Thank you for visiting my shop. My aim is to provide high quality teaching resources that reduce the
need for hours of planning and help learners to achieve their potential in English and English Literature.
Please feel free to email me at sdenglish18@gmail.com with any queries, requests or comments.
Thank you for visiting my shop. My aim is to provide high quality teaching resources that reduce the
need for hours of planning and help learners to achieve their potential in English and English Literature.
Please feel free to email me at sdenglish18@gmail.com with any queries, requests or comments.
A PowerPoint that demonstrates the structure of GCSE Language Paper 2, Section A (AQA 8700/2) and the skills that examiners are looking for.
Source A is a Guardian article entitled ‘Filthy water poisons the people of Dhaka’s festering slums’ (Link provided on slide)
Source B is an extract from Henry Mayhew’s ‘A Visit to the Cholera Districts in Bermondsey’, published in 1849.
This PowerPoint covers Section A only but there are sample answers included for each question, 1-4.
If you can obtain a copy of the 8700/2 mark scheme, you may wish to encourage learners to mark the sample responses.
Appropriate for middle-upper ability learners.
A 46-slide PowerPoint that provides a short course in narrative and descriptive writing for GCSE. It is aimed at middle-ability KS4 and is oriented towards AQA English Language 8700, Paper 1, Question 5.
The PowerPoint covers:
The writing AO’s, unpacked and turned into 7 ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions
The structures of 8700 Papers 1 & 2
The difference between narrative and descriptive writing
Descriptive techniques organised into the acronym MRS VAN SOAPS
Descriptive writing success criteria
Sample descriptive writing tasks (students choose 1 of 2)
A teacher-written response (presented as an extract from a full response)
Peer assessment
Short story structure (Freytag’s Pyramid)
Exploring Freytag’s Pyramid in relation to ‘A Christmas Carol’
Sample narrative writing tasks with planning activity
Narrative writing success criteria
Showing and telling in fiction
4 showing tasks with sample responses
DIRT tasks
Narrative choice: 1st or 3rd person with picture prompt activity
Self-assessment
Final writing tasks (descriptive or narrative)
Peer assessment
Reflection opportunity.
This resource incorporates others that have previously been on sale in my shop, either in their current form or slightly tweaked. If you already have these but wish to purchase this unit of work, please contact me at and we’ll try to work something out.
Resources also sold separately:
/teaching-resource/descriptive-writing-techniques-match-up-activity-11749389
/teaching-resource/descriptive-writing-techniques-summary-mat-11747011
/teaching-resource/short-story-planning-flow-chart-11747165
These files were last saved in Office 2016.
This is a ‘crash course’ in Act Five aimed at lower ability learners who need to get through the text quite quickly. It includes:
An overview of Act 5 (see cover image) with tasks.
Scene summaries for Scenes 1, 5 and 8.
A storyboard for learners to fill in for Scenes 1 and 8. On a basic level, they can use the scene summaries to create captions for each scene, although you can increase the challenge by removing the quotations as well.
An activity which encourages learners to contrast the presentation of Lady Macbeth in Acts 1-3 with the sleepwalking scene.
A focus on Macbeth’s ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’ speech. Learners number the images according to when they appear in the speech.
These resources were created for low-ability learners who only had a limited amount of time in which to approach Act 5. However, you could use these as starters or revision tasks for more able learners.
This is a newly differentiated version of this resource:
/teaching-resource/macbeth-annotated-act-two-11875453
This lower ability version contains:
The full text of Act 2, translated (same as original)
Scene summaries for Scenes 1-4
Scene 2 (the immediate aftermath) full text with corresponding questions
5 Worksheets to be carried out alongside the reading of Act 2.
This unit contains fewer resources than the corresponding unit for Act 1, but this reflected in the price. It was created with the issue of time pressure in mind.
A PowerPoint that demonstrates the structure of GCSE Language Paper 2, Section A (AQA 8700/2) and the skills that examiners are looking for.
