Developed in creative writing workshops from my professional creative writing life and transferred to outstanding classroom practice, this learning sequence helps students broaden descriptive writing skills beyond the use of ‘regular’ linguistic and structural devices to lift their achievement through the GCSE grades. Plenty of quick delivery and small practice to build a piece of descriptive writing. All new techniques are easily memorable and fully transferable across any piece of descriptive writing. Learning mat embedded into the powerpoint, Hugely methodical in delivery. Students will have a developed piece of writing with opportunities to consolidate learning through a homework.

A lesson aimed at getting borderline students up to Grade 5 from the get go of the novella by exploring how the Preface to the novella primes the reader for writer’s purpose and gives the modern reader an opportunity to explore Victorian class contexts.

A short anthology and workbook of 19th Century non-fiction with accompanying practice questions from the locate and retrieve, thoughts and feelings, how does the writer (writer's craft) style questions with quick and easy to understand tips for students on how to achieve. The workbook would suit a series of twenty minute slots in lessons or a set of homework. Helps build confidence in reading 19th Century non-fiction and exam style questions on the single texts set for the Eduqas English GCSE Component 2 Section A.

Predict, Experience, Question, Vocabulary, Visualisation, Chunk. Six reading strategies that students can use independently when they are asked to read that are out of their reading age comfort zone. Designed for use at KS2 (Years 5 and 6), KS3 and KS4. Gives students suggestions on how they can use each strategy to work out meanings of texts independently or get the most out of texts to broaden and deepen understanding. Designed for student use but also useful for teachers who are less familiar with the ins and outs of reading strategies or just a brush up of your own excellence. Great for persuading and supporting the more reluctant reader to pay more attention to the clues in a text or the ways they can push themselves forward. Use as a mat on desks for students or create a resource that is bound by a key ring. Senior Leadership will be glad you are tackling this! They might even insist you roll it out school wide. In which case, you’ll need a school license. Contact me on Twitter @alisonshuttlew1

A set of response notes on themes of isolation and belonging in ‘My Polish Teacher’s Tie’ with tasks for students to complete to braoden the notes e.g. adding short quotations and blending context with personal informed response. Useful for initial learning and revision and independent work or homework.

Aimed at boosting your lower graders up to Grades 4 and 5, this essential Toolkit Word resource that reminds students of some of the subject terminology they can use in Component One Section A of the English Language examination. Divided into three sections as differentiation, the resource reminds students of the things that literary writers do to craft their work. Designed to build confidence in relevant subject terminology they can mention and discuss the effects of.

Based on Macbeth’s coronation banquet and knowledge of plot and character, this is a fantastic mini project that can be done quickly as a lesson and a couple of homeworks or can be expanded to be more cross-curricular. Students invent fortunes based on knowledge of events in the play after the banquet scene and engage in research so that they can make (faux or real) fortune cookies for the characters in ‘Macbeth’. Amazing for creative learning. Works well as end of term work or a project homework or cross-curricular writing.

Most creative prose resources rely on inserting more similes and adjectives into a poorly thought out story. This resource is different because it allows students to create imaginative characterisation from a character's inner and outer world even before they have even felt the effort! (This is a little more challenging in approach than my resource 'Really Creative Creative Prose' so great for Grade 5 and above but the resource is fully differentiated through choice and rising challenge tasks). The learning sequence will take about two hours and is made up of a PPT of 27 slides that helps you run a creative prose workshop session using simple lists and everyday experiences students ahave (but disregard most of the time). They end the lesson with a section of creative prose that is focused on inner and outer worlds in a story that has more convincing, original and imaginative detail and avoids cliche without the sweat, seemingly. Based on my work as a professional creative writing tutor and short story writer, this method is probably something you haven't come across before. I developed this as a lesson observation that was graded outstanding. Goes nicely with 'Really Creative Creative Prose' A lovely accompanying resource is the Improving Creative Writing Grid which is a godsend learning mat that I've used across the secondary years for developing the evaluable skills in examined creative prose. Available a a creative writing bundle alongside 'Really Creative Creative Prose'.

A mat for lamination that can be used to move writing from a first draft to a second or 'published' draft. Divided into the skills of adding, cutting, replacing and so on, the mat encourages students to ask questions about their work and make changes. Helps students to understand the editing process (which they often confuse with a proof-reading process).

Most creative prose resources rely on inserting more similes and adjectives into a poorly thought out story. This resource is different because it allows students to create imaginative characterisation before they have even felt the effort! The PPT helps you run a creative prose workshop session using simple lists and knowledge students already have (but disregard most of the time). They end the lesson with a section of creative prose that is focussed on inner and outer worlds in a story, convincing and specific details that avoid cliche and original and imaginative characterisation without the sweat, seemingly. Based on my work as a professional creative writing tutor and short story writer, this method is probably something you haven't come across before. I developed this as a lesson observation that was graded outstanding. A lovely accompanying resource is the Improving Creative Writing Grid which is a godsend learning mat that I've used across the secondary years. Available a a creative writing bundle soon.

