I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
Resources to support the teaching of the new specification (9-1) AQA paper 2 reading section.
Resources are fully differentiated by colour:
purple = lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
Resources provide opportunity for pupil talk, provide objectives and assessment tasks. Model answers also included.
The texts used are taken from the AQA text book (turtle on the cover) but texts are also included in this bundle.
Fully differentiated lessons to support the teaching of 'The Class Game.'
2 lessons that include pupil talk tasks, assessment, outcomes and cover:
- context of the poem
- language analysis
- form and structure exploration
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow - higher ability
20 full differentiated (by colour) and meticulously planned lessons to support the teaching of reading and writing skills. These lessons are ready to go.
Ideal for transition from KS2 to KS3, for year 6, year 7 or year 8 classes.
Within these lessons students are exposed to a wide range of fiction, non fiction and literary non fiction texts and will use these as a stimulus for creating their own texts.
These lessons allow students to develop skills for accessing the new English language and English literature 9-1 specifications.
Students will explore the following texts/extracts:
- Article on bats
- Extract from the Twits & BFG - Roald Dahl
- Extract from Frankenstein
- Extract from A Christmas Carol
- Extracts from autobiographies
- Extract from Bill Bryson - travel writing (non-fiction literary)
- Extract from Bleak house
- The Lion the witch and the wardrobe
- blogs
- poetry - Sister Maude, Mother any distance
- articles about Friendship
Students will develop the following skills in preparation for accessing new 9-1 GCSE
- Synthesis
- Comparison
- Language. structure, form analysis
- Theme exploration
- Analytical writing
- Imaginative writing - narrative and descriptive
- Transactional writing
Assessment opportunities and homework tasks also included
Over 10 lessons worth of resources to support the teaching of spoken language. All lessons are meticulously planned and fully differentiated by colour. These lessons are ready to go and are numbered for ease of use.
Ideal for use in KS3 given the removal of this component as part of GCSE.
Differentiation:
purple - lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
These resources allow students to identify and analyse the following spoken language techniques:
- face threatening acts
- jargon
- accent and dialect
- formal and informal talk
- Adjacency pairs
- back channel features
- Fillers and hedges
- Holding the floor
- turn taking
- overlapping speech
- standard English
- spontaneous speech
Students will explore spoken language taken from the following sources:
- Catharine Tate as Lauren in the UK sitcom
- Jeremy Paxman interview with Russell Brand
- Ali G interview with Tony Benn
- Jonathan Ross interview with Lady Gaga
- Board room conversations taken from the Junior apprentice
- Classroom talk taken from Highgate Wood school
- Transcripts of students talking with teachers
Links provided for YouTube video clips to allow students to observe the spoken language before analysing
Planning sheets, card sort of techniques, homework tasks and analysis writing frames are also included.
This medium term plan covers Jekyll and Hyde for teaching at GCSE for the new 9-1 specification.
In addition to embedding the skills for the literature GCSE examination, the scheme also prepares students for the language examinations by sign posting opportunities for developing English language reading and writing skills.
All power points to accompany this scheme are also available and are meticulously planned and fully differentiated.
3 lessons to support the revision of the reading section of the new specification English language paper 1 for AQA.
Using a sample paper (included) the resources:
- guide students through how to tackle each question
- provide suggested timings
- provide sample answers
- provide tips and strategies for planning a response
- show the questions annotated to ensure students stick to the focus of the task
- provide opportunities to self/peer assess against the mark scheme criteria
Fully differentiated (by colour) resource to support the teaching of comparison of 'The send off' by Wilfred Owen.
Differentiation:
purple = lower
blue = middle
yellow = higher
Fully differentiated (by colour) resources to support the teaching of ‘The send off’ by Wilfred Owen.
Resources prepare students to access the new specification 9-1 poetry exam (context and analysis of writer’s methods) and also develop imaginative writing skills for 9-1 English language.
3 lessons to support the revision of the reading section of the new specification English language paper 2 for AQA.
