Quite simply, using the key word skills hierarchy 'descriptors' from the new AQA English mark schemes, I have produced comment banks which teachers might wish to use in their report writing which address all of the AOs for WRITING. The key word descriptors are as follows: 'simple and limited', 'some success', 'generally and appropriately', 'consistently and clear' and 'compelling and convincing.' These comment banks could be imported into whole-school assessment reporting, tracking and recording software like SIMS to make report writing easier. If you find this resource useful, check out the Comment Banks for READING skills, too.

A 36 page pupil activity workbook for less able students to complete as they study 'The Hound of the Baskervilles.' Also available to download is a set of SMART Notebook slides, replicating the pages of the Pupil Workbook for the purpose of whole class, interactive whiteboard teaching. UPDATED FEB 7th 2017: SMART Notebook slides now also include newspaper report task and cloze activity version. There are a variety of activities including: * cloze activity chapter summaries for almost all chapters * chapter summary completion activities using sentence stem prompts as an extension activity * 'The Missing Boots' - diary entry as cloze exercise and also with sentence stems for extension * Watson's first letter to Holmes, as cloze or with paragraph topic sentence stems as extension * Watson's second letter to Holmes, as cloze or with paragraph topic sentence stems as extension * Newspaper report - as cloze or with some prompts to scaffold more independent writing * Post-reading explanation of aspects of plot devices - applying inference and deduction skills * Book cover design and blurb task: including design task memo, planning page and book cover template I have designed this workbook for use with a published abridged prose version of the novel but as the abridged version is very faithful to the original novel, it is suitable for use with the original, too! UPDATED: The abridged version is this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Level-Baskervilles-Pearson-English-Readers/dp/1405862483 I hope this of use to you. Feel free to download the workbook - please leave a review and let me know what you think of it! Matt :)

Quite simply, using the key word skills hierarchy 'descriptors' from the new AQA English mark schemes, I have produced comment banks which teachers might wish to use in their report writing which address all of the AOs for READING. The key word descriptors are as follows: 'simple and limited', 'some attempt', 'describes', 'clearly explains', 'explores and analyses' and 'evaluates.' These comment banks could be imported into whole-school assessment reporting, tracking and recording software like SIMS to make report writing easier. If you find this resource useful, check out the Comment Banks for WRITING skills, too.

Using an extract from George Orwell's non-fiction, "Shooting an Elephant" (1936) and an article taken from The Daily Mail online from 2011, the theme of these two non-fiction texts is attitudes towards elephants. I have adapted the texts, simplifying some vocabulary and sentencing to make them a little more accessible to students whose reading ages are significantly lower than their chronological age, to provide an appropriate point of access to the skills demanded by the new AQA GCSE Language Paper 2A exam paper. Also included is a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole-class interactive whiteboard teaching of this resource. I have adhered to the phrasing of the questions, but the tasks are differentiated thus: Q1 - same as the actual exam paper Q2 - cloze exercise of the summary (this could be easily tweaked to sentence stems) Q3a - highlight and write down 3 relevant examples of language used to convey viewpoint Q3b - cloze exercise of use of language to convey viewpoint and attitude (again, could easily be tweaked to the sentence stems of a PEE paragraph where pupils supply the point, evidence and explain how it conveys the writer's viewpoint.) I have not included the Q4 'comparison of methods to convey attitudes' task as it is a skill currently beyond the ability of the students for whom I have produced this resource. I hope that it might be of some use to others. I have produced 8 of these highly differentiated resources, all available FREE at my 'shop'. Please help yourself! Matt :)

Four spreadsheets, one for each of the AQA GCSE Language and Literature exam papers. Input the students’ scores Q by Q and the cells automatically turn shades of red, amber and green, enabling you to see at a glance individual or collective strengths and areas for further teaching or revision. These columns are protected so the formulae cannot be accidentally corrupted. There are 250 rows so it’s useful for either the individual teacher or for use across the Year group. Simply input the scores, the rest is automatic: the raw total, expressed also as a percentage and then converting automatically to the grade equivalent based on AQA’s published grade boundaries FOR EACH PAPER (not overall!) It might help inform your planning or to identify patterns of underperformance across a teaching group or across the department, so you can tailor interventions which target specific students on specific questions. Hope you find them useful.

