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Resources for GCSE English Language 9-1. I also publish resources for the BTEC Level 2 in IT course.
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Resources for GCSE English Language 9-1. I also publish resources for the BTEC Level 2 in IT course.
English language arts
GCSE English Language Paper 1 - "HIGHER TIER"
What if there was a Higher Tier GCSE? Imagine a resource designed to stretch the most capable students, challenging them to excel beyond the standard GCSE English Language curriculum. This is what I like to think I have created here.
Although I don’t think any teachers would want to return to a system of Higher and Foundation levels, almost every year I have students who find previous exams very straightforward – especially in the Reading Section. As such I always keep an eye out for passages that might stretch and challenge the more able students.
Revisiting Billy Budd recently, I came across the passage included, which is where Billy accidentally kills another sailor. It lends itself beautifully to the demands of GCSE English Paper 1 and was, I thought, a more challenging text than usual. This was due both to the advanced vocabulary and imagery it uses as much as the fact it was written in the late 1800s.
This “Higher Tier” paper, centred on this carefully selected (and minutely edited as opposed to the usual AQA butchery!) passage from Billy Budd, pushes students to tackle complex language, nuanced themes, and sophisticated literary techniques. It provides an invaluable opportunity for them to delve deeper into textual analysis and to refine their critical thinking skills. I have used it in my classes and it has stretched the more able students quite satisfactorily.
There is also an extensive mark scheme for the Reading section - so you don’t have to make one up yourself. There isn’t one for the Writing section - it is the same as AQA.
The questions essentially remain unchanged – but Q1 is now “explain” rather than list in order to satisfy “higher tier” requirements of a 4 mark question! However, the nature of the text means that brighter students will find the other questions more challenging than usual.
As such, the Billy Budd “Higher Tier” paper simulates an advanced exam experience, preparing students to face intricate passages with confidence and clarity. It can be used as a part of classroom teaching, revision sessions, or independent study, this unique paper is the ideal tool for students eager to take their understanding of English Language to the next level and aim for the “higher” grades in their exams.
Functional Skills English L1 Skills Tracker and Learning Plan (OLD SPEC)
This could save some time…
This spreadsheet contains five sheets:
A front page enter their details (name etc) and yours, that are then copied through to all other sheets (so name only goes in once).
A writing FCP (Form, Content, Purpose) Skills Tracker sheet for the Writing Unit
A Writing SPAG (Spelling and Grammar) Skills Tracker for the Writing Unit
A Reading Skills Tracker for the Reading Unit
A Speaking & Listening Skills Tracker
Together they build to give you a complete picture of where your student’s skills lie. They can be updated twice during the year so that students can measure their progress.
Hope it’s useful to you!
Bundle
2 Structure Quizzes for GCSE English
Two quizzes based on structure.
Quiz 1
This quiz is based on a very short story of just 386 words called “The Unbroken Bond”. It is followed by 19 multiple choice questions and 3 order questions. For those who finish early there is an extension task at the end. This resource was originally created as there don’t seem to be many “structure” resources out there that are good quality and teach the learners anything except the terminology! I believe this quiz provoked some thought about how to respond to the question in an exam scenario.
This is ideal for a cover lesson, too, as it produces no marking, as long as the answers are given out once the quiz is complete (learners can mark their own or can exchange their papers with others).
I would advise reading the story out loud at the start to ensure that all the learners have read it and do not (as is sometimes the case) attempt the “pot luck”” strategy of answering the question.
The story is very PG. It focuses on a dog whose “boy” has gone missing and his frantic search for his friend. It is resolved when “boy” returns, simply having been to school for the day. It is based on the June 2023 P1Q5 – “Write a story about a human meeting an animal”. As such, it can also be used as an exemplar for that question.
There is also a comprehensive answer booklet with explanations so that the teacher who is doing the lesson can respond to learner questions about why the right answer was… the right answer!
The order questions are a student responses (done in the PEE manner). Learners have to put them in the right order. The point and evidence are presented in the first sentence. The two explanatory sentences can be separated in terms of order because the final point has a linking word or phrase indicating summation is in process.
Although this quiz is “low stakes” in nature, it covers a large amount of subject terminology which can be discussed at the time when the answers are given. The aim is to embed this terminology as well as exposing students to ways in which it could be incorporated into their own attempts at P1Q3.