Perfect for use as a walking talking mock in class whereby you guide students through how to tackle each question and then allow them the suggested time to complete a response.
Using a sample paper provided by AQA the resources:
- guide students through how to tackle each question
- provide suggested timings
- provide sample answers
- provide tips and strategies for planning a response
- show the questions annotated to ensure students stick to the focus of the task
- provide opportunities to self/peer assess against the mark scheme criteria
Extracts taken from: The village that lost its children and an extract from an essay written in 1967, one year after a devastating landslide in the Welsh village of Aberfan.
Three fully differentiated (by colour) lessons to support the teaching of the context for Romeo and Juliet. Ideal introduction to studying the play.
Lessons also cover the prologue.
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
2 fully differentiated (by colour) lessons to support the teaching of 19th century extracts taken from Jane Eyre and Nicholas Nickleby. The focus of these lessons is school life and students will consider the presentation of school in the 19th century and compare this to school life in the 21st century. Opportunities to compare the two 19th century texts.
Extracts are taken from the AQA new specification 9-1, 19th century texts booklet and is included in this resource pack.
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
A presentation containing several strategies to get students planning their responses before they start writing.
Also included are some templates and resources to help students form an effective plan and then enable them to move on to structuring a cohesive and structured response to the question.
Also included are resources and strategies to encourage students to spend time editing and re-drafting their responses.
Resources included:
Narrative writing planning template
Non fiction writing planning template
Structure strips
Sample writing questions
presentation containing many possible strategies
Editing resources
A six week activity book that could be used independently in class or for homework.
Over the course of the six weeks students will work on strategies for effective writing which culminates in producing a piece of writing to argue in the final week.
Each week’s work begins with a retention quiz.
Students develop confidence in:
Understanding and identifying the GAP
Opening hooks
Language devices for effect
Punctuation
Planning for writing
With very few sample assessment materials provided by the exam boards I have created my own.
They have been made to look exactly like the assessments that students will sit n the real 9-1 examinations and are phrased in the same ways too.
This paper uses The Emigree as the printed poem.
The student responses can then be marked using the relevant mark scheme for Power and conflict poetry.
A resource to support students in the comparison of The Emigree to one other poem from the power and conflict collection
Differentiation:
purple = lower
blue = middle
yellow = higher
Resource provides opportunities for:
- exploration of the mark scheme
- identifying points of comparison between The Emigree and other poems
- self/peer assessment
- guiding students through an effective analytical paragraph structure
A resource to support students in the comparison of Ozymandias to one other poem from the power and conflict collection
Differentiation:
purple = lower
blue = middle
yellow = higher
Resource provides opportunities for:
- exploration of the mark scheme
- identifying points of comparison between Ozymandias and other poems
- self/peer assessment
- guiding students through an effective analytical paragraph structure
A student booklet and teacher power point that takes students through how to answer and revise for the unseen poetry AQA literature question.
Model answers included and guidance on how to plan and then structure an academic introduction and essay.
Opportunities for students to write their own answers with and without scaffolds.
The resource uses two different exam questions.
A series of lessons exploring the lyrical ballad ‘Goody Blake and Harry Gill’ for Key stage 3.
In these lessons students will:
summarise differences
analyse use of language
write a persuasive letter
explore the context of lyrical ballads
develop inference skills
A walking talk mock (power point presentation and student work booklet) to build skills for AQA English language paper 2 question 5.
The resource:
explores the mark scheme
explores examiner feedback
explores stronger and weaker answers
provides exemplar student answers with annotations
explores ethos, logos, pathos as a method for persuasion
provides an effective sample structure
provides a step by step approach to creating an impactful response
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from summer 2023 to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers/essays in response to Romeo and Juliet.
Power point (42 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
plan their response
consider the text chronologically
embed context rather than bolt it on at the end
consider how themes can be context rather than just Historical events
create thesis statements
consider the texts as constructs
Exam question used in this resource: relationships between older and younger characters
Model answers included.