Here’s the old “parts of speech” poem you may already know (author impossible to find so I am assuming it is very old and in the public domain). It is in A3 and A4 size (however only the A3 one is editable - the other is a JPG of the A3 one). Anyway, cool as a poster in a quiet corner…

These spreadsheet exercises were created for the BTEC Level 2 Extended Certificate in Information and Creative Technology but might be used in any beginners Spreadsheet class. They are design to be done after some teacher input and cover a number of simple function and formulae. These include: Addition Subtraction Multiplication Percentages Simple IF statement Minimum Maximum Average Creating simple charts and graphs Wrapping Text Borders and fills Change of font and size The aim, too, is to get learners to think about the math rather than blindly following instructions without really ‘getting it’. These exercises can be done by students of varying abilities - and there are some additional activities on each sheet for those who finish first.

These two PowerPoint slides are designed for students learning about Database Development at Levels 2 and 3. The first allows a user to create an Entity Relationship Diagram by dragging and dropping elements on to the screen - only the central part of which is in the print area. The second allows a user to drag and drop elements on to the print area in order to design a form in access. Elements include labels, images, text boxes and buttons. These two PPs allow learners who are acquiring database skills to experiment with their designs. I have found them very useful delivering the Database Development Unit for the BTEC Level 2 Extended Certificate in Information and Creative Technology.

This spreadsheet allows users to enter marks for each question for GCSE English Language. There is a spreadsheet for Paper 1 and Paper 2 for each of the three 9-1 GCSE English Language 8700 sittings so far. The spreadsheets will not allow errors so they will not let users type in 9 marks for an 8 mark question, for example. They calculate the total marks - plus they also automatically give you the final grade for that paper. These are editable spreadsheets so you can further change them if you so wish. There is a separate spreadsheet containing grade boundaries for all 6 past papers (Paper 1 and Paper 2 x3).

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! The game is an editable PowerPoint so you can also adapt it if you wish. Please do not redistribute afterwards in any format. Also included is a full lesson plan for this session - again it is editable if you wish to make changes (inevitable as your learner needs may be subtly or very different to those of my own). Assessment Objective: 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 The resource also works towards paper 1 question 5 (AQA board at least!) when learners must incorporate structural features in to their own creative writing, either descriptive or narrative.

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. 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. They would probably also be very useful if you are covering a class - the skills that students develop with these questions are vital for success in GCSE English as this question alone represents 25% of the entire exam. 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.

These quizzes are designed to accompany the anthology “As Told By Teachers” (https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/as-told-by-teachers-an-anthology-of-short-stories-for-gcse-english-language-11973337). There are 4 but more will be added. Want to make one yourself? Know Kahoot? If you would like to create a Kahoot quiz based on any of the stories, please do. I would appreciate it if you could send me the link so it can be included in this document. If you would like to use the question mark pictures (free from copyright) the links are below. Please don’t forget to credit the creators (you can put a links at the bottom of any question). Kahoot Newbie? If you would like to create a Kahoot quiz but are unfamiliar with it (or just technophobic!) please feel free to put a set of questions and answers together and email it to taliesyn30@aol.com. I will be happy to put it online for you. This resource will be updated as quizzes are added.

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

AQA EXAM ONLY. This is a spreadsheet for individual students who might want to keep a record of their marks per question - particularly useful if they are going to resit. All you have to do is to type in the marks for each question and the spreadsheet will do the rest. It calculates the final individual paper grade based on their separate bands. It gives a percentage for each question (I find that easier to get my head around as I forget how many marks are available for each question and this means I don’t have to bother looking). Of course it gives the final overall grade too!

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.

Pie charts for GCSE English Language? But why? We hope these charts help to visualise how much the questions are worth, plan and re-evaluate revision and to work out just how much time should be spent on each question in the exams. Plus it’s a bit of fun - enjoy!

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!

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!

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).

Two extracts - one Dickens and one Orwell, accompanied by sample questions. The video explains the question, showing how to do it but also how NOT to do it! The Dickens extract is used as the first example and students can be guided through how to create their response. The Orwell example is for students to attempt on their own, without guidance. Possible answers for both texts are included (for question 1).

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!

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.

A letter from 1850 from a young man stationed in India to his sister in Sussex. A fag-packet lesson plan with the letter that young Walter must have written with the new GCSE spec in mind. Lots of language to convince his sister that she should write back to him. Two videos to accompany the lesson plan plus the letter itself and an exemplar answer.... lots of fun to inflict here. Fits very well with AQA Paper 2 Question 3 and can probably be adapted to other exam boards. Please note: the file marked VI is simply the same resource but enlarged for students with Visual Impairments.

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

Aimed at all levels of ability but particularly at those students who might achieve Grade 5 upwards. If you are teachinmg the GCSE English Language Grade 9-1 Course then you know your students will have to know how to do a summary. In fact they will have to know how to bring elements of two texts together – to synthesise them in to a new form – the summary – which may ask them to highlight the similarities or differences of aspects of two sources. This video serves as a foray in to that by showing you how to summarise two source texts according to the skills descriptors for GCSE English Language Grade 9-1 course (AQA), The Lesson Plan contains the two texts (which are also the video) and the way that I delivered it to my groups - how you choose to do it is, of course, up to you!