This is a handy, no-prep resource for teachers of IGCSE English as a Second Language. It’s a series of lessons showing students how the same structure can be used to write film, book, restaurant, theatre and event REVIEWS. Ideal for both Year 10 and 11 students writing the new 2019 examinations, this lesson will take 6 lessons to deliver and provides a step-by-step approach, colour-coded mentor texts, success criteria, writing tasks, discussion activities, answers, and easy-to-use worksheets.

A fun starter activity for students to develop creative thinking skills or help EAL students use the language of comparison. When I first started using this game, I had no idea how popular it would turn out to be. Basically, the game invites students to identify similarities between two images. I provide post-it notes and show students two images. The students then write down one or two words to indicate how the images are similar. Then they stand up and one by one say their response. All students with the same or similar ideas have to sit down. The students who are left standing are the ones who have ideas nobody else has used. Then we play the game again and the aim is to have more students standing than in the previous round. This is a highly enjoyable game for students and promotes: creative thinking innovative thinking ingenuity originality I use this game in my English and EAL/ESL classes but the idea behind it can be adapted for many subject areas.

A 4-page resource with 4 extracts from Act 1 Scene 7. EAL students are provided with a template of sentence frames to help them write 4 PEE paragraphs.

Ideal for Key Stage 3 and 4, this is a completely unique way to approach the teaching of Macbeth. Using a memory-peg system, students are able to remember the key details, characters and themes of the play by visualising trigger images pegged on locations around their bedroom. The images are repeatedly ‘visited’, each time adding more details to enable them to review the play without needing notes. Please watch the YouTube video to gain an overview of the process. I have used this technique successfully in both schools in London and my present school in China. This book is also available at a reduced price as part of my Creative Ways to teach Macbeth bundle. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/creative-ways-to-teach-macbeth-12107584

This book contains over 55 worksheets and activity pages encouraging a range of thinking skills and learning styles to explore Macbeth. Each worksheet is based on different extracts, allowing students to respond imaginatively and critically to various aspects of the play. Please watch the YouTube promotional video to get a greater overview of the contents. This book is also available at a reduced price as part of my Creative Ways to teach Macbeth bundle. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/creative-ways-to-teach-macbeth-12107584

A handy rubric to use either for self-assessment or peer-assessment with mini action plans for criteria not met.

A handy rubric to help students peer or self assess their attempts at writing a Report - one of the 3 text types needed for the last section of the reading and writing exam. The rubric has 3 columns: the success criteria is on the left; in the middle, there is a YES?NO? column; on the right, there is a column with handy advice on what to do if NO is ticked/registered. I have used this with my classes by copying it as a picture , pasting it in a PPT - then copying my students’ writing as a picture and pasting it over the ADVICE column. Then, using the voice function, I have talked through the rubric with my students and inserted an X in the YES/NO column to indicate that something was not yet achieved. Then I copied that slide, and using the FADE animation function, revealed the ‘action plan’ for the students so that they could see what they needed to address in order to improve. Or you could just use it as a word document and tick/cross the YES/NO column as appropriate.

A handy checklist for IGCSE English as a Second Language students to use to assess each other’s informal email writing.