Source A is an extract from Nellie Bly's 'Ten Days in a Madhouse' (19th Century Non-Fiction)
Source B is a blog entry available on the Mind website: In Crisis, My Experience. (Link provided on slide)
This PowerPoint covers Section A only but there are sample answers included for each question, 1-4.
If you can obtain a copy of the 8700/2 mark scheme, you may wish to encourage learners to mark the sample responses.
Appropriate for middle-upper ability learners.
Aimed at middle-upper ability GCSE groups, this PowerPoint teaches the layout and language of a formal letter. It is oriented towards AQA 8700/2/Question 5 but could be adapted for other boards.
In order, the PowerPoint contents are:
A multiple-choice entry task
AQA advice on features of format
A sample AQA-style question. Students identify PAF and reflect on the importance of being mindful of PAF in relation to Question 5. Extension task included.
The layout of a formal letter, which students copy. Extension questions included.
Notes regarding the formal greeting and formal sign-off
A re-cap on the features of formal and informal language. Students cut the features out, organise them under two headings and stick them into their books.
An example response to the given question. Students read and identify different features (differentiated)
An opportunity for independent writing, with success criteria provided.
Peer assessment and self-reflection.
These files were last saved in Office 2010.
This lesson looks at the requirements of AQA Paper 2, Question 5 with a particular focus on leaflet-writing and the use of language to instruct and advise.
It draws from my original PPT:
/teaching-resource/leaflet-writing-for-gcse-11757705
and could be used as a follow on from the free Section A questions provided here:
/teaching-resource/aqa-8700-paper-2-railway-accidents-11992280
However, this can act as a stand-alone lesson. It covers:
Key points about AQA English Language, Paper 2, Question 5
The structure of a leaflet
The different purposes of a leaflet (with task)
A note on planning and identifying the purpose, audience and format (with quick task).
The features of writing to instruct and advise (with handout)
A WAGOLL for the given task
After learners have written their own, they then use success criteria to peer assess and then rate their learning.
The PPT is aimed at middle-upper ability learners and is likely to take about 2 hours, including independent writing time (45mins).
This worksheet can be used at either KS3 or KS4 to enable students to plan a short story according to Freytag’s Pyramid.
NB. I have used the term ‘initial situation’ instead of exposition.
An alternative, older version of this worksheet should be available here:
/teaching-resource/short-story-planning-flow-chart-11747165
The sixth in the KS3 Basic Literacy Series. It includes:
A starter based on the homophones there, their and they’re, effectively revising the material covered in the previous lesson.
What is an inference + several examples
A series of photos as a basis for whole class discussion on the inferences that can be made from different visual cues.
A worksheet: read ten short extracts and make inferences from them, with extension task
Review
This lesson can stand alone but it assumes some pre-teaching of there, their and they’re.
A straightforward lesson that encourages debate on the likeability of Gerald Croft in ‘An Inspector Calls’.
After a picture-based association task to begin with, students examine the question of whether Gerald Croft is a hero or a villain.
The lesson ends with students responding to a ‘for or against’ activity centering on Gerald’s Croft’s culpability in the suicide of Eva Smith.
This lesson could be used a one-off cover lesson for students that have a good understanding of Gerald’s actions in the play.
This is a double-sided task sheet that could be used as a cover task for mid-higher ability students who are already familiar with the full text.
After some guided questions (side 1), students respond to a long answer question about the importance of the family in ‘A Christmas Carol’ (side 2).
Students will need a copy of the novella to be able to refer to the passages specified. I’ve included notes for for additional support.
A 110-slide PowerPoint that explores Act Three of ‘An Inspector Calls’. The PPT covers:
Revision of Act Two
Put quotations in order + identify quotes in relation to three different themes: a) Parents and children b) Responsibility
c) Capitalism versus socialism.
A range of differentiated sample paragraphs in response to the above tasks. Students identify the missing words.
Worksheets for the characters of Arthur, Sheila, Gerald and Sybil in terms of their attitude towards responsibility.
Quotations: ‘Who Said What?’ task + sample answers
Exploration task on how Act Two ends (differentiated).
Act Three:
Focus on Eric: Quotation Hunt followed by comparison task in relation to Eric and Eva’s relationship and Gerald and Daisy’s relationship.
