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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
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!
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.
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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!
Describe the Setting – “Do Now” Picture Prompts for GCSE English
What happens after the opening lines of a story? Often, the writer will shift focus to describe the setting. This set of ten picture prompts (for GCSE English but could be used at any level) gives students a visual nudge.
Their job is to create a setting description which could be used as a second paragraph in a story. However, they must also incorporate some important elements that would help them to grab marks in an exam.
This helps students to think about the structure of a whole text – often in GCSE English paper 1 (AQA) the second paragraph is descriptive so that candidates can answer the “language question” in the exam. More than that, of course, the description of the setting helps to bring the text alive with a little “world building”.
This set of ten picture prompts could be used for a complete lesson, but the idea behind them was to use as starters – a “do now” activity. As only a single paragraph is demanded, this could be done in ten minutes or so, with time for some of the learners to read their out loud. Alternatively, could make a great activity on a VLE.
In class these could be shown on a smartboard one by one, or you could do a mix and match, so the students get given a random picture to describe. It’s up to you – this set of picture prompts is versatile enough for you to think of a number of ways in which to use it!
Files included are Powerpoint and a PDF version.
GCSE English Paper 2 Question 5: Exemplar Letter
This short lesson was devised to help students to learn what the markers are looking for if they are asked to write a letter in GCSE English Paper 2 Question 5 (AQA).
The letter, it must be stressed, is a great example but this would probably not be achievable in the 45 minutes available for this task in the exam. However, it covers all the necessary skills to get 40/40 for the question - or if not that, pretty close to it!
There are a series of short exercises too. These cover the “Content and Organisation” skills, as well as those for “Technical Accuracy”. Students are encouraged to discuss the assessment objectives associated with these skills.
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.)
Enable your students to create a student-specific P1Q5 skills checklist for GCSE English
With your help, your students will be able to create a checklist of the skills they need to demonstrate in the exam. There is a “worked example” in this resource (written by a real 2024 student) which demonstrates high level skills. Your students discuss read it and come up with their own “rubric” -in their own words.
This can be done without the pressure of them getting things wrong or being marked.
The notes are not an additional student handout – they might be a little too much for all but the most engaged learners. The notes cover all of the elements contained in the marking scheme for GCSE English Language (AQA) Paper 1 Question 5 (i.e. the rubric that articulates specific components and expectations for a piece of creative writing). They have been created so that you know the story and how it is organised, structured and technically accurate inside out.
It’s your cheat sheet in other words!
My own students really enjoyed this activity. It helped a lot of them to understand (and more importantly remember) the skills that they need to demonstrate to the markers for AO5 and AO6.
O5: 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. (This requirement must constitute 20% of the marks for each specification as a whole.)
GCSE English: Write Four Things, List Four Things – Making Paper 1 Question 1 in to a Competion
I wanted to focus on P1Q1 in a lesson but didn’t want to exhaust my limited amount of past papers - so I came up with this - get the students to write the paragraph themselves.
This lesson can be quite a lot of fun!
As well as covering Assessment Objective 1 (AO1) – “identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas” – it also covers some ground in terms of AO5 and AO6. These are where writing skills come to the fore – candidatess must communicate clearly, adapt to a certain tone and style and organise their ideas (not to mention sentence structures, spelling and punctuation…).
The files are included in PowerPoint format and PDFs to suit your needs. I have also included a PP and PDF of the pictures on their own if you wish to display them. All pictures were ethically sourced under a Creative Commons license - so please keep the URL on the slides as the originators should be credited.
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.
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Bitesize Writing Exercises for GCSE English (Paper 1 Question 5)
These three resources can be used as whole classes.
However, they are also great as ‘fillers’ - to take up a short amount of time in a class (at the beginning or end, perhaps!).
They were created in response to student need. Looking at the whole of Paper 1 Question 5 can become repetitious - and does not always suit less able students.
The three resources are:
Flashback writing exercised (students given a picture and a pre-written paragraph and must imagine what has happened previously).
Write Four Things - a game, of sorts. Students become the examiner and have to provide their peers with a paragraph which could be used to answer Paper 1 Question 1.
Openings - students are given a scaffold with which to build the first paragraph of a description or narrative.
These exercises fit in a lot of what A05 and A06 cover.
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. (This requirement must constitute 20% of the marks for each specification as a whole.)
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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!
