This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of non-fiction in the secondary or upper primary classroom. It takes you through a range of active approaches to promote engagement with non fiction texts such as travel writing, news reports, feature articles,speeches and formal letters, as well as ways of linking reading with pupils’ own writing. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach non-fiction in the English classroom.

The aim of this training session is to support secondary teaching assistants in developing a set of key strategies for teaching pupils how to learn and retain spellings. It contains lots of paired activities and could be led by the SENCO or an English specialist. It is designed for a training session lasting approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. Some pupils find spelling a real challenge - the role of a TA is to reassure them, provide them with spelling rules and strategies and support them with active approaches to learning spelling. This training package will help them to achieve this. It will also help TAs to provide support for pupils in using and developing a subject-specific vocabulary which is vitally important for their writing.

This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of Shakespeare in the secondary or upper primary classroom. It takes you through a range of active approaches including practical drama activities to promote engagement with the themes, characters and ideas of the plays as well as suggestions for writing creatively about Shakespeare. This unit will support you in developing a repertoire of teaching strategies which you can apply to any of Shakespeare’s plays. They are based on the principles of ‘Active Shakespeare’ and includes lots of activities and advice which will help make the learning both enjoyable and effective. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach a Shakespeare play.

This is a self-study Professional Development unit for Early Career Teachers. As teachers, committed to pupil progress and well-being, we want to create classrooms which provide a thriving and welcoming environment. This is an area where your actions can make a difference as a positive classroom rooted in mutual trust and respect can have as significant impact on the learning. This self study unit explores practical ways in which you can achieve this and ideas which you can try out immediately with your own classes.

AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters This resource was designed as a series of starters for my Step Up to English group though it is could be used more widely for those requiring support with improving sentences. It focuses on sentences structure and punctuation and provides opportunities for students to apply new skills. It takes a visual approach to teaching simple, compound and complex sentences and provides texts and writing activities which help provide a context rather than the more traditional method of writing out individual sentences. As well as sentence structure, it covers punctuation including use of commas and punctuating direct speech. It perfectly complements Step Up Component 2 units which require narrative or descriptive writing as many of the examples and tasks are fiction based. Included is a 68 slide teaching PPT plus all ten resources in both word and pdf formats as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy using these starters and that they help your students to improve their grammar and punctuation. More Step Up to English Resources Complete courses and individual teaching units on all component 1 and 2 topics are available. They include teaching PPTs, all student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes and can be found at: RoseandMay TES English Classroom Resources New individual units: AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 STYLE Unit AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 CRIME Unit New Complete Course AQA Step Up to English: Complete Course (Leisure, Crime and Style Units) You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit

This unit of work is focused on developing the skills of reading between the lines and is based around extracts from the novel ‘Deep Water’ by Ann Turnbull. It is aimed at a first year Junior Cycle class and covers key skills such as inference and deduction, questioning the text, prediction and visualising the text. All short extracts are provided so you do not need a copy of the novel though you may wish to buy one to read and enjoy other sections with the class. I have included a 47 slide teaching PPT, all nine resources in word and pdf formats and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. Learning outcomes (from Junior Cycle Specification) addressed in this unit include: Reading 3. Use a wide range of reading comprehension strategies appropriate to texts e.g to retrieve information and to link to previous knowledge. 7. Select key moments from their texts and give thoughtful value judgements on the main character or a key scene. 8. Read their texts to understand and appreciate language enrichment by examining an author’s choice of words. 11. Identify and comment on features of English at word and sentence level using appropriate terminology. Writing 3. Write for a variety of purposes e.g to imagine, explore, narrate. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

Key Stage 3 English: Reading Between the Lines Teaching Unit This unit of work is focused on developing the skills of reading between the lines and is based around extracts from the novel ‘Deep Water’ by Ann Turnbull. It covers key skills such as inference and deduction, questioning the text, prediction and visualising the text. It was written for my Year 8 lower ability English class though could easily be used for a year 7 group. All short extracts are provided so you do not need a copy of the novel though you may wish to buy one to read and enjoy other sections with the class. I have included a 47 slide teaching PPT, all nine resources in word and pdf formats and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. Hope you enjoy teaching the unit. Key Stage 3 English Units also available English Key Stage 3 Creative Writing Unit for Years 7-8 https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12487013 This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help students write creatively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative texts, looking at excellent and varied models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses.A very nicely presented 83 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources.

