These 7 ice-breakers are fun, easy to administer and also help you get to know the class and them to get to know each other. You need a soft ball, a timer and maybe some music. The PP has icons hyperlinked to the activity explanation. 4 of the tasks need no resources. The ‘bingo’ sheet, 'tell us’cards and the ideas for ‘get in line’ are all provided for printing before the lesson. Suitable for tutor or subject lessons.

This resource brings together the work done on poems individually to focus on a strategy for comparing and the actual comparison of the two poems.The PP begins the task with planning, then continues with self- and peer- checking. Targets are suggested in the last slide, to be adapted by the teacher as suits the actual class. A planning sheet handout to be enlarged to A3 ensures the AOs are covered at the planning stage. A further handout focuses on effective openings, stimulating discussion and then serving as a model for the essay opening. For very weak students there is a generic note on comparing poems with some useful words, phrases and prompts. The trial exam paper follows the style of the AQA exam.

This is a self-check starter that could develop into a full lesson by letting students find their own words to build. The PP begins with a definition of both prefix and suffix, goes on to list common prefixes and suffixes, which students then use to build up words. To help students get the hang of it, 'source' is one you can do together, beginning with 'resource'! Create a more competitive atmosphere by setting time limits and letting students work in teams. While they don't need to copy all the answers, they should write a few they didn't get because the whole exercise is to widen their vocabulary. The work sheet supports the PP task for weaker or slower students. The spelling test included for extension work doesn't focus on word building specifically, but provides a less threatening way of helping poor spellers focus on accuracy.

Typical AQA questions begin with a critical stance to be applied to an extract and then the play as a whole. The starter PP gives the critical stance and asks students to formulate the question [a paper version is available to cut time wastage ] and chose - in groups with discussion- a suitable extract for the question. The homework is a log to fill in for each Act, providing a key focus and some key quotes. A note on essay writing outlines a strategy to follow as well as giving feedback from AQA on the way they prefer essays written.

This is a poem where structure undergirds the meaning of the poem more obviously than often, so it is a useful 'unseen' to explore. As well as the lesson on PP and the fill in worksheet, there is a detailed note on Metre, using examples from the poem. Avoid with a weak class, but worth doing with a mid- to able class, provided the focus is on how the rhyme and rhythm support/ enhance meaning. The teacher's notes has two links, one to a reading of the poem and another to a youtube clip that could be used as a 'flipped learning' style preparatory homework task [under 20mins]: particularly useful with weaker students - an easy differentiation.

Here are the three different stages leading up to and including the trial exam paper and its feedback. The focus is on learning a strategy for coping with unseen poetry by taking it slowly, focusing on the process while exploring the poems: 'Sonnet 65' and 'Meeting at Night' and comparing the two.

Part of the SPaG starter series, these two starters consist of an instruction slide, a handout for differentiation and an answer slide. The idea is to keep drip-feeding SPaG reminders by way of starters that are self mark. Here the focus is on prepositions and plurals. In each case as an extension activity students try to formulate a rule which is given with the answers.

There is so much fantastic stuff out there on Romeo & Juliet there seems no point in more of the same. So this is not about the main thrust of your teaching. What this resource offers is alternatives for differentiation, especially in homework and starters. Budget constraints often mean students can't take the text home and time constraints mean there is little time in the lesson to allow students to engage with the text independently - these tasks try to rectify this by a 'little and often' approach, making starters and homework more 'open' than has been the recent trend. To help you sort out the order of relevance I've numbered the work that clusters together. Hope you and your class can bring a little enjoyment back into studying Shakespeare.

While a Thesaurus can be a useful tool, it is a blunt instrument when used without understanding of the subtle differences in meaning of synonyms. The PP explores how things can go wrong, using words that could easily become part of each student’s word-hoard. Differentiated for slow writers or to speed the whole class up, the worksheet supports the PP in this longer self-check starter, designed to develop apt vocabulary that takes context into account. This starter could easily be developed into a whole lesson by inviting students to create their own muddles which other groups mend, using the PP sentences as a model.

Little and often is the best way to prepare students for the demands of GCSE English, so this task would suit y9 students as well as those doing GCSE already. Based on a paragraph of just 6 lines from William Corbett’s 1821-22 ‘Cottage Economy’, the task comprises a close reading to analyse tone, argument and structure. Being so short, this passage is an ideal ‘taster’ of a 19th century text. Students are also given a ‘typical’ reading question to consider. Feedback on the analysis is supported by the PP, which covers the whole lesson from Introduction- which also offers contextual information - to the writing task. Students use the persuasive techniques they have already learned to re-work Corbett’s argument in a modern way.

The PP looks at what is meant by 'problem play' and quotes various opinions - the class should apply the quotes in discussion and explore to what extent they agree and find them helpful. Students can use these quotes either to sharpen their own insights or as supporting evidence in essays. End the lesson with a discussion or debate, as a class or in groups, about how they think the actors should end the play - does she or doesn't she?! The 'so what' worksheet is versatile as a starter or homework - its aim is to develop a sense of Shakespeare's like experience as a context for the play.

