UPDATED: August 19th, 2017 A booklet designed for use with the new AQA English Literature Paper 1: Shakespeare examination. The booklet comprises social, historical and cultural contexts information, a number of detailed character analyses, including: * Macbeth * Lady Macbeth * Banquo * The Weird Sisters and a variety of AQA-style Literature practice exam questions, with some prompts and a suggested essay structure writing frame to stimulate student response for study / revision beyond the classroom. The extract length and exam paper question format adhere to the model provided by AQA in the only official specimen exam paper they have thus far published. I hope it is of some use to you and your students. Matt :)

The new GCSE English Language and Literature Assessment Objectives 'boiled down' to 5 CORE Reading Skills and then those core skills are traced through a hierarchy of competence, using phrases common to new AQA Language and Literature mark schemes (highlighted in bold on the progression maps), linked to the new numerical grades 9 to 1, using the FFT 'refined' model. They can be used across both Key Stages 3 and 4 to assess skills progression and to ensure consistency in application of assessment criteria across members of your department. If you find them of use, check out the Planning for Progression in Writing: New 9 to 1 Skills progression map also uploaded to TES. I hope they are of some use to you.

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2A: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, using two non-fiction texts based on the same theme or topic: here, it is AIR POLLUTION in LONDON across the centuries. Extracts used here are a journal entry from a Frenchwoman writing about smog in London in 1839 and a newspaper article about air pollution in London, published by The Independent newspaper in January 2015. The 4 exam questions adhere to the format of those published by AQA in their specimen exam papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of Practice exam papers for Paper 1 and Paper 2. They are all FREE so help yourself - just leave a review! Thanks. I hope it is of some use to you. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for AQA English Language Paper 2: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives. The theme of this paper is VIEWPOINTS towards IMPRISONMENT across the centuries and in two different countries, and the two non-fiction extracts used are a 19th C letter written by Oscar Wilde to the editor of an English national newspaper, complaining about the treatment of children in Victorian English prisons and a 20th C newspaper article describing America's latest maximum security prison, Florence Prison. Section B writing task (linked by theme to the topic of the texts in Section A) is also included. The 5 exam questions adhere to the format of those used by AQA on their published specimen paper. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of Practice Paper 1 and 2 Language exam papers to my 'shop' and ALL are available FREE of charge, so help yourself - just leave a review. Thanks! I hope this is of some use to you. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, using two non-fiction texts based on the same theme or topic. Extracts used here are a 19th C eyewitness account written in the form of a letter by Charles Dickens to a friend, as a fortunate survivor of a terrible rail disaster, in 1865 in which many people were injured and killed with a 21st C newspaper interview with the parents of a woman killed in the 1999 Paddington rail disaster - so the different perspectives here are of someone directly involved in a rail accident and a rail victim's parents struggling to come to terms with their loss 15 years after the rail tragedy. Section B: Writing task (linked by theme to the topic of the texts in Section A) is also included. The 5 exam questions adhere to the format of those published by AQA in their specimen exam papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice Paper 1 AND 2 Language exam papers to my 'shop' and they are ALL FREE of charge so help yourself - just leave a review. Thanks! I hope it is of some use to you. Matt :)

