This unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the Oxford AQA International GCSE English Language with particular focus on the writing section of Paper 1 Literary Non-fiction and composition. This unit focuses on the narrative task looking at good models of texts and identifying successful features before moving to students composing their own creative pieces. It is designed to be interactive and highly engaging with lots of opportunities for discussion and imaginative responses. I have written this for my own mid to high ability Year 11 group. It includes a 53 slide teaching PPT plus 12 resources which are included in both word and pdf formats. I hope you and your class enjoy it.

AQA English Language GCSE Paper 2 Unit: Mountaineering This unit is designed to help develop some of the key skills required for responding to literary non-fiction in Paper 2 as well as creative and transactional writing. It is built around the subject of mountaineering and takes a number of key extracts from ‘Touching the Void’ as the basis for language study and as models for good writing. It focuses on teaching the skills required to plan and respond to the summary, language and comparison questions in Paper 2 as well as teaching descriptive writing for Paper 1 section B and writing to argue for Paper 2 section B. A beautifully presented 76 slide teaching PPT is included together with all 22 student resources in pdf format and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit. You may also like: AQA English Language GCSE Paper 1: Creative Writing Unit for Mid to High Attainers This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the AQA English Language Paper 1 exam with particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. 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. AQA English Language GCSE Non-examination Assessment: Spoken Language Unit This three week unit is designed to prepare students for their AQA spoken presentation on a topic agreed with their teacher. The unit guides students through the process by looking at aspects of effective presentations such as openings, rhetorical devices, memorable endings, use of cue cards to structure a talk, delivering the talk and responding to questions.

This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for Edexcel’s Entry Level Certificate in English Component 2 Writing with particular focus on creative writing. It supports students in developing some of the key skills required to write their own engaging pieces such as writing effective openings, writing dialogue, varying sentences and creating characters. It supports and leads them towards the creative writing task required for component 2 which they complete at the end of the unit. The 75 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 have also included a CPD self-study unit for teachers on teaching creative writing for entry level students and some extra creative writing tasks based on images. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for the Junior Cycle exam with particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. 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 in PDF format 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 as much as I did.

This highly engaging unit teaches students the key skills required for delivering an individual spoken presentation on a topic agreed with their teacher. It guides students through the process by looking at aspects of effective presentations such as openings, rhetorical devices, endings, use of cue cards to structure a talk, delivery and responding to questions. Strategies include exploring good examples of talks as well as group discussions and opportunities to try out a variety of techniques. A well-presented 37 slide PPT is included as well as all six resources in both word and pdf formats. Common Core Standards CCRA.SL. 1,4 I hope you enjoy teaching this unit.

This engaging and enjoyable unit of work is designed to help build the skills necessary for success in two speaking and listening tasks as well as those valued by employers. It is a discussion based unit and explores skills such as asking questions, leading a discussion, researching and planning a presentation. It leads to two assessment activities, a ‘meeting’ in which students discuss setting up a series of lunchtime clubs for younger students followed by an individual presentation in which students showcase their own plans for a school club. I have included a detailed set of teacher’s notes, a well-presented 44 slide teaching PPT and all student resources. I hope your students enjoy taking part in this unit. Common Core Skills include CCRA SL 1,4,6

This resource was designed as a series of engaging starter activities for my English Grade 8 class to be taught across a half-term. It is a flexible resource which can be used for other year groups 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 pdf format as well as a set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy using these starters and that they help your students to improve their grammar and punctuation.

This highly engaging and enjoyable unit is focused on the subject of mountaineering and explores literary non-fiction texts as a prelude to students completing their own creative and non-fiction writing. It is ideal for a grade 9-10 class. Texts include extracts from Joe Simpson’s ‘Touching the Void’ and Matt Dickinson’s ‘The Death Zone’ both of which are dramatic accounts of mountaineering expeditions. There are lots of opportunities for paired and group discussion and students learn how to write effectively including analytical responses to reading as well as their own creative pieces and an argumentative essay on the subject of extreme sports. There is a particular focus on planning and your class will be introduced to innovative planning methods including the box plan and the ‘because, but, so’ model. I have included a 62 slide teaching PPT as well as 21 well-presented resources to use as handouts in class. Please note that the PPT and resources are in PDF format and a Zip file is also included. Junior Cycle English Learning Outcomes include: Reading 3. Use a wide range of reading comprehension strategies appropriate to texts. 4. Use an appropriate critical vocabulary while responding to literary texts 8. Read their texts to understand and appreciate language enrichment by examining an author’s choice of words, the use and effect of simple figurative language, vocabulary and language patterns, and images, as appropriate to the text. 11. Identify and comment on features of English at word and sentence level using appropriate terminology, showing how such features contribute to overall effect Writing Demonstrate their understanding that there is a clear purpose for all writing activities and be able to plan, draft, re-draft, and edit their own writing. Write for a variety of purposes, for example to analyse, evaluate, imagine, explore, engage, amuse, narrate, inform, explain, argue, persuade, criticise, comment on what they have heard, viewed and read. Respond imaginatively in writing to their texts showing a critical appreciation of language, style and content, choice of words, language patterns, tone, images. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

