Teaching Resources for Me Shop
Resources for GCSE English Language 9-1. I also publish resources for the BTEC Level 2 in IT course.
89Uploads
218k+Views
107k+Downloads
Resources for GCSE English Language 9-1. I also publish resources for the BTEC Level 2 in IT course.
English
20 GCSE English Paper 1 Q5 Descriptive & Narrative Writing Questions (Sci-Fi/Fantasy Themed)
This pack of picture questions is designed for AQA GCSE English Language 9-1, but focusing on images from the the sci-fi and fantasy genre. I created them “on demand” for my students who wanted some stimulus material that was a little more bloodthirsty than usual! Having said that, I think I have managed to keep them below what might scare your average Year 10 or 11 student. The responses you get may well make your hair stand on end, though, if “my lot” are anything to go by…!
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.
The pack is editable although I have included PDFs if you don’t need to… However, it looks lovely printed in colour and laminated (for use in multiple classes without them getting too battered!).
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.
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.
The pack is fairly diverse - however I am restricted to sourcing images that are modifiable and can be used for commercial purposes. There is a link to the creator of the image on each of them if you do want to check the Creative Commons license (and to give the creators the credit they deserve too, of course!).
GCSE English Creative Writing "Past Papers" - Suitable for Classroom, Cover or Online Delivery
This pack of “past paper” picture questions is designed for AQA GCSE English Language 9-1. 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!
The resources included here are suitable for use in a number of ways:
Classroom delivery or progress tests - why reinvent the wheel when these questions are prepared for you?
Cover classes - an ideal way to give a class a task which will engage them and last an hour!
Online delivery - the five question sets have been saved in a format which will allow students to complete them online by typing their response below the questions (MS Word needed).
The papers will familiarise learners with the way that the questions are presented in the exam as well as giving you a little time off from preparing “past paper” questions.
All resources are editable if you want to tweak them a little. The “classroom” delivery resources are also saved in PDF format (in case that’s how you need them).
A set of grade boundaries in included which can be adapted/edited to make the papers more challenging (they use the most generous grade boundaries AQA have ever used).
These resources can be used to ensure that there are always writing tasks at hand.
All of the wonderful pictures have been ethically sourced and are available under a Creative Commons license which means you do not have to worry about copyright with them at all. Each originator is credited by use of a link to the original.
**Assessment Objective: **
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 Paper 1 Question 5 - Be the Marker, Be the Writer
This lesson introduces students to the skills descriptors for A05 and A06 (Content and Organisation together with Technical Accuracy) of the AQA GCSE English exam – in other words what they have to do in Paper 1 Question 5 to make the marker happy. This can bore students silly, so it is all about active engagement throughout.
It is designed for learners at the beginning of their creative writing careers, with possibly just a few classes before this. They are not expected to mark a whole text (or award marks) – neither are they expected to write a whole one either. This lesson focuses on paragraphs so that they can focus on short extracts which also gives them the opportunity to add on it to later.
Here is a precis of the class. The students are given the beginning of a short story and a picture to go with it. They are also given two attempts at the next paragraph, written by students. There are plenty of things to talk about in the examples given!
Before they go on to mark these paragraphs, they are introduced to the skills descriptors in a mix-and-match scenario which will promote discussion in the classroom. They have to work out which explanation goes with each skill. This readies for them to return to the paragraphs written by the students and be able to make comments about how each student did well and how they could improve their work.
I have always found that one of the things students love is being critical about the work of other learners. There is plenty of opportunity to do that here – although the focus should of course be on positive rather than negative criticism.
The students must put this into action once this discussion is over – by rewriting the paragraphs (or parts of them) to show how they could have been improved.
Moving on, the students must then write the next paragraph of the story. What they must do is explicitly stated so that they each have the opportunity to shift focus from the outside of a café (in this case) to the exterior. It will also enable them to have a bash at some expository writing about a busy street (which is something that could easily come up in this question in the exam).
Finally, some students will be expected to read out their paragraphs with the rest of the class giving some positive feedback about what they have written. The class is designed for 60 minutes for top set learners but could easily be stretched out to 90 minutes.
