AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 exam skills pack
Make sure your students are well prepared for AQA’s GCSE English Language Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing.
‘This student-facing pack is designed to be both accessible and challenging. With top tips, AO breakdowns, detailed activities, exam-style questions and suggested answers, it forms a comprehensive student pack which is ideal for developing skills, pushing students, and providing structured, useful revision. It covers a range of stimulating texts and will help to build students' confidence when dealing with unseen texts and prepare them for the rigour of the GCSE exam.’ Lyndsey Chand, writer
Our exam skills pack is divided into sections for reading and writing and features four fiction extracts for analysis along with exam questions for each extract.
The pack focuses on key skills and assessment objectives and includes pre-reading activities, matching activities, true/false activities, planning grids, vocabulary tasks, sequencing tasks, creative extension tasks, correction activities and more.
Perfect for revision and preparation for the exam.
Featured texts:
- Jamrach’s Menagerie – Carol Birch
- ‘The Singing Lesson’ – Katherine Mansfield
- The Lodger – Marie Belloc Lowndes
- The Hampdenshire Wonder – J.D. Beresford
What's included?
- four fiction text extracts
- reading and writing sections
- exam practice questions.
What's inside?
Teacher introduction (pages 3-4)
Section A: Reading (pages 5-6)
Practise the exam skills: AO1 (first bullet point) (pages 7-25)
- Source 1: Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch
Practise the exam skills: AO2 (language) (pages 25-53)
- Source 2: ‘The Singing Lesson’ by Katherine Mansfield
Practise the exam skills: AO2 (structure) (pages 54-78)
- Source 3: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Practise the exam skills: AO4 (pages 79-102)
- Source 4: The Hampdenshire Wonder by J.D. Beresford
Section B: Writing (pages 103-104)
Practise the exam skills: AO5 (pages 105-120)
Practise the exam skills: AO6 (pages 121-142)
Example activities for students from the exam pack:
Practise the exam skills: Spotlight on AO1 (first bullet point in the exam)
For question 1, you need to show your ability to retrieve (pick out) information from a text. You don’t need to analyse here − just find the information you’ve been asked for!
You will use the extract taken from Jamrach’s Menagerie in this section. The activities here will help you to develop your comprehension of unseen text extracts.
Top tips
- Read the question and the text really, really carefully.
- Highlight or underline key words in the question. It sounds silly, but it can help to focus your mind on the question at a time when you are likely to be a bit panicky.
- Make sure you select your information from the correct part of the text (draw a box around it if it helps!).
- Highlight all the relevant information in the text as you read. Then check the question and choose the four points you want to use as your answer.
- Use quotations from the text as your answer (you don’t have to do this to get the marks, but it can make it easier).
- It can also help to start each answer with key words from the question. For example, if the question is ‘List four things about the boy’, your answer might look something like this: The boy is ‘cold’.
- Try to keep your time on this question short: it’s only worth four marks.
- Be selective about the quotations you use. That means no long quotations or (even worse!) the whole of the section you are asked about.
- Make sure you write about the right part of the text.
- Focus on giving information; there’s no need for analysis here.
All reviews
Have you used this resource?
Review this resourceMany thanks Teachit.
24/05/2020
23/05/2020
22/05/2020
11/05/2020
30/03/2020
27/01/2020
Thank you
22/01/2020
29/10/2019
29/10/2019
29/10/2019
