse, knowing that any non-zero number multiplied by its reciprocal is 1 . Find the reciprocal of a number given as a fraction or decimal
· Use index laws to calculate with squares and cubes
· Use index laws to simplify and calculate the value of numerical expressions involving multiplication and division of integer powers, and powers of a power
· Find the prime factor decomposition of positive integers and write in index form
· Know the effects that a change of place value has on a calculation
· Multiply and divide by any number between 0 and 1
· Multiply and divide decimal numbers by whole numbers and decimal numbers (up to 2 d.p.), eg 266.22 ¸ 0.34
· Use brackets and the hierarchy of operations (BIDMAS)
· Use index notation for integer powers of 10
· Add, subtract any numbers including negative decimals
· Check answers by inverse calculation
· Find the common factors and common multiples of two small numbers
These are two full 1 hour lesson powerpoints that can be used to introduce students to this poem in the AQA Literature anthology. The LOs are: To understand the context of a poem and, for the second, To understand how to make progress when analysing and comparing poems. The first lesson features a poetry quiz using the ppt. template for WWTBAM that the whole class can play with mini whiteboards so that you can check understanding if techniques before delving into the poem.
Lesson 1 then looks at the context of the poem, with a video from Youtube - the image has the hyperlink in it so this can be clicked on to find the clip from the documentary.
Lesson 2 then breaks down key images with the whole class, in order to lead students into being able to write up their analysis.
Resource sheets are also included in the download.
These are two lessons designed to help students to understand the poem and then how to write about it. The first lesson begins with a mini-whiteboard quiz, in which students are encouraged to name and identify techniques within certain lines of the poem. This then leads to students trying to break down the poem, into MILES - Meaning, Images, Language techniques / use, Emphasis / Emotion and Tone, Structure. Using an example of how to do this, students are then led to use annotation to create TEE paragraphs about the poem.
This is a full and complete unit of work with PowerPoints for each lesson. Every lesson is fully differentiated. The unit starts at G grade and works up in stages from G to C, helping students to work through every stage until they reach C, so the progress is absolutely tangible and demonstrable in pupil's books and in the lessons. All resources and materials and enclosed within each lesson and the PowerPoints are ready to play, but you will need to adapt them for your classes depending on how much you get through in each lesson. Activities are set up to engage all students, as much of the time as possible, with progress for all in mind at all times during the planning.
There are quizzes, differentiated goals, competitions, images to help pupils to understand fractions, whiteboard work for AFL, self marking, peer marking, cooperative learning activities for engagement. And, all of this is set against a progress tracker that helps pupils to see how that are moving up from G to C grade.
The G to C can be mapped against 1-5, very easily, to adapt this unit for the future - you will see that when you download it.
The unit includes:
· Multiply and divide fractions including mixed numbers
· Add and subtract fractions by finding and using a common denominator.
· Find a percentage increase/decrease of an amount
· Multiply and divide decimal numbers by integers and decimal numbers
· calculate efficient percentage change using a single multiplier
· Write one number as a percentage of another number
Use percentages in real-life situations such as income tax calculations, simple interest, profit / loss, VAT
· Calculate the percentage of a given amount
· Compare the sizes of fractions using a common denominator
· Convert between fractions, decimals and percentages without a calculator
· Convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions
· Multiply and divide fractions
· Round decimals to the nearest integer a given number of decimal places or to one significant figure
· Use percentages to solve problems
· Write an improper fraction as a mixed number
· Add and subtract decimals
· Find fractions of amounts
· Understand place value, identifying the values of the digits
· Understand that a percentage is a fraction in hundredths
· Write a fraction in its simplest form and find equivalent fractions
· Write decimals in order of size
· Recognise and write fractions in everyday situations
· Understand a fraction as part of a whole
· Visualise a fraction diagrammatically
This resource is a huge ppt. consisting of 51 slides with activities and resources designed to enable a teacher to adapt the learning based on where you get to, in each lesson, by entering a new slide with a LO at the start. Alternatively, it could be taught in a whole chunk - which would probably take a full day.
The materials break down which part of the exam students are focussing on, how it fits in, what the question will look like and then how to tackle it effectively. The material shows the different stages from analysis to evaluation and draw in links from English teaching to help students to write evaluatively effectively.
Aiming for top band on each of the two questions, this resource will help teachers to really deconstruct how students can get the best answers in this section and offers WAGOLLs for both questions to start students off. The WAGOLLs are based on a performance of Our Town - but you can obviously adapt .
These are 3 complete lessons that deconstruct the ingredients, tone and structure of book reviews and show pupils how to write one. This little unit of work cumulates in pupils writing their own review. There is a strong emphasis on redrafting and proofing work, too.