All the pages in the lesson are in a single Word document. The PDF version is also attached.
GCSE English Language 9-1 Picture-Prompted Scaffolded Story Writing - Whole Text Exercise #2
This is an editable resource but a PDF is included too.
I really enjoyed creating this and it has gone down very well with my students.
Ever tried to teach story writing and been met with a sea of faces staring back blankly? However, when the terminal exam promises the distinct possibility of a story writing task (Paper 1 Question 5) then students must be prepared for this eventuality.
This is one way to encourage students to write good stories which are suitable for GCSE English.
This set of prompts is designed to introduce students to descriptive writing in a number of ways…
The resource is designed as a 60-90 minute class and it focuses on a FULL RESPONSE for a story featuring a different structural feature for each paragraph.
If you want to use exercise books, there is an ‘instruction only’ set here too.
Each paragraph the students must write is accompanied by a number of prompts - both picture-based and written. The prompts indicate what they should write. There is also plenty of time for sharing and class discussions between each paragraph.
So, the first (major) prompts, for example, are:
The opening - a picture of a young woman leaning out of the window of a train’s door. Students are asked to write about her, including time and place for their first paragraph.
Shift of focus - a picture of he railway station where she is starting her journey. The story shifts to a description of the platform.
…and so on. The story is then further developed with pictures - a “power paragaraph” (one sentence), a shift to describe her thoughts and feelings, a flashforward where she anticipates her future, a shift to a description of the countryside outside the train as it whizzes by and then a climax where she discovers she has lost her train ticket!
It’s a very simple st
The prompts then progress, enabling the students to create a complete response which includes all of the skills descriptors for Paper 1 Question 5. Your students should end up with a piece containing a minimum of 8 paragraphs of varying language with structural features and language devices used throughout. There is also an extension task which asks the students to create a word-processed second draft for homework.
This lesson could also be used as a ‘snap’ creative writing session or a cover class. In fact it’s a highly adaptable (and editable!) resource which you can turn to many things.
There is also a ‘five senses’ prompt on the lesson handout, to encourage students to use one or more of these in their writing.
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.
Functional Skills English - Writing an Email of Complaint (Activity and Lesson Plan)
This writing exercise is for students working towards L1 although E3 students should also be able to cope.
It is based on writing an email of complaint when a leather jackets turns out to be the 'wrong one".
Full lesson plan and activity sheet with scenario included.
GCSE English: Nouns & Adjectives in Creative Writing
Context: Paper 1 Question 5 is the creative writing question where learners may be asked to write a description suggested by a picture or a story given its title. This lesson is designed to support building the skills needed for this question in a “low stakes” way by returning to nouns and adjectives.
This lesson recaps nouns and adjectives and how the latter modify the former. A well-placed adjective can change the way that a character in a piece of creative writing is perceived by the reader. This is the first step in that “discovery” – and one which will hopefully provide a little fun and discussion along the way.
Students begin by recognising nouns and adjectives and progress throughout the session to using them in a “story in a paragraph” – effectively the creation of some flash fiction!
This is very much aimed at learners using adjectives and nouns creatively, rather than spotting them in a text and explaining them. It is not hight stakes (and has a specially made Kahoot to go with it) so could be delivered as a cover class or at the beginning of an academic year while things are still “settling in”.
PDF of the files are included as well as editable versions.
Home Learning Resource – Collaborative Story Chain for GCSE English Language
This is something which will keep a class busy - or even a circle of friends if you are a parent looking for a resource to use with your child and their friends.
It enables learners to work on a single task together with each building on the work done by the previous. There aren’t many resources around which enable a class to work in this way. The ones I have done it with have enjoyed it immensely.
It’s not a new concept but perhaps presented in a slightly more modern way – it’s certainly designed for the times in which we currently live.
Each “Story Chain” task consists of a picture and the task – “Write a story as suggested by this picture”.
You email the file to “Student A” who completes the first part of the story – they are called Storyteller 1. They return it to you to check and forward to Storyteller 2. The process is repeated until you get to Storyteller 6, who is the only one allowed to end the story!