A revision booklet to support study of A Christmas Carol for the new AQA English Literature GCSE, The booklet contains: * a graphic timeline of events * thumbnail character profiles (taken from BBC Bitesize) * a series of extracts with accompanying exam Qs in the style of that produced by AQA in their published specimen paper Hope it is of some use. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, using two non-fiction texts based on the same theme or topic: here, it is the theme of CHILD LABOUR across the centuries and in different cultures. Extracts used here are Lord Shaftesbury's Parliamentary speech in 1842 about the working conditions of children in British coal mines and a newspaper article from 2014 regarding child labour in India. Section B: Writing task (linked by theme to the topic of the texts in Section A) is also included. The 5 exam questions adhere to the format of those published by AQA in their specimen exam papers. (NOTE: I have, on occasion, tweaked the vocabulary or sentencing of Shaftesbury's parliamentary speech ever so slightly, simply to make it more accessible for classroom use.) NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of Practice exam papers for Paper 1 and Paper 2. They are all FREE at my 'shop' so please help yourself - just leave a review! Thanks. I hope it is of some use to you. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, using two non-fiction texts based on the same theme or topic, here being: NURSING - THEN AND NOW! Extracts used here are Florence Nightingale's 19th C account of nursing wounded soldiers following the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War and a 21st C article taken from Nursing Times about the findings of a survey of NHS nurses regarding pay and conditions. Section B: Writing task (linked by topic to the theme of the texts used in Section A) is also included. The 5 exam questions adhere to the format of those published by AQA in their specimen exam papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice exam Papers 1 AND 2 to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Help yourself - just leave a review! Thank you. I hope this is of some use to you. Matt :)

Made using copyright free images from www.unsplash.com and the free software package Adobe Spark, here are thirteen key quotation display posters for use in your classroom. When printed, the posters are approx 40cm x 40cm and the images are high resolution - perfect for display. They also only take a couple of minutes to make each one! Have a go!

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, using two non-fiction texts based on the same theme or topic: here, it is CAPITAL PUNISHMENT in different centuries and in different countries. Extracts used here are a 19th C eyewitness account of a visit to the prison gallows which featured in The Daily Telegraph, 30th November 1881 and an American online newspaper article in defence of the death penalty, published in 2014. The authors display contrasting viewpoints to the topic. Section B: Writing task (linked by theme to the texts used in Section A) is also included. The 5 exam questions adhere to the format of those published by AQA in their specimen exam papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of Paper 1 and 2 Language exam papers FREE of charge, available at my 'shop'. Help yourself but please leave a review - thanks! I hope it is of some use to you. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2A: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, linked by the theme of 'Titanic Tragedy', using a survivor's autobiographical account of the disaster and a 21st century informative web page written by teens for teens. The format of the exam Qs follows that published by AQA in the approved specimen materials. Please note: I have produced only Qs 1 to 3 (there are 4 Qs on the exam paper) as these resources were originally designed for use by pupils at Key Stage 3, introducing the format and the skills tested by the new GCSE. (One of the texts in the GCSE exams will be 19th C but as this paper was designed to introduce the format and the skills tested, both texts here are from the 20th and 21st C, exploring different viewpoints of the same event.) I have uploaded LOADS of practice Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thanks! I hope it is of some use to you.

Using an excerpt from Roald Dahl's autobiography, 'Boy' - The Great Mouse Plot - a booklet of highly differentiated activities which address skills tested by Qs 1 to 3 of the new AQA Language Paper 2A exam paper, but for students whose reading age is significantly lower than their chronological age. It's a good way to introduce the focus of each question, and to get students responding in appropriate ways at a level that is appropriate to their ability. I hope this is useful to you and your students. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2A: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, linked by the theme of 'PARANORMAL', using an extract from an autobiographical account written by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle in 1930 and a 21st C Discovery Channel online news article entitled, 'Do Ghosts Exist? Exploring the Paranormal' where the authors present contrasting viewpoints and attitudes to the subject matter. The texts and the format of the exam Qs follows that published by AQA in the approved specimen materials. Please note: These resources were originally designed for use by pupils at Key Stage 3, introducing the format and the skills tested by the new GCSE. Also, Conan-Doyle's account, taken from 'The Edge of the Unknown' was published in 1930 but for the purposes of introducing contrasting viewpoints and attitudes at KS3 is suitably challenging. I hope it is of some use to you.

