A* essay responses to the AQA 2017 and 2018 English Language A Level exams (Paper 1 Section B Children’s language development - Q4 learning to talk task). These essays meet the criteria for high level 5 for both AO1 and AO2 so are ideal as ready made modelling examples for any of the knowledge and skills required for this section of the A Level exams. They have proved hugely beneficial for previous and current students in the classroom and one-to-one tutoring for essay content, structure and the mark scheme skills listed below. AO1: linguistic methods and terminology applied with patterns and complexities identified different levels of language analysis applied in an integrated way with connections explored levels of language analysis applied with no errors reader is guided through the essay AO2: a synthesised and conceptualised and individual overview of issues demonstrated approaches, views and interpretations of linguistic issues evaluated and challenged

Nine highly engaging lessons on Part Two of ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ for the Edexcel English Literature (Women and Society) A Level spec. Resources include: a 56 slide PowerPoint, 2 model comparative essays, essay mark sheet, starter task on chapter 26, detailed handouts on chapters 23 and 26, reading log sheet. Included on the PowerPoint are a wide variety of teaching and learning tasks (all of which have been successfully tried and tested with Year 12 students), key information to aid understanding and progress, and clear signposts to relevant AOs. All chapters of Part Two of the novel are covered - starting with a summary for each chapter. Tasks vary across the chapters but usually include links to theme(s) or context, details of narrative/character presentation, exploration of key methods and textual evidence. I have not split the PowerPoint into specific lessons but I completed this unit in 9 lessons. If you are pushed for lesson time, some tasks could easily be set for homework. The two A* exemplar essays compare ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ with Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. This unit follows my Part One SoW available separately on TES Resources. My Part Three and Part Four SoW will be uploaded once I have remove all references to my current school from the resources.

Eleven highly engaging lessons on Part One of ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ for the Edexcel English Literature (Women and Society) A Level spec. Resources include: a 74 slide PowerPoint, lesson 1 introduction sheet, two key context handouts, detailed handouts on chapters 1 and 15, ATSS reading journal, essay mark sheet, starter task on chapter 5, and a copy of the poem the novel’s title is taken from. Included on the PowerPoint are a wide variety of teaching and learning tasks (all of which have been successfully tried and tested with Year 12 students) for the classroom and homework, key information to aid understanding and progress, and clear signposts to AO1, AO2 or AO3. There is one essay set just on this novel with an accompanying mark scheme with AO4 removed. So out of 30 rather than 40. All 15 chapters of Part One of the novel are covered - starting with a summary for each chapter. Tasks vary across the chapters but usually include links to theme(s) or context, details of narrative/character presentation, exploration of key methods and textual evidence. I have not split the PowerPoint into specific lessons but I completed this unit in 11 lessons. I taught this novel after teaching ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. However, there are no references to Hardy or Tess in the Part One SoW, so it would work equally if you are teaching the more popular ‘Women and Society’ 19th century novel: ‘Wuthering Heights’. My students had all read the whole novel in the summer between Year 11 and Year 12, so already knew the plot before lessons started after February half term. Half term homework had been to reread Part One. I will be uploading my additional SoWs on Parts Two-Four of this novel as separate TES resources once I have removed all references to my current school from them.

A 21 lesson detailed scheme of work on The Handmaid’s Tale of 28 separate teaching resources covering the whole novel. This was produced for the new Edexcel AS / A Level English Literature and is the first part of preparing students for the prose exam (will compare with Frankenstein - details uploaded separately). This pack on The Handmaid’s Tale includes a comprehensive 8 page scheme of work which links each lesson with relevant assessment objectives and details each lesson activity. There are PowerPoints for most lessons as well as a number of student hand-outs you can just print out. I have used it successfully with mixed ability Year 12 students.

10 resources for 3 highly engaging, thought provoking and informative lessons (with 3 independent study tasks) exploring attitudes to regional British accents for AQA AS/A Level English Language Paper 2 Section A. The lessons explore a variety of linguistic concepts, ideas and research including accent bias, changing attitudes, Giles’ matched guise research, the 2004 BBC poll and 2013 ITV findings with a wide range of audio clip links to support teaching and learning. Independent learning tasks develop and consolidate learning as well as aiding revision and essay writing skills. The lessons also include exploration of the Alex Scott Tokyo 2020 Olympics commentary Twitter debate to demonstrate accentism is still very much alive. Across the wide range of activities there are also links to the Teach Real English, Accent Bias Britain and Accentism Project websites for useful resources and information. The lessons were created for Year 12 and can be used for either AS or A Level students. With this in mind, I have included different essay title wording on slides within the second lesson PowerPoint for either AS or A Level. I have also included both my Paper 2 Section A AS and A Level student mark sheets for discursive/evaluative essays. These activities are all tried and tested in the classroom with excellent results.

