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 âworked exampleâ 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 ârubricâ -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 â 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.
Itâs 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.)
I wanted to focus on P1Q1 in a lesson but didnât 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) â âidentify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideasâ â it also covers some ground in terms of AO5 and AO6. These are where writing skills come to the fore â candidatess must communicate clearly, adapt to a certain tone and style and organise their ideas (not to mention sentence structures, spelling and punctuationâŚ).
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.
This bundle enables you to purchase our last 12 resources at a discount to you of 25%,
Although you can see their descriptions individually, Iâll 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 donât 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 studentsâ grades quickly and easily.
ENJOY!
These three resources can be used as whole classes.
However, they are also great as âfillersâ - 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.)
This is a beautifully presented set of 40 âDo Nowâ activities for GCSE English.
I call it âexam paralysisâ â 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 â and help overcome writerâs block. It isnât 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 doesnât 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 âfree writingâ set is designed without marking in mind â 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 âexam styleâ 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 itâs 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 âDo Nowâ activity.)
Two quizzes based on structure.
Quiz 1
This quiz is based on a very short story of just 386 words called âThe Unbroken Bondâ. 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 donât seem to be many âstructureâ 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 âpot luckââ strategy of answering the question.
The story is very PG. It focuses on a dog whose âboyâ has gone missing and his frantic search for his friend. It is resolved when âboyâ returns, simply having been to school for the day. It is based on the June 2023 P1Q5 â âWrite a story about a human meeting an animalâ. 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 âlow stakesâ 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 â 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 âThe Dream of Billy Williamsâ. 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 donât seem to be many âstructureâ 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 âpot luckââ 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 âblood and gutsâ 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 âlow stakesâ 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 â and the explanations given in the answer booklet could also be used to enable online automated feedback.
Enjoy!
GCSE English Paper 1 Question 5 is the creative writing questions where learners may be asked to write a description suggested by a picture. It is also intended to give the teaching of these skills some variety.
This lesson teaches creative writing from a structural perspective. Students also need to understand the structure question in Section A and so this is a way to incorporate a variety of structural devices into a lesson without any danger of it becoming a âlist lessonâ with a âspot the deviceâ focus. This lesson allows students to learn about structural devices through the creative process of writing a story/description. It follows the âtheoryâ that if you plan for language, you get no structure; if you plan for structure then language somehow takes care of itself.
The highly scaffolded nature of the piece of writing students will create during this lesson embeds the elements they must include in their terminal exam question, whether it is descriptive or narrative. As well as encouraging the use of various types of structural devices, the lesson outlines the importance of using paragraphs â and indeed sentences - for impact. The lesson also includes reminders to students to try and use a variety of language features and sophisticated vocabulary in their 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 âlow stakesâ 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 âdiscoveryâ â 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 âstory in a paragraphâ â 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 âsettling inâ.
PDF of the files are included as well as editable versions.
This is an editable resource (if you feel the need to tweak!) but a PDF is included too.
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 is an âinstruction onlyâ set here too.
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
Write a one word sentence using an exclamation mark.
Then, ask a rhetorical question.
Para 2
Overview
Give a brief overview of the points you will make in your speech (use the ones you jotted down on the first page).
Use a list to do this.
Donât make this too long!
Para 3
Make your statement.
This is your message â your side of the argument. Tell your audience what your message is.
⢠Start with: âPersonally, I believeâŚâ or similar.
⢠Use a compound sentence
⢠Finish your last sentence with an ellipsis.
âŚand 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. Your students should end up with a piece containing a minimum of 9 paragraphs of varying language with structural features and language devices used throughout.
This lesson could also be used as a âsnapâ revision session or a cover class. In fact itâs a highly adaptable (and editable!) resource which you can turn to many things.
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.
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 âinstruction onlyâ sets here too.
I donât know about you but a lot of my students donât read â 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 wouldnât take a huge amount of time. Not only that, I didnât want to give the words VOCABULARY or SPELLING too much prominence either â 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 â where they have to go away and discover for themselves the definition and word class of the weekâs chosen words (all KS4) plus write a sentence for each word.
The follow up is the work out â 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 weekâs 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 donât 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.
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 waysâŚ
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 âinstruction onlyâ 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.
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 waysâŚ
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 âinstruction onlyâ 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.
âŚand so on. The story is then further developed with pictures - a âpower paragaraphâ (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 âsnapâ creative writing session or a cover class. In fact itâs a highly adaptable (and editable!) resource which you can turn to many things.
There is also a âfive sensesâ 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.
This editable spreadsheet allows your students to calculate their grades easily.
It has the following units:
Online World, Tech Systems, Digital Portfolio, Graphics, Animation, Spreadsheets, Databases. Web Design, Computer Networks.
It does give âfalseâ results if students enter high grades for some units and none for the others so there is a note at the side warning them of this!
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 could save some timeâŚ
This spreadsheet contains five sheets:
A front page enter their details (name etc) and yours, that are then copied through to all other sheets (so name only goes in once).
A writing FCP (Form, Content, Purpose) Skills Tracker sheet for the Writing Unit
A Writing SPAG (Spelling and Grammar) Skills Tracker for the Writing Unit
A Reading Skills Tracker for the Reading Unit
A Speaking & Listening Skills Tracker
Together they build to give you a complete picture of where your studentâs skills lie. They can be updated twice during the year so that students can measure their progress.
Hope itâs useful to you!
Subtitle: The minor scales - ancient secrets hidden in plain sight
Short description:
The keyboard instrument has evolved to fit the natural shape of our hands; its design follows an essential feature of their anatomy: symmetry.
Long description:
If you find it easier to learn visually, this brochure is perfect for you.
The simplified depiction of the minor scales will help you understand your keyboard instrument in a coherent way.
A complete collection of scale fingering charts will also enable you to start playing along to your favorite music.
You will soon begin uncovering more complex music theory during infinitely more enjoyable practice sessions.
What is PEE? Itâs 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!
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 18âs 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!
Based on the accompanying video, this is a set of two A3 posters for GCSE English Language focusing on analytical verbs. Many students use âshowâ and âsuggestâ 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 âbefore and afterâ 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!