3 Grade 9 responses to the 2023 Language Paper 2 Question 5 question which involved writing a speech in which students had to give their opinion on a statement related to cars. Speech 1: Written in the powerful and emotional style with environmental concerns at the forefront Speech 2 Written in a slightly humorous/satirical style Speech 3: Begins and ends with an anecdote. All 3 speeches should achieve grade 9 due to the sustained use of ambitious vocabulary, a full range of punctuation and sentence structures used for effect alongside the use of cohesive devices to assist whole text structure and organisation.

High level model answers for questions 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the 2023 AQA Language Paper 2 paper on trains which was, by all accounts, a challenging pair of extracts. Also includes some notes for helping to answer the reading questions.

Perhaps due to the recent coronation, many experts are predicted kingship would be the theme for the exam in 2023. They were wrong. Maybe 2024 will be the year for this key theme to be on the exam. Therefore I have created a 20 slide PowerPoint that guides students through how to plan and respond to a question on kingship in Macbeth. Students go on to write their own response and then compare it to the model response. I believe the model response is full marks and would easily achieve grade 9; however, there will always be some teachers who claim nothing short of postgraduate level writing will receive the much coveted 9 so I am reluctant to make the claim that it would definitely achieve a 9.

Here are my model answers to questions 1 to 5 of the AQA Language Paper 1 exam where the exam was based on an extract from Life of Pi. They may be useful for students who want to know how they could have improved on their mock. The extract and questions are available on the AQA website. Each answer has been written to try and aim for the top band of the mark scheme. For Q5, I chose to do the story rather than the description. For model responses to the November 2022 paper on The Old Man and the Sea use this link: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12934137 Model responses for June 2022 on The Pearl can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-13031986

A grade 9 model answer focusing on the character of Juliet. The model answer starts with a thesis statement. It moves on to analyse the youthful, idealistic nature of Romeo’s feelings for Romeo early in the play. The second half of the essay moves on to explore the growing maturity of Juliet’s feelings later in the play. The word count for the response is 1014 words. Also includes revision cards for critical perspectives into Romeo’s character to really help push for that grade 9 in A03.

A grade 9 level response looking at the theme of greed in A Christmas Carol. Also contains 6 revision cards analysing 6 useful quotations for exploring the theme of greed.

An exam-style grade 9 response that would comfortable fit into band 6 that explores how Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an evil/violent character. I have not included the 2019 question or extract but it is available on the AQA website under assessment materials. There is perceptive debate with judicious use of quotations and assured analysis of methods and wider ideas. Also contains a differentiated adaptive writing frame to help lower ability students achieve a grade 4.

A context sheet for Macbeth. It explores the contextual knowledge relevant to the study of Macbeth at GCSE. It covers James I, witchcraft, divine right of kings, chain of being, gunpowder plot and the role of women in the Jacobean era. Also contains revision cards for exploring Macbeth’s character from 8 different critical perspectives.

A handy A3 context sheet aimed at helping students understand how the Elizabethan context enriches our understanding of the play. Ideal as a starting point for helping students move outside of the text to address A03.

The drop, shift, zoom, leave method is an increasingly popular method for approaching Paper 1 Question 5 because it allows a student to show the examiner they can effectively structure a narrative deliberately for effect. This resource contains 3 500 word stories written in the drop, shift, zoom, leave style. Students should read the examples. They then attempt to plan and write a drop, shift, zoom, leave narrative of their own.

Punctuation worksheet with 3 parts. Section 1: Students add the missing semi colon to 20 sentences. Section 2: Students add the missing colon to 20 sentences. Section 3: Students add the misses single or pair of dashes to 20 sentences. Answers on page 2.

A bank of 200 ambitious adjectives to support students with creative writing on one printable sheet.

A revision sheet analysing 10 key quotations on the character of Banquo in Macbeth. Also contains a blank template version. I will ask students to try and complete this first before giving out the answer sheet. Comes in editable word format and pdf. A perfect revision document for this character who may or may not come up in the 2024 exam.

A timeline focusing on how the character of Macbeth changes during the play. There is also a question template to help students explore their own interpretations of the different stages of Macbeth’s descent into evil. Also includes 2 exemplar high grade exemplars to the question for students to compare and consider which are the most perceptive in meeting the criteria for level 6/grade 9. Also includes 12 character flashcards to help trace how the different aspects of Macbeth’s complex personality are communicated in the play.

PowerPoint with click-animated text which goes through 4 big ideas in the collection concerning the power of nature, conflict over identity, abuse of power and the power of memories. For each big idea, I go through key quotations from specific poems with detailed analysis written in short form to assist with note-taking. Students then move on to try using big ideas to help plan responses to 3 exam-style questions. My most comprehensive resource on Power and Conflict poetry is available here with revision posters on every poem: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/power-and-conflict-revision-sheets-12884928

Model answers for questions 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the November 2022 language exam based on the extract from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, For each question, I have provided 2 different answers so students can compare the merits of each. Both are aimed at meeting the top band (level 4) criteria. For question 5 I have provided a high level response to both questions - the fishing village and the unlikely friendship. The extract is available on the AQA website.

A free student workbook version of my 15 page power and conflict revision booklet. There are spaces underneath all of the key quotations from each poem so that students can write down their ideas about each quotation. The full resource with detailed analysis of key quotations from each poem is available here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12886246

Detailed analysis of 8 quotations from Scene 9. Quotation analysis for all scenes in the play can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12899413

I ask students to read these scripts of students discussing Williams’ authorial intentions in A Streetcar Named Desire to model what I am looking for in their own group discussions about Williams’ authorial intentions. A useful resource for encouraging students to improve their oracy in the classroom.