This very nicely presented unit of work is based on Sean Tan’s graphic novel ‘The Arrival’. It consists of 14 lessons which guide students through the novel chapter by chapter. It is discussion based and there are lots of opportunities for paired, group and class discussion with thinking points and scaffolds to support. It teaches students how to analyse images closely looking at aspects such as layout, character illustrations and colour. Written outcomes include creative responses as well as a final, analytical piece which can be formally assessed. There are also opportunities to read real and fascinating accounts from immigrants across the globe and consider how these help our understanding of the family’s story in ‘The Arrival’. All PPTs and lesson resources are included as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes based on my experience of teaching this unit. Please note that all files are in PDF format.

Intervention involves supporting pupils who for a variety of reasons may have fallen behind their peers in order to make rapid progress. It is, and always has been, a significant issue for schools but is particularly pertinent given recent disruption to children’s education. We also know that in 2019, 27% of students began secondary school without having reached expected standard in their Key Stage 2 SATs Reading assessments and that in 2018 fewer than 1 in 5 of those who entered secondary school not having reached expected standards in reading went on to achieve a level 4 or above in English. Intervention is therefore particularly important in relation to literacy skills as these will limit progress not just in English but across all subjects which require good skills in reading and writing. This unit focuses on how you can, as a teacher responsible for intervention, design a strategy to improve the progress of targeted pupils who are underachieving.

Intervention is, and always has been, a significant issue for schools but is particularly pertinent at the present time given recent and significant disruption to children’s education. This unit has been developed to support senior staff in thinking about their current provision for under performing pupils and to help them action plan a whole-school approach to intervention designed to support those who have been identified as underachieving and who are at risk of not fulfilling their potential.

This self-study professional development unit is designed for English teachers and departments who wish to develop their practice in relation to teaching the whole class novel. It is a self study unit which includes lots of practical ideas for the high school or secondary classroom as well as opportunities for reflection and activities to help translate what you have learned into practice. The unit covers how to choose and introduce the novel, improve reading fluency, develop key reading skills, write about the novel and integrate engaging drama approaches. It is ideal for those preparing to teach the class novel to grades 6-10. Please note this has also been published as a mobile learning unit by Pearsons.

This unit is specifically designed for English teachers who wish to develop their teaching of Shakespeare in middle or high school. It takes you through a range of active approaches including practical drama activities to promote engagement with the themes, characters and ideas of the plays as well as suggestions for writing creatively about Shakespeare. This unit will support you in developing a repertoire of teaching strategies which you can apply to any of Shakespeare’s plays. They are based on the principles of ‘active Shakespeare’ and includes lots of activities and advice which will help make the learning both enjoyable and effective. It includes tasks and opportunities for personal reflection and is ideal for teachers preparing to teach a Shakespeare play.

This unit is aimed at English teachers and departments who wish to develop their practice in relation to teaching narrative and descriptive writing. It is a self study unit which includes lots of practical ideas for the Middle and High School classroom as well as opportunities for reflection and activities to help translate what you have learned into practice. The unit covers approaches to teaching key elements of narrative and descriptive writing including planning, structure, sentences and vocabulary as well as specific techniques such as ‘show not tell’. It is an ideal unit for an English teacher preparing to teach creative writing to a class.

This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the WJEC Eduqas GCSE in English Language Component 1 exam with a particular focus on narrative writing. It supports students in actively exploring excellent and varied models of texts and identifying successful features before moving to students planning and composing their own creative responses. A well-presented 51 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested teaching approaches and all nine classroom resources in both Word and PDF formats. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

English Key Stage 3 Creative Writing Unit for Years 7-8 This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help students write creatively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative texts, looking at excellent and varied models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses. It is ideal for a Year 7-8 class. A very nicely presented 83 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources. Please see the Preview for a selection of slides from across the unit. You may also like: English Key Stage 3: Travel Writing (Literary Non-fiction) Unit for Years 8-9 This unit is designed to teach key reading and writing skills in the context of travel literature and to help build some of the key skills required at GCSE level when studying non-fiction texts. It moves from reading to writing and is based on the study of a number of short travel extracts from writers such as Paul Theroux, Jonathan Raban and Dervla Murphy. It is aimed at Year 9 as preparation for GCSE and would work equally well with Year 8 groups. Outcomes include analytical as well as creative writing.