Students do not know who the other storytellers are in their group – to avoid classroom bias! However, there is an element of competition. There are probably more than six learners in your class, so you will split your students into groups. The first group to finish, following the rules, is the winner. You may have to ask one or more students to do help out if your class number is not divisible by six.
You can then reveal the name of the storytellers to their groups. So as well as there being an element of competition, I also hope that there is fun involved too.
The process can be done in a number of ways. You could send each group of storytellers a different picture stimulus – there are ten. Alternatively, you could email them the same one, to see how many different stories can evolve from a single piece of stimulus. In that way, you have nine more story chains to create.
There is quite a lot of emailing involved on your part – and so I have created two tracking sheets as well so you can list who is in each group and how long each took to get to the point where storyteller 6 finishes and emails you the complete story.
There is also an exemplar in this bundle of files which can be used to give yourself an idea of what a finished piece might look like or indeed to send out to your students as an example (although this would mean you were down to 9 pictures).
GCSE English Language 9-1 Picture-Prompted Scaffolded Story Writing - Whole Text Exercise
This is an editable resource but a PDF is included too.
I really enjoyed creating this and it has gone down very well with my students.
Ever tried to teach story writing and been met with a sea of faces staring back blankly? However, when the terminal exam promises the distinct possibility of a story writing task (Paper 1 Question 5) then students must be prepared for this eventuality.
This is one way to encourage students to write good stories which are suitable for GCSE English.
This set of prompts is designed to introduce students to descriptive writing in a number of ways…
The resource is designed as a 60-90 minute class and it focuses on a FULL RESPONSE for a story featuring a different structural feature for each paragraph.
If you want to use exercise books, there is an ‘instruction only’ set here too.
Each paragraph the students must write is accompanied by a number of prompts - both picture-based and written. The prompts indicate what they should write. There is also plenty of time for sharing and class discussions between each paragraph.
So, the first (major) prompts, for example, are:
The opening - a picture of a moody looking teenage boy in a cafe. Students are asked to write about him, including time and place for their first paragraph.
Shift of focus - a picture of a marketplace on a high street. The story shifts to the busy street outside the cafe, busy with people.
…and so on. The story is then further developed with pictures - a “power paragaraph” (one sentence), a shift to describe the interior of the cafe, a flashback when the teenager remembers his ex, a shift to a climax when his ex enters the cafe and finally a cliffhanger.
The prompts then progress, enabling the students to create a complete response which includes all of the skills descriptors for Paper 1 Question 5. Your students should end up with a piece containing a minimum of 7 paragraphs of varying language with structural features and language devices used throughout. There is also an extension task which asks the students to create a word-processed second draft for homework.
This lesson could also be used as a ��snap’ creative writing session or a cover class. In fact it’s a highly adaptable (and editable!) resource which you can turn to many things.
There is also a ‘five senses’ prompt on the lesson handout, to encourage students to use one or more of these in their writing.
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 Language 9-1 Paper 1 "Past Paper" (with extensive MARK SCHEME)
I created this “past paper” for my students who are doing the AQA board. The extract is from “Sons and Lovers” (1913) by DH Lawrence and is taken from Chapter 1. It focuses on Mrs Morel, unhappy with her situation in life, who reflects on her life and wonders, frankly, where it all went wrong! It works very well for this exam and is - as one might expect from Lawrence - beautifully and concisely written.
Most ‘past papers’ written by teachers omit a mark scheme. However, I have also created an extensive mark scheme for this paper, which mirrors those released by AQA in its format. So, for each question I have written a response - the indicative content - for each level (1-4).
As an extra, I have also included some of the other things that students may pick up on for each question (something that AQA does but in a ‘blink and you miss it’ kind of way. I would hesitate before saying these are exhaustive (who knows what our students’ minds may conjure!). However, I hope the responses and the additional suggestions will help you as teachers.
I have uploaded the PDFs but also the original Word documents if you wish to tweak them in any way (hopefully no need!)
Questions
1 List four things that are happening from this part of the source.
2 How does the writer use language here to describe Mrs Morel’s situation in life?
3 How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?
4 A student, having read this section of the text said: “The writer shows us just how much Mrs Morel feels that her life is out of her control. She feels like she has been cheated, somehow.” To what extent do you agree?