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GCSE English Language - Scaffolded Descriptive Writing Bundle
This bundle incorporates all the scaffolded writing resources I have uploaded to TES. Together they create a continuous resource from the introduction of “bite size” openers to whole text creation. The aim, ultimately is to “self-scaffold” and that is what the last resource does. Once at that point students should be able to scaffold quickly with no assistance.
Contents:
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.
This is enough to keep your students busy for quite a while. It is also an alternative approach to descriptive writing which may enliven teaching and learning.
The aim, ultimately, is to significantly increase the marks awarded for Paper 1 Question 5 (descriptive writing) of GCSE English Language (AQA but these are editable and easily adaptable for any board).
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.
3 GCSE English Language 9-1 Self-Scaffolded Descriptive Writing - Whole Text Exercises
The idea behind this resource is that students are already aware of scaffolded writing and are now ready to have a go at scaffolding their own. This is why this resource has self-scaffolded in the title!
This resource consists of:
3 editable word documents – each containing a separate self-scaffolded descriptive writing task. There are a few hints on each paragraph the students will write but you can take these off if you think it is still too much of a spoon-feed!
A Lesson plan
A Powerpoint of the pictures in case you want to project them on to a smartboard
A WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) for the third exercise (based around the First World War).
It is hoped that after this point the students will be able to plan a very successful piece of descriptive writing without any prompts at all. The three exercises all follow a similar plan so by the time they have done all three, they should be ready!
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.
50 'Word of the Week' Slide Posters for Engaging GCSE English Language Lessons
A beautiful set of slide posters (50 to choose from) which can cover an entire academic year (with some left over). Each word is defined, with synonyms and antonyms – plus example usage. The “Word of the Week” slides are presented to capture students’ attention and enhance engagement. The visual appeal creates a great stimulus for students to explore new vocabulary.
Incorporating a “Word of the Week” into the classroom provides a dynamic way to enrich students’ vocabulary and foster a love for language. By focusing on a single sophisticated word each week, teachers can create a structured environment where students regularly encounter and engage with new terms. This approach not only enhances vocabulary acquisition but also improves comprehension and communication skills.
Where I work, we use these in the classroom – and include them in the weekly email to all teachers. They also go up on our GCSE English team with the challenge to students to use them in sentences and in their work. The slides are also shown in our reception area as part of the revolving slideshow visitors see when they come in. There’s a multitude of uses for these slides.
A “Word of the Week” encourages students to explore words in various contexts, helping them understand nuances and applications. Teachers can introduce the word through diverse activities such as discussions, writing exercises, and creative projects, making the learning process interactive and memorable.
Moreover, this method supports cognitive development by challenging students to use and recognise advanced vocabulary in their everyday conversations and academic work. It also aids in building confidence, as students become more adept at expressing themselves with precision and sophistication.
Overall, a “Word of the Week” fosters an enriching learning environment where vocabulary growth is a continuous and engaging experience, preparing students for academic and real-world success.
All images are used under a Creative Commons license – no copyright issues.
Please note that the first slide – alacrity – also has a pointer to where you can place your institution’s logo.
The words are: alacrity, antagonise, to aspire, avarice, benevolence, capricious, clandestine, collaborative, conscientious, crescendo, dauntless, delectable, delineate, derision, diaphanous, dichotomy, discombobulate, eloquent, ephemeral, epitome, exhilaration, foolhardy, futile, homogeneous, implacable, implicit, indignant, insolence, interrogate, inveterate, invidious, malevolent, myriad, ostracise, ostensibly, paragon, persistence, plethora, precipitous, predilection, procrastinate, radiate, resilient, satiate, solitary, tranquillity, transient, ubiquitous, vociferous, zenith.
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GCSE English Language - Short Activity Bundle
Encourage your students to write with these great resources.
Plus, buying these together saves you a heap of money!
Cover Lesson (x2) for GCSE English Language - "Sharpen Your Skills"
Short Exam-Focused English Activities for GCSE English Language
When is a cover lesson not a cover lesson? When it’s all printed up and ready to go the next time a colleague is off. When it’s beautifully presented and covers a number of the important assessment objectives the students will have to cover in the exams. When it’s cunningly disguised as something that has taken time to prepare and hasn’t been thrown together in a panic. When the students enjoy doing it…!
