Writing frames and essay plans designed to help lower ability GCSE students write about the whole of the text not just the given extract.
There are 7 writing frames in total using two different styles. Some with an introduction and conclusion and some without.
For each question I have identified 5 points with 5 quotations. Students must then develop each point by adding language analysis, inferences zoom in to language and zoom out to context.
2023 update: Extra 4 essay plans added.
Also includes some advice on thesis statements with an easy to follow 3 sentence formula.
Also includes advice on how to create a thesis-style introduction.
‘A thesis-style introduction that demonstrates your understanding of the question can be a really helpful way of starting your answer. It shows that you are ‘in charge’ of your essay and that you know what you think. It can provide a strong foundation for the rest of the essay. Keep referring back to the introduction to create a coherent response.’ AQA examiner’s report 2022
Creating a thesis-style introduction is a challenge for many students but is essential in helping students to reach levels 4-6 in the mark scheme. I have produced a simple 3 point structure to help students quickly generate a thesis statement in timed exam conditions. There is an example of the 3 point structure being used and then students attempt to imitate the structure for 4 other exam-style questions.
A grade 7 and a grade 8 slightly improved response to the following exam style question about Lady Macbeth. This is pretty similar to the May 2024 question but the featured extract was from Act 1 Scene 7 rather than Act 1 Scene 5.
Starting with this speech (Act 1 Scene 5 ‘The raven himself is hoarse’) explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman.Write about:
• how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in this speech
• how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in the play as a whole.
Includes a grade 7 version and a grade 8 version for comparison. The grade 8 version has a more thoughtful introduction and conclusion and creates more of a debate.
The PowerPoint contains colour coded annotations to showcase a deliberate and easy to imitate method for helping students structure a successful response.
Also contains a grade 9 response analysing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s marriage.
A writing frame to guide students through the following exam style question:
Compare the ways the poets in War Photographer and one other poem (Remains) present ideas about conflict. (30).
The writing frame encourages students to make discriminating comparisons between the poems.
A high level grade 9 exemplar response that explores ideas about power in Ozymandias and Tissue. Includes some examiner annotations.
Also includes annotations for both poems that focused on ideas about power.
Also includes a writing/planning frame to help see how the essay was created from a plan.
100 question knowledge retention board game on A Christmas Carol. Includes answer sheet.
Works well when used little and often as a 10 minute repeated activity to help commit the knowledge into long term learning.
Check out my shop for other A Christmas Carol resources:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-theme-revision-cards-poverty-isolation-ghosts-christmas-family-11869145
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-gcse-differentiated-revision-sheets-on-themes-and-context-11387723
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/stave-1-and-stave-5-scrooge-s-transformation-in-a-christmas-carol-11503154
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-grade-9-lesson-and-essays-on-ghosts-11552659
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-100-comprehension-questions-with-answer-sheet-12450748
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/revise-themes-in-a-christmas-carol-family-isolation-poverty-charity-christmas-supernatural-11577227
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/grade-9-a-christmas-carol-exam-responses-12220340
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-top-50-quotations-11901568
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-3-grade-9-model-answers-for-eduqas-gcse-exam-style-11797550
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/grade-9-response-on-poverty-in-a-christmas-carol-12512988
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/6-grade-9-model-essays-on-a-christmas-carol-for-aqa-or-eduqas-11896608
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-aqa-1-9-super-bundle-11532059#
A timeline that charts the progression of Macbeth’s fears across the play. Useful for helping to plan any exam response. Also includes a high grade response about Macbeth’s fears.
Has a version with questions and a version with just quotations to explain.
Also included as a cut and stick in the correct order activity.
PowerPoint revises 6 quotations for each of the following big ideas in the novel:
Poverty is a serious problem
Material leads to isolation
Supernatural as a catalyst for redemption
The rich have a responsibility to help the poor
Christmas is a joyful time
Family is important
For each quotation, the inferences are written in short hand to help students make precise and concise notes.
