20 GCSE English Paper 1 Q5 Descriptive & Narrative Writing Questions (Sci-Fi/Fantasy Themed)

This pack of picture questions is designed for AQA GCSE English Language 9-1, but focusing on images from the the sci-fi and fantasy genre. I created them “on demand” for my students who wanted some stimulus material that was a little more bloodthirsty than usual! Having said that, I think I have managed to keep them below what might scare your average Year 10 or 11 student. The responses you get may well make your hair stand on end, though, if “my lot” are anything to go by…!

They simulate Paper 1 Question 5 where students are given a picture and are presented with two options (it’s hard, almost to call them questions!). The tasks can be for a descriptive or a narrative response. I hope that you will be able to use this pack to help you increase the story-telling powers of your learners as well as their descriptive prowess.

The pack is editable although I have included PDFs if you don’t need to… However, it looks lovely printed in colour and laminated (for use in multiple classes without them getting too battered!).

The pack gives teachers the opportunity to have a selection of ready-made questions for Paper 1 Question 5. These can be used to ensure that there are always writing tasks at hand. They might be used to stimulate class or small group discussion or can be used as interchangeable exercises to be done during a session. I hope that there is a sufficient variety of images in this pack to pique the interest of even the most reluctant of writers. By giving your learners a choice of task (while the assessment objectives - A05 and A06 remain the same) these sample questions might help to ensure both differentiation and an element of choice.

Each is formatted to include the question on a single A4 sheet. The originals are also included on their own if you would like to use them without the question stimulus.

These exercises cover the following Assessment Objectives:
AO5: Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences. Organise information and ideas, using structural and grammatical features to support coherence and cohesion of texts
AO6: Candidates must use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.

The pack is fairly diverse - however I am restricted to sourcing images that are modifiable and can be used for commercial purposes. There is a link to the creator of the image on each of them if you do want to check the Creative Commons license (and to give the creators the credit they deserve too, of course!).