Students not adding enough detail to narrative writing? Are they unsure when to go in to a new paragraph? This game for two or more players can help support them in adding depth to their ideas while clearly defining what wouldn't be acceptable. It's lead to some really fun results which kids like to read out afterwards. Less able students may only do one each, whereas more able students can have a go at later ones independently. I've used this with students from KS3, 4 and even 5 as either a starter or development activity. It makes progress really clear to you and them.

I always find students struggle with writing articles, despite the number they read online every day! This resource includes several resources for writing non-fiction articles including examples of paragraphs. There is a synonym vocabulary game which can be used as a card sort, matching game or for snap based on problems associated with overpopulation in cities (which could be useful in Geography too). The presentation includes several starters, a spelling section, a game of Freeze!, a planning section, a debate section, and a main section which breaks down one way to develop paragraphs. There is a section on reading articles and a success criteria for writing them too. The presentation and one of the examples of writing are based on the topic of teenage health and fitness which seems to regularly pop up in exams and should be something they have a Marmite opinion on.

Everyone needs a hand with structure and planning. This is a simple one-page word document which breaks down a story into 8 paragraphs. Students can draw a picture for each box to help them visualise the most important part; higher ability students can write key vocabulary and style notes; or, for less able or SEN students, they can write a sentence or two and this can become a topic sentence for developing later.

This lesson uses UA Fanthorpe's poem Not My Best Side, which satirises the painting Saint George and the Dragon by Paolo Uccello, as a model for satirical writing about a series of paintings (also included on the Powerpoint). There are comprehension questions to go with each part of the poem and self-assessment criteria at the end. Makes for a good one-off lesson in any writing scheme, a Creative Writing club prompt, or as part of a scheme of work about fairytales or a PSHE lesson on subverting stereotypes.

I like to have inspirational quotations on the board while my students read. We often make time to discuss them at the end. These were simply compiled in one place and cost me nothing but time, so enjoy!

A great 20 minute activity for students to practice their listening skills. Makes a great introduction to learning about Brazil or to practice their English comprehension skills. You will need to download the 6 Minute English podcast on Brazil to go with these questions. Answers are provided and the students are asked to give top tips to improve their scores at the end. Ideas for top tips include using the correct units of measurement and changing the grammar of an answer to fit the question (i.e.: Portugal, not Portuguese for A3.) Enjoy!

A listening quiz to go with the podcast Lore, episode 22 on the legend of Spring-heeled Jack. Great for Victorian history or Gothic literature.

A listening quiz to go along with the BBC's 6 Minute English podcast on Superheroes. Useful for building vocabulary for a range of different abilities. Suitable for ESL EAL students and fluent English speakers.

15 research topics for students performing Sweeney Todd. Each research topic has at least three links to videos and websites. My students worked in pairs to prepare a factual powerpoint and a short scene or song about each topic with some very funny results! Enjoy!

Mrs Lovett's first song, shortened for the script available from my store. This plays in Media Player and VLC.

The shortened tracks to accompany the short Sweeney Todd script available from my store. First three tunes: Prelude, London and Alms here are all playable through Media Player or VLC.

My Friends, London and Alms songs, shortened to fit the script available from my store.

Toby's song, Perelli's Miracle Elixir, shortened to fit the script available from my store.

Pirelli's introduction and the shaving contest.

Mrs Lovett persuading Sweeney Todd what to do with the body.

The 10th and 11 musical snippets for the short Sweeney Todd script available from my store. Mrs Lovett and Toby sing as they sell their delicious pies, followed by the Beggar Woman's curses at the bakehouse.

"Don't I...know you...mister?"

The grand finale! Hold for applause....

City on Fire!

objectives writing challenges timed activities opportunities for discussion reflection building on their own interests minimal prep I created this to go with the KS3 Fantasy Writing Scheme of Work I also have for sale on here. It would be less 3 in there. I set brain storming homework before, but the results were wildly varied, often plagiarised,and 99% pointless. Teaching students to be creative sounds impossible but this is a really rewarding process for students to be able to draw on their own varied loves and build up stories based on their specific interests. When I did my Masters in Creative Writing at Warwick, we would do short writing tasks to explore our ideas, writing around the central story to create a sense of depth and scope to the world. This lesson builds students ideas from individual words up to a 1000-word piece using timed segments and opportunities for reflection and discussion, all focused around a Fantasy/Sci-Fi theme. Some of these ideas are from that course, others are from the FANTASTSIC resource “Ready, Set, Novel” published by Chronicle Books and building on the strategies developed over National Novel Writing Month. However all writing, descriptions, and further breaking down is mine. Objectives: Creating original and imaginative ideas. Reflecting those ideas effectively through descriptive writing. There is a plenary slide, but because of the idiosyncratic nature of school objectives, I have not added them to each slide, but it gives “excellent, great, good and let’s talk” standards which the students must use to assess their own imaginative ad creative writing. I would ask students to write them on Post-its so if they need to talk, they can throw these later (of course, once they’re over the horror of asking for help, they won’t bother removing it).