This series is a question by question guide to the non-fiction paper, starting with reading. Each question begins with a ‘quick-fire starter’ when the technique required by the question is practised in its simplest form, usually a very visual text. This gives students confidence. It also keeps the time pressure on so that working quickly becomes a habit. Then the question requirements are explored through the exam board’s directives and again quick and easy examples with answers build up to more demanding practise through the series. Visual texts and Extracts of both 19th century and 21st century texts are used in the series to ensure students are undaunted by older texts. In all cases answers and a simplified mark scheme are provided. Although this series is preparing students for the Eduqas Component two English paper, it can easily be adapted to suit the question style of other exam boards: all have retrieval questions, inference questions etc. The focus of this resource is A2. A quick-fire starter gets students using the technique they need for the question on a simple visual task. The 'how to' PP looks more closely at the question's requirements and offers quick guided practise. The focus then shipts to how to formulate the gathered information into a 10mark answer. A sample answer is provided as well as a simplified, student-friendly marking memo that can be used for all the 10mark questions in this paper. Because work has been simplified to ensure a firm foundation, this task is also suitable for y9s beginning their GCSE work early.

This series is a question by question guide to the non-fiction paper, starting with reading. Each question begins with a ‘quick-fire starter’ when the technique required by the question is practised in its simplest form, usually a very visual text. This gives students confidence. It also keeps the time pressure on so that working quickly becomes a habit. Then the question requirements are explored through the exam board’s directives and again quick and easy examples with answers build up to more demanding practise through the series. Visual texts and Extracts of both 19th century and 21st century texts are used in the series to ensure students are undaunted by older texts. In all cases answers and a simplified mark scheme are provided. Although this series is preparing students for the Eduqas Component two English paper, it can easily be adapted to suit the question style of other exam boards: all have retrieval questions, inference questions etc. The focus of this resource is A1, so time has been taken to explain how the whole CP2 paper works. The starter introduces retrieval type questions, the main lesson looks at the overview of the exam, then moves on to a closer focus on retrieval, before the text becomes more demanding as students work independently. A hwk sheet is introduced and then assessed via a third PP. Because work has been simplified to ensure a firm foundation, this task is also suitable for y9s beginning their GCSE work early.

Section B is often just left to students to manage as teachers focus on the reading component. But being well prepared for writing tasks can win students time and if they follow the 5 golden rules given here they can boost their scores. A starter PP shows students how important accuracy is, then the ‘how to’ lesson takes them step-by-step through from decoding the task to proof-reading. Along the way they have ‘you try’ opportunities and homework under timed conditions, which will be checked in the following lesson. There is a paper version of the starter to allow for differentiation. Although designed particularly for the Eduqas exam, the skills taught in this resource suit all exam boards.

This series is a question by question guide to the non-fiction paper, starting with reading. Each question begins with a ‘quick-fire starter’ PP when the technique required by the question is practised in its simplest form, usually a very visual text. This gives students confidence. It also keeps the time pressure on so that working quickly becomes a habit. Then the question requirements are explored through the exam board’s directives in the lesson PP and again quick and easy examples with answers build up to more demanding practise through the series. Visual texts and Extracts of both 19th century and 21st century texts are used in the series to ensure students are undaunted by older texts. In all cases answers and a simplified mark scheme are provided. This series is preparing students for the Eduqas Component two English paper and the focus of this particular resource is question A5. Here two text are given for work in class and two more homework texts are given. All these texts will be used in the A6 lesson, but re-issued to make that a stand-alone resource too. Hwk can always be done as an extra lesson, if students are struggling particularly. Because work has been simplified to ensure a firm foundation, this task is also suitable for y9s beginning their GCSE work early.

This series is a question by question guide to the non-fiction paper, starting with reading. Each question begins with a ‘quick-fire starter’ when the technique required by the question is practised in its simplest form, usually a very visual text. This gives students confidence. It also keeps the time pressure on so that working quickly becomes a habit. Then the question requirements are explored through the exam board’s directives and again quick and easy examples with answers build up to more demanding practise through the series. Visual texts and Extracts of both 19th century and 21st century texts are used in the series to ensure students are undaunted by older texts. In all cases answers and a simplified mark scheme are provided. Although this series is preparing students for the Eduqas Component two English paper, it can easily be adapted to suit the question style of other exam boards: all have retrieval questions, inference questions etc. The focus of this resource is A3 & A4. The questions are largely similar, though slightly more demanding that A1 & A2, which is why they have been done together. Because work has been simplified to ensure a firm foundation, this task is also suitable for y9s beginning their GCSE work early.

The focus of this second lesson is writing in a way appropriate for the form, audience and purpose of the task. In the process, students are introduced to the mark scheme, do peer assessment of last lesson’s homework and get a note on strategy. Their plenary is to match extracts to text types, but as these text types are written by the same author, their challenge is to see how one person adapts their writing to the required TAP. The quick fire starter focuses on TAP appropriate openings; the lesson PP then focuses on assessment criteria angled towards TAP, giving students a checklist and a strategy as handouts; and the plenary asks students to TAP three extract. Answers will be checked in the next lesson. Although designed for the Eduquas exam, these skills are relevant for all exam boards.

Vocabulary - The Bad Spy’s Guide by Pete Johnson. A quick vocabulary starter which doubles as a recommended read.

These slides can be printed on A3 for display as well as being used as a starter to help students see how structure and imagery can enhance their writing.

These are two of my favourite poems and ideal for 'unseen' practise as well as comparing. You can flip learning by giving the worksheet as a homework, then using the Power Point as an aid to discussion, or a self-mark/ peer assessment guide. Close reading, annotation and comparison are all skills taught through this task. And if there's time, the poems stimulate lovely discussions about appreciating and understanding parents, which could also lead to writing... win-win.