This engaging and fully resourced unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for tacking the Junior Cycle Higher English exam paper. It is built around the topic of Leisure. There are two sections: Reading section – exploration of three different non-fiction texts including a leaflet and two digital texts. Assessment opportunities include a piece of extended analytical writing with a focus on the author’s use of language. Writing section – culminates in writing a critical analysis of a film poster and a review. This includes a 57 slide teaching PPT (PDF and editable PPT formats) as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 9 resources in both Word and PDF formats. Tasks and texts are relevant and engaging and ideal preparation for the Junior Cycle exam. Junior Cycle Learning Outcomes include: Reading 3. Use a wide range of reading comprehension strategies appropriate to texts, including digital texts. 4. Use an appropriate critical vocabulary while responding to literary texts. 8. Read their texts to understand and appreciate language enrichment by examining an author’s choice of words, the use and effect of simple figurative language, vocabulary and language patterns, and images, as appropriate to the text. 11. Identify and comment on features of English at word and sentence level using appropriate terminology, showing how such features contribute to overall effect. Writing Demonstrate their understanding that there is a clear purpose for all writing activities and be able to plan, draft, re-draft, and edit their own writing as appropriate. 3.Write for a variety of purposes, for example to analyse, evaluate, imagine, explore,engage, amuse, narrate, inform, explain, argue, persuade, criticise, comment on what they have heard, viewed and read. Write competently in a range of text forms, for example review.

This half-termly unit is built around the Step Up topic of Charities and is designed to prepare students for their AQA Step Up to English Component 1 Literacy topics assessment. It is aimed mainly at Gold award candidates however many of the activities are also applicable to those doing the Silver award if, like me, you have candidates doing both awards in the same class. It is designed to ensure students develop the skills necessary to complete the assessment tasks which include two speaking and listening tasks as well as responses to reading and a longer piece of writing. It includes a nicely presented, fully editable teaching PPT with lots of engaging activities and extracts from a range of texts including web pages and a poster. All 10 texts and student resources are included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes explaining how I intend to use them. I have included all resources in PPT, Word and PDF formats. Please check current list of NEAs with AQA and note that information, guidance, support and resources are available from AQA.

Have your students got what it takes to survive a plane crash in the mountains or to survive alone in the jungle? This half-termly unit is built around the new Step Up topic of Survival and is designed to prepare students for their AQA Step Up to English Component 2 Creative Reading and Writing assessment. It is aimed primarily at Gold award candidates however many of the tasks are also applicable to those doing the Silver award if, like me, you have candidates doing both awards in the same class. It is designed to ensure students develop the skills necessary to complete the assessment tasks which include responses to reading and an extended piece of writing. It includes a nicely presented 62 slide teaching PPT with lots of engaging activities and extracts from a range of texts including fiction and non-fiction. All 16 texts and student resources are included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes explaining how I intend to use them. I have included all resources in editable PPT, Word and PDF formats. Please check current list of NEAs with AQA and note that information, guidance, support and resources are available from AQA. [RoseandMay’s TES English Classroom Resources] (https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/RoseandMay101/) Individual units and sets of units are available here. New individual units: AQA Step Up to English:Component 1 Pets You may also like: AQA Step Up to English: Grammar and Punctuation Starters AQA Step Up to English: Component 2 Creative Writing Unit

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 Grade 7-8 class. A beautifully 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. Common Core Standards include: CCRA SL1, W3,4,5, R4 I enjoyed teaching this unit and hope you do too.