The text is also provided separately as there are always learners who ask for this so they do not have to keep flicking back and forth.
PDF and Word formats for the documents are included.
This quiz would easily be adaptable into an online version if you wanted to do the quiz as homework, The questions and answers could be quickly copied and pasted into MS Forms or a Moodle interface – and the explanations given in the answer booklet could also be used to enable online automated feedback.
Quiz 2
This quiz is based on a very short story of just 458 words called “The Dream of Billy Williams”. It is followed by 19 multiple choice questions and 3 order questions. For those who finish early there is an extension task at the end. This resource was originally created as there don’t seem to be many “structure” resources out there that are good quality and teach the learners anything except the terminology! I believe this quiz provoked some thought about how to respond to the question in an exam scenario.
This is ideal for a cover lesson, too, as it produces no marking, as long as the answers are given out once the quiz is complete (learners can mark their own or can exchange their papers with others).
I would advise reading the story out loud at the start to ensure that all the learners have read it and do not (as is sometimes the case) attempt the “pot luck”” strategy of answering the question.
The story is set during the First World War and focuses on a soldier, Billy Williams who can sleep through anything - but unfortunately this does not ultimately save him. The description of his death is not “blood and guts” but focuses on his obliteration by a shell. The story uses all the skills to get a very high grade for Paper 1 Question 5. As such, it can also be used as an exemplar for that question, too.
There is also a comprehensive answer booklet with explanations so that the teacher who is doing the lesson can respond to learner questions about why the right answer was… the right answer!
The order questions are a student responses (done in the PEE manner). Learners have to put them in the right order. The point and evidence are presented in the first sentence. The two explanatory sentences can be separated in terms of order because the final point has a linking word or phrase indicating summation is in process.
Although this quiz is “low stakes” in nature, it covers a large amount of subject terminology which can be discussed at the time when the answers are given. The aim is to embed this terminology as well as exposing students to ways in which it could be incorporated into their own attempts at P1Q3.
The text is also provided separately as there are always learners who ask for this so they do not have to keep flicking back and forth.
PDF and Word formats for the documents are included.
This quiz would easily be adaptable into an online version if you wanted to do the quiz as homework, The questions and answers could be quickly copied and pasted into MS Forms or a Moodle interface – and the explanations given in the answer booklet could also be used to enable online automated feedback.
Enjoy!
40 "Do Now" Writing Prompts for GCSE English: Free Writing or Exam Style
This is a beautifully presented set of 40 “Do Now” activities for GCSE English.
I call it “exam paralysis” – when students sit in an exam for five, ten, fifteen minutes or more, apparently doing nothing. They are so unused to writing spontaneously and in time-constrained conditions that they freeze. This not only wastes valuable exam time, it stops them doing as well as they could (in terms of final grade).
I created this set of prompts/activities as a response to this. Free writing increases confidence, generates honesty in writing, develops writing abilities and voice, promotes the process of writing, rather than the outcome – and help overcome writer’s block. It isn’t supposed to be marked, it is simply to help the students allow themselves to write as creatively and as honestly as they can.
However, I realise that this doesn’t suit all the teachers all of the time, so I have also adapted this set of prompts into exam-style exercises, where content, organisation and technical accuracy are taken into account.
The “free writing” set is designed without marking in mind – they are designed simply to develop the ability to write quickly, developing voice and confidence. However, I will pace the room making comments and encouraging the writing process, of course! The “exam style” set would necessarily involve more formal feedback or at least more of an eye on the prize, as it were.
Both sets are editable so the instructions can be tweaked, if needed, to suit your learners.
(Sometimes it’s difficult to activate learning, especially at the beginning of the first session of the day or week. A great way to kickstart a class, assess prior learning and to give the students instant feedback is a “Do Now” activity.)
Bundle
GCSE English Grade 9-1 Paper 1 Resources MEGA BUNDLE
This bundle enables you to purchase our last 12 resources at a discount to you of 25%,
Although you can see their descriptions individually, I’ll just run through the content for you!
