Whole lesson on Before You Were Mine to fit specifications for the new AQA GCSE anthology on Love and Relationships. Questions designed to test pupils on exam criteria and get them really evaluating and analysing the text. Worksheet to be done before analytical paragraph.

Two lessons on Letters From Yorkshire, a poem in the new AQA anthology on Love and Relationships. Matched to the exam specification, with questions to really get pupils thinking and discussing. Includes a gapfill activity to do before they encounter the poem, to make them really analyse the language the poet is using. Skills: analysing poetry, unseen poetry, close-reading, poetic technique evaluation

Aimed at GCSE English Language students preparing for their non-fiction exam. Practice opinion article task with prompts and reminder of persuasive techniques. Cliparts to make it a bit brighter and more exciting! Differentiated - encourage higher ability pupils to ignore the scaffolding prompts and go straight to choosing their techniques and writing their answer.

Peer assessment for the new paper 2 - reading and writing skills. Includes glossary document - do not provide Able and More Able/ Gifted and Talented pupils with this! Differentiation. Pupils assess how confident they feel with the skills needed for the paper. This allows the teacher to spend future lessons addressing the right areas. AFL/ assessment for learning reading and writing skills reading comprehension inference etc.

Can be used with KS3-KS4 towards GCSE skills for English. Pupils self-assess how confidence they feel about the skills they will eventually need. Great AFL/ Assessment For Learning when starting exam skills with a new class for the first time. Fits with National Curriculum and AQA GCSE Learning Objectives. Two versions - one for year 9 and one for GCSE years.

A colourful, hand-drawn resource which explains in an accessible manner which skills pupils need to have by the end of KS3 English. Broken-down into categories which are indicated by symbols, this is written in a way designed to be pupil-friendly. It can be made into a fully differentiated resource easily: By, for example, a teacher laminating class copies and marking (with an erasable whiteboard pen) for each new topic or task the areas they want a certain pupil to focus on.

Entire lesson on creative writing with prompts, interactive powerpoint (with visual timers with sounds) and fun visuals to engage your class. The worksheet includes a series of criteria which match up to the run-through of the powerpoint, and a graph for them to plan their plot structure. Useful for teaching Section B of the new AQA Paper 1 - Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing. The exam will give them criteria and/or a picture prompt and ask them to write the opening to a story - this teaches those writing skills.

For students sitting the new GCSE (AQA). Clear instructions and support notes including success criteria matched to the new markscheme. Differentiation - there is an example plan that can be used to scaffold for less able pupils. Specific links to the new AQA specification for the non-fiction writing task.

Peer and teacher feedback template for creative writing and the critical commentary for the new WJEC English Language A Level Specification. This saves loads of time for your own marking and feedback / assessment, and is a handy tool for a peer feedback or improvement and reflection time starter. Intuitive and straightforward, I use these to highlight to quickly give feedback for exam style answers and show students the key skills they need to hone. It has a 'what went well' and 'even better if' box at the bottom of each sheet for formative feedback.

GCSE and A Level compatible. Planning chart for English Literature essays aimed at encouraging pupils to make effective plans and use them well. Can be used for revision or for classwork. Adaptable for your spec.

These two sheets help pupils plan and write creative writing which fits the A-level exam specs. The planning creative writing sheet takes a total of 50 minutes and gets them to think about their commentary, so this could be a full lesson with the commentary set. The Writing Fiction Lesson doc is designed to be printed on A3. It is designed to be a whole lesson which works collaboratively with a class - split them into pairs. Firstly, get the original pair to write their name on the top of their worksheet. 1) Pass the sheet around as many sets of pairs as it takes to fill the planning chart, giving them a certain amount of time to fill in one row per pair (can be differentiated). 2) The original pair fill out 'story one' as an excerpt from a short story - they choose the guidelines from the grid and tick it off. 3) Pass it on and repeat step two with a new pair. 4) Pass back to original pair to evaluate the writing (using two different colours) using the evaluation grid. Peer marking! Can then set easily set an improvement task, if you want to.

A revision worksheet for A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens aimed at students studying AQA English Literature. Discusses exam style questions, gives example / exemplar answers / includes modelling and tips for revision.

Student guide to question format for new AQA English Language exams. Includes tips on where to find information in revision guides. Deals with skills needed, layout, question format, how to get marks, assessment, what to do.

Exam style practice question for new AQA spec Paper 1 English Language using an abbreviated excerpt from The Great Gatsby. In the format of an exam paper it gives pupils practice with the layout and with the assessment objectives. The topic is designed to be engaging - it focuses on a party scene in Gatsby. It then includes a practice writing question around parties and music. Practice reading comprehension questions and creative writing for the exam. Boost your pupil's confidence and provide them with an understanding of the layout of the assessment. Can also be used as a mock paper (one class or whole school) as it is correctly formatted.

Can be used for AFL/ self-assessment at the beginning or end of a module on poetry where the exam asks pupils to compare. Intuitive, student-friendly confidence levels assessment to inform your planning and teaching.

Revision guide for English Literature new AQA Spec. Revision tips, revision questions, modelling. Guides to using revision booklets Practise questions and tasks.

Summarises the success criteria for the English entrance test for Cambridge and Oxford universities. Students can use it to mark their own ELAT answers and help them understand what makes a high-level answer.

Resource for A Level language students to practise writing a directed writing task (exam task). Includes info on slang and taboo language, a card sort, powerpoints for two lessons, and two examples of opinion writing on the topic. A planning sheet/ info sheet on features of opinion articles and how to plan them can be found in my other resources.

Have your department asked you to create a mock for Paper 1? This is a template for both a mock paper and a teaching powerpoint for the new AQA GCSE Paper 1 (Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing). All resources are basically completed for you - all you need to do is input your own sources which fit the spec, and edit the resources using those exemplars. The mock looks just like a real exam paper (use the cover sheet from here http://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/gcse/english-language-8700/assess/paper-1-specimen-question-paper to complete the look!) and the powerpoint repeatedly breaks down the key assessed skills and learning objectives fro the paper (many of which are new foci) and reinforces the previous points. Create a source booklet using the template, and then off you go! This could easily form a whole unit of work when used with teaching general reading and writing skills relevant to the paper.