Using Island Man to teach about connotation and denotation of word choices.

This lesson is focused on Paper 1 Question 3 (AQA - commenting on the structure of the whole text). This seems to be a popular topic for interviews at the moment. I have used a very short extract with lots of shifts which widen and narrow the focus - Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Starter: Students rate their understanding of structural devices. Construct: Students try to identify narrative shifts in focus in the text. Main: Students look in more detail at the narrative shifts in the text. This activity is in the form of an A3 table and is differentiated. Bronze Level: Identify what is happening during each shift. Silver: Apply structural devices. Gold: Comment on the effect of structural devices. I have also included the lesson plan. For a more challenging class, students can use the extract from the opening of Kite Runner.

Revise 64 carefully selected mini quotations for the closed book examinations. Also includes a short summary of each scene to help students work out when each mini quotations is said. I have kept the quotations as concise as possible to aid with memory.

5 Exams written in the style of the new 9-1 AQA GCSE examination for Romeo and Juliet. For the exam on the theme of love there is a model answer for students to annotate. For the questions on the other themes, there is a 9 step grid for students to follow. I have also attached a generic writing frame for responding to any character or theme to help students with the 9 step method.

Revision lesson for Elizabethan context in Romeo and Juliet. Task 1: What do they already know. Task 2: Watch a short video and make notes. Task 3: Link words Task 4: Use the revision sheet for a carousel activity. Task 5: Review learning. Grouped under 5 headings (women, marriage, fate, death and honour, love) the worksheet works really well as a home and away group task.

A handy revision sheet covering characters, themes and context with key quotations and examination style questions. Also I have added the scenes from which all the quotations have been taken.

Questions on each scene to review understanding of the plot with an answer sheet

A useful model response for students to annotate which focuses on how the play interests a modern day audience.

Complete PowerPoint covering how to analyse the opening to the film.

Write a diary entry for Jonathan Starling in Darkside by Tom Becker. Also includes independent homework tasks and a task examining word choices.

Resources to help students write their own soap script. Includes a high level example and planning sheets to prompt ideas.

4 extracts from To Kill a Mockingbird each with a challenging question investigating the impact of language features.

A descriptive writing task inspired by an image of trench warfare. Links to the poem Exposure. There is a high level model response to inspire students along with a planning sheet.

Planning sheet to give ideas for a creative writing exercise on the theme of trapped. There is also a mid ability example response for students to annotate.

This acts as useful stimulus for travel writing about a place. There are short extracts on Liverpool, Blackpool. Llandudno and Milton Keynes. The questions ask students to locate positive and negative information about each place. Alternatively in the second worksheet they can be adapted into GCSE Paper 2 Eduqas style exam questions.

A lesson analysing how George and Lennie are presented in Chapter 1. Includes annotation of an extract, a sample paragraph followed by an independent task.

Analyse the opening to Saving Private Ryan essay plan

To Kill a Mockingbird: model essays on themes of prejudice and racism