Scaffolded Descriptive Writing (4 resources)
20 English scaffold openers (short, bite-size, lots of 'em!)
Whole text excercise using scaffolding
2 whole text scaffolded exercises using the same picture to create different tone
3 self-scaffolded exercises where students create their own scaffold.
Questions for Paper 1 Question 5 (4 resources)
Two sets of tasks for descriptive and/or narrative writing. Altogether that will give you 90 tasks to mix and match (or otherwise!) with your students.
Structural Features Game (1 resource)
Fun for all the family (well, OK, no) with this game - students research a structural feature and then have to report their findings to the class.
Word Gym Homework and Tests (2 resources)
Need to give homework but don’t want to do any marking? Give them these (editable) quizzes. Over 10 sessions (week, however you want) send your students to the WORD GYM. 10 tasks to do as homework (probably take them an hour each) for classroom based tests (10-15 mins). 100 KS4 words for them to discover!
Spreadsheet (1 resource, 6 spreadsheets)
Using the grade boundaries for each paper (Jun 17 and 18, November 17) if you give them a mock using these spreadsheets you will be able to see your students’ grades quickly and easily.
ENJOY!
Extinction Rebellion - for GCSE English Paper 2 Question 5: A Question about Contemporary Activism
I have attempted to give this Paper 2 Question 5 activity a contemporary edge!
This activity is (probably aimed) at more able, socially aware students. However, I do hope that it is sufficiently interesting in term of subject to engage (and provoke a response from) most students.
Students will be asked to do some research about Extinction Rebellion (in case they haven’t heard of it) and then participate in a small group discussion on the movement.
They are then given a Paper 2 Question 5 example question – which will be attempted after a whole class (teacher led) discussion around how to go about writing the response.
The document consists of the tasks with a section for the response (if exercise books are not readily available).
There is also a list of websites at the end to stimulate discussion for and against movements like Extinction Rebellion.
I have not put these articles in to word documents as I wish to respect the copyright of the respective authors.
However, I found the two I have boxed particularly interesting as they are so diametrically opposed to each other!
I hope that this lesson will make a revision session for Paper 2 Question 5 a little more interesting…
Thanks!
Assessment Objectives covered
This explicitly covers
AO5 Content and Organisation Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences. Organise information and ideas, using structural and grammatical features to support coherence and cohesion of texts
AO6 Technical Accuracy Students must use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.
What is PEE and How do I Use It?
What is PEE? It’s a really good way to explain your ideas in both essay form and in exams. This video explains what PEE is and how you can use it with two texts to use to accompany it. It is an introduction to PEE aimed at students of GCSE English Language (AQA). However, this video can be used for other exam boards as well as serving as a good introduction to PEE in general. The main hope is that it will help your students pass their GCSE exam!
Free GCSE English Language (AQA) P1Q5 Grade Generator
Fancy having a go at letting a spreadsheet do your thinking for you?
This spreadsheet has been created with Paper 1 Section B in mind. As such it only generates a mark for creative writing.
This spreadsheet allows you to enter the skills your students demonstrated (from a drop-down list). Marks for Content and Organisation and Technical Accuracy will be automatically generated using a cute algorithm.
This is based on Nov 18’s mark scheme where a 4 was a straightforward 50% (sounds reasonable).
If you disagree with the marks the spreadsheet generates, you can change them manually and it will still work. It has entries for up to 30 students (hopefully your class is no bigger than that!).
This spreadsheet comes with instructions!
Two Free A3 GCSE English Language Posters - Great Analytical Verbs to Use in GCSE English
Based on the accompanying video, this is a set of two A3 posters for GCSE English Language focusing on analytical verbs. Many students use “show” and “suggest” well but struggle to come up with alternatives. Here are 10 which can be used in a number of contexts - examples are given on the posters in a “before and after” format. As they are based on the video you can see here too - it could be used as a lesson starter to reinforce the poster content - or as a standalone 3.5 minute warm up to exam practice (or whatever takes your fancy of course!) Enjoy!
GCSE English - Spreadsheet for P1 Q1-4 Progress Tests (generates feedback sheets automatically)
This will be of use if you have done a progress test focusing on Paper 1 Q1-Q4.
I’ve created the attached spreadsheet (the template file) which enable you to enter marks and generate grades for the students. The grade boundaries are from November 2018 but you can adapt this spreadsheet easily to other papers.
