Here I have the first of my 'Sensational Starters' series which aims to give teachers a huge bank of starters that they can use with all of their classes. 50 slides, with each slide providing a different starter task for your classes.Ideal as bell ringer/entrance activities as soon as your class walk in. It's as simple as that! This edition focuses on writing skills; with a huge bank of starters developing the following aspects of writing: Sensory descriptions Similes, metaphors and personification in writing Improving adjective use Improving adverb use Using dynamic verbs Improving and developing general vocabulary skills Adapting writing to suit purpose Writing with passion and conviction Using rhetorical devices Improving descriptive skills Would suit Key stages 3, 4 and even 5. Ideal Language GCSE preparation tasks for Paper 1 and 2; great for general skill building too! The tasks suit a wide range of abilities and can be easily tweaked if required. This would be an ideal resource for a whole school literacy drive too. Perfect toolkit and inspiration for any teacher. Ready to roll with no adaptation required. Enjoy! If you make a purchase and find the resource useful, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review for the resource purchased, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username alongside a link to the resource you would like. Your free resource will then be sent over right away!

Developed specifically for the new 9-1 AQA GCSE English Literature specification (yet equally suitable for other examination boards), here is a detailed comprehension work book for Chapter 2 - ‘Search for Mr Hyde’ of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’. This is basically a mini scheme/unit of work in a booklet and would work brilliantly as either revision for your students, independent study work for cover, home schooling/tutoring, or for students to actively read the text and consolidate their understanding as they read. Huge range of comprehension questions exploring plot, character, themes, context and writer’s messages and intentions. Questions are in chronological order (in line with events from the text) so very easy to follow and is an ideal teaching tool to ensure students are actively reading and engaging with the text. Ideal preparation for the AQA English Literature qualification as all the Assessment Objectives are covered. C overs everything they need to know for the chapter really. Due to the challenging nature of the source text, I’d say this is more geared towards middle and higher ability students. Resource is absolutely ready to go! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Everything you need to teach Act 3 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. 28 slide PowerPoint and worksheets included. This is also available as part of a complete scheme of work whereby a considerable saving can be made; further details can be found here. The lessons have been created specifically for teaching at GCSE level, and cover the key assessment objectives for 9-1 New-Specification AQA: understanding of the text, language and structure, context/themes/author intent (although equally applicable to other exam boards). Differentiated outcomes and tasks allow you to reach all learners, although I would recommend the lessons specifically for middle to higher ability students. Throughout the scheme, students are encouraged to make notes and annotate the text, as this will be a valuable revision tool when preparing for exams. Teacher notes are provided on the PowerPoint to help explain and guide you through all phases of the lesson, with a range of interesting and engaging tasks for you to choose from. Importantly, full analysis is provided for all the tasks set, to enable you to lead interesting and engaging discussions which will deepen the students’ appreciation of the text. Strictly speaking, there is a lot more here than you would fit into a 1 hour lesson, so you may wish to spread this over a couple of lessons, or perhaps be a little selective with the tasks you wish to do. PDF version is for preview purposes. Buy in confidence from a TES recommended gold author! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Everything you need to teach Act 5 Scenes 4 and 5 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is also available as part of a complete scheme of work whereby a considerable saving can be made; further details can be found here. The lessons have been created specifically for teaching at GCSE level, and cover the key assessment objectives for 9-1 New-Specification AQA: understanding of the text, language and structure, context/themes/author intent (although equally applicable to other exam boards). Differentiated outcomes and tasks allow you to reach all learners, although I would recommend the lessons specifically for middle to higher ability students. Throughout the scheme, students are encouraged to make notes and annotate the text, as this will be a valuable revision tool when preparing for exams. Teacher notes are provided on the PowerPoint to help explain and guide you through all phases of the lesson, with a range of interesting and engaging tasks for you to choose from. Importantly, full analysis is provided for all the tasks set, to enable you to lead interesting and engaging discussions which will deepen the students’ appreciation of the text. Strictly speaking, there is a lot more here than you would fit into a 1 hour lesson, so you may wish to spread this over a couple of lessons, or perhaps be a little selective with the tasks you wish to do. PDF version is for preview purposes. Buy in confidence from a TES recommended gold author! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Everything you need to teach Act 1 Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is also available as part of a complete scheme of work whereby a considerable saving can be made; further details can be found here. The lessons have been created specifically for teaching at GCSE level, and cover the key assessment objectives for AQA: understanding of the text, language and structure, context/themes/author intent (although equally applicable to other exam boards). Differentiated outcomes and tasks allow you to reach all learners, although I would recommend the lessons specifically for middle to higher ability students. Throughout the scheme, students are encouraged to make notes and annotate the text, as this will be a valuable revision tool when preparing for exams. Teacher notes are provided to help explain and guide you through all phases of the lesson, with a range of interesting and engaging tasks for you to choose from. Importantly, full analysis is provided for all the tasks set, to enable you to lead interesting and engaging discussions which will deepen the students’ appreciation of the text. Strictly speaking, there is probably a lot more here than you would fit into a 1 hour lesson, so you may wish to spread this over a couple of lessons, or perhaps be a little selective with the tasks you wish to do. Buy in confidence from a TES recommended author! