Many students have already heard of some, if not all of the DAFOREST set of language features which is why I always use this resource at the start of the year. The new AQA English Language exam will expect students to be able to build and expand on this basic knowledge, however in my experience reinforcing DAFOREST with students helps to fill gaps in their knowledge and gives them the confidence to build upon their knowledge of language features. This handy poster / handout is a fun Star Wars based set of examples which is great for students to keep in their books or files for reference. Feel free to look around my shop for other resources which you may find useful in your sessions. Hope it helps

A fantastic full lesson based on The Forever 27 Club comes with 6 resources which included articles, worksheets, full power point with guidance notes, quiz, music clips and independent study. This lesson covers the essential skills needed for Paper 2 Question 3 and also allows time to cover some deeper social issues which some of your students may have experience with, such as body image, gender stereotypes and substance abuse. This lesson enables the students to look at a piece of non fiction and identify language techniques used to influence the readers. It is a fun and fully interactive quick paced lesson where the students investigate language but also learn about two of the most influential musicians of our time and how their personal issue are still issues we face today. The lesson aims to walk students through the process of piecing together a final answer, based on their investigations, which would be expected in the final exam. The lesson ends with a student self assessment plenary called "The Hand of Truth" and optional independent study. Although the source used in this lesson is not from the 19th century it does still instil the skills a student will need to answer this question. Further examples of older sources can also be found in my shop which will be significantly useful when teaching paper 2. This lesson is designed for a 3 hour session but is easily adaptable to suit your own timetable. Hope it helps.

I have complied a wide range of texts, modern and 19th century, for you and your students to use at a drop of a hat. I have complied 27 pages full of non fiction texts in one handy booklet. This was a big hit with my classes and with my students, particularly as we the approached revision and mock exams period. I gave one to every student at the beginning of the year but also found these very useful to have out on the students desks and around the classroom through out the year. This booklet covers a wide range of diverse topics which are likely to crop up in the live exam. Topics such as war, health, education, and includes letters, diary extracts, online articles and autobiographies. Each topic has a modern text alongside a text on a similar topic but from another era in order to help students compare texts and writers viewpoints. Texts includes diary entries by Karl Pilkington and Anne Frank, autobiographies from Jessica Ennis and Billy Connolly, BBC articles looking at Stephen Hawkings view of the NHS next to a letter sent to The Times by Florence Nightingale and much more. This booklet can be used with any exam board and I have found it a useful companion to have in class to give to students for revision sessions, extension texts and sources to help you create mock (or mini mock) exams from. Please be aware that TES preview can at times distort the look of the resource and his is not a true reflection. For this reason I have included some sample screen shots of the booklet to give you a feel of what it contains. Hope it helps

A full lesson to introduce the concept of comparison of writers opinion for paper 2 question 4. This lesson uses modern celebrities and scandals, such as Marilyn Monroe and Johnny Depp and Amber Heards divorce to help students identify bias language with the larger aim of being able to compare two piece of writing based on the same topic. The lesson PowerPoint comes with guidance notes rather than a lesson plan and slides which can be used to either stretch and challenge strong students or support weaker ones. Resources include 2 videos and various worksheets to be used in group or paired work. The lesson is designed to be fun and engaging but also challenging as this question is often the one most students struggle or worry over the most. Hope you find it helpful.

A fantastic bite sized assessment for paper 1 question 3 from the AQA GCSE English Language. This lesson allows for the student to take ownership over their own learning with lots of group work and discussions which are facilitated but not lead by the teacher. The lesson is designed to take all students at all levels through the assessment step by step, allowing students to support one another and to build the confidence to come to their own conclusions and answers. The lesson ends with a quick timed bite sized assessment, which is similar in look and feel to the exam question which allows the teacher to track each students progress on each individual exam question. Hope it helps

Great bite sized assessment created to recreated question 4 from paper 1 on the AQA GCSE English Language exam. This assessment is based from the short story "Glass, Bricks and Dust". These bite sized assessments are a perfect tool for tracking individuals progress and for gaining a clear picture of which questions a student will have the most difficulty with come exam time. Hope it helps

As controlled assessments are a thing of the past now on the GCSE English Language course, I have a selection of bite sized assessments to be used through out the year as a means to track students progress on individual question from the exam. This is extremely useful for both student and teacher as it allows for continuous yearly exam practice and progress tracking on each exam question without the burden of marking full mock exams for large classes at a singular time. This assessment focus on a section of text from Warm Bodies for paper 1 question 4 (critical thinking). The lesson includes group tasks and a video to help warm your students up. It also comes with a helpful scaffold to allow students to form ideas to use as their assessment answers, this can be edited to suit the level of your class. Hope it helps.

An engaging and relevant lesson which introduces critical thinking but in a real world context. This lesson focuses around Donald Trump (which my students LOVE talking about) and his comments made around his inauguration attendance figures. This is a fantastic lesson which allows students to express their opinions but also teaches them to express their opinions in a thoughtful and considered way which will suit an exam question. In a world of multimedia and free information, I find it important to teach students how to think about the information they hear and to research their opinions, but also that it is acceptable to have mixed opinions on a topic. I have tried to bring all these elements together in this introductory lesson. The lesson includes group / paired discussion, group work , independent work and videos and a fun break down of the numerical grading system using a Bee metaphor (Are you a honey / busy or queen bee?) to help encourage students to become the type of student they want to be. There are fun starter activities, aims and objectives and a dairy entry plenary. I originally designed this lesson to fill 3 hours, but it can be edited to suit your session length. I hope you find it useful, thanks.