Student names and numbers need to be entered on to the front sheet - as well as the marks for each question. This will generate an overall grade for the students and count how many get each grade in your class.
I’ve added a bit more functionality, though. Once the grades have gone in, they generate a progress report for each student which can be used as a feedback sheet. The mark that they get for each question generates a comment about it…
You will need to add a comment on each of these but I have put 30 examples of comments on the second sheet in the spreadsheet which you could adapt, copy and paste…
You will also need to do a comment on attendance, punctuality and behaviour using drop down lists (at the bottom of each student sheet).
Please feel free to use, adapt and so on!
GCSE English Mock Exam - Self-Evaluation Form for Learners
Many learners do a mock exam, receive their grade and react accordingly. The reaction, however, is often short-lived and they quickly move on to something else. This form has been designed to encourage a period of self-reflection on their GCSE English mocks. I developed it because I found that although many of my students could answer the question “Why do we do mock exams?”, a large number of them could not fully answer this one: “How will you use your mock exam to improve your future performance?”.
In other words, I got the impression that many of them thought that mock exams were wholly or solely a tool for teachers. This form, I hope, encourages learners to reflect more on their mock exam performance and to use that reflection to move towards doing better next time.
As such there are rather a lot of questions – and I am quite happy for you to adapt this form to suit your own learners. I hope it’s “good to go” for most English GCSE situations.
Plus, if you are reading this as a student, hope that you could even use it independently of your teacher in order to create an overview of how you did and what can be improved.
The questions are split in to three sections – before, during and after the exam. In this way I hope I have caught the three important processes for successful exam performance. However, as I have indicated above, please feel free to adapt. I would be grateful, if you do, to indicate any changes in the comments below – these will help me to reflect on the form itself and to improve upon it.
30 GCSE English Paper 1 Q5 Descriptive & Narrative Writing Questions with First World War Pictures
This pack of picture questions is designed for AQA GCSE English Language 9-1, but focusing on images from the First World War. They simulate Paper 1 Question 5 where students are given a picture and are presented with two options (it’s hard, almost to call them questions!). The tasks can be for a descriptive or a narrative response. I hope that you will be able to use this pack to help you increase the story-telling powers of your learners as well as their descriptive prowess. It also gives them an opportunity to discuss and write about those who fought and died in the Great War.
The resource is fairly diverse featuring, as well as UK troops, British women in the role of carpenters, ambulance drivers and mechanics. It also features soldiers from the West Indies and India.
There is also a WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) - which has been ‘marked’ by four English teachers and placed in Band 4. So, if you use it in class please tell your students that this is not the expectation for most learners but a very high level response!
There is a Kahoot you can play about this story here: https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/f21e67ee-8e7a-43a4-ad9c-83ffa9d2415e
The pack is editable although I have included PDFs if you don’t need to…
The pack gives teachers the opportunity to have a selection of ready-made questions for Paper 1 Question 5. These can be used to ensure that there are always writing tasks at hand. They might be used to stimulate class or small group discussion or can be used as interchangeable exercises to be done during a session. I hope that there is a sufficient variety of images in this pack to pique the interest of even the most reluctant of writers. By giving your learners a choice of task (while the assessment objectives - A05 and A06 remain the same) these sample questions might help to ensure both differentiation and an element of choice.
Each is formatted to include the question on a single A4 sheet. The originals are also included on their own if you would like to use them without the question stimulus.
All pictures are over 100 years old and so out of copyright restrictions.
These exercises cover the following Assessment Objectives:
AO5: Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences. Organise information and ideas, using structural and grammatical features to support coherence and cohesion of texts
AO6: Candidates must use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.
GCSE English Grade 9 1: Examples of Student Story Writing for Paper 1 Question 5
Students may be asked to write a story for AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 Question 5. This is also known (mostly by teachers) as narrative writing.
So how do you write a story in 45 minutes?
This video shows you two examples of work done by real GCSE English students in exam conditions. It also has comments by a marker on the responses. The method the students have used represents just one way to approach this question.
GCSE English Language 9-1: Language Features Game
This was created for learners doing GCSE English Language - the new Grade 9-1 Course. It can be used as a revision or even an introduction to language features. I’ve described how I did it with a set of learners but the simple PowerPoint slide could be used in any number of ways.
