Carousel activity with A3 sheets, posters for around the room and PPT all included with PDF and publisher files for ease of use and so you can adapt these. Speaking and listening activity for Y8, can be differentiated up or down. Objective: To explain who is to blame for the tragic events of Romeo and Juliet. Outcomes: To present my reasons to the class for a speaking and listening activity. Literacy objective: Doubling the consonant shortens the vowel sound. E.g. Bate – batting, Ripe - ripping Starter: Pupils write down phrases to do with Romeo and Juliet in a Venn diagram, this will help them with their speaking and listening paragraph later on in the lesson. At least 5 phrases for both Romeo and Juliet. Then pupils use their A3 sheets to go in pairs around the room and take notes and give a rating out of 10 to how much they feel the character is to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. 1) Romeo, 2) Juliet, 3) The Montagues, 4) The Capulets, 5) Friar Lawrence, 6) The Nurse, 7) Mercutio, 8) Tybalt. A3 sheet is included in PDF and publisher file. 4 minutes on each station. Pupils then write a paragraph (sentence starters included and challenge activity - ambitious vocabulary) explaining their reasons why they feel one character is the most to blame. Using A3 sheet to help. Carousel posters around the room give reasons and questions afterward to encourage pupils to think for themselves. Then pupils, in register order, must read out their paragraphs one by on for the speaking and listening activity. (Challenge - adopt a serious tone, like you are trying to convince a jury). Then class together says who they think is to blame, and two pupils help to create a tally chart on the board to present our final verdict on who is the most to blame. Plenary to put a post it describing their view of the play on the board, 1-10, 1 being 'tragic', 10 being 'exciting'. Then they can explain their verdict. This can be stretched over two lessons or one, depending on length of time pupils have in class and ability.

Full lesson PowerPoint which goes through the reasons for using dialogue in your writing, the Golden Rules of dialogue. This leads on to the children reading the three extracts from Harry Potter (written out for you in the attached Word document) and a task sheet (again attached). The pupils must: Identify characteristics of dialogue in the three extracts (why the dialogue is used e.g. does it reveal character relationships, move the story forward or build tension), explain how Rowling has showed this characteristic, find a quote and explain why Rowling may have chose this use of dialogue in the extract, e.g. at what point of the story is this dialogue occurring? WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) is also included in the PowerPoint.

Objective: To identify the different features of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. Outcomes: To compare these features in a table. This lesson goes through the differences between broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. Starter looks at two different front pages, one tabloid, one broadsheet. It then goes through the differences with the pupils. Sensational news and the public interest is also covered. Main task is to read through a 'Broadsheet vs Tabloid' article. Then pupils will annotate these two articles e.g. language differences, differences in headline. They then fill out a table with Newspaper 1/Newspaper 2. Plenary goes over headline count (how journalists count letters/numbers/symbols) and pupils can create a headline to match the count of 25. Lesson could be differentiated up or down, with more or less complex stories.

Objective: To investigate how Shakespeare builds tension using dramatic techniques. Outcomes: To evaluate the effect of the dramatic techniques in Act 3, Scene 1. Literacy objective: Doubling the consonant shortens the vowel sound. E.g. Bate – batting, Ripe - ripping This lesson included some PRT (pupil response time) at the start aka purple pen, so they could make some corrections - took 5/10 minutes off the lesson. Starter - pathetic fallacy key terminology - what kind of a mood do these images create. 6 images on the board. Challenge - what kind of a mood was Act 2, Scene 6 (marriage). Recap of the scene before watching the clip from the Baz Luhrmann DVD. After watching the clip (DVD - not included) then discussion to talk about the tension created within the scene and linking to pathetic fallacy. How, when Mercutio falls, the storm comes. Then pupils in groups or pairs, use a card sort activity (included) going through the quotes and plotting when the dialogue was said, and whether or not it increased or decreased tension. Time/Tension graph - linking to numeracy within the curriculum. Discussion when finished, plotting the time over tension graph on the board with key quotes. Then pupils for their independent 10 time choose a quote from the graph that is of high or low tension and they then explode this quote in their books. AO3 context challenge. Model explode-a-quote is included. Plenary for pupils to create a series of text messages between Benvolio, Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo about the happenings of Act 3, Scene 1. For A3 tension over time graph, there is one illustrated on the PPT and I just drew this out onto A3 paper.