Nine resources for six lessons covering the learning to write part of the new AQA English Language A Level Children’s Language Development for Section B of Paper 1 (replacing the old CLA). Resources: five PowerPoints, two children’s writing data sets, learning to write booklet for students and sow including details of each lesson as well as a useful overview of the whole A Level. Various activities included for class and independent study in this area of children’s language development, a number of which have extension tasks. All tasks linked to AO1 and AO2. One homework is differentiation by choice of tasks which would all be written up as a mini investigation. This unit would be taught after students have already learned about speech acquisition and how young children learn to read. Lessons can be adapted to any size class.

6 resources for 3 lessons preparing pupils for a timed comparative essay on 2 poems from the new AQA GCSE English Literature poetry anthology - Power and Conflict. Resources include: 3 PowerPoints; an example essay comparing how human suffering is presented in Wilfred Owen's Exposure and Ted Hughes' Bayonet Charge; the essay in non-chronological order for sequencing and a copy of a planning grid (to be enlarged to A3). Teachers will also need a copy of the Paper 2, Section B mark scheme. The link to the AQA website for this is below one of the lesson 1 PowerPoint slides. The lessons guide pupils through what they need to include in a comparative poetry essay for the new AQA GCSE Lit spec. They also show pupils how to structure an essay plus tips on how to choose the second poem to compare with the named poem. Some extension tasks are included for the more able, example starter sentences for the less able, plus the example essay and planning grid for all pupils to use. The named poem in the essay task is Poppies and I made all my pupils compare it with War Photographer. However, you could include differentiation by choice with pupils choosing their own second poem (you would just need to slightly adapt the lesson 2 and 3 PowerPoints). These lessons would be best delivered after all or most of the poems had been covered. However, with slight adaptation, the lessons could be done after Poppies, War Photographer, Exposure and Bayonet Charge had been taught.

Three resources (example essay, checklist and seven slide PowerPoint) for one revision lesson and homework where students revise the poems through a discussion of the visual starter activity, then use a reverse planning activity and checklist to help them focus on the content and structure of a comparative poetry exam essay for the new AQA English Literature Paper 2 GCSE exam (Section B). Students use this newly gained knowledge and understanding to write their own timed essay at home (or in the following lesson). There is a choice of essay titles for differentiation by choice. The main reverse planning activity ensures students read the example essay (comparing ‘Tissue’ and ‘Ozymandias’) carefully; see how relevant context can be integrated into an essay; understand how students can ensure they include relevant comparisons as well as detailed analysis of a range of methods and precise, integrated quotations. Moreover, the activity helps students focus on the importance of a well-structured essay to help gain higher marks. The checklist helps remind students of the key features necessary to gain marks in AO1, AO2 and AO3. Students then reflect on how the lesson activities have helped them before choosing their essay title. This lesson was created for a mixed ability Year 11 class starting to revise for their GCSE exams. It led to the production of some excellent timed student essays.

8 resources for 4 lessons helping students prepare for writing comparative exam essays on The Handmaid's Tale and Frankenstein for the new Edexcel AS Lit spec Paper 2 Prose. I have also included differentiation ideas for many of the activities which can be adapted depending on the size of your class. Student responses to all activities and resources were very positive as were the timed essays written afterwards. I have also included the mark sheet I staple to the front of student essays where I highlight where they have met the AOs and issue to students to help them mark example essays. This has really helped students understand the mark scheme (using the Edexcel wording) and what they need to include in their own essays. The PDF Edexcel Lit prose exemplars pack is not included, but I have included the hyperlink (beneath slide 3 of the Writing a comparative essay PowerPoint) so you can download it.

Sheet of useful poetic terminology with numerous examples from the Power and Conflict cluster from the new AQA GCSE English Literature anthology.

8 resources covering 4 lessons examining language and occupation for the new AQA AS English Language (Paper 2 - Section A). Resources cover sociolect, jargon, medical language, legal language, teacher-talk, buzzwords, restaurant talk and lead to a timed essay response. A number of tasks offer differentiation ideas. I have also uploaded the mark sheet I created from the AQA AS English Language Paper 2 Section A AOs which I staple to student essays and highlight to show where they have met the AOs. Students find this really useful.