The general aim is to improve a story which starts ‘The student was late’ using the power of language features. The slides are created in such a way that it forces learners to find very straightforward explanations for the language feature that they have been given. Although this does not directly help with the exam question where they have to find, analyse and explain language features it serves as an introduction.
The resource also works towards paper 1 question 5 (AQA board at least!) when learners must incorporate language features in to their own creative writing, either descriptive or narrative.
You can find my structural features game here - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/gcse-english-language-9-1-structural-features-game-with-lesson-plan-11988220
As Told By Teachers - An Anthology of Short Stories for GCSE English Language
Paper 1 Question 5 can be a challenge, particularly as it is 25% of the entire GCSE. As such it is vital that students do well on this question. Reading short stories from across the years does help in teaching creative writing but these were not written with assessment objectives and skills descriptors in mind.
43 teachers came together to produce this anthology of stories written with this exam in mind.
The aim of this project was to help stretch and challenge learners by showing them what a good one looks like. It is hoped that by providing a set of exemplars specifically written for this qualification that learners will gain an insight in to the form of a great GCSE short story and how that may differ from their original expectations. This anthology provides students with a stimulus to improve their own responses, particularly in the context of the terminal examination.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
KAHOOT QUIZZES FOR THE ANTHOLOGY AVAILABLE HERE:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/2-kahoot-quizzes-for-as-told-by-teachers-11978295
GCSE English - "CORE TEXTS"
All of the extracts in this document are free from copyright restrictions. This is either because of when they were written (and so now fall out of copyright statutes), have no copyright restrictions and/or were originally published under a Creative Commons license.
They have been carefully collated to ensure that a wide range of voices can be heard by students studying towards their GCSE English. We have not overlooked famous authors by any means but a pivotal reason for putting these core texts together was to counter the inherent Eurocentricity of past and current curricula.
Although there are no associated tasks included here (they are on the VLE) we are happy to make these texts available to anyone who cares to read them. They were chosen for their engaging content and so even if you do not use these as specific tasks, we hope that you will find them collectively an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. If you love to dip in and out of literature, you have come to the right place!
When substantial additions are made (this is an ongoing project) we will update the document available online.
The Lifeboat Game - In Outer Space!
This is an adaptation of the tried and tested ‘lifeboat game’. It can be used for Functional Skills English or most other English qualification.
We can’t put URLs in descriptions anymore but do a search for “lifeboat game set in space” on YouTube and you will find it!
“Starcorp is in trouble. Their Spaceship the SS Hartnell left Earth two weeks ago. It has been hit by a meteor and only ten people have made it in to the life-vessel. However, it will take a week for the rescue ship to arrive and there is only enough oxygen and food for five people to survive that length of time. Five people must be sacrificed so that the others can live. Which five will you choose?”
The survivors featured are a diverse group of people and this lesson asks learners to consider questions around prejudice, tolerance, bias (conscious or otherwise) and diversity. Does their choice of who will survive depend on unconscious bias? Does age, gender, ethnicity, religion or sexuality play a part in their choice and if so, why?
GCSE English Language 9-1 Mock Exam
The text is challenging (on purpose!) but is also one which we hope you will find enjoyable.
This extract is from the opening of The Hole in the Wall, a novel by Arthur Morrison. Set in the East End of London, it was published in 1902 and it is set then. In this section the narrator’s mother has died in giving birth to a baby boy, born dead.
GCSE English Language 9-1 AQA: Paper 2 Question 1
GCSE English Language Paper 2 Question 1 can be overlooked in the rush to equip students with the technique to address the ‘big hitter’ questions. However, this question can be used as a traditional warmup activity or even something a little more exciting if you are Kahoot-savvy!
This document contains:
Each text with the questions to the right
Both texts without the questions (if you want to play on Kahoot or do it some other way without revealing the questions straight away).
GCSE English Language 9-1 Paper 1 "Past Paper" (Could be used as a mock)
Here is an exam “past paper” I created for my students who are doing the AQA board. The source text was written especially for this mock as a best fit for candidate responses. The 9-1 course does not have a huge amount of specimen papers so I hope that this will help!