This highly engaging and fully resourced unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for responding to and writing non-fiction texts. It is built around the topic of Leisure and is aimed at grade 9-10 students. There are two sections: Reading section – building key skills through the study of three different non-fiction texts including a news report, a leaflet and web pages. Writing section – focus on building the skills required to write a review. This unit includes a 47 slide teaching PPT as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 9 student resources. Common Core Standards include: CCRA R.4,6,7 W4,5 I hope you enjoy teaching the unit as much as I did.

High School English: Travel Writing Unit This highly engaging unit of work on travel writing is designed to teach reading and writing skills in the context of travel literature and to help build some of the key skills required 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 wonderful writers such as Paul Theroux, Jonathan Raban and Dervla Murphy. It is aimed at Grades 7-8 and would work equally well with Grade 9 groups. Outcomes include analytical as well as creative writing. All eleven student resources including key texts are included as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and a beautifully presented 42 slide teaching PPT.

This engaging and enjoyable half-termly unit is designed to develop key skills in reading fiction and non-fiction as well as writing creatively. It is based on the topic of Heroism with lots of activities and great texts to help students develop key reading skills such as locating information, inference, commenting on structure and comparison as well as key narrative writing skills such as opening and ending a story, writing direct speech, varying sentences, improving vocabulary and planning. Texts include extracts from non-fiction and fiction texts including 'Pat Barker’s ‘Regeneration’, Remarque’s ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’. All 17 well-presented student resources are included in pdf format as well as a 68 slide teaching PPT and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit as much as I did.

This engaging and enjoyable half-termly unit is designed to develop key skills in reading fiction and non-fiction as well as writing creatively. It is based on the topic of Exploring with lots of activities and great texts to help students develop key reading skills such as locating information, inference and comparison as well as key writing skills such as opening a story, writing direct speech, using narrative voice and varying sentences. Texts include extracts from non-fiction and fiction texts including ‘My Family and Other Animals’ , Charles Darwin’s Journal and Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’. Common Core Standards CCRA W.3,4,5 CCRA R1,4 All 15 student resources are included in pdf format as well as a 54 slide teaching PPT and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

This engaging and enjoyable unit is designed to develop some of the key skills required for responding to and writing non-fiction. It is built around the topic of Music and includes three sections: speaking and listening, reading and writing. The speaking and listening section prepares students for a discussion task and an individual presentation. The reading section is built around engaging texts such as music magazine covers, an advice leaflet on setting up a band and web information pages on the history of blues music and explores aspects such as organizational and presentational features. The writing section prepares students to complete their own gig review after exploring and identifying the key features of the genre. Common Core Standards CCRA SL1,2 CCRA W2,4 CCRA RI 7.5,7.9 All 11 student resources are included in pdf format as well as a 53 slide teaching PPT (see Preview) and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

This engaging and enjoyable unit is designed to develop some of the key skills required for responding to and writing non-fiction. It is built around the topic of Hobbies and includes three sections: speaking and listening, reading and writing. The speaking and listening section prepares students for a discussion task and an individual presentation. The reading section is built around engaging texts such as a persuasive leaflet, an instructional piece on how to draw cartoon faces and an advice blog on starting up a new hobby, exploring aspects such as language, organizational and presentational features. The writing section prepares students to complete their own fact sheet after exploring and identifying the key features of the genre. Common Core Standards CCRA S.1,4 CCRA W.2,4 CCRA R.7 All 11 student resources are included as well as a nicely presented 54 slide teaching PPT and a detailed set of teacher’s notes. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.

This highly engaging, relevant and carefully designed unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for responding to and writing non-fiction texts. It is built around the idea of preparing for the world of further education or work. There are three sections: Speaking and Listening – preparation for a discussion and presentation task Reading section – exploring and responding to three different non-fiction texts - a news report, a college prospectus and web pages Writing section – covers writing a personal statement and a formal e-mail This unit includes a 71 slide teaching PPT as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes and all 15 student resources. I hope you and your students enjoy the unit.

This highly engaging, relevant and fully resourced unit of work is designed to teach some of the key skills required for responding to and writing non-fiction texts. It is built around the topic of the climate crisis. There are two sections: Reading section – building key skills through the study of three different non-fiction texts including a letter, web pages and a blog. Writing section – includes how to write a persuasive speech and an internet blog. Included in this package is a 56 slide teaching PPT as well as a set of detailed teacher’s notes and all 11 student resources. Common Core Standards CCS CCRA W2,4,5 R7,10 I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.