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Everything you need to teach Act 2 Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is also available as part of a complete scheme of work whereby a considerable saving can be made; further details can be found here. The lessons have been created specifically for teaching at GCSE level, and cover the key assessment objectives for 9-1 New-Specification AQA: understanding of the text, language and structure, context/themes/author intent (although equally applicable to other exam boards). Differentiated outcomes and tasks allow you to reach all learners, although I would recommend the lessons specifically for middle to higher ability students. Throughout the scheme, students are encouraged to make notes and annotate the text, as this will be a valuable revision tool when preparing for exams. Teacher notes are provided on the PowerPoint to help explain and guide you through all phases of the lesson, with a range of interesting and engaging tasks for you to choose from. Importantly, full analysis is provided for all the tasks set, to enable you to lead interesting and engaging discussions which will deepen the students’ appreciation of the text. Strictly speaking, there is probably a lot more here than you would fit into a 1 hour lesson, so you may wish to spread this over a couple of lessons, or perhaps be a little selective with the tasks you wish to do. Buy in confidence from a TES recommended gold author! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Everything you need to teach Act 3 Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Macbeth. This is also available as part of a bundle whereby a considerable saving can be made. Link to the scheme here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/macbeth-gcse-full-scheme-of-work-9-1-english-literature-11965286 The lessons have been created specifically for teaching at GCSE level, and cover the key assessment objectives for 9-1 New-Specification AQA: understanding of the text, language and structure, context/themes/author intent (although equally applicable to other exam boards). Differentiated outcomes and tasks allow you to reach all learners, although I would recommend the lessons specifically for middle to higher ability students. Throughout the scheme, students are encouraged to make notes and annotate the text, as this will be a valuable revision tool when preparing for exams. Teacher notes are provided on the PowerPoint to help explain and guide you through all phases of the lesson, with a range of interesting and engaging tasks for you to choose from. Importantly, full analysis is provided for all the tasks set, to enable you to lead interesting and engaging discussions which will deepen the students' appreciation of the text. Strictly speaking, there is probably a lot more here than you would fit into a 1 hour lesson, so you may wish to spread this over a couple of lessons, or perhaps be a little selective with the tasks you wish to do. PDF version is for preview purposes. Buy in confidence from a TES recommended gold author! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Everything you need to teach Act 1 Scene 7 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is also available as part of a complete scheme of work whereby a considerable saving can be made; further details can be found here. The lessons have been created specifically for teaching at GCSE level, and cover the key assessment objectives for AQA: understanding of the text, language and structure, context/themes/author intent (although equally applicable to other exam boards). Differentiated outcomes and tasks allow you to reach all learners, although I would recommend the lessons specifically for middle to higher ability students. Throughout the scheme, students are encouraged to make notes and annotate the text, as this will be a valuable revision tool when preparing for exams. Teacher notes are provided to help explain and guide you through all phases of the lesson, with a range of interesting and engaging tasks for you to choose from. Importantly, full analysis is provided for all the tasks set, to enable you to lead interesting and engaging discussions which will deepen the students’ appreciation of the text. Strictly speaking, there is probably a lot more here than you would fit into a 1 hour lesson, so you may wish to spread this over a couple of lessons, or perhaps be a little selective with the tasks you wish to do. Buy in confidence from a TES recommended author! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Everything you need to teach Act 3 Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is also available as part of a complete scheme of work whereby a considerable saving can be made; further details can be found here. The lessons have been created specifically for teaching at GCSE level, and cover the key assessment objectives for 9-1 New-Specification AQA: understanding of the text, language and structure, context/themes/author intent (although equally applicable to other exam boards). Differentiated outcomes and tasks allow you to reach all learners, although I would recommend the lessons specifically for middle to higher ability students. Throughout the scheme, students are encouraged to make notes and annotate the text, as this will be a valuable revision tool when preparing for exams. Teacher notes are provided on the PowerPoint to help explain and guide you through all phases of the lesson, with a range of interesting and engaging tasks for you to choose from. Importantly, full analysis is provided for all the tasks set, to enable you to lead interesting and engaging discussions which will deepen the students’ appreciation of the text. Strictly speaking, there is probably a lot more here than you would fit into a 1 hour lesson, so you may wish to spread this over a couple of lessons, or perhaps be a little selective with the tasks you wish to do. Buy in confidence from a TES recommended gold author! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