This scheme of work is intended to be a creative and enjoyable way to explore the novel and is suitable for an able Year 7 or a Year 8 class. I taught it over the course of a term to my Year 7 but it could be condensed into a half-term. It includes preparation for Reading and Writing assessment pieces, (a piece of descriptive writing and a reading response) as well as lots of speaking and listening activities. There are also a number of engaging research/homework activities to which this novel lends itself and some activities which can be done as drama/role-play activities but which don’t require moving desks or classrooms! All resources to accompany the scheme are included. I hope your class enjoy the novel.

Key Stage 3 English: Improving Grammar and Punctuation - Starter Lessons This resource was designed as a series of starter activities to be taught across a half-term. It is a flexible resource for students who require input on improving sentences. It focuses on sentences structure and punctuation and provides opportunities for students to apply new skills. It takes a visual approach to teaching simple, compound and complex sentences and provides texts and writing activities which help provide a context rather than the more traditional method of writing out individual sentences. As well as sentence structure, it covers punctuation including use of commas and punctuating direct speech. It perfectly complements teaching of narrative or descriptive writing as many of the examples and tasks are fiction based. Included are 13 starters on a 68 slide teaching PPT plus all ten resources in both word and pdf formats as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy using these starters and that they help your students to improve their grammar and punctuation. You may also like: English Key Stage 3 Creative Writing Unit for Years 7-8 This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help students write creatively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative texts, looking at excellent and varied models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses.A very nicely presented 83 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources.**

AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit This highly engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help Step Up to English students prepare for the AQA Component 2 writing section with a particular focus on narrative writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying narrative extracts, looking at models from a range of literature and identifying successful features before moving to composing their own creative responses in the style of the writing assessment. A well presented 72 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested approaches and all thirteen classroom resources. More Step Up to English Resources Other complete courses and individual teaching units on all component 1 and 2 topics are available. They include teaching PPTs, all student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes and can be found at: RoseandMay’s TES English Classroom Resources New individual units: AQA Step Up to English: Component 1 STYLE Unit AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 CRIME Unit You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters New Complete Course AQA Step Up to English: Complete Course (Leisure, Crime and Style Units)

This student-friendly guide is designed to support students in developing their skills in preparation for the Cambridge First Language English IGCSE Paper 2 Section B: Composition exam. It is intended for use at home and includes lots of interactive and practical tasks to help them embed the key skills required at this level. It was written with my own mid to high ability IGCSE group in mind. It includes a work booklet as well as accompanying resources in Word and PDF formats including planning frames, narrative extracts and creative writing tasks for exam practice. It will be invaluable for teachers who wish to set revision tasks for their classes or for parents who wish to support with exam preparation. You may also like: Cambridge IGCSE English Language: Imaginative Writing Unit This unit of work is designed with a particular focus on Component 2 or 3 Imaginative writing. It explores descriptive and narrative writing within the context of gothic fiction, and includes a superbly presented 104 slide teaching PPT plus all 19 student resources and a set of detailed teacher’s notes. Cambridge IGCSE English Language: Speaking and Listening Unit This unit prepares students for their Cambridge IGCSE Speaking and Listening test (individual talk and conversation) on a specific topic agreed with their teacher. It guides students through the whole process by looking at aspects of effective talks such as openings, rhetorical devices, endings, use of cue cards to structure a talk and responding to questions. A 40 slide PPT is included as well as all eight resources in both word and pdf formats and a detailed set of teacher’s notes.

This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the Edexcel English Language Paper 1 exam with particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. I have written this for my own mid to high ability GCSE class. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying both descriptive and narrative writing, looking at excellent and varied models of texts and identifying successful features before moving to students composing their own creative responses. The 63 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested teaching approaches and all eleven classroom resources in both Word and PDF formats. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.