A scheme of work, comprising 18 (hour long) lessons - each of which is a series of SMART Notebook slides for interactive, whole-class teaching and learning, containing: * learning objectives / outcomes * starter activity - anagrams of key words / crossword puzzle / wordsearch * electronic versions of the pupil resources / hand-outs / excerpts * context-based tasks focusing on language analysis, using essay based steers such as: "How does Orwell make this such a (dramatic/shocking/memorable etc.) moment in the novel?" * plenary activity Some of the content coverage includes: * allegory / fable * satire * persuasive rhetoric - language analysis * Newspaper article of the Battle of the Cowshed * irony - exploring the poem about Napoleon in Chapter 8 * developing of language analysis skills, with close reference to 4 dramatic or shocking moments Each lesson and any accompanying resources/worksheets are organised into 18 sub-folders, lesson by lesson, for your convenience. Hope it's of some use to you. Matt :)

Several starter activity puzzles for use with Philip Pullman's adaptation of 'Frankenstein.' Designed for use by pupils at Key Stage 3.

A set of ten editable PPT slides for use with revision or consolidation of Dickens’ novella, “A Christmas Carol.” Each slide features a quotation integral to one of the novella’s main themes or characters and each contain four tasks: identifying a writer’s methods; linking the quotation to the novella’s social, cultural or historical contexts, contrast (or connect) to elsewhere in the novella; and synthesising details taken from the quotation for more sophisticated textual analysis. Feel free to tweak them, or add your own. There are sets for Macbeth and An Inspector Calls, too, if you like the format! Hope they are useful.

This resource has 8 x weekly SPaG review slides for use when teaching Macbeth. Each slide comprises 6 common areas of SPaG error for review and consolidation. Help yourself! PLEASE NOTE: Sell and be damned!

A practice exam paper for new AQA English Language Paper 1 Section A: 20th C fiction extract with Qs 1 to 4. In this extract, set in Newcastle during World War 2, a young boy named Chas McGill discovers something extraordinary in the woods near his home. Originally designed for use with pupils in Y7, to introduce the format of the new exam paper and to practise the skills tested by the exam. I thought this text quite accessible and hoped it might appeal to boys. The SMART Notebook slides are designed to assist your teaching of Qs 1 to 4, Q by Q. The 4 exam Qs follow the format of those in the approved AQA specimen papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of AQA practice exam Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thank you! I hope they are of some use to you! Matt :)

A collection of starter activities for use with Theresa Breslin's novel, 'Whispers in the Graveyard', from simple wordsearches and anagram puzzles of key word vocabulary to crossword puzzles testing reading comprehension and more challenging cryptogram puzzles. Solutions to the puzzles are provided at the end.

A variety of writing tasks: letters, newspaper articles, journal entries designed to consolidate pupils' comprehension of plot and characters. Useful classroom-based writing activities or set them as homeworks! Hope they're useful. Designed for use with students at KS3.

A highly differentiated AQA-style Language Paper 1A, designed for use with students who have very low-level literacy. There is a pupil workbook and also the SMART Notebook slides which replicate the workbook for interactive, whole-class teaching and learning. Q1 - as per exam paper Q2 - cloze exercise, modelling writing about language Q3 - sequencing structure and then cloze exercise, modelling use of structural features vocabulary. I've produced loads of these and they, like the typical specimen papers I have also produced, are available FREE at my shop. Hope it's of some use to you. Matt

Designed for less able students at Key Stage 3 or 4, this is a practice exam paper for the NEW AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading 20th C Fiction texts. I have adapted an extract taken from Conan-Doyle's "Hound of the Baskervilles" (1902), simplifying some of the vocab and sentencing to make the text a little more accessible for students whose reading age might be lower than their chronological age. I've also designed and uploaded a series of SMART Notebook slides for whole-class interactive teaching of the workbook, Q by Q. The format of the paper is as follows: Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise focusing on how the writer uses language to describe the fog Q3a - sequence a series of statements to show understanding of narrative events / structure Q3b - cloze activity, modelling Q3 response, for pupils to complete. I know that the new GCSE paper is untiered and students will not be given this level of support in the exam. However, it is intended to provide an appropriate point of access and opportunities for students whose literacy is a barrier to learning to practise the reading response skills demanded by this exam - and to support the teachers who have to deliver it! I hope that it is of some use to you. I have produced other resources like this one, using extracts from Frankenstein, The Hobbit, Skellig, War of the Worlds, A Christmas Carol, The Monkey's Paw, Dracula, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Pearl, The Machine Gunners, Buddy and Z for Zachariah. I've also uploaded loads of typical specimen exam papers for the new AQA 9 to 1 Language Paper 1 and 2s to my shop, all available FREE of charge, accompanied by SMART Notebook slides for teaching the exam paper Q by Q. Please leave a review and help yourself! Matt :)