5 Write a description suggested by this picture. or
Write a story entitled “The disappointment”.
The paper covers:
AO1 -Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas
AO2, Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views
A04 - Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references
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.
There is no scheme for marking the creative writing - responses are too varied to make an exemplar either possible or warranted. Please refer to AQAs mark schemes for how to arrive at a mark for Section 2.
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.)
2 GCSE English Language 9-1 Scaffolded Descriptive Writing - Whole Text Exercises
This is an editable resource but a PDF is included.
A great way to encourage students to write good descriptive pieces.
Contents
2 decriptive scaffolded writing tasks with space for student responses
The same 2 tasks without lines (if this is being done in an exercise book)
WAGOLL - What a good one looks like for both tasks
Lesson Plan
Cheat sheets at the back of instructions to help students with them.
A great way to encourage students to write good descriptive pieces.
This set of prompts is designed to introduce students to descriptive writing in a number of ways…
The resource is designed as a 2 60 minute section of a class and it focuses on a FULL RESPONSE for a description of a picture. one set prompts students to write a happy piece and the second prompts them to write a sad one (SAME PICTURE).
there is one lesson plan but you could easily diverge. A teacher might give half the class the happy task and the other half the sad task. I hope that these tasks will also promote discussion about how time, place, colours and smells can impact on a piece of writing, give it a certain mood.
Each paragraph the students must write is accompanied by a number of prompts to the left. The prompts indicate what they should write. So, the first (major) prompts, for example, are:
Para 1
Start with a one word sentence, stating the time of year – spring. Then use a simple sentence to describe the woman positively.
Para 2
Shift and describe the setting (don’t worry that you can’t see it!).
As a minimum, your paragraph should include…
• a simile about the busy people walking happily by.
• Describe the sky – what can be seen? Use bright colours!
• Smells – is there a baker’s shop? A coffee shop?
• Write a compound sentence about the passing traffic and the sound it makes.
• Start the last sentence with “Around the old woman, life…”
Add anything else you want about the setting ONLY.
…and so on!
The prompts then progress, enabling the students to create a complete response which includes all of the skills descriptors for Paper 1 Question 5. They should end up with a piece containing a minimum of 7 paragraphs of varying language with structural features and language devices used throughout.
This lesson could also be used as a ‘snap’ revision session or a cover class. In fact it’s a highly adaptable (and editable!) resource which you can turn to many things.
There is also a ‘five senses’ prompt on the lesson handout, to encourage students to use one or more of these in their writing.
These exercises cover the following Assessment Objectives:
AO5:
AO6:
Bundle
2 GCSE English Language 9-1 Scaffolded Speech Writing - Whole Text Exercises
These are editable resources (if you feel the need to tweak!) but PDF are included too. They are a bundle of my two resources around scaffolded speech writing.
There is repetition in the tasks, which I hope means that students will remember what goes in to a good speech!
Ever tried to teach speech writing and been met with a sea of faces staring back blankly? However, when the terminal exam promises the distinct possibility of a speech writing task (Paper 2 Question 5) then students must be prepared for this eventuality.
This is one way to encourage students to write good speeches.
This set of prompts is designed to introduce students to speech writing in a number of ways. It resource is designed as a 60 minute section of any class and it focuses on a FULL RESPONSE for a speech about whether or not students should be made to do homework.
If you want to use exercise books, there are ‘instruction only’ sets here too.
Bundle
GCSE English: 10 Vocabulary Learning Homework Tasks & Tests (Low Stakes, No marking!)
I don’t know about you but a lot of my students don’t read – much, at all, ever (unless in the classroom and that sometimes takes some coercion!). That means that the development of their vocabulary is essentially restricted to what they hear rather than what they read. This is a worry, considering that both of the written texts that they have to produce in the GCSE English exams are marked on the use of sophisticated vocabulary (amongst many other things).
However, my students do respond to a little gentle competition. I wanted to create a resource that would give them something to do for homework (the dreaded word!) but which wouldn’t take a huge amount of time. Not only that, I didn’t want to give the words VOCABULARY or SPELLING too much prominence either – the students would run for the hills (metaphorically at least). Finally I did not want to increase my workload (in terms of marking) in any way, shape or form.