Lesson 1: To analyse the style and format of a successful review, so that I am able to use this information to prepare my own.
Lesson 2: To be able to decipher information that will inform, interest and explain to a reader.
Lesson 3: To build on prior work by redrafting and improving it, so that it meets the conventions of a genre.
By using the AQA and Edexcel criteria, I’ve created reading and writing grids for assessment in KS3 based on 1-9. These grids are what’s being used to help drive progress in this unit of work. The grids for the Literature style question are included with these lessons.
This unit is designed for KS3 pupils to get them used to how to tackle the exam style questions, so the outcome is an AQA Literature style question.
These lessons are not about the teaching of the text. They are specifically about how to analyse language and structure; how to critically evaluate; how to write about social historical context and how to put all of these elements in an essay style answer under timed conditions.
Each lesson is full of models that address all components of the mark scheme. There are a variety of activities within lessons, lots of cooperative learning etc.
Each lesson is designed to last 1 hour - but many took longer to deliver so you can easily make these span 15 lessons… at least 3 weeks of planning covered for you!
This is a completely original, never seen before resource, as it has been created by myself. I have used the GCSE criteria from both AQA and Edexcel to create a 1-9 style APP grid to help pupils to see what they need to do at each grade band in order to meet the criteria for each assessment objective for the new style GCSE paper 1, pre 1914 task.
The bandings are based on where the skills would fall on old A*-C but ramped up for vigour, using the new terminology. You'll see when you look at the sheet.
The question is styled on an AQA style question and is original - not the current AQA SAMs that are out there - so this gives you something new to work with.
Not only that, the lesson then teaches students HOW to write an answer to a question that focusses on language and structure, naming the techniques.
If you're struggling to teach the new GCSEs, the format of this lesson and the resources with it, will really help you!
The whole resource is the assessment, marking sheet, full lesson and all of the lesson resources.
The next lesson will be to give pupils their books back and get them to attempt to continue marking - after you have marked their work!
Watch them make progress!
This is a 64 slide powerpoint that breaks down the whole of GCSE Language Paper 1 section A, and guides students through a series of activities that show them how to tackle to the paper. It can be used for a revision booster session before the exam or taken apart and split into several lessons. All resources are at the end of the ppt. This is pitched to help students move from lower grades into solid grade 5.
This is a 47 slide powerpoint that breaks down the whole of the reading section for AQA GCSE Language Paper 2 section A, and guides students through a series of activities that show them how to tackle to the paper. It can be used for a revision booster session before the exam or taken apart and split into several lessons. All resources are at the end of the ppt. This is pitched to help students to move to Grade 4/5 criteria.
This training PowerPoint covers the research, and highlights the issues, with boys studying English. It looks at some of the issues and there are practical suggestions as to how to combat some of the barriers that boys may have when succeeding in English.
There are 72 slides in total.
The training aims are:
To dispel some of the myths about why Boys underachieve in English.
To consider the evidence from various Education “experts” about what does work.
To be introduced to some strategies that have been proven to improve boy’s literacy, engagement and achievement in English.
This is a full and detailed PowerPoint that consists of 122 slides in total. It is fully interactive training that was originally created for College / Sixth form teachers to update them on all of the changes that have been made to the KS3 curriculum, and to the specifications for GCSE. This would also be ideal for Governor training so that Governors have a fuller understanding of the English curriculum in secondary school. Also, hughl;y suitable for NQTs / PGCE students.
Session Aims:
To understand the changes to the skills and content of the key stage 3 curriculum.
To gain an understanding of the current English Language GCSE landscape.
To enhance your knowledge of the upcoming specification changes to GCSE English Language and Literature.
The training covers:
The key changes for the KS3 Curriculum for English.
The content and the skills that are required to be covered in English at Key Stage 3
Opportunities to extend the new curriculum into Literacy Across The Curriculum.
How pupil progress will be assessed.
The GCSE Landscape – What Pupils are studying now.
What’s next – the new GCSE specifications and the challenges they will bring.
This is an assessment for students to complete on the new AQA GCSE Literature (2017) comparative anthology question. The question sheet (which is included), sets the following assessment:
In Remains, Armitage presents how people are affected by war. Compare how Armitage presents how people are affected by war to how any other poet presents the same theme.
This is a 'made up' question that is marked using the teacher's knowledge as indicative comment, as well as the standard poetry mark-scheme from the AQA SAMs - meaning a level can be assigned but not a grade (unless a school is using PiXL spreadsheets or has a different system).
After the teacher has marked the assessments, the two lessons can then be used to help students to understand HOW to improve answers.
This is a series of 4 lessons put together to help students to understand how to perform at level 4 in the reading section of AQA GCSE Language Paper 1. Taught to students with Grade 6 targets, these lessons are pitched with the minimum expectation of achieving Grade 5 but they are differentiated upwards to ensure that the top level criteria (level 4 for 8/9) is introduced and deconstructed.