They are animated so teachers can talk through them one by one to build up the layers of inference.
20 slide PowerPoint for a 2 lessons looking at Chapter 10. Includes an engaging starter, 10 comprehension questions, detailed notes to help students discuss and annotate 10 key quotations from the chapter and extension activities looking at Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and defence mechanisms.
You may also wish to consider my bundle which includes lessons on all chapters alongside useful knowledge organisers and other revision activities.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/lord-of-the-flies-mini-bundle-12072617
Updated PowerPoint with annotations, differentiated question worksheets and differentiated writing frames for analysing Act 1 Scene 6 and Act 1 Scene 7 from Macbeth. Also includes questions to recap the main events in Act 1 as a whole.
This popular resource includes 3 grade 9 Romeo and Juliet responses, 1 grade 8 response and 1 grade 7 model response to 5 AQA style GCSE examination questions on Romeo and Juliet. The exam questions and extracts are included beside the model responses.
I have tried to produce responses at the level reasonably expected of a high-level GCSE-aged student within 45 minutes of examination time.
Sometimes when teachers write exemplar responses, they produce such a high level of analysis that students find them overwhelming. I tried to avoid that.
Includes a grade 9 model response to a question on adults and children.
Includes a grade 8 model response to a question about male hostility and asks students how they could turn it into a grade 9 response through deeper language analysis (A02).
This resource is ideal to use to show students how to write successful answers that meet the criteria for A01, A02 and A03.
I have also included a sixth examination question so that students can have a go at an exam question themselves using my 9 step method.
Various resources to help lower ability students understand Macbeth’s ‘Is this a dagger soliloquy’.
Worksheets include:
Create a visual storyboard to break down key lines.
Use the writing frame to write a summary of the scene.
Give two interpretations to key lines
Give instructions for how an actor should perform the speech using the writing frame.
3 A3 revision sheets, 1 A4 revision sheet and a set of revision cards.
Sheet 1 has carefully selected key quotations for all 6 characters and carefully selected points about context for A03.
Sheet 2 has quotations for 5 themes and exam questions based on each theme.
Sheet 3 is a summary and brief explanation of 10 key quotations for each character.
Sheet 4 contains a summary of key stage directions across the play.
Sheet 1 contains suggested differentiated revision activities:
Bronze:
Apply a word from the word bank to each quotation.
Silver:
Link each quotation to a theme (age, gender, class, responsibility).
Gold:
Use the revision sheet to write essays on all 6 characters.
Use for a final revision lesson on Macbeth.
Present students with the 6 big ideas about the play.
Give students the attached top 50 quotations revision sheet.
Ask them to make notes on each big idea using the sheet.
Then go through the model answers on the PowerPoint. Each answer appears on a mouse click so you can talk through each answer one by one.
Also includes 6 exam questions to plan on one printer-friendly planning sheet.
Also includes a 100 question quiz on the play with accompanying answer sheet that is useful to use throughout Year 11 to assist with knowledge retention.
Also contains the top 100 quotations with a brief explanation to help students get started with developing their inferences on each quotation. Alternatively, ask students to use a code to link each quotation to one or more themes such as a for ambition, g for guilt, s for supernatural.
Also includes theme and character revision cards.
The 50 quotation quiz comes in two forms. One will take a full lesson while one is ideal as a repeatable recap activity (spaced learning).
20 Quotations revisions cards covering 20 of the most important quotations in the novella. These are aimed at high ability students to help ensure their analysis of quotations is thorough and perceptive to meet the Band 5 or 6 stages of the mark scheme.
Each card contains detailed notes linked to the three assessment objects A01, A02 and A03. The notes are colour-coded to help with this. Also methods are underlined to help students see how they meeting the requirements for A02.
Simply cut out each revision card and fold them to create double sided cards with the quotation on the front and the analysis on the back.
Also presented as an A3 knowledge organiser.
