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.
3 lessons designed to revise with students how to write an academic essay including introduction.
The first lesson models to students
The second lesson is a ‘we do’ lesson where, with teacher support, students structure an answer to a new Macbeth question.
The third lesson is designed to be an assessment where students answer a third Macbeth question independently.
Three Macbeth sample assessments included
A series of lessons following the I do, we do, you do structure that guides students through how to write an academic response to the GCSE exam question on ‘An Inspector Calls.’
Students are guided through:
how to tackle the question
how to plan their response
how to write an effective introduction
how to structure an academic essay
Three exam questions included for students to work on.
This resource guides students through the two AQA literature papers.
A student booklet is included that contains model answers, opportunities to practice annotation and exam responses as well as guidance on structuring an academic introduction.
A teacher power point is also included to assist the delivery and teaching of the mock.
Texts covered:
Romeo and Juliet
Jekyll and Hyde
An Inspector Calls
Unseen poetry
A student booklet and teacher power point that takes students through how to answer and revise for the Romeo and Juliet AQA literature question.
Model answers included and guidance on how to structure an academic introduction.
Opportunities for students to write their own answers with and without scaffolds.
The resource uses two different exam questions.
A complete walking talking mock for AQA English language paper 2.
Includes a student booklet containing model answers which encourage students to achieve thoughtful responses, exam tips and opportunity for students to practice annotation and structuring answers to the questions.
This resource uses the November 18 AQA English language inserts.
A power point is included to guide students through the mock including mark schemes.
Two walking talking mocks for AQA English language. One booklet and power point for paper 1 and one for paper 2
Includes a student booklets containing model answers which encourage students to achieve thoughtful responses, exam tips and opportunity for students to practice annotation and structuring answers to the questions.
These resources uses the November 18 AQA English language inserts.
A power point is included to guide students through the mocks including mark schemes.
100+ slides that guide students through how to tackle language paper 1 question by question.
Includes:
tips and guidance for each question
model answers that achieve marks across the mark scheme
Do now activities
Activities to help students with descriptive and narrative writing
These resources use the 2017 paper where the extract is taken from Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.
A presentation used for staff CPD around strategies for increasing the ratio. Active engagement versus thinking. The presentation is rooted in educational research from Doug Lemov and Tom Sherrington.
The presentation:
sets out expectations of all students in our classrooms
explains the ratio spectrum with examples of actions that would place students in varying positions on the ratio graph
emphasises the importance of ‘no opt out’ with strategies for ensuring this
explores the concept of active observation and how it an be used to increase the ratio
explores how the ratio can be increased through writing, questioning and discussion simultaneously - in detail
considers the difference between formative and summative writing
incorporates a section where the CPD leader models a process for increasing the ratio through writing, questioning and discussion using the teachers as students - participants consider the question “What makes a good lesson?”
A power point and student work booklet that helps students to understand the requirements of the writing tasks on both AQA language papers as well as develop skills.
Included:
example stronger and weaker answers
exploration of the mark scheme
exam hacks and tips
opportunity to develop effective descriptions
opportunity to structure effective narratives
opportunity to structure effective non fiction writing
exploration of rhetoric and rhetorical devices
effective strategies for planning responses
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from the summer exams to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers to English language paper 2.
Power point (86 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
plan their responses to the questions
structure shorter but more effective responses
consider the order in which to answer the questions
explore methods and their effect concisely
improve responses through model answers
develop their transactional writing
plan and sgtructure effective persuasive writing
explore rhetoric and what makes it effective
Source material: extracts are on the topic of train travel as used in the summer 23 exams
Model answers included.
40 revision cards with questions on one side and answers on the other to make revision fast and simple. This resource is best used in a small index card folder/organiser.** (As seen in the image) **
Based on the Leitner method, the idea is simple: the further the card goes back in the folder: the more secure the information is in long term memory.
A card can only move back a position if you correctly answer the questions on the card. If at any point you do not answer a card correctly enough, the card must return to section 1 regardless of how far back it went. This is because it needs to be re-studied.
Quotation cards
There are 3 questions on each card: a ‘who’ question, a ‘what’ question and a ‘why’ question.
Knowledge cards.
