Viewing entries from category: Starters & Teaching Ideas
Improving Writing | Discourse Markers: A Teacher’s Guide and Toolkit »
Categories: KS4, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE Pre-2015 Resources, AQA GCSE Generic Skills, AQA GCSE Skills Resources, EDEXCEL GCSE, Edexcel GCSE Generic Skills, Edexcel GCSE Skills Resources, OCR GCSE, OCR GCSE Pre-2015 Resources, OCR GCSE Generic Skills, OCR GCSE Skills Resources, WJEC Eduqas GCSE, WJEC GCSE Pre-2015 Resources, WJEC GCSE Generic Skills, WJEC GCSE Skills Resources, Starters & Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, Writing, Essays, Persuasive Writing
Associated Resources
A ‘discourse marker’ is a word or phrase that helps to link written ideas. These words are generally more formal lexical items that find little use in speech – which is perhaps why they do not always come naturally to students.

Discourse markers can be used, for example, to link ideas that are similar (e.g. the adverbs, also and similarly); and...
[ read full article ] »GCSE English Spoken Language ‘Defend the Indefensible’ Activity »
Categories: KS4, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English Language 2015, AQA Spoken Language, EDEXCEL GCSE, Edexcel GCSE English Language 2015, Edexcel Spoken Language, Cambridge iGCSE, OCR GCSE, OCR GCSE English Language 2015, OCR Spoken Language, WJEC Eduqas GCSE, WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Language 2015, WJEC Eduqas Spoken Language, Starters & Teaching Ideas, KS4 English Starters, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development

This activity is taken from the First Activity in Lesson Two of the AQA, WJEC Eduqas, OCR & Edexcel GCSE Spoken Language Scheme.
‘Things that irk’
On a piece of A4 paper, ask the students to write down something they really do not like – encourage these suggestions not to be too serious. Use the example of Marmite; things that irk rather than serious issues. Once this is done, collect their responses and distribute them amongst the class so that...
[ read full article ] »GCSE English Literature Unseen Poetry Puzzle Activity »
Categories: KS4, Poetry, Blake, The Sick Rose, Starters & Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development
This activity is taken from the Plenary in Lesson One of the Edexcel GCSE Eng Lit Component 2: Unseen Poetry Scheme.
Decide on your Poem
Choose a poem you are studying that you want the students to analyse. This scheme is looking at ‘The Sick Rose’ by William Blake.
Draw some jigsaw puzzle pieces on the board and ask students to do the same in their books.
Pose the question “What pieces make up ‘The Sick Rose’ puzzle?? Ask students to insert...
[ read full article ] »AQA GCSE English Language P1 Explorations Brothers Moderation »
Categories: KS4, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English Language 2015, Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing, Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing Assessment Pack, Mocks, Mock Exams, Starters & Teaching Ideas, Improve Your Teaching
This resource takes a Language Paper One extract, and provides exemplar answers for every question, and every band, along with helpful explanations of how to interpret the mark scheme.
This could be used in a number of ways
Department Moderation
See video links to examiner talking you through this paper
- As a mock paper for your whole cohort to sit, and the exemplar responses will mean that department marking will be accurate and consistent
In Class
- In...
Improve Your Teaching | What Makes An Oustanding Lesson? »
Categories: Hot Entries, Starters & Teaching Ideas, Improve Your Teaching
Associated Resources
Ofsted Inspections: What Makes An Outstanding Lesson?
For many teachers the anxiety and worry of being observed is all too real. With new government initiatives such as the fact that pay is linked to performance, and the new Ofsted Framework (2012) breathing down our necks, it could enhance these worries and fears even more. It was therefore thought that it will be helpful to provide some guidance in terms of what...
[ read full article ] »A Level English Literature Starters »
Categories: Hot Entries, Starters & Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, KS5 English Starters, Improve Your Teaching, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET01, AQA A Level English Literature A, LTA1, AQA A Level English Literature B, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, KS5 Archive, AQA A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, OCR A Level, WJEC A Level

This collection of lesson starters for A Level English Literature complement the collection of ‘ice breakers’ and general English starters for broad recapping ideas, word games, creative writing starters, essay skills, general terms activities and skill builders. See A Level English Starters.
General discussion prompts are useful as broad starters once in a while. Try one of these quotations to get the class thinking:
- “Literature adds to reality....
A Level English Linguistic Lesson Starters »
Categories: Starters & Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, KS5 English Starters, Writing, Linguistic Analysis, Speech Analysis, Child Language Acquisition, An Introduction to Child Language Acquisition, CLA Exam Revision, Gender, Gender Resources, Spoken English, AQA A Level English Language A, ENGA1, ENGA2, ENGA3, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA2, AQA A Level English Language & Literature B, ELLB1, ELLB3, EDEXCEL A Level English Language & Literature, 6EL01, 6EL03, EDEXCEL A Level English Language, 6EN01, 6EN03, 6EN04, OCR A Level English Language & Literature, OCR A Level English Language, F651, F653, WJEC A Level English Language, LG2, LG3, LG4, KS5 Archive, AQA A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, OCR A Level, WJEC A Level
Guide Navigation
- A Level English Language Starters: Frameworks & Analysis
- A Level English Language Starters: Accent & Dialect
- A Level English Language Starters: Language & Gender
- A Level English Language Starters: Language Change
- A Level English Language Starters: Mode & Technology
- A Level English Language Starters: Child Language Acquisition
- A Level English Language Starters: Language & Power
This collection of suggestions includes ice-breaker or...
[ read full article ] »