Students at KS 3 or KS4 if you are exploring Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Dracula or another Gothic novel, get to learn the wider contexts of the Gothic Genre from its beginnings in the late 1700s. The PPT lasts a whole lesson and uses skim and scan reading, note making and colour-coding as a mnemonic for learning and revision. The main event is a 'Running Research' task in which students work in pairs (would work individually as well as in groups up to four) to go on a quest throughout the classroom to find research to fill in understanding under various headings that cover the Gothic genre. Pesky boys tend to love this one as they are up and about.

Over three A3 pages, the master resource gives you the option of tailor- making homework for a full half term for classes studying Gothic Literature at KS3. Three tasks levels that are differentiated within each level with students choosing the level they wish to work at. There are at least 21 different tasks and with differentiated options - you can actually have about 50 tasks to choose from. Range of creative approaches that you might not dare take in class to encourage students to use a fuller range of modalities with which to explore Gothic Literature. There's even a Beat the Teacher task so that they can show you what they would prefer to be doing!

This resource provides a full-length high grade response (Grade 9) to a typical task set for AQA English Literature Paper 2 Section A Love and Relationships anthology. Plenty of further activities provided to stimulate good use of the essay and further response practice and research. High graders lap this one up!

Homeworks but nothing to stop the tasks being adapted for cover lessons or into classroom activities. It's a smorgasbord of activity! Full set of homeworks differentiated for Grades 1-9 to accompany teaching of Macbeth. Designed to consolidate and extend learning and encourage students to use a range of learning modalities. The original word document is 18 pages long and you can make it into bespoke take away sheets for your students. Divided into Acts so that you can team up with your teaching. At least 100 tasks to choose from and very quick to edit - e.g. choose the grades 6-7 column for the term. Plenty to please parents who want their child to be busy and engage in homework and revision. Tasks encourage independence. Use alongside my free download to track the completion of homework alongside parents and students.

Invaluable resource for teaching those more nebulous skills for Grades 8 and 9. A high level modelled or exemplar response to a task on 'Follower' and attitudes to parents. Compared with 'Mother, any distance' for the AQA English Literature Paper 2. Plenty of high level ideas ready to be learned and also a good range of activities provided to encourage students to interact with the essay response, pick it apart, learn it, borrow the style and to encourage wider research. Rich in applied contexts and perspectives and full use of those aspects of poems students often neglect - structure and form - the response looks at sounds (because poetry is an aural form) and both big (journey structures) and smaller structures.

Over 30 PPT slides, students gain an introduction to, review or renew knowledge of Macbeth as a tragic hero following tragic form. General resource for all GCSE study and a great quick look at tragedy for the start of A Level. For the AQA English Literature GCSE, discussion of tragic form can gain marks for AO1, 2 and 3 (tragic form is regarded as a context or perspective with which to consider the text). Memorable 'anchoring' images that support concepts in the PPT as well as 30 second think tasks to keep students engaged. Also considers the role other characters and imagery play in the tragic form. Concludes by asking the question 'Why is the play not called The Tragedy of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth'?

Dice or no dice, this six by six grid helps students quickly zhoosh-up their descriptive pieces beyond the mythical power of yet another simile! Lots of quick to apply professional writer's tips and tricks gleaned from my work tutoring undergraduate writing workshops! Don't be fooled - it's much easier to get them to go up two grades in an edit with this than you think. I use it as an original mat during practice pieces and as an editing tool if they writing has become rather prosaic. Easy to remember a few for the examination itself. Little bit of numeracy thrown in with the old 'along the corridor, up the stairs' style of grid reading thrown in as an outstanding bonus to your lesson.

Designed on PPT with any print offs on the slides, this resource takes students through a professional creative writer’s workshop to find a range of characters and potential problems to give them. Small activities so that it is pacy and none of the tasks ever seem too ‘taxing’ for students. This works as a discrete lesson from which they could go on to create a narrative. The extended version of this sequence that takes students through the full version of plot planning is availabe for purchase here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/planning-effective-short-stories-and-narratives-11846098

This enables children to create a nonsense poem in the style of the Mad Hatter from ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Ideal for KS2 and KS3. Easy to follow PPT with methodical steps to help students create a nonsense poem. Low threshold, high ceiling differentiation so all achieve. Could be an extended starter or a whole lesson. Bring your own tea and cake and you could always dress up as the Mad Hatter, if you are that way inclined.

An A4 sheet to stick into exercise books (front or back covers are ideal for this) that becomes a homework and independent reading log for a half term. Parents find it easy to track independent reading - they have to sign to say they've heard it, seen it or discussed it - and any further homework that is set for the week. Template is great for KS3 when a one reading homework, one other homework model is used. Minimal input from teachers - you can just record that the homework was great and you gave a reward or you can note late, partially or not completed homework. Clear communication with parents and helps to organise students and get a sense of satisfaction as all the boxes are filled. I use a final reward in the half term if everything is complete for the half term. Save your sanity with this aspect of work that can easily get out of control otherwise.