These cards test knowledge of either subject terminology or the text itself. Subject terminology cards include questions on the definitions of language devices, sentence types and word classes as well as specific terminology.
Knowledge cards include questions about context, plot, character and theme.
Getting started
Create 6 sections in your ‘Lightning Revision’ folder.
Place all/some cards in section 1 at the front of the folder.
Follow the timetable card **(photo attached) **which tells you which of the sections you should revise each day. You’ll revise section 1 every day because cards in this section are the ones that you are least secure with.
If you answer correctly enough: move the card to the next section.
If you aren’t happy that you answered correctly enough then move the card back to section 1. (Regardless of how far back in the folder it was.)
**The Science bit: the better the mastery: the less frequent the practice. **
‘Lightning Revision’ works using the principle of ‘spaced learning.’
Research shows that after studying something: within one hour, you will have forgotten an average of 50% percent of the information. Within 24 hours, you have forgotten around 70% and within a month, this increases to 90%.
By spacing out the studying and by returning frequently to the material we want to remember, we increase our chances of committing it to long term memory.
Instead of ‘cramming,’ the simple act of spacing out revision in instalments, and allowing time to elapse between them makes the learning and memory stronger.
This resource has been created to help information that you have revised stay within your long term memory. In this system, we revise information that we are insecure with more frequently.
2 versions included:
Print - fold horizontally - cut them up and you’re ready to go!
Print back to back and you;re ready to go.
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 to the ‘Macbeth’ question.
Power point (37 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 a construct
Exam questions used in this resource: Macbeth’s violence
Model answers included.
Additional exam question used: Macbeth and Banquo’s attitude towards the super natural.
Lessons that guide students through the process of writing a comparison between Exposure and Extract from the Prelude as well as Exposure and Storm on the Island.
Students are encouraged to think about a thesis - a central argument that will run throughout their essay. What do we learn about the power in Exposure? What is the big idea?
Once students have this they are encouraged to unpick a quotation and explore how the words/devices used corroborate their thesis before writing their first paragraph.
Once complete, students apply the same process to the second poem by considering how the power has been presented and using evidence effectively.
These resources (four lessons) guide students how to tackle each of the questions on language paper 1.
The extract is taken from ‘The Mist in the mirror.’
Included is a ppt to guide students through the expectations of each question including model answers that would achieve at least a grade 5 and planning strategies for each question.
Worksheets are also included which can be uploaded to an online learning platform for students to complete. Worksheets are very user friendly to minimise student difficulty.
Rather than differentiation, many schools are thinking more in terms of scaffolding in the current climate.
The attached documents include:
a ppt used for CPD
a guidance document containing a range of strategies that can be used to scaffold work for children.
Four full lessons using ‘Lamb to the slaughter’ by Roald Dahl, that support students in developing their ability in:
making inferences
evaluating
analysing
articulating their own perspectives and
researching
Worksheets have been created that can be easily uploaded to online learning platforms to make remote teaching easier. Students have everything for the lesson in one document and can simply annotate the text and fill in the relevant boxes and tables.
Model answers also included.
Two lessons, used for remote learning but can be used in class, that serve as an introduction to ballads.
Students read ‘Homeless Jack’ and explore the conventions of ballads.
In lesson 2 students write their own ballad about ‘Too tall Paul’ after reading an extract from an article about Britian’s tallest man.
Four lessons on the short story ‘Chemistry’ by Graham Swift from the Telling Tales anthology
Each lesson has a power point and a worksheet style document that can be used for remote learning. Just upload it to your platform and everything that students need is on their document ready to work on.
Lessons were initially made for a well performing year 8 group. New versions were then created for a lower prior attaining year 7 group and so have been scaffolded to meet their needs. Both versions are included here.
Resources cover:
inference
language analysis
evaluation
writing to argue a view point
Knowledge checks and do now activities are included.
This resource begins by getting students to explore the poem as an unseen poem.
It then guides them through how to answer a language analysis question.
Two lessons using an extract from Jurassic Park that are ideal for remote teaching as there is a power point for each lesson and a document that students can complete. Easy to copy and paste into Teams or google classrooms.
The first lesson explores inference and the second focuses on analysis.