GCSE Unseen Poetry comparison A3 scaffolded sheet, both original publisher file and PDF file for ease of printing. Poem: Autumn by Alan Bold (I don't own this poem). Very useful for the section A analysis of unseen poetry for Eduqas WJEC. Sheets scaffold the pupils to bullet pointing the meaning, mood of the poem. Then discussing the language/spotting devices, identifying structure and seeing if there is a deeper meaning, and the effect the poem has on the reader. Lovely resource and well scaffolded for the ability of my classes. Easily differentiated up or down, this worked with low set year 9 as well as GCSE.

Whole lesson with accompanying A3 differentiated worksheet for a 'way into' the poem for low ability year 8. This could be used for all KS3 classes or low ability Y10/11 as well if this is in your anthology. Lesson uses a post it starter and image starter to engage and think about the metaphors in the poem, e.g. anchor, kite. What could these represent? Then pupils work around the A3 sheet both collaboratively with 'think, pair, share' signposted boxes and independently, with writing full sentences and justifying their responses. This worked well with my low ability Y8 class. After every box I used whole class feedback before moving on. After the A3 sheet, pupils write a letter (10 minute timer) from the perspective of the son, telling the mother the reasons he is moving out with success criteria. Glossary to go through with pupils with some of the more sophisticated vocabulary in the poem. I have included the publisher and PDF files of the A3 sheet for ease of use.

Lesson PowerPoint on a character comparison of the two main families in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for year seven.

Full lesson on GCSE transactional writing (reports). Objective: To identify the features of a report. Outcomes: To produce a plan for a report using detailed content and the required structure. Literacy objective: An apostrophe must be used to show you have missed out letters in a contracted word. E.g. Should'nt - should not. Literacy starter is a contraction wheel. Lesson goes through what a report is, the purposes of a report, the audience and possible content. Starter allows the pupils to think for themselves what might be in a report (content), and a vocab-builder allows them to engage with formal vocabulary A06. The lesson then picks apart a report question, and allows pupils to investigate the purpose/audience/tone and format of the transactional writing question. Pupils then complete a table of positives/negatives to do with a school facility, read through a model report (either alone or with classroom teacher) and then complete their aims/questions in their introductory paragraph and their data collection paragraph in independent 10 task time with success criteria and a grammar challenge. Plenary to assess their knowledge of the features of a report.

GCSE Unseen Poetry comparison A3 scaffolded sheet, both original publisher file and PDF file for ease of printing. Poems: Geriatric Ward and Warning. I don't own these poems. Sheets scaffold the pupils to bullet pointing the meaning, mood of the poem. Then discussing the language/spotting devices, identifying structure and seeing if there is a deeper meaning, and the effect the poems have on the reader. Lovely resource and well scaffolded for the ability of my classes. Easily differentiated up or down, this worked with low set year 9 as well as GCSE.

Speaking and listening criteria for assessments at the end of term or half term. Key at the bottom of the pass/merit/dist criteria to easily highlight what pupils have done well WWW and their EBI in another highlighter.

Objective: To investigate evidence which explores the characters of the Nurse and Friar Lawrence. Outcomes: To compare and contrast the attitudes of the Nurse and Friar Lawrence in Act 2. Literacy objective: When a word ends in ‘e’, you must always remove it when adding ‘-ing’. Starter: Task: Write a sentence to compare these two pictures using a comparative or contrasting conjunction. Use the word bank below to help you. Elephant and a mouse with comparative connectives to help. Comparing and orange and an apple. Going over the main plot of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse within Romeo and Juliet. Key terminology: Foreshadowing. Think pair share activity on an A3 sheet to help compare and contrast the attitudes of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse. Using comparative connectives. Venn diagram to compare and contrast different adjectives which might apply to FL or N. Main task: To compare and contrast the attitudes on an A3 sheet. Models with analysis for a response for Friar Lawrence and the Nurse. Evidence and then exploding the quote. Then comparing whether it is similar or different. AO3 context challenge. Assessment objectives to go over how they should respond. Task to compare and contrast by writing a paragraph - success criteria with AO1, AO2 and AO3 context challenge. Half way through their independent 10 - stop - and read the model response from the teacher to see if they can improve their answer. Post it plenary to put their post it on the 1-10 scale either 1 its tragic or 10 its exciting. Then discuss how they feel about the play so far.

