I created this matching exercise for my students in A-Level Language and also in A-Level Combined Language and Literature, who were confident in applying literary terms to texts but who consistently neglected to apply language terminology in their analyses. We’ve drilled on this a few times now, and I’m starting to see more confident application of these terms. I’ll continue to use this exercise as a starter activity from time to time to keep these terms at the front of their minds.

Two-part lesson on written and spoken discourse, designed for students taking A-level English Language as well as students taking A-level English Language and Literature combined. The first slideshow (focusing on written discourse) covers: mode genre structure cohesion and referencing (exophoric, endophoric, anaphoric and cataphoric) intertextuality interdiscursivity The second slideshow (focusing on spoken discourse) covers: turn taking adjacency pairs phatic expressions back-channelling false starts fillers repairs ellipsis

Complete lesson covering aspects of phonology and phonetics for A-level English Language as well as A-level English Language and Literature Combined. Lesson covers the following: Consonants voicing place of articulation manner of articulation glottal stops Vowels monophthongs diphthongs Phonetic transcription using the IPA (with practice exercise) Sound iconicity lexical onomatopoeia non-lexical onomatopoeia alliteration consonance assonance sibilance

Students use designated connectives to craft sentences that make comparisons and that draw contrasts.

Complete A-level English language grammar lesson on verb phrases. Includes slide presentation and worksheet with exercises (answers included in slide presentation). The lesson covers: grammatical person grammatical number active and passive voice of verbs verb tense (past, present and future) verb aspect (progressive, perfective and perfect progressive)

Complete lesson designed for students taking A-level English Language as well as A-level English Lang/Lit Combined. Slideshow covers the following: schema, face theory, politeness theory (positive face, negative face, face-threatening acts), the cooperative principle, Grice’s maxims, implicature, deixis (personal, spatial, temporal).

Based on the assessment objectives for AQA A Level Language and Literature combined; designed to be printed on two sides of A4. Covers the following: Social and historical context (the Industrial Revolution, Edmund Burke’s theory of the sublime, Rousseau’s theories regarding the nature/nurture debate, the alchemists Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus) Biographical context of Mary Shelley Literary context (explanations of important allusions and general characteristics of fantasy, science fiction, Romanticism, Gothic fiction and the tragic hero) Themes (the pursuit of knowledge, nature versus nurture, justice and injustice, the importance of family, isolation and companionship, fortune versus fate, personal responsibility) Characters (the roles and functions of Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, the creature, Elizabeth Lavenza, Justine Moritz and Safie) Settings (untamed natural settings versus university cities) Features of lexis, grammar, discourse and pragmatics to consider No coloured ink used, so the resource will print equally well on different colours of paper to suit student needs/preferences.

(Starter or mini-lesson) Provides a quick revision of the guidelines for punctuating direct speech to encourage students to incorporate quotes/ dialogue in a creative writing task (e.g. English Language Paper 1 Section B). It’s in Powerpoint format; simply copy and paste into your own existing Powerpoint for a ready-to-use starter activity. If you find this useful, please leave a review to spread the word!

Complete lesson covering terms and concepts linked to the language level of semantics. Designed for students taking A-level Language as well as A-level Language and Literature Combined. The lesson covers the following: literal language vs. figurative language figures of speech (metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, metaphor, simile, personification) denotation connotation synonyms and antonyms hypernyms and hyponyms semantic fields semantic change (ameiloration, pejoration, broadening, narrowing and semantic reclamation)

Complete lesson which includes a slide show explaining concepts to students, a printable worksheet with exercises for practice (answers included in slide show) and a printable knowledge organiser (in both colour and black and white). Focus of the lesson is on lexis and identifying these 9 word classes within texts: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, determiner, interjection.

A fully resourced grammar-for-writing lesson that teaches students what adverbs and adverbials are and then gives them practice with placing adverbials in different places within sentences (i.e. at the front (fronted adverbials), in the middle or at the end). I have found it particularly useful in preparing students for Section B of GCSE English Language Paper 1 and Paper 2. The powerpoint includes a starter, an explanation of adverbs and adverbials (with examples), instructions for the worksheet (with an example), a list of possible answers and a plenary.

Two lessons on Seamus Heaney’s ‘Blackberry Picking’ designed for students taking AQA A-level Language and Literature Combined. The first (day one) lesson introduces the poem to students and guides them in conducting a linguistic analysis of the text; the second (day two) lesson invites discussion of their findings and covers important aspects they may have overlooked.

Provides detailed explanations of the 9 word classes along with examples. It’s designed to be printed on the front and back of a single sheet of A4, and both colour and black and white versions are included (to make allowance for photocopying budgets at different schools). A useful resource for the cost of a cup of coffee! If you find this useful, please leave a review.

Fully resourced lesson that teaches students how to use semi-colons to combine simple sentences into compound sentences. It also teaches them about conjunctive/linking adverbs (e.g. ‘however,’ ‘besides,’ ‘likewise,’ ‘consequently,’ ‘instead,’ etc.) and how they can be added immediately after semi-colons to clarify meaning. Resources include printable explanations and practice exercises along with a Powerpoint presentation that can be used to guide students through the lesson (the Powerpoint includes the answers for the exercises on the worksheet).

Teaches noun fundamentals (common and proper, concrete and abstract, countable and non-countable). In the lesson, students practise identifying the nouns in extracts from two classics (A Christmas Carol and The Wizard of Oz ). They must also identify and capitalise the proper nouns in each text. This provides very useful practice for helping students to analyse language (specifically lexis) on Language Paper 1 and Paper 2 as well as Literature Paper 1 and Paper 2. In addition to explanations and examples of common and proper nouns, concrete and abstract nouns, and countable and uncountable nouns, the presentation also explains the rule for when to use ‘less’ and when to use ‘fewer’ to present quantity of nouns.

Fully resourced grammar for writing lesson; teaches students what participles are and how they can be used to enhance description and sentence variety, useful on Section B of both English Language Paper 1 and Paper 2. The worksheet consists of sentence combining exercises designed to give students practice in constructing participles and participle clauses. The powerpoint includes a starter activity, an explanation of participles and participle clauses with examples, instructions on how to complete the worksheet with examples, possible answers and a plenary.

Complete lesson including slide presentation, exercises (with answers provided in the presentation) and knowledge organisers. The lesson covers: simple, compound and complex sentences main clauses subordinate clauses functioning as adverbials relative clauses (defining and non-defining) participle clauses infinitive clauses

Complete lesson on language levels with slide show, printable exercise sheet (answers included in slide show), and printable notes for teacher and/or students. Designed for use with both A-level English language and A-level English language and literature combined classes. Introduces students to the following language levels: lexis, grammar, discourse, semantics, pragmatics, phonology, graphology. Also explains and provides students with practice in identifying the following sentence elements: subject, copular verb, dynamic verb, subject complement, direct object, indirect object, object complement, adverbial.

A list of useful terms (along with their definitions) to use when discussing how an author creates an effect in a work of literature.

Students place cards containing key events in the correct order on the A3 placemat or in their exercise books (they can work individually or in groups). This provides a straightforward and fun way to revise key events of the plot, and it helps students to place extracts in context when responding to the extract question and to organise essays chronologically when writing about a character or theme. I have included a Powerpoint slide show that explains the activity and which also provides the correct answers for assessment after students have completed the task. If you find this resource useful, please leave a review to help spread the word!