I love trying to encourage a love of reading in my students. To help do this I created a book list, which takes from best sellers and books which were turned into modern classic movies . I distributed these lists freely around the classroom for students to look at or take home if they choose to. I offered it to both my GCSE and Functional Skills classes to great success and was commented upon as good practice within a recent Ofsted inspection. The book list covers a wide range of styles, brings in topics such as equality and diversity and also covers a range of reading abilities. Please take a look at my TES store for more engaging and fun resources which you may find useful for your sessions. Many thanks and hope it helps.

An introduction lesson to Identifying bias and writers view points centring around the Marvel Universe. The lesson is designed to focus on Paper 2 Question 3 of the GCSE English language exam for AQA, but it can also be adapted for L2 Functional Skills. The lesson includes a film quiz starter, useful scaffolds and plenty of short, snappy group and paired activities. It is designed to reach students of all abilities and includes a short analytical thinking task to stretch and challenge more able students to develop thought out answers. This is a fun lesson which many of my classes have enjoyed. Hope it helps.

This resource is useful tool to encourage independent learning and self / group study. It can be used to reinforce learning, as a workshop or developed further in to a lead session or as homework tasks. As my sessions were quite long I found it useful to create small study groups in the classroom, using booklets to work through together, this was successful in creating confidence and independence among my students whilst also being supported and supervised. The resource uses an extract from The Kite Runner, has student reflections and self assessment tasks. The ultimate aim is for the student to be able to identify structural features and to formulate appropriate answers which will prepare them for the coming exam. Hope it helps.

A full lesson, designed for a 3 hours session but can be adapted to suit your own sessions. Lesson is filled with videos, group/paired/individual tasks and group discussions. Package comes with PPT with guidance notes, 2 videos and all accompanying worksheets. This lesson also comes with a useful structural devices mnemonic which can be used in this and subsequent lessons to help your students with this question in the exam. The final task is based around an extract from George Orwell's 1984 and includes modern day parallels with modern movies and current affairs which was a big hit with my students, who love talking about Donald Trump! I was observed delivering this lesson and was awarded a strong grade 2. Feel free to adapt for your own needs, hope it helps.

A complete bite sized assessment for the GCSE AQA English Language 8700 exam, Paper 1 Question 2. This assessment is great for regularly tracking the students progress on the course throughout the year. This allows the students to see their areas of strength and weakness question by question and is a great tool for revision , it also allows for an easier marking load for you. The question mirrors the actual exam question in feel and phrasing, gradually allowing the student to become acquainted with the exam itself. Hope it helps.

A full 4 page progress assessment for Paper 1 Question 5. As controlled assessments are no longer in use with this specification I found it useful to have regular bite-sized assessments to track a learners journey and progress whilst on the GCSE course. These assessments are based on each question from the AQA exam paper and mirrors the phrasing and tasks that students will find in the real exam. It comes with planning scaffolds to help students structure and organise their ideas. It is a great way to prepare students and highlight areas of weakness and strength. Hope it helps.

Students often struggle with the idea of inference, particularly within an exam situation. This often leads to students struggling to explain their points meaning they lose valuable marks. This is a fun, humour filled lesson which "gets back to basics" lesson with plenty of group activities with embedded confidence building. Activities allow for stretch and challenge for the more capable in your groups. Activities draw from humour and social issues (sexism in advertising) finally leading to activities which draw from literature (War Horse). Final activity will require students to have knowledge of the PQI / PEA / PEE structure, however this is easy to adapt and change to your students needs. This lesson was design initially for the AQA GCSE specification, however it will work for a range of levels (including Functional Skills) and for all exam boards.

Great, fun, humour filled lesson filled with interactive group activities your students will love. Tasks include: Starter game Competitive vocabulary game. Guess the celebrity game Descriptive writing task Pleanary This resource also comes with slides which can be printed and used as worksheets, slides also come with optional guidance notes on each task / activity which can act as a lesson plan if needed. I have taught this lesson for years and it has always gone down very well with students. Suitable as an introduction at GCSE or Functional Skills level to description but can also be built upon to stretch and challenge. This was created for the AQA GCSE specification but is suitable for any exam board.

Bright, eye-catching handout / support booklet with confidence building / inspirational quotes and handy guides to language features to support those who struggle and to stretch and challenge the more able. I used this resource in my class as a casual resource left out on students desks, allowing them to choose to use it or not. This was a great success with both student and inspector as it both supports and allows for independence over learning. Can be used with any exam board.

Many students often struggle with the freedom to use their imagination, particularly under exam conditions. This resource was created for the AQA specification, Paper 1 Question 5 - create a short story based from an image. However this resource is diverse enough to be adapted to a wide range of exam boards and creative writing skills, from encouraging writing in low level Functional skills English students to developing language features in GCSE students. It uses paintings by Picasso and Frieda Kahlo. It is a team activity which allows for differentiation among levels and abilities by using a scaffold questions system. The activity is developed to allow the teacher freedom to build in specifically tailored skills they wish their students to learn. Encouraging students to use their imagination allows English to be fun and engaging whilst also developing their confidence in the subject, as with this activity there is no wrong answer.