These two cover lessons are called “Sharpen Your Skills” and take the form of short 8 page booklets that can be taken to class and will need little or no explanation. They each have a variety of tasks (see below) which are low stakes but cover some important elements of the qualification. There is an answer booklet for each, too.
I have used these in my institution with success. Students have reported that they like the variety of tasks involved which keep them busy for an hour. Plus they have enjoyed the subject matter of the tasks and texts involved. Although the evaluation question can be a little challenging, it focuses on skills that can attract high marks in the exams…
In fact, we have students asking for more so they can do them at home!
Sharpen Your Skills 1 comprises of…
A “Do Now” set of five questions
A “Ready Steady Write” – flash writing about being faced by a zombie
A newspaper report about gangs in South London from 1898, with a “List Four Things” question and an evaluation task
A “multiple choice showdown” about various aspects of the text (9 questions)
A “describe the setting” task which asks students to write the second paragraph of a text.
Sharpen Your Skills 2 comprises of…
A “Do Now” set of three questions (one which mirrors P2Q1)
A “Ready Steady Write” – flash writing about education failing young people.
An extract from Octavia Hill’s 1875 “Homes of the London Poor”, with a “List Four Things” question and an evaluation task
A creative writing task with a set of picture prompts which asks students to write about when they or someone the know has shown bravery.
They are both included as Word documents and PDFs.
All images are used under a Creative Commons licence,
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.
FREE - British Values "Do Now" for Functional Skills English Reading L1
This has been created to be challenging (but not too hard!) for students approaching their L1 Reading exam and incorporate the skills needed to pass it! It comprises 11 questions based around a short text.
It’s perfect for a lesson starters or end. It should take up to ten minutes for students to answer the questions, with then answer time taking another five. This may sound like a lot of time, but it is focused on getting the students through the exams (not “woolly” in any way, shape or form!) I have found that this time has been well spent and is reflected in both student confidence around the exams and their actual exam performance.
They questions cover two pages (so perfect for quick double-sided copying) plus there is a third page of the correct answers for teachers (you don’t want to be doing the Do Now yourself, do you!?).
This “Do Now” activity is designed for learners doing the Pearson Edexcel exam – but I am sure it can be used for other exam boards too. The texts takes the form of a short article.
The questions consist of:
Multiple choice
Short answers
True/False
This worked very well where I work. I hope you enjoy using it with your students too!
Functional Skills English – 10 Do Now Activities (Relevant to L1 Reading Exam)
These ten beautifully designed “Do Now” activities are designed to get your Functional Skills English lesson off to a great start. They have been written to be challenging (but not too hard!) for students approaching their L1 Reading exam and incorporate the skills needed to pass it! Each one consists of ten (sometimes 11) questions based around a short text.
Download a free sample here - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13147971
They are perfect for lesson starters or ends. It should take up to ten minutes for students to answer the questions, with then answer time taking another five. This may sound like a lot of time, but as they are focused on getting the students through the exams (not “woolly” in any way, shape or form!) I have found that this time has been well spent and is reflected in both student confidence around the exams and their actual exam performance.
They cover two pages (so perfect for quick double-sided copying) plus there is a third page of the correct answers for teachers (you don’t want to be doing the Do Now yourself, do you!?).
These “Do Now” activities are designed for learners doing the Pearson Edexcel exam – but I am sure they can be used for other exam boards too. The texts take the form of flyers, short articles and online forums.
The questions consist of:
Multiple choice – identifying the purpose of a text, language features and use of punctuation
Short answers – identifying organisational features and their location in the text, using sub-headings, relacing single words with a synonym, explaining short quotes from the text
True/False – some feature three, others just one – akin to multiple choice but a little more straightforward. A good confidence boost for weaker learners.
As well as covering the skills needed for the exams, the “Do Nows” are designed to allow students to become accustomed to the kind of questions they will get in the exams and how they are written.
In order to engage learners I have made these, where possible, about subjects that engage young people. Also incorporated are “value” based activities, such as British Values, which go some way to incorporate your institution’s (and the governments) policies about subjects that should be covered at school or college. The subjects of the “Do Nows” are as follows:
British Values
Bullying
History of Rap Music
Consent (very PG!)
Cricket
Drug Use
Future of Gaming
Hairdressing Course
Mental Health
Online Safety
The files are uploaded in their original PowerPoint format and as PDFs.
These have gone down very well where I work. I hope you enjoy using them too!