A lively and engaging lesson developing students’ ability to use the senses in their writing. Ideal in preparing students for GCSE English Language Paper 1, Section B. The full scheme of work is available to purchase for just £5. Click this link to check it out! A range of activities designed to develop your pupils’ imagination and descriptive writing skills. Lots of image based activities which connect quite strongly to what they will encounter in the writing section of paper 1 on the new AQA 9-1 Language syllabus. A wide range of engaging activities including games, movie clips and extended writing tasks. Would work well as a standalone writing/literacy lesson or as part of the paper 1 writing scheme of work of which this is a part. If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

A lively and engaging lesson developing students’ ability to use a range of sentence structures and sentence openers. Ideal in preparing students for GCSE English Language Paper 1, Section B. The full scheme of work is available to purchase for just £5. Click this link to check it out! In this lesson, a range of activities have been designed to develop your pupils’ imagination and descriptive writing skills. Lots of image based activities which connect quite strongly to what they will encounter in the writing section of paper 1 on the new AQA 9-1 Language syllabus. There are a wide range of activities that should keep your students busy for at least a couple of lessons. Would work well as a standalone writing/literacy lesson or as part of the paper 1 writing scheme of work of which this is a part. Ready to go, lots of differentiation and Assessment for Learning built in to the activities. If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

This is a lively and engaging resource developing students’ word choices and general vocabulary skills. Ideal in preparing students for GCSE English Language Paper 1, Section B. The full scheme of work is available to purchase for just £5. Click this link to check it out! A range of activities designed to develop your pupils’ vocabulary use and to also get them into positive habits of editing and improving vocabulary after having ‘finished’. This has been designed with the new AQA Language Paper 1 specification in mind, which places heavy emphasis on making effective vocabulary choices in the writing, but is equally useful for KS3 teaching and for other major GCSE exam boards. Would work well as a standalone writing/literacy lesson or as part of the paper 1 writing scheme of work of which this is a part. If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

This booklet contains over 16 exam style questions based on all the key extracts from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Exam questions are worded in accordance with the latest GCSE 9-1 specification. Whilst I created this resource with AQA in mind, I’m sure this would prove useful for other exam boards too. Extracts are in chronological order, so students also revise plot and the development of themes/ideas as they tackle the questions. Each question is unique, meaning that the study guide covers all the major themes, events and characters in the novel. Ideal for all teachers as there are (obviously) very few past papers for the new specification. I reckon I’ve predicted a few future exam questions here! Visual aids for each stave, and for certain extracts, are provided to help remind students of key events. There’s also lots of exam tips to help students produce more effective exam responses, containing content and analysis that examiners are specifically looking for. My students have found the booklets very useful as it has allowed them to tackle a range of exam questions at home, meaning they feel prepared for the real thing. Ready to roll, everything a student needs to revise for the exam and boost their confidence in the run up to the exam. Little/no adaptation required. Enjoy! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased.

