Contextual Resources

AQA Paper 2-style exam questions and non-fiction extracts. One extract is taken from Sinead O'Connor's memoir "Rememberings" (2021) and the other is from Stephen Hough's memoir "Enough: scenes from Childhood" (2023). In the real exam, Source B is always a 19th Century text, but here I've used another contemporary text, so that learners can more easily practice the exam skills of comparing two pieces of writing. In these extracts, both writers reflect upon the first time they encountered a piano.

GCSE English Language Paper Two AQA exam-style texts and questions 1-4. 
Based on a contemporary source from Jay Rayner (2023) and a Victorian article (Henry Mayhew 1865).

Editor's notes
Another excellent GCSE Practice resource from Matthew with, as usual, a super choice of texts.

8 May 2023 7pm improvements to page 4 extension question (upside down tear-off hints, scaffolding, etc.)  and other minor adjustments).
he first in a new series of Cost of Living resources. Use research on the increasing costs of homemade sandwiches to calculate original costs from the previous year. Plus a challenging extension question about misleading statistics in a related newspaper article.

Best buy and proportion questions - loosely based on setting up a nursery.

I have used this with my Functional Skills Maths and Employability group. We carried out a few examples as a group, left them on the board and I then gave them this worksheet to complete. I sat with the lower attainers and hand wrote in scaffolded examples whilst talking to them about it. 

I have also used the same lesson plan for my GCSE resits as a revision task.

Editor's note

AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2 style exam practice. Source A is from a contemporary memoir "Life As A Unicorn" by Amrou Al-Kadhi. Source B is adapted from a Victorian article about aquariums. The questions mimic AQA Paper 2; questions 1 to 5. Question 5 asks students to write an article about gender roles. The whole paper reflects the advance information given by AQA about the summer 2022 exams; a memoir paired with a Victorian essay and an article writing task. 

Editor's notes

Social Media - AI behind the scenes slides exploring: how many people use social media and the algorithms running behind the scenes; the fact that we are being 'watched' and the concept that 'if you're not paying for the product, then YOU are the product'. Slides also explore DeepMind, Google Autocomplete and the idea that smartphones are making us dumber. 

I put this together when I found so many of my learners trying to hone their employability skills did not know what a lot of the words on job descriptions meant. 

Resource 1 (Definition matching cards: job skills and attributes): I laminated these and cut them up and they worked in pairs or threes to match them up.

There are two other linked resources, as below, to help students with getting to grips with the keywords used in Job Descriptions and Person Specifications. 

Resource focusing on the question 'Is the internet an addictive drug?'  The PowerPoint consists a video link and written stimulus to evoke thought and discussion.  Looking at the relationship we have with our phones versus people; our use of internet enabled devices, 'every minute of every day' and Social Media depression. 

Editor's note