After a reading of the story, this will help students explore short story form and the literary contexts of the story as a fairy tale/Bildungsroman/cautionary tale. All three assessment objectives are covered and there is an exemplary high-level response provided for students to learn from and revise. Suits Grade 5+ and aims to raise achievement by making closer links between contexts and writer’s choices and purpose. With this method, the AO1 follows naturally and all three assessed areas are covered. Goes well with two other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-tea-drinking-sequence-cultural-literary-biographical-contexts-study-11836763?theme=0 andhttps://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-literary-contexts-11836384?theme=1andhttps://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-literary-contexts-11836384?theme=1 Also available as a bundle for a considerable reduction on all three resources. …

This PPT resource with embedded worksheets enables students to complete an AO1, AO2 and AO3 study of ‘The Darkness Out There’ for the AQA Telling Tales anthology as part of Paper 2 Modern Texts. The sequence of learning looks at how knowledge of Lively’s writing style, her themes and beliefs, literary and cultural contexts help us to understand the rising action, crisis, climax and resolution of the short story that are contained in the tea drinking sequence. Activities for students to complete throughout and a final task of an extended task response. 2-3 hours of learning here at a grade 5+ level. Great accompaniment to https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-darkness-out-there-literary-contexts-11836384?theme=0 which looks at further literary contexts of the short story as a modern fairy tale.

A whole lesson PPT that looks at the literary links between ‘The Darkness Out There’ and ‘Hansel and Gretel’ to explore literary contexts and writer’s purpose. Students consider who fairy tales are written for, their purpose and their archetypal characters and gender roles. They use this knowledge to explore Nether Cottage and Packer’s End and the characters of Sandra, Kerry and Mrs. Rutter. They consider the perspectives that the story affords the 21st Century teen.

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'?

Tragic form in 10 slides to work as an introduction to tragic form in 'Macbeth'. For the AQA, 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. Straight forward to use questioning alongside this introductory resource so that students can provide examples and quotations to consolidate learning. There is a sister resource that accompanies this introduction with booster/revision/introductory notes on Macbeth as a tragic character and a discussion on why the play is not called 'The Tragedy of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth'. This additional material is available at £4 for the full resource. Link to follow.

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'.

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.

25 slide PPT for the introduction of Transactional Writing or a series of starters to puncuate the teaching of Transactional Writing. Delivered using questions and activities that last a few moments each, the unit gives students the understanding of why TA writing should be important to them for their GCSE grade and in their future lives. It also covers the basics that underpin all the TA writing types i.e rhetoric and the skills the exam boards are looking for. This one includes weightings and timings for the WJEC/Eduqas English Language examination but could easily be swapped for another board with same task applied. Presented with humour and grown-up looking images (none of your clip art images here!) it's certainly been a winner with my Year 10s and 11s. Fuller range in this series coming soon to include 2 minute grade ups for each writing type and quick learn rhetoric devices that go beyond the use of (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) APERFORMER - I leave the selling of that skill to others. Here you will find a fresh approach. I will also be selling this and its comrades as a bundle before too long. Keep coming back. Want to leave a review? Have an equally priced resource on me! Want to say 'Even Better If ...' - collar me on Twitter @alisonshuttlew1

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.

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).

A starter activity of a mid-grade task response introduction on 'Follower' that uses the 'journey' of the poem to briefly address structure and ideas delivered in the poem. Students are asked to then suggest five ideas for the introduction that they will later cover in the response.

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.

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!

Great for making descriptive writing more engaging and figurative. Would suit descriptive task on the AQA English Language exam or a KS 3 lesson - Yr 8 most able or Yr 9. The techniques are more uncommon in their use but very easy to use. Will make students' writing engaging, imaginative and original in description. Easy for them to travel forward with these techniques.

One third of the Gothic Homework Take Away Menu is provided here. Injects a wider range of modalities into the understanding of Gothic Literature. Could be used within lessons in its sample form as a way of opening discussions of student understanding of what they've read. Full resource here: THANK YOU FOR SAMPLING THE KS3 GOTHIC HOMEWORK MENU FULL SET OF 21 MAIN TASKS, BUILDING TO AROUND 50 TASKS WITH CHALLENGE TASKS AVAILABLE AT https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/generic-take-away-homework-for-gothic-units-of-work-at-ks3-11828714

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!

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.

One grid, a myriad of applications to improve your students' creative writing skills for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4. the grid focuses on those areas that are evaluable in the grading of creative writing - such as the quality of charcterisation and description and use of sentence structure and sentence types but does so in such a way that real creativity flourishes. Your students will be able to create descriptive pieces and creative prose pieces beyond what they thought they could. The resource is a 6x13 grid of ideas that can be dipped into as writing is created or when creative writing is edited. The grid can be edited down into bookmark type strips to personlise editing or writing production for students. It is also easy to make a 6x6 grid to use with dice to ensure students keep in mind all the disciplines to gain marks for their creative writing. The grid also makes 78 cards that can be turned over every few sentences or during paragraph writing to ensure that students don't just lapse into telling the action in a story without reference to description, emotion or conscious crafting of sentences and language. Developed from my experience as a writer and creative writing tutor and from my time studying for my MA in Creative Writing, I have brought that expertise to bear in the secondary classroom for teachers who have often been literature or language trained rather than creative writing trained.

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.