Illegal Versus Immoral Behaviour task.
A 15-point quiz (essentially how capitalist/socialist are you?)
Group-work task on the contextual background of the Inspector’s speech: capitalism v socalism, communism, the rise of the USSR, communism in the USSR, the reasons for Priestley’s socialist views, British capitalists’ antipathy towards socalism, rising public interest in socialism, Conservative anti-socialist propaganda task (diff’d) + the Labour win of 1945 + its effects.
Analysis of the Inspector’s final speech task.
Drama activity.
Sample extended analysis of the Inspector’s final speech.
Exploring the aftermath of the Inspector’s departure + extended response task on theme of responsibility.
The significance of the end of the play in terms of the generational divide + time theories in ‘An Inspector Calls’, extended response
Act 3: 20 questions
A whole-play revision section.
This resource is suited to middle-upper-ability learners.
Following on from this introduction to unseen poetry:
/teaching-resource/unseen-poetry-lesson-1-12130945
This is the next lesson in the series. It covers:
Revision of aspects of the AQA 8702 English Literature GCSE (NB. references to ‘An Inspector Calls’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’).
Feedback slide
What is meant by ‘poetic methods’?
The Literature Assessment Objectives
4 tasks on worksheets in relation to poetic methods (teacher answers included). These are to be carried out in conjunction with the Methods Mat, which you may choose to print back-to-back and laminate.
Feedback slides
Learning Review
This assessment tracker uses the 2024 grade boundaries for AQA Paper 1 and 2 for Language and Literature (8700 + 8702)
It will generate a grade for individual sections, each paper and each individual course.
Please email me using the address on my store front if you would like any adjustments made to your tracker, e.g. additional columns.
Please do not send any pupil data when requesting adjustments.
This is a ‘crash course’ in Act 4 for lower ability learners. It comprises of three storyboards and scene summaries for Act Four of ‘Macbeth’.
The aim is for learners to use the scene summaries to describe what is happening in each scene, based on the images and quotations.
This could be used for revision of Act Four or to promote understanding. It was designed with time pressure in mind.
In this Y11 revision resource, students read a character overview of Lady Macbeth and respond to detailed questions on her role in each act.
You may wish to organise students into groups and ask them to focus on a particular act, presenting their ideas at the end of the lesson.
Suggested answers are included.
This resource could be used as a cover lesson, but in any event, students will need a copy of the play.
This lesson provides an alternative to :
/teaching-resource/my-last-duchess-11887073
In this lesson:
Learners use a context notes sheet and its accompanying worksheet to generate a collection of ideas about the historical context of the poem.
There are links to two different video clips in which the poem is recited.
Learners then discuss their answers to a series of comprehension questions on the poem. Teacher answers provided.
Learners go on to annotate the poem using the context sheet and a prompt sheet. Learners will need their own copy of the poem.
Slide 7 provides a glossary of the more unfamiliar terms in the poem.
The final slide presents 4 different long-answer questions which can be explored in groups and used a basis for group presentations.
A PPT that enables an exploration of Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’. As with many of my other Power and Conflict lessons, the emphasis is on independent learning, so you might wish to ask learners to work in pairs or groups for the activities. The content is aimed at upper ability groups. This lesson comes with a detailed context sheet and a modern translation of the poem.
A PPT that teaches Owen’s ‘Exposure’. Aimed at middle-upper ability GCSE. There is a dictionary activity to begin with, followed by some contextual background and then an annotated copy of the poem. The PPT concludes with tasks for group work.
A full lesson on Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’. It incorporates:
A brief scansion entry task
Learners then read the poem and form initial impressions, giving reasons for their interpretations.
There is then a vocabulary task relevant to the context of the poem.
Learners read a sheet entitled 'Different Interpretations of ‘Storm on the Island’ which provides a brief introduction to the political situation in Northern Ireland. Learners use this information to respond to questions on a worksheet.
Learners can then annotate the poem using a guidance sheet.
The whole lesson is likely to take 1.5-2 hours approx. It is aimed at higher ability learners.