*Updated for 2018* Here I have a lesson on using evidence and quotations in reading responses (AO1 for any AQA teachers out there!) Skills building is a great way to develop your students across all their set texts and for both language and literature. I've found it to work really well as revision in the run up to the exams. I used the short story 'Examination Day' by Henry Slesar as source material and students learn about the following aspects of AO1: * Active reading strategies to find appropriate evidence for use in a response * Making thoughtful and judicious choices when selecting evidence (quotes) * Using embedded quotations * Using quotations from different points in the text within one paragraph(synthesis) * Revising and perfecting the skills at home with the revision worksheet It's all ready to go. Would suit middle and higher ability students and little adaptation is required. This is geared towards the new AQA specification, but would work equally well in preparation for other exam boards as the skills are quite generic. As an AQA examiner, I have tailored this lesson to pinpoint some of the common pitfalls that candidates make in relation to using evidence and quotations in their responses. All fully resourced and ready to go with no adaptation required. I have attached a PDF copy of the short story - though I am not the copyright author for this resource and have attached it purely to facilitate the activities in the lesson. The TES preview function seems to be playing up with some of my resources at present, though I can assure you they will download correctly as I have tested this myself. If you make a purchase and find the resource useful, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review for the resource purchased, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username alongside a link to the resource you would like. Your free resource will then be sent over right away!

Developed specifically for the new AQA GCSE English Literature specification (yet equally suitable for other examination boards), here is a detailed comprehension work book. revision guide for Stave 3 of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. This is basically a mini scheme/unit of work in a booklet and would work brilliantly as either revision for your students, independent study work for cover, tutoring and home schooling, or for students to actively read the text and consolidate their understanding as they read. Huge range of comprehension questions exploring plot, character, themes, context and writer’s messages and intentions. Ideal preparation for the AQA English Literature qualification as all the Assessment Objectives are covered. 13 pages packed full of content; a wide range of engaging activities are included. A PDF copy of the source text has been included to support the page references in the workbook only. Due to the age of the source text, it is out of copyright and is available to share. Resource is absolutely ready to go, you won’t need to edit or tweak the resource for it to work with your groups. Ideal for low maintenance teaching or revision. If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Developed specifically for the new AQA 9-1 GCSE English Literature specification (yet equally suitable for other examination boards), here is a detailed comprehension work book for Chapters 5 and 6 - ‘Incident of the letter’ and ‘The remarkable incident of Dr Lanyon’ of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’. This is basically a mini scheme/unit of work in a booklet and would work brilliantly as either revision for your students, independent study work for cover, tutoring and home schooling, or for students to actively read the text and consolidate their understanding as they read. Huge range of comprehension questions exploring plot, character, themes, context and writer’s messages and intentions. Questions are in chronological order (in line with events from the text) so very easy to follow and is an ideal teaching tool to ensure students are actively reading and engaging with the text. Ideal preparation for the AQA English Literature qualification as all the Assessment Objectives are covered. Covers everything they need to know for the chapter really. Due to the challenging nature of the source text, I’d say this is more geared towards middle and higher ability students. Resource is absolutely ready to go! If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

Developed specifically for the new AQA GCSE English Literature specification (yet equally suitable for other examination boards), here is a detailed comprehension work book. revision guide for Stave 5 of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. This is basically a mini scheme/unit of work in a booklet and would work brilliantly as either revision for your students, independent study work for cover, tutoring and home schooling, or for students to actively read the text and consolidate their understanding as they read. Huge range of comprehension questions exploring plot, character, themes, context and writer’s messages and intentions. Ideal preparation for the AQA English Literature qualification as all the Assessment Objectives are covered. 13 pages packed full of content; a wide range of engaging activities are included. A PDF copy of the source text has been included to support the page references in the workbook only. Due to the age of the source text, it is out of copyright and is available to share. Resource is absolutely ready to go, you won’t need to edit or tweak the resource for it to work with your groups. Ideal for low maintenance teaching or revision. If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)

This is a fully resourced lesson about using colons. Available as part of a punctuation and SPaG scheme of work here. Lessons are ideal for KS3 and KS4 students with a fun and light-hearted feel. Could also be taught to higher ability KS2 students. Would suit a range of abilities as there is lots of scope for stretch and challenge, with ambitious success criteria and extension tasks built in throughout. Scaffolding and differentiation options are built in where appropriate. Fully resourced and ready to roll, minimal adaptation or tweaking required. This is obviously a SPaG/Punctuation lesson, but it is equally focused on creative/descriptive writing too. Much of the content is therefore ideal for teaching general creative writing skills or preparing for the fiction writing task on the new specification GCSE English exam. There’s at least a lesson’s work here; it usually takes a couple of lessons to get through all the content due to the detailed and structured nature of the writing task. If you loved the resource and think it’s worth 5 stars, why not get another one absolutely free? Simply leave a review, email ireviewedajs@outlook.com with your TES username and state the free resource* you would like! (Free resource cannot exceed the value of the original resource purchased)