31 ready-made tried and tested homework tasks for essential AO6 skills (new English Language GCSEs). These tasks help KS4 students develop a useful repertoire of ambitious vocabulary. In addition, they increase a student’s ability to use a range of sentence structures and are beneficial in developing punctuation proficiency. The first 15 tasks focus on narrative, descriptive or viewpoint writing. The rest link with specific English Lit set texts - so also useful for revision. Each homework task gives students at least three words to find a dictionary definition for and then place into a sentence. Extension tasks encourage punctuation variety or more extended writing. Some tasks include differentiation by choice. Moreover, key skills of close reading and following instructions are boosted with set rules (such as one sentence must be a complex sentence beginning with a subordinate clause) to be followed. Rules vary across the tasks. If students misread or ignore the rules, I make them redo the homework. I created these for mixed ability GCSE classes. Over time, the tasks led to significant improvements in each student’s use of more ambitious vocabulary, sentence variety and accuracy in a wider range of punctuation. I print out the tasks for the first few weeks, then refer students to their virtual learning environment to save my photocopying bill. Marking is straight forward with definitions checked through peer assessment. Eventually all main tasks can be peer assessed with teacher marking of extension tasks only. I also issue students with an AO6 homework help sheet (included) to refer to if needed. Set texts covered: A Christmas Carol (2), Frankenstein (2), Great Expectations (2), Macbeth (2), Romeo and Juliet (2), AQA Power and Conflict Poetry - also relevant for Edexcel Conflict Poetry (2), An Inspector Calls (2), Lord of the Flies (2).

Two sheets to be enlarged to A3 to help students revise key quotes from ‘An Inspector Calls’ for the new AQA English Literature GCSE Paper 2. This revision resource was created specifically with my visual learners in mind. I photocopied the sheets single sided to encourage students to display them at home.

28 page adaptable user-friendly handbook for English Language AS and A Level students. It was created specifically for the new AQA English Language AS/A Level specs, but could easily be adapted for another exam board. Contents include: an outline of both the AQA AS and A Level courses; an extensive glossary of linguistic terminology and examples with space for students to add more terminology they may come across; useful phrases to help create well-structured analyses; tips on how to analyse an extract and what contextual factors to consider; useful website links; a chart covering some key historical events affecting the evolution of the English Language with examples of lexis derived from those eras and space for students to record their assessment marks and targets. Useful websites page updated in September 2020.

Four lessons covering the learning to read part of Children’s Language Development (old CLA) literacy for the new AQA English Language A Level (Paper 1 - Section B). Six resources: nine page CLD booklet for students covering learning to read and how to analyse children’s books; four PowerPoints and an overview of the new A Level with details of the four lessons included with relevant AOs. Extension tasks are included. One homework (Phonics research) includes differentiation by choice. One student task also includes directed writing practice for Paper 2. These lessons should come after you have taught students about spoken language CLD. Spoken language CLD lessons are not included here as I have adapted the brilliant downloadable resources on TES by Naomi Gilligan for the first nine lessons of my new CLD sow. Lessons on CLD literacy learning to write are available separately: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/new-aqa-children-s-language-development-cld-learning-to-write-11302233

5 charts (to be enlarged to A3) with proven success for revising the 15 poems from the new English Lit poetry anthology: Power and Conflict (AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2). Some details are already included to get students started - including some relevant context - and to support less able students. You could remove some of the information for more able groups. The poems are grouped together so students can see clearer links between each group of three poems. The first two charts (effects of conflict) were prepared to help my mixed ability Year 10 class revise the poems we had covered ready for end of year exams. The remaining three charts (power poems) were created for Year 11 revision. The class these charts were originally created for achieved outstanding results in their poetry comparison essays in their GCSE English Lit in 2018. Each time I have used these charts, I have divided the class into groups, allocating poems for students to teach to the rest of the class. Not only do students learn their allocated poems better having to teach them again to others, but after feedback they have explored links between the poems with more confidence because the students know and understand the poems and methods used in more detail. As an extra challenge (if a group complete their allocated poems quickly), they have to discuss and add elements of conflict in the power poems and power in the conflict poems. I also photocopy these single sided so students can display them at home for revision.

An outstanding lesson on I Love Me Mudder for Year 7 during Black History Month. Includes a range of engaging activities, differentiation tasks, a pre-lesson research worksheet (could be used in class or for homework) and guided self assessment. Tried and tested with great success in the classroom for the last three years.

Cloze activities on Chapters 1-10 and Chapter 15 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I first created these to help a low ability class and used them as starters or mini plenaries. Learning support also used these cloze exercises to help absent pupils catch up or remind pupils what they had read in class. Chapters 8 and 9 are combined in one cloze exercise. The rest are on individual chapters.

Set of resources for a Year 7 lesson at the start of term revising correct use of capital letters, full stops and commas. This was specifically adapted for pupils to complete individually and self assess in our new post lockdown classrooms. Main task answers and some extension tasks are included on the PowerPoint. Alternatively, you could set these SPaG tasks as remote learning or homework. Hopefully this will help fellow English teachers at the busy start of the academic year. All you need to do in advance is print off the worksheets (or upload to your virtual learning environment).