Also contains a version with the A03 removed for 14 quotations so students have to add in the A03 using the following prompt:
A03 – Zoom out of the text. What is Dickens’ authorial message/big idea for his 19th century reader? What are the relevant 19th century contextual factors?
A03+ What makes the ideas in this text relevant to human beings NOW? What key concepts or universal truths about being human, or part of society, or a part of a relationship, or alive in the world, are being presented in this text?
Also contains an additional resource with intentionally concise notes on 20 key words from the novella to zoom in on.
Check out my shop for other A Christmas Carol resources:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-theme-revision-cards-poverty-isolation-ghosts-christmas-family-11869145
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-gcse-differentiated-revision-sheets-on-themes-and-context-11387723
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/stave-1-and-stave-5-scrooge-s-transformation-in-a-christmas-carol-11503154
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-grade-9-lesson-and-essays-on-ghosts-11552659
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-100-comprehension-questions-with-answer-sheet-12450748
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/revise-themes-in-a-christmas-carol-family-isolation-poverty-charity-christmas-supernatural-11577227
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/grade-9-a-christmas-carol-exam-responses-12220340
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-top-50-quotations-11901568
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-3-grade-9-model-answers-for-eduqas-gcse-exam-style-11797550
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/grade-9-response-on-poverty-in-a-christmas-carol-12512988
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/6-grade-9-model-essays-on-a-christmas-carol-for-aqa-or-eduqas-11896608
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-christmas-carol-aqa-1-9-super-bundle-11532059#
I have selected 6 themes from Lord of the Flies and included 5 key quotations for the theme along with detailed analysis of each quotation that tries to both zoom in to the writer’s methods (A02) while also zooming out to discuss Golding’s wider intentions (A03). A revision tool aimed at students working towards grades 7-9.
4 differentiated writing frames to 4 actual AQA power and conflict past exam questions. Each writing frame has 3 tiers of difficulty to allow for the fact different students in the class require different levels of support and guidance in the run up to the examinations.
Tier 1: Students add the analysis of the quotations. The topic sentences and recommended quotations are already filled in for them.
Tier 2: Students must pick their own 3 quotations from each poem and analyse the quotations.
Tier 3: Students must pick their own topic sentences, quotations and then analsyse the quotations.
The questions covered are as follows:
2021 question: Compare how poets present ideas about power and control in ‘London’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and conflict’. (30)
Nov 2020 question: Compare how poets present the ways people are affected by difficult experiences in ‘Remains’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and conflict’. (30)
May 2019 question: Compare how poets present the ways that people are affected by war in ‘War Photographer’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and conflict’. (30)
May 2018 question: Compare how poets present ideas about power in ‘Ozymandias’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and conflict’. (30)
Character revision sheets for the 5 main characters in Lord of the Flies - Piggy, Ralph, Jack, Roger and Simon. Each sheet explores 10 key quotations from across the novel. Also includes a revision sheet on the island because this is a common exam question that hasn’t come up for a couple of years. Perfect revision preparation for 2024.
Includes a pdf version or an editable word version in case you need to swap around any of the top 10 quotations to suit your teaching.
Updated bundle for 2023 containing all my best resources on A Christmas Carol.
Includes:
9 grade 9 model answers
Comprehension questions on all staves
Revision Flash Cards
Writing frames
Scrooge Analysis lessons
Fred Analysis lesson
Bob Analysis lesson
9 Step method for grade 9
Quotation/Knowledge organisers.
Sample exam questions
Revision of big ideas
Top 50 quotation revision task with answers
Differentiated worksheets for exploring the ghosts
Lesson on Fezziwig
Lesson on women in the novel
Lessons on the ghosts
30+ page printable booklet.
Plus lots more.
I have tried to fit all my best A Christmas Carol resources into here. If I have missed any, send me a message and I will send them over.
To save time on the download, click on the resource called ‘A Christmas Carol - everything you need to teach the novella’. Most of the resources can be found in here.