Starter

Recap
Before using any of the activities in the pack, it might be sensible to ask students
what they can remember about the papers beforehand. Students could be
grouped and given 1 minute to write down everything they can remember about
question numbers, types, marks etc.
Students can begin by trying the AO Match Ups. In this activity students have to
remember what they know about each of the assessment objectives. The matchup
is a simple worksheet but can be turned into a card sort activity if preferred.

Step Up Unit 1: AQA Main Activities

GCSE English Language
Section A - Lesson One
Teaching Ideas
Learning Objective:
To understand the elements
that make up the GCSE English
Language exams for AQA
(reading element).
Success Criteria:
• To define the AOs for the
paper effectively.
Following on from the Matchups, students can rank the AOs in terms of how
difficult they think each is in the AO Difficulty Challenge. Students may work
in pairs or small groups for this card sort activity. They should place the most
difficult AO at the top and the easiest at the bottom. If you wish to photocopy a set
of AOs for each student, they can work through their own list, discuss differences
with a partner and then glue the resulting tower of AOs in their books. They can
then annotate around these with their own impressions of what makes one AO
difficult for them and what makes another easy. This can then be referred back
to throughout the intervention sessions.
The AO Definitions worksheet is another tool for understanding the AOs.
On this, students can record their own definitions and understandings of the
language of the objectives. To save paper, this task might also be completed in
exercise books with the glued AO Difficulty Challenge mentioned above.

• To analyse personal trouble In order to get to know each paper, there are two quizzes available: Test Yourself
spots within the exams. Paper 1 and Test Yourself Paper 2. These should help