Welcome. My resources include CPD self-study units for teachers as well as whole units of work specifically designed for the English classroom. Whole units come with detailed teacher notes, teaching PPTs and all student resources. I hope you enjoy using them as much as I have. Questions are very welcome and I can be contacted at roseandmay2@virginmedia.com.
Best wishes, Sam
Welcome. My resources include CPD self-study units for teachers as well as whole units of work specifically designed for the English classroom. Whole units come with detailed teacher notes, teaching PPTs and all student resources. I hope you enjoy using them as much as I have. Questions are very welcome and I can be contacted at roseandmay2@virginmedia.com.
Best wishes, Sam
AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 Unit - Climate Change Crisis
This engaging and fully resourced unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for tacking the AQA Functional Skills Level 1 English exam paper. It is built around the topic of the climate change crisis.
There are two sections:
Reading section – exploration of three different non-fiction texts including a letter, web pages and a blog.
Writing section – focus on writing a persuasive letter and a blog
This includes a 55 slide teaching PPT (editable PPT format) as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 10 resources in both word and pdf formats. Tasks and texts are relevant and engaging and ideal preparation for the Level 1 exam.
You may also like:
AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 - Complete Course
AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 Unit - Leisure
AQA Functional Skills in English: Level 1 Unit - Taking the Next Step
AQA Functional Skills in English: Speaking and Listening Unit
This unit is deigned for secondary and key stage 2 teachers across the curriculum who wish to develop and improve the quality of writing in their classrooms, a challenge increasingly important for exam success which is so dependent on writing. There is now a significant amount of research into what works and this unit seeks to present guidance as well as practical ideas and examples that can be taken straight off the page and into your classroom.This unit has also been published by Pearsons as an interactive mobile app.
This self-study unit offers support and guidance in teaching the non-fiction writing component of these courses in an interesting and engaging way, helping teachers ensure their programmes of study and lessons are well-pitched, relevant and motivating and develop the key skills necessary for success at entry level. Suggested approaches are practical and can be easily differentiated for entry level 1 and 2 students making it ideal preparation for planning an entry level course and schemes of learning. It is generic and relevant to all main exam boards who offer this qualification.
This sel-study CPD unit explores some of the most effective approaches and practical strategies that English teachers can take directly into the classroom to create a stimulating and engaging learning environment in which boys can flourish as writers. Although the strategies focus on how you can engage boys with writing, they represent good practice which can improve the learning for both boys and girls.
Developing Literacy is a clearly a key element of a TAs role. In this unit you will explore how best to support pupils with reading. As we live and work in an environment in which the printed text is so important, the skill of reading is vital in helping pupils to make progress and ensure they don’t fall behind their peers. This unit aims to provide lots of practical strategies which TAs can use in the classroom or during intervention work with individual or small groups of students to help them become more experienced readers and ultimately more independent learners.
The aim of this unit is to support teaching assistants in developing a set of key strategies for teaching pupils how to learn and retain spellings, though teachers wanting to develop their skills in teaching spelling would also benefit. Some pupils find spelling a real challenge - your role as a TA is to reassure them, provide them with spelling rules and support them with active approaches to learning spelling. Pupils should then be able to choose the appropriate strategy to help them to learn new spellings as they arise. This unit will also help you, as a TA, to provide support for pupils in using and developing a subject-specific vocabulary which is vitally important in writing successfully in different subject areas. This unit has also been published as a mobile CPD course.
Intervention involves supporting pupils who for a variety of reasons may have fallen behind their peers in order to make rapid progress. It is, and always has been, a significant issue for schools but is particularly pertinent given recent disruption to children’s education. We also know that in 2019, 27% of students began secondary school without having reached expected standard in their Key Stage 2 SATs Reading assessments and that in 2018 fewer than 1 in 5 of those who entered secondary school not having reached expected standards in reading went on to achieve a level 4 or above in English. Intervention is therefore particularly important in relation to literacy skills as these will limit progress not just in English but across all subjects which require good skills in reading and writing. This unit focuses on how you can, as a teacher responsible for intervention, design a strategy to improve the progress of targeted pupils who are underachieving.
This unit of work is focused on developing the skills of reading between the lines and is based around extracts from the novel ‘Deep Water’ by Ann Turnbull. It is aimed at a first year Junior Cycle class and covers key skills such as inference and deduction, questioning the text, prediction and visualising the text. All short extracts are provided so you do not need a copy of the novel though you may wish to buy one to read and enjoy other sections with the class. I have included a 47 slide teaching PPT, all nine resources in word and pdf formats and a detailed set of teacher’s notes.