So I came up with WORD GYM. The idea is that each week ten words will be given out to students. This is called the warm up – where they have to go away and discover for themselves the definition and word class of the week’s chosen words (all KS4) plus write a sentence for each word.
The follow up is the work out – the ten minute (or so) test in class where they are presented with a variety of questions.
This resource consists of:
10 warm ups (this is the homework) containing ten words each
10** work outs** (this is the test for the classroom).
The questions and answers for the 10 work outs.
Rinse and repeat. However, work outs 2-10 have 15 questions, 10 from that week’s warmup and 5 about any of the words on previous work outs.
The short tests work very well and it is hoped that you will start to see some of the words being used in other texts your students create.
These resources are all editable so if you don’t want to use a word or two you can adapt them to suit yourself.
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.
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!
Bundle
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.)
Bundle
GCSE English Grade 9-1 Paper 1 Resources
This bundle consists of 3 separate resources
Paper 1 Question 5 Descriptive & Narrative Writing Questions
This pack of picture questions is designed for AQA GCSE English Language 9-1. 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 (although both tasks can be descriptive or narrative and this pack reflects that). 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!
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.
Structural Features Game
This was created for learners doing GCSE English Language - the new Grade 9-1 Course. It can be used as a revision but more particularly as an introduction to structural features. Paper 1 Question 3 is the structure questions where learners must comment on structure (see example question below from the June 2018 examination). A student response can easily become muddled if they are not confident with the terminology used to do that.
The game is designed to be naturally differentiated - the quality of the responses will depend on the ability of the students but all can participate. Learners are given individual structural features to investigate and must report back on it to the class, including an easy-to-understand definition and hopefully examples of where it is used in one of a variety of forms. If there are no opportunities to use internet enabled devices in class, this could be easily changed to be a homework activity. It is also perfect for a cover class!
Scaffolded Descriptive Writing
This set of prompts is designed to introduce students to descriptive writing in a number of ways…
The resource is designed as a 10-15 minute section of any class and it focuses on an opening paragraph for a description of a picture. Students can build their confidence here before then progressing to longer pieces. It could also be used as a ‘snap’ revision session, a cover class (where more than one is attempted) or as a prompt for a longer response which the students must do once they finish their first paragraph. In fact it’s a highly adaptable (and editable!) resource which you can turn to many things.
Bundle
GCSE English Language 9-1 Picture-Prompted Scaffolded Story Writing - 2 PACKS
This are editable resources but PDFs are also included.
I really enjoyed creating these and they have gone down very well with my students.
Ever tried to teach story writing and been met with a sea of faces staring back blankly? However, when the terminal exam promises the distinct possibility of a story writing task (Paper 1 Question 5) then students must be prepared for this eventuality.
This is one way to encourage students to write good stories which are suitable for GCSE English.
These sets of prompts are designed to introduce students to descriptive writing in a number of ways…
The resources are designed as TWO 60-90 minute classes and focus on a FULL RESPONSE for a story featuring a different structural feature for each paragraph.
If you want to use exercise books, there are ‘instruction only’ sets here too.
Each paragraph the students must write is accompanied by a number of prompts - both picture-based and written. The prompts indicate what they should write. There is also plenty of time for sharing and class discussions between each paragraph.
Bundle
GCSE English 9-1 - Descriptive and Narrative Writing Questions (Bundle)
There are 3 main resources in this bundle.
A set of 20 pictures to be used as stimuli for narrative responses to GCSE English Paper 1 Question 5 - general pictures of people and places.
A set of 20 pictures to be used as stimuli for narrative AND descriptive responses to GCSE English Paper 1 Question 5 - general pictures of people and places.
A set of 20 pictures to be used as stimuli for narrative AND descriptive responses to GCSE English Paper 1 Question 5 - science fiction and fantasy genre.
A set of 30 pictures around the theme of Christmas - for Paper 1 Question 5
I have also included my “First World War” set of pictures - although it is free, I thought I would pop it in just in case you missed it!
Have fun!
Bundle
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.