In supporting our students with the new GCSE we need to get them writing spontaneously and freely. Here is a small collection of ideas to encourage students to write creatively at KS3 creating good habits in preparation for their GCSE written work. This could be used as prompt for departmental discussion or a stimulus for work on writing skills. Some of the ideas can be lifted directly from the information here but most will need to be developed to suit individual schools / departments.

A booklet of the most common German words which appear in the GCSE exams categorised by topic area. Pupils can use the booklet as a revision aid or as part of a more structured approach to vocabulary learning. My pupils pick a page a week to learn, fill in the meaning and learn the spellings and definitions. These words are then peer assessed and unknown words revisited the following week.

Ideal resource for exam revision or end of unit revision. Students work in small groups or pairs with an A3 version of the worksheet. As the topic areas come up on the PPT the students have a set amount of time (e.g. 2 minutes) to think of as many words related to that topic as possible. When the time is up the teacher can reveal the words they have listed on the PPT, each word carries either 1, 2 or 3 points and the students gain these points per word they have on their own lists. Any additional words which are valid that the students have which are not on the PPT earn the students 4 points. The winner is the group with the most points but the key aim is obviously to revise key vocabulary and to broaden vocabulary by discussing the options available. The resources attached are easily adaptable so you can change the words, the topic areas and even the language. Quick, easy resource to use and fun for last minute revision.

A student resource full of tips on how to use the last few weeks when the focus is totally on Reading and Listening and honing the skills necessary to get the best marks possible in the exam. There are tips on how to use exam papers, how to learn vocabulary, how to structure revision time and how to spot patterns in the types of error students make. The attached resources support the presentation and give students resources to help make their independent revision more efficient and effective.

Guidance for pupils to help them learn material for their Controlled Assessments

An introduction to the main school subjects in French with an emphasis on sound/spelling, pronunciation and spelling accuracy building to sentence and paragraph work expressing likes and dislikes. 2 consecutive Notebook presentations and the accompanying worksheets.

This is the original PPT version of the popular Treasure Hunt which someone else shared on TES years ago. I use a Notebook version now which I can share if anyone wants it. It can be used with any language you wish to revise or practise. Simply tapping on a square will reveal a blank or a 'coin'. Great for team games or teacher -v - pupil games - in my later versions I have included forfeits and 'trials' under the squares. Great fun. Feel free to adapt it how you will. I have included a question sheet which I used with my first ever version - and a full explanation of how I used it is on the PPT. Enjoy!

Use this whizzy loop by pressing the 's' key on your keyboard to start and stop it spinning super fast. You can change the text on the slides quite easily to suit your purposes - there is one here with numbers, one with dates and one with sentences on and several other ideas - at its simplest you can just ask pupils to translate the slide it stops on but you can use it in many, many different ways - put pupil names on it as a name selector, or sentences starters and a connective to build sentences - you choose. I have put several examples on here to help with ideas, but the concept of randomising things is the same throughout. Enjoy! The pupils LOVE coming to press the 's' key.....the simplest of things seem to please them.

Teach numbers 1 - 60 and 12 hour clock

This rigorous PPT takes students through a range of techniques they could employ to help them remember their speaking and writing assessments for GCSE. They should be encouraged to try each method out with a few lines of their own texts to experiment and find which method (or combination of methods) works best for them. The PPT also prompts them to think about when and where they are going to learn their work. It is a thorough and self-explanatory presentation which takes about 1 hour to deliver fully.

First in a series of resources to help students of German master the grammar of the language. This set deals with regular, irregular, strong, reflexive, modal and separable verbs. Ideal for high ability GCSE and first year A-level students. The initial information sheet is accompanied by a practice sheet and test sheet making them ideal for homework and independent work as well as use in class. Tried and tested - the students have found them very user friendly. Further resources will be published on TES which cover all the grammar aspects of A-level. The overview grammar sheet attached shows which aspects are covered by the resources in the series.

Get students to better understand where they could improve in their listening and reading exams. For each question the students work out where they lost marks so that the teacher and student can work together to improve performance. Identifying the type of question students struggle with can inform future whole class teaching. Identifying patterns can help individual students recognise what their personal targets for future learning might be. If students use this form when attempting past papers for independent revision it can help them revise more effectively.

Press the 's' button on the keyboard and the selector will stop - pupils have to write or say the number in German / French / Spanish. Simple. You can use the pro-forma for names, text......anything you want. Kids LOVE being chosen to press the button!

This rigorous PPT takes students through a range of techniques they could employ to help them remember their speaking and writing assessments for GCSE. They should be encouraged to try each method out with a few lines of their own texts to experiment and find which method (or combination of methods) works best for them. The PPT also prompts them to think about when and where they are going to learn their work. It is a thorough and self-explanatory presentation which takes about 1 hour to deliver fully.

Useful presentation about revision aimed mainly at GCSE students but could be easily adapted for use at KS3 or KS5. There are some handy study tips and advice on routine, attitude and organisation. I have used this as an introduction for discussion about aspects of revision that I sometimes take for granted as understood and am surprised to find are not part of students' routines. It useful to get them to think about the idea of head, heart and courage in their revision - it sticks with them quite easily and is a useful reference point when they get stuck, or can't get started.

Past tense formation with verbs which use sein as their auxiliary verb. The lesson takes the students through the formation across all the subject pronouns and the word order rules. The formation help sheet will help students work with verbs which use haben and which use sein and consolidate their learning.

A lesson presentation and smartboard activities which explain the agreements and positioning of adjectives in French. I have included the lesson plan as this was produced for an Ofsted inspection (judged outstanding). The tasks are simple and intuitive and this is a tried and trusted lesson that has worked consistently well over the years. It carries on well from my Mr Men lesson also here on TES which introduces colours and extended reading.

These ‘Something Old, Something New, Something to Read and Something to Do’ cards are great for ensuring interleaving of prior knowledge with current learning. They are designed for use with GCSE German classes. Each card gives students 20 words to revisit and revise, 20 new words, a reading activity and an exercise to carry out usually related to grammar or translation. The first batch of SoSnStRStD cards focus on Unit 1; family, relationships, future plans and technology. There will be more to follow for the other units. I give my students the cards for homework every 3 weeks and they annotate the German in their books. We discuss it in class but they are not allowed to write anything, then they do the tasks at home individually. I give them a vocab test on the new and old vocab to make sure they are learning it. Finally when we are done with them I stick the cards up in my classroom on the back wall in a plastic wallet - there is an answer sheet in there too so they can take a card home whenever they want and do some independent revision.