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 practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2A: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, linked by the theme of 'Elephants', using an extract from an autobiographical essay written by George Orwell in 1936 and a 21st C tabloid online newspaper article regarding the exposure of animal cruelty suffered by England's last circus elephant. The texts and the format of the exam Qs follow that published by AQA in the approved specimen materials. Please note: As these resources were originally designed for use by pupils at Key Stage 3, introducing the format and the skills tested by the new GCSE, Orwell's work was published in 1936 but, for the purposes of introducing contrasting viewpoints and attitudes at KS3, it is suitably challenging. I hope it is of some use to you.

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2A: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, linked by the theme of 'Fires in London', using Pepys' 17th C journal entry of the Great Fire of London and a Guardian newspaper article from the King's Cross tube station fire in 1998. The texts and the format of the exam Qs follows that published by AQA in the approved specimen materials. Please note: I have produced only Qs 1 to 3 (there are 4 Qs on the exam paper) as these resources were originally designed for use by pupils at Key Stage 3, introducing the format and the skills tested by the new GCSE. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thank you! I hope it is of some use to you.

Designed for the NEW AQA (2015 onwards) English Language Paper 2B - WRITING TASK A variety of writing tasks, each linked by theme, to accompany various Paper 2A practice exam resources I have already produced, all available FREE of charge from my 'shop'. Help yourself and leave a review! The 2B tasks in the Word document are designed to accompany the following practice 2A papers I have uploaded: * NURSING - THEN & NOW * CAPITAL PUNISHMENT * RAIL DISASTERS * CRIME & PUNISHMENT * CHILD LABOUR and each writing task follows the format of the published AQA specimen exam paper for Paper 2B. I hope you find these of use to accompany resources you may have already downloaded. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2A: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives, linked by the theme of 'Homelessness', using an extract from Orwell's autobiography 'Down and Out in Paris and London' and a 21st C tabloid newspaper article with a very negative attitude to homeless people. The texts and the format of the exam Qs follow that published by AQA in the approved specimen materials. Please note: As these resources were originally designed for use by pupils at Key Stage 3, introducing the format and the skills tested by the new GCSE, Orwell's work was published in 1933 but for the purposes of introducing contrasting viewpoints at KS3 is suitably challenging. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thank you! I hope it is of some use to you.

A 35 page workbook of differentiated activities, designed to support students in their study of John Steinbeck's classic novella, 'Of Mice and Men'. To accompany the workbook is a set of SMART Notebook slides, which replicate the pages of the pupil workbook, to support teachers in their whole-class, interactive teaching of the text and the material. PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have SMART Notebook, you can STILL download and view SMART Notebook files by downloading a FREE Smart Notebook viewer. It opens the file on your PC in a format akin to Microsoft Powerpoint (with very occasional wonky movement of graphics due to a formatting glitch!) Anyway, you can access the FREE SMART Notebook viewer by copying and pasting this link into your web browser: http://express.smarttech.com/ I hope you find these useful. If you do, then you may find of interest similar resources available FREE at my 'shop' here on TES for 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and also 'The Highwayman', aswell as differentiated AQA English Language exam paper 1s and 2s. Matt :)

A practice exam paper for the new AQA Language Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing UPDATED: APRIL 2017 - to include a REVISED series of SMART notebook slides to teach Q by Q in class, which can be unlocked and adapted for other Paper 1A practice exam papers I have uploaded to the TES site, all available free of charge. Includes a Q3 key terminology matching starter, a Q3 STRUCTURE model response, a new Q4 slide. This extract is taken from John Steinbeck's novella, 'The Pearl', published in 1947. In the extract, set in Mexico during the 1940s, a child named Coyotito has been stung by a scorpion. The child’s father, a Mexican pearl diver named Kino, takes his child to the white European doctor who works in a nearby town. The text and the format of the exam Qs 1 to 4 follows that of AQA's approved specimen papers. NOTE: I've uploaded LOADS of practice Paper 1s AND 2s to my 'shop', ALL FREE of charge. Please help yourself - just leave a review. Thank you! I hope this is of some use to you.