A highly differentiated resource to support students whose literacy is a barrier to accessing the new GCSE English Language exam papers. I have adhered to the question format of Qs 1 to 3 of the exam paper but have scaffolded the responses to enable less able students to practise the skills demanded by the new AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading exam. To accompany the pupil workbook, I have produced a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole class interactive teaching of the resource. NOTE: I have produced lots of these differentiated papers now, using extracts taken from: The Monkey's Paw, The Hound of the Baskervilles, War of the Worlds, Dracula, The Pearl, The Machine Gunners, Z for Zachariah, The Sniper, A Christmas Carol, Frankenstein, Skellig, The Hobbit and more. Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise Q3a - sequence the statements to show understanding of narrative events Q3b - cloze exercise to show comprehension of narrative events, using specialist terminology I have also uploaded lots of differentiated new AQA 9 to 1 Language Paper 2s, all available FREE at my 'shop'. Also, loads of 'actual' specimen papers! Help yourself and please leave a review.

Using an autobiographical extract from the perspective of a passenger onboard the Titanic and an online fact file written by teens for teens over 100 years later, the theme of these two non-fiction texts is perspectives of the sinking of RMS Titanic. I have adapted the autobiographical text ever so slightly, simplifying some vocabulary and sentencing to make it a little more accessible to students whose reading ages are significantly lower than their chronological age, to provide an appropriate point of access to the skills demanded by the new AQA GCSE Language Paper 2A exam paper. Also included is a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole-class interactive whiteboard teaching. I have adhered to the phrasing of the questions, but the tasks are differentiated thus: Q1 - same as the actual exam paper Q2 - cloze exercise of the summary (this could be easily tweaked to sentence stems) Q3a - highlight and write down 3 relevant examples of language used to convey viewpoint Q3b - cloze exercise of use of language to convey viewpoint and attitude (again, this could easily be tweaked to the sentence stems of PEE paragraphs where pupils supply the point, evidence and explain how language is used to convey the author's viewpoint.) I have not included the Q4 'comparison of methods to convey attitudes' task as it is a skill currently beyond the ability of the students for whom I have produced this resource. I hope that it might be of some use to others. All are available FREE at my 'shop'. Help yourself! Matt :)

A highly differentiated resource to support students whose literacy is a barrier to accessing the new GCSE English Language exam papers. I have adhered to the question format of Qs 1 to 3 of the exam paper but have scaffolded the responses to enable less able students to practise the skills demanded by the new AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading exam. To accompany the pupil workbook, I have produced a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole class interactive teaching of the resource. Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise Q3a - sequence the statements to show understanding of narrative events Q3b - cloze exercise to show comprehension of narrative events, using specialist terminology NOTE: I have uploaded loads of these differentiated practice papers, as well as differentiated Language Paper 2s, all available FREE at my 'shop'. Also, loads of 'actual' specimen papers! Help yourself and please leave a review.

Help yourself. Just don’t sell it or you’ll be cursed with bad luck :)

A highly differentiated resource to support students whose literacy is a barrier to accessing the new GCSE English Language exam papers. I have adhered to the question format of Qs 1 to 3 of the exam paper but have scaffolded the responses to enable less able students to practise the skills demanded by the new AQA English Language Paper 1A: Reading exam. To accompany the pupil workbook, I have produced a set of SMART Notebook slides for whole class interactive teaching of the resource. Q1 - the same Q2 - cloze exercise Q3a - sequence the statements to show understanding of narrative events Q3b - cloze exercise to show comprehension of narrative events, using specialist terminology I have uploaded lots of these differentiated practice papers, as well as differentiated Language Paper 2s, all available FREE at my 'shop'. Also, loads of 'actual' specimen papers! Help yourself and please leave a review.

A collection of starter activities based on events and characters in the play, ranging from simple to very challenging so they are suitable for pupils of different abilities. Complete with solutions for busy teachers! Ideal for use at Key stage 3.