Based upon the popular game of Taboo included in this resource are 12 cards of common everyday products. Students work in pairs or could be completed as a starter to guess the product. The focus should be on describing what it looks like, its use of materials, its sustainability, recyclability etc. The words on each card cannot be used by the student describing the product. This is meant to promote discussion and support other tasks, any comments and suggestions would be welcome.

Based on the popular game 'Guess Who' this card game can be played in small groups. From two packs of cards one student picks a product whilst the group of students with their pack of cards try to identify it. This is achieved by asking questions about the products sustainability, function, use of material, design, aesthetics etc. This is should promote discussion and encourages students to make links between topics.

Three focused tasks which encourage students to research an important aspect of sustainability. The task requirements are presented under C and A grade criteria allowing tasks to be easily differentiated. These activities could be part of collaborative work and used for summative or formative assessment to determine progress/attainment. I hope to add a number of further tasks to this series, any ideas would be welcome.

Description: Formal way of sharing assessment with the pupils. Not to be used on its own, but in conjunction with other assessment strategies that are already in place. Objective: It should allow teachers to share with the pupil the marks for effort, their portfolio and product, whilst also communicating a target for further improvement. Expectations: Share assessment strategies with the pupils and promote their participation in Assessment for Learning. Hints: Use it in conjunction with other assessment, mark their folio as a whole or as separate tasks. The mark they achieve at the end is an overall grade, similar to what they would be given for GCSE coursework. This allows pupils to identify each task as having relative and equal importance.

A photocopiable one-point perspective grid which can be enlarged/reduced if needed. Students could draw directly onto the grid or this could be used as an underlay so that they can draw without the limitations of the grid.

A PDF poster that can be enlarged easily using Acrobat Reader. The poster uses a simple colour scheme and diagrams to illustrate where to hold the pencil and the angle required to reproduce a range of tones using a single pencil. This is for quick reference or could be used as a handout whilst focusing on technique. The diagrams are illustrative and try to focus pupils on technique rather than outcome. This poster represents the first of a range of posters I wish to make available on TES in the coming weeks/months.

Two simple documents that can be printed from the PDF files and photocopied so that they can be combined to a single, double-sided WS. It uses several simple tasks that can be used to reinforce the understanding of levers and their everyday application.

An easy to follow worksheet that is presented as a simple flowchart. The sheet has been designed to place underneath a student's design sheet on their non-writing side. Two versions are included with both right-handed and left-handed students catered for. The task is divided into three sections; good and bad features, design specification and moral, social, environmental and cultural issues. This provides a prompt that these should be discussed through annotation and does not provide a detailed overview of what these are. These sheet can be easily printed and laminated to be used across a range of ages and even act as a starting point for AS and A2.

Two worksheets included in this download; steel and its properties and types of metals. Both files are PDFs which will make them to scale up/down and print from either Mac or PC. The worksheets could be used as a starter, plenary, recap or revision exercise. There is no supporting PPT or additional notes provided with the worksheets. However, these have been used extensively and work well in the classroom.

This is a word file document which has been designed to reflect the current product design/resistant materials existing AQA GCSE exam paper. A series of metal focused questions have been written for KS3 pupils including; H&S, aesthetics, metalworking tools and brazing. However, if you are looking to write your own paper this will also act as a template. It is fully editable with a cover that includes the same information as the GCSE equivalent. This will make it much easier and quicker to author a paper that resembles the GCSE paper. Please note that the layout and style of the template reflect AQA and is most suitable to those working with the exam board. This resource does not use any information from any GCSE questions published by AQA.

A set of five worksheets and an additional sheet with diagrams that are in .pptx (PowerPoint) format and can be edited to suit your needs. An automatically updating date has been included at the top of the sheets that are the first for each task i.e. subtraction cutting tools. The worksheets allow GCSE students to make notes about tools used for cutting and filing metals. Used as a starter, plenary or note-taking exercise ensuring students establish firm-link between workshop practice and possible exam content. Diagrams included are collated from the Internet and are not mine.

This resource provides pupils with a partially completed sequence ‘drawing’ and a support sheet of photographs. They can identify the correct sequence of tasks, cut them out and stick onto the A3 overview page. Using the keywords pupils can then explain each of the main four stages. This task can be delivered before pupils tackle an exam-style (AQA) manufacturing question where they have to summarise the process of making into four stages using their own notes and sketches.

A peer assessment task that allows pupils to assess a peer's classwork, final product or model that they have completed. It also allows peers to set a target for improvement. Objective: Encourage pupils to create a balanced, critical view when evaluating a product. By promoting the evaluation of someone else's work, they are able to look at the product objectively without bias, particularly if the product they evaluate is not that of the person they sit next to. Assessment: It can be used to inform AoL and formally documented by a teacher, or used more readily in session by a teacher who can then recall common targets for improvement, discussing with Q&A how these could be achieved. Prior Knowledge: The criteria of the project, which will have been set by the classroom teacher or discussed in the form of a specification possibly. Expectations: Pupils should begin to create a balanced, structured argument about products in general. They should use their K&U along with their experiences to identify and set appropriate targets for themselves and their peers. Hints: These can be folded, hole punched and, with some string, tied to the product. To save on labour, the kids can do this, and it creates a simple practical element to the evaluation. Another way to do this is to print them, cut them out and glue them together. Laminate them and the pupils can then complete them with water-based markers, which can easily be wiped off. This is more time-consuming, but saves time in the lesson and saves materials in the long run

Four A3 literacy mats to support students whilst working in D&T. These include words that may be used for tasks in each of the areas of the subject (please note where words apply to multiple areas these are duplicated). The mats also include punctuation that students should use and guidance for a specific task in each area. Investigate - Design specification Design - Annotation Make - Flowchart Evaluate - Evaluation against specification This guidance is provided to support tasks. Sheets are colour coded and can be printed and laminated, PDF file format ensures that these can be easily viewed on mobile devices and through a projector. Easily scaled down or up using Adobe Reader whilst printing.