There are stretch and challenge tasks in each lesson as well as specific differentiation strategies to secure scaffolding for students that need in-class intervention.
All of the resources for each lesson are on the last slides of the ppt.
This is a full unit of work, designed to use after students have sat the PPE / Mock exam that Cambridge provide free of charge on their website (although I have uploaded it with the lessons for ease). This exemplar exam is produced for the new 2015 / 2016 specification and uses the new format for the core paper. Cambridge have produced it to support schools using their exam this year. These lessons are completely new resources; produced entirely by me and not available anywhere else to purchase.
The idea of the scheme is that you give the exam to the students, let the pupils sit it and then don't mark it but actually go through it with the students and teach them how it would be marked and how they should have approached it - a little bit like a 'walking talking mock style' but after the fact. "This is what you should have done".
By teaching these 5 lessons you help them to understand why they receive the marks that they will and what they could have done to improve. The lessons are designed to boost pupils up to band 1, regardless of where the starting point may have been and should demonstrate ample progress and reflection time for students.
Each lesson is a self contained powerpoint with the resources attached at the end of it, so that they can be printed out easily.
lesson 1 starts with questions 1a to 1c and recaps vocabulary with cooperative learning techniques and a competition; helping to boost pupils understanding in preparation for lesson 2 and 3.
Lesson 2 covers the techniques and ways to tackle 1c to 1f. There are pictures of student answers for students to mark and explain why the students did or did not get full marks.
lesson 3 is dedicated to the tricky 1g and explains how pupils should tackle it, using the mark scheme explicitly and example answers.
Lesson 4 tackles question 2, explaining how students should avoid the pitfalls that they sometimes fall into.
Lesson 5 goes over the simplest way that pupils should have tackled question 3 and asks them to reflect on all that they have learnt in the week then to write to the teacher with how they could improve now and what they still need to learn.
Each lesson allows pupils the opportunity of a 'redo'; with the scaffolding of the mark scheme and their original answer in front of them - hence the demonstration of progress.
These are completely original resources that are based on the Cambridge iGCSE (Language Certificate) specification and use the format of the new style exam (Summer 2015) and question stems of the exam with the mark scheme for the Core paper. The text that is used is taken from the Edexcel anthology, so they will not be something that you have been using before or that you have ever taught pupils before.
All resources are included with each lesson and hyperlinks are embedded within the images in the lesson.
Each lesson is a full self contained lesson designed to be taught over a one hour period.
The lessons teach pupils how to tackle the exam using various different methodical practice that includes:
using highlighters, planning and linking ideas for structure, as well as how to read a text when the language may not be known to the pupils.
Lesson 1 covers Question 1a and b, as well as a team activity that helps the pupils, with cooperative learning, to tackle the meaning of the challenging words in the text. It is interactive and team based - a new approach to revising for exams?
Lesson 2 covers 1c to 1f and allows the pupils time to answer the questions after a short tutorial from the teacher on how to tackle them.
Lesson 3 actually uses a past paper from Cambridge to demonstrate how to tackle the stumbling block of 1g that pupils always struggle with
Lesson 4 Moves onto question 2 and returns to the original text from the edexcel anthology, showing pupils how to break down what the question requires and then how to plan their answer.
Lesson 5 Revises writing techniques with an online clip and a class activity and then allows writing time for pupils so that they can practise question 2 and it can be marked and improved in the next lesson.
Lesson 6 - uses the WIN sheet from the assessment and the Literacy marking code (also uploaded) to enable pupils to improve their own work and enhance their own performance after your input. Their progress in question 2 should really improve after this lesson.
Lesson 7 - Breaks down for pupils how they should tackle question 3a and allows them to have a go at it.
Lesson 8 - Then allows pupils to tackle 3b and demonstrates a way to tackle it based on their work in 3a.
After this unit of work, the next step would be to allow pupils to carry out a Mock / PPE and see what progress they have made / do make on their own.
This is one powerpoint that covers all 4 questions on the reading section for GCSE Language (AQA). There is also a tiny section on descriptive writing. It is created in the walking / talking mock style so that the teacher can guide students through each question and how to answer it. There are model answers, model annotations on custom animation (so that they can be revealed and they are set up to answer questions), and sections that are set up for students to complete their own answers. Techniques are suggested for students to use for each question; including models of evaluative statements for question 4.
Perfect for a ful last minute revision session that you wont need to plan but, equally, the ppt. can be broken down into separate lessons that show students how to tackle each question.
The mark schemes used only cover level 3 and 4 skills as the ppt. is designed to help students hit at least grade 4.
All resources are at the end of the ppt.