Objective: To investigate the language used by Romeo in Act I, Scene 5. Outcomes: To respond to a question about the language used which reveals his feelings for Juliet. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet lesson - Act 1, Scene 5. This lesson explores Romeo's soliloquy in detail to explore the language Shakespeare uses, group work and assessment writing included with model response and key terminology (Eduqas WJEC exam board). All group work is included in the original publisher format and PDF format for ease of use. This was taught to very top set Year 8 - GCSE standard lesson and writing. Easily differentiated up and down with support and challenge cards included. Group work for support within the class. Literacy starter: Adding an ‘e’ to the end of a word changes the sound of the first vowel Starter: Images on the board of earrings, hands, dove, torches, stars. Key terminology introduced: Connotation. Pupils exploring what the images connote. Clip embedded of Romeo first spotting Juliet in the Baz Luhrmann version. Pupils to write down on post-it three adjectives to describe how Romeo reacts. Then showing the class the full soliloquy and reading through, asking if they can add anything to their post it. Key terminology: Soliloquy. Ten minute timer embedded for pupils to explore the language used in the soliloquy in groups. Challenge: Include AO3 context. I used different coloured pens to see which pupils have wrote what, to check progress. Example model of exploding a quote from Romeo and Juliet's exchange - discussing AO2 structure - sentence moods - exclamative, interrogative, imperative etc. AO1 feelings and AO3 context challenge. Simplifying the exam board marking scheme - pupils aiming for 3-4 grade band. Then pupils shown a model response with the different AO's highlighted in three different colours for clarification. Ten minute timer on the board for writing time, with success criteria and sentence starter. With AO3 challenge included too. Support station - Sentence support and challenge cards at the back of the classroom (included). (This next section can be adapted if the pupils are of a lower ability or lack of time) Then pupils swapped their sheets by sticking their annotated sheet on the board with blue tac and taking another partner's. Then pupils analyse and write a response with another groups annotations. Then self assessment to identify the different AO points they have used within their responses. They can add their EBI if they haven't included something e.g. embedded quotes for AO1, or AO3 context challenge. Plenary: To tweet Romeo's reaction to seeing Juliet. Pupils can use an emoji to illustrate his reaction. This lesson worked very well with top set year 8, currently on level 3/4 grade boundaries for GCSE level, so this would work well with any GCSE class.

Two full lessons with model responses within a table of comparison for two attitudes to nursing extracts, one modern, one historic, and model paragraph with sentence starters for comparison between Duchess of Cambridge and Queen Victoria's wedding. Latter lesson includes A3 extract sheet which 'chunks' down tasks to scaffold a response for their exam style response question at the end of the lesson. Confidence checks included within the lesson. Second lesson was an observation lesson, rated 'Good/Outstanding'. Lesson 1: Objective: To compare and contrast information from two texts. Outcomes: To respond to a comparison-style exam question. Literacy objective: When a word ends in ‘e’, you must always remove it when adding ‘-ing’. Recap of component 1 reading exam (30%) question 5/6. Starter: Compare/contrast using conjunction bank. Elephant/mouse, apple/orange. Helpful tips for AO3. Then looking at the exam question - comparison attitudes to nursing and how writers get their argument across. Modern article has model responses (differentiation - pupils can find their own examples to compare). Within this lesson, pupils read through the historic text (Florence Nightingale) to find success criteria, highlight and annotate, and then 'chop up' their ideas and write them into the comparison table. Recap of the question, then pupils write their response. Sentence starters for support and 10 minute timer added. Connective bank included to support writing. Self assessment. Post-it plenary to give one comparison they gave in their response. Lesson 2: Objective: To compare and contrast information from two texts. Outcomes: To respond to a comparison-style exam question. Recap of component 2 reading. Confidence check 1-10. Emojis to support their rating. Starter: spot the difference between the two images with connective bank. Secondary starter: Two clips, one of DoC's wedding and fictional portrayal of QV's wedding. Write on post it ambitious adjectives and comparisons. Read through the two A3 extracts about arrival of royal wedding. 'Chunking' tasks to scaffold their responses. Success criteria for pupils to look through and find. Model example on the sheet. Challenge task: find the mood and how it compares. Then response: comment on, what is said (ideas), how it is said (terminology). Question support with sentence starters and a model answer, and a paragraph response structure. Connective bank. Self assessment and final confidence check. This was my observation lesson, rating Good/Outstanding.

