A fun set of activities to begin a creative unit on characterisation. Using a picture as stimulus it prompts pupils to develop a well-rounded character and think about how to include different aspects in their own writing. Several checkpoint activities such as Fill in the Gaps reinforce learning. The lesson has more activities than required so you can include/exclude whichever activities you like depending on your group and their abilities. The Learning Objectives are scaffolded Good and Better so you can ensure everyone is meeting the objective, whilst stretching the more able. I have included the 11 slide powerpoint which has enough activities to fill a 100 minute lesson and a printable PDF handout.

A Dominoes Activity useful for whole class or pair work revision of some key terms including: lingua franca taboo affordances CMC familect 11 cards in total - each student would take a card, and whoever has a card with only a question on begins the game. The student with the answer on their card would reply and then state their question. This continues until all answers have been stated. A useful follow on activity would be to ask students to create their own set of dominoes or question loop cards to test each others' understanding. It was used with a Year 12 and a Year 13 English Language class for the AQA English and both classes enjoyed the activity. Included is a PDF file with all eleven sheets, you simply need to print and cut out the dominoes (laminating if you so desire for longevity).

Using the Story Grid method this resource enables you to make your pupils familiar with the Dickensian writing style in an engaging and memorable way. A fully resourced lesson with Powerpoint and A3 colour story grid with a die template it will enable pupils to produce their own Dickensian story using Dickensian features such as hyperbole, simile and metaphor, aptronyms etc. The lesson is designed to fill 100 minutes, with an engaging starter activity which has a cross-curricular link with Maths. The task is differentiated and you can allocate your pupils different tasks depending on ability. The resource is not specific to any Dickens text, so could be used with Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol etc. Suitable for both KS3 and KS4 pupils it aims to engage them in the literary features common to Dickens and aims to enable them to reproduce them in their own writing. If you would like to see a similar Story Grid I produced for the Horror Genre please go to: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/creative-writing-horror-story-grid-11247941 This resource contains only a Story Grid not the accompanying Powerpoint or die template this resource contains.

An engaging resource using the Story Grid method this seeks to make pupils familiar with the conventions of Horror Stories and encourages them to include these stylistic features in their own writing. Pupils work in pairs, they must roll a die and write about the square their roll tells them to write about. E.g. Pupil 1 rolls a 2, Pupils 2 rolls a 4 they should make sure they "Open your sentence with an adverb. (e.g. quickly, slowly,suddenly)" They should roll enough times that they construct a full and detailed story. For the plenary they could then share their stories and identify who best used the horror story genre, who managed to subvert it etc. Designed for both KS3 and KS4 this open-ended task is differentiated by outcome. Please leave feedback on how you used this resource in your classroom.

A stand alone lesson on colour symbolism and idioms which could be incorporated into a Creative Writing Scheme of Work. Using the concept of positive and negative connotations of colour pupils are set a task to interpret a picture using what they have learnt. Can be used with KS3 and 4 to develop descriptive writing skills.

These worksheets have been designed to help you teach pupils the power of aptly named characters. Pupils will be introduced to the concept, and explore examples of aptronyms. Finally they will have the chance to use their knowledge of aptronyms in their own stories. If you want pupils to learn the power of concise description this is the worksheet for you!