Learning outcomes (from Junior Cycle Specification) addressed in this unit include:
Reading
3. Use a wide range of reading comprehension strategies appropriate to texts e.g to retrieve information and to link to previous knowledge.
7. Select key moments from their texts and give thoughtful value judgements on the main character or a key scene.
8. Read their texts to understand and appreciate language enrichment by examining an author’s choice of words.
11. Identify and comment on features of English at word and sentence level using appropriate terminology.
Writing
3. Write for a variety of purposes e.g to imagine, explore, narrate.
I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.
THE TEMPEST Key Stage 3 English Teaching Unit
This unit is based around Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. I have taught it to both Year 7 and 8 though it could easily be adapted for a Year 9 class. It is designed to fit into a half-term but, depending on how many lessons you have, could be taught over a whole term. There is a 65 slide PPT with a range of creative and enjoyable activities including drama-style tasks suitable for use in the English classroom such as a ‘guided tour’ of the island. There is also a homework project which runs throughout the unit and a Reading assessment essay built in. I have included a set of detailed teacher’s notes and a free CPD unit on teaching Shakespeare. Please note that all files are in pdf format.
Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 1 Unit - LEISURE
This highly engaging unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for tackling the Edexcel Functional Skills Level 1 English exam paper. It is built around the topic of Leisure and includes two sections:
Reading section – exploration of three related non-fiction texts including a website and leaflet
Writing section – culminates in an assessed piece of work in which students complete an Edexcel task on review writing
This includes a well-presented 49 slide teaching PPT (editable PPT format) as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 12 resources in both word and pdf formats. Tasks and texts are relevant and engaging and ideal preparation for the Level 1 exam.
More Edexcel Functional Skills Resources
Edexcel Functional Skills English: Level 1 and 2 Speaking and Listening Unit
Edexcel Functional Skills English: Level 1 Unit - The Next Step
Edexcel Functional Skills English: Level 1 Unit - Climate Change Crisis
Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Unit - Taking the Next Step
This highly engaging and carefully designed interactive unit of work designed to teach some of the key skills required for tacking the Edexcel Functional Skills in English Level 2 exam paper. It is built around the idea of preparing for the world of college or work.
There are three sections:
Speaking and Listening – preparation for the discussion and presentation task
Reading section – exploration of three different non-fiction texts
Writing section – covers writing a personal statement and a formal e-mail - culminates in a assessed piece of work
This package includes a 78 slide teaching PPT (editable PPT format) as well as a detailed set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 15 resources in both word and pdf formats. Tasks, activities and non-fiction texts are relevant, engaging and ideal preparation for the Level 2 exam. I hope you and your students enjoy the unit.
More Edexcel IGCSE Functional Skills Resources
Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Complete Course
Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Unit -Climate Change Crisis
Edexcel Functional Skills in English: Level 2 Unit - Leisure
Edexcel Functional Skills English Level 1 and 2: Speaking and Listening Unit
Key Stage 3 English: Reading Between the Lines Teaching Unit
This unit of work is focused on developing the skills of reading between the lines and is based around extracts from the novel ‘Deep Water’ by Ann Turnbull. It covers key skills such as inference and deduction, questioning the text, prediction and visualising the text. It was written for my Year 8 lower ability English class though could easily be used for a year 7 group. All short extracts are provided so you do not need a copy of the novel though you may wish to buy one to read and enjoy other sections with the class. I have included a 47 slide teaching PPT, all nine resources in word and pdf formats and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. Hope you enjoy teaching the unit.
Key Stage 3 English Units also available
English Key Stage 3 Creative Writing Unit for Years 7-8
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12487013
This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help students write creatively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative texts, looking at excellent and varied models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses.A very nicely presented 83 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources.
This bundle includes four CPD self-study units which are designed to support early career teachers in creating a positive and engaging learning environment.
The units are:
Creating the Positive Classroom
Assessment for Learning
How to Plan and Design lessons
Developing Active Reading Strategies
Improving Writing Across the Curriculum
Each unit includes tried and tested practical ideas drawn from research and teaching experience which can be taken straight into the classroom.They are generic and aimed at trainee teachers across the secondary curriculum. By working through these units you can build your teaching repertoire helping to develop key skills and increase student engagement. They include opportunities for reflection and suggestions for next steps to help develop your teaching skills beyond these units . Please note that they have also been published on the nimbl platform by Pearsons.
This very nicely presented unit of work is based on Sean Tan’s graphic novel ‘The Arrival’. It consists of 14 lessons which guide students through the novel chapter by chapter. It is discussion based and there are lots of opportunities for paired, group and class discussion with thinking points and scaffolds to support. It teaches students how to analyse images closely looking at aspects such as layout, character illustrations and colour. Written outcomes include creative responses as well as a final, analytical piece which can be formally assessed. There are also opportunities to read real and fascinating accounts from immigrants across the globe and consider how these help our understanding of the family’s story in ‘The Arrival’. All PPTs and lesson resources are included as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes based on my experience of teaching this unit.
Please note that all files are in PDF format.
This bundle includes three self-study CPD units for secondary teaching assistants with a focus on literacy. The units are:
Supporting Reading
Supporting Speaking and Listening
Supporting Spelling
Each unit is packed with information and practical ideas. It is designed to help you develop your expertise in literacy and improve the quality of support you are able to give your pupils, helping them to engage in learning, stay on task during the lesson and develop the literacy skills necessary to become independent learners.
English Teaching Poetry Unit: Seamus Heaney’s 'Follower’
This short GCSE unit is designed to introduce and explore Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Follower’ as well as develop students’ ability to write analytically using a specific, taught paragraph structure. This unit is collaborative in nature with lots of opportunities for paired, group and class discussion. It includes a very nicely presented 32 slide teaching PPT as well as all 16 student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes explaining how you can deliver the unit. Outcomes include an analytical PETAL paragraph which could be extended into a longer essay using the structure provided. Please note that all resources are provided in PPT and Word as well as pdf format. Ideal for GCSE Anthology study.
You may also like the following poetry units:
You might also like:
William Blake’s ‘London’
Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’
Seamus Heaney’s ‘Digging’
Wilfred Owen’s ‘Exposure’
Australian curriculum-aligned resource - Narrative and Descriptive Writing for Years 6-7
This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help students write creatively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative texts, looking at excellent and varied models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses. It is ideal for a Year 6-7 class. A well presented 83 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources.
I enjoyed teaching this unit and hope you do too.
This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed for Entry Level 3 students who are required to complete a piece of narrative writing for Unit 5 English through Prose. It supports them in actively exploring and enjoying narrative extracts, looking at models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses in the style of the writing assessment. A well presented 71 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources
This resource bundle for teachers of Cambridge IGCSE First Language English includes the following:
Narrative and Descriptive Writing Unit
This highly engaging unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the Cambridge IGCSE First Language English 0500 with particular focus on building skills in descriptive and narrative writing within the context of gothic fiction. This style of creative response is relevant to Cambridge IGCSE Paper 2 Section B Composition where students are given a choice of descriptive and narrative tasks or Component 3 Coursework Portfolio assignment 2 ‘writing to describe’ and assignment 3 ‘writing to narrate’.
Speaking and Listening Teaching Unit
This unit prepares students for their Cambridge IGCSE Speaking and Listening test (individual talk and conversation) on a specific topic agreed with their teacher. It guides students through the whole process by looking at aspects of effective talks such as openings, rhetorical devices, endings, use of cue cards to structure a talk and responding to questions. Strategies include exploring good examples of talks as well opportunities to try out a variety of techniques to help make their own talks lively and engaging .
Student Home Learning Guide
This student-friendly guide is designed to support students in developing their skills in preparation for the Cambridge First Language English IGCSE Paper 2 Section B: Composition exam. It is intended for use at home and includes lots of interactive and practical tasks to help them embed the key skills required at this level. It includes a work booklet as well as accompanying resources in Word and PDF formats including planning frames, narrative extracts and creative writing tasks for exam practice. It will be invaluable for teachers who wish to set revision tasks for their classes or for parents who wish to support with exam preparation.
Key Stage 3 English: Narrative Writing Digital Planning Frames
This resource includes three narrative writing planning frames/ graphic organisers in pdf and a pdf format which allows students to type in their responses. I have also included a resource with ten narrative writing tasks for student s to choose from. They are ideal for setting a narrative task to be completed at home.
You may also like:
English Key Stage 3 Creative Writing Unit for Years 7-8
This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help students write creatively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative texts, looking at excellent and varied models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses.A very nicely presented 83 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources.