KS3 year 8 low ability (can be adapted or used for any KS3 or KS4 class with differentiated questions). The worksheet allows ways into the poem e.g. list all of the verbs within the poem (doing words), challenge to find personification throughout the poem. Using collaborative work and individual work with think, pair, share activity boxes to chunk their way into the poem. Discussing structure and reflecting the way Shelley references pairs within the poem. Challenge to link to religion - coming from a short Shelley context discussion before the lesson. This worked very well with my low ability Y8's. Both publisher and pdf files for ease of use.

Two medium term plans for a short transactional writing section of the KS3/4 curriculum.

Three full weeks of A Monster Calls study for Year 7/KS3. This goes up to 'destruction'. All lessons have outcomes/objectives/homework included and a range of engaging activities. This worked very well with year 7, but then I swapped novels halfway through the half term.

KS3 lesson developing noun and verb use, including an extract to complete. Precise noun: A noun (naming word) which is more descriptive and aids in telling the reader more about the story. E.g. ‘Mercedes Benz’ instead of car. Ambitious verb: A verb (doing word) which gives more description so the reader can picture images in their mind. E.g. ‘Slithered’ instead of walked (to describe someone who was sneaking around). Learning Objective: To learn how to develop nouns and verbs to create descriptive sentences. Learning Outcome: All will rewrite sentences using ambitious vocabulary and tasks in the PowerPoint Most will complete the Skellig work sheet Some will complete the extension work and create their own sentences using knowledge they have learnt so far (reward – Vivo points/IRIS rewards etc) To differentiate the work, I have included a variety of resources including a match-up task on the board. Fill-in the blanks work sheet and a challenge task for the HA in the class to complete, with added rewards (Vivo points) to encourage the children to take on this challenge task.

Objective: To identify the features of a broadsheet comment article. Outcome: To apply our understanding to write a short comment piece, using the required features. Literacy objective: Effect/Affect This lesson starts with a discussion to whether the opinions of the journalist should ever influence their writing - issues of bias. Then this leads onto comment articles (opinion writing). It then discusses the features of opinion writing and what it must include e.g. the news peg and a leading statement which shocks the audience. Main body of the text - writers opinion, quotes and main issues. Conclusion - summary and driving-home the most powerful point. Main task is to read though a comment piece to identify the features. Then pupils are given four briefs with provocative statements on with issues, quotes, statistics etc. Task: Your job as a journalist is to write a comment (opinion) article about one statement. There are news facts, quotes and statistics included in your brief to help you, and the structure to follow. Plenary to calculate the headline count for different headlines, then create their own.

Small sheet resource to support pupils in writing a letter of complaint to a theme park. Supports highest grades with use of a clear voice and taking on the persona of another.

Objective: To identify techniques used within the war poem Bayonet Charge. Outcomes: To apply our knowledge to discuss the attitudes and realities of the soldier. Lesson analysing the poem Bayonet Charge by Ted Hughes. Starter to engage using an image, then a word sort activity to identify the key themes in the poem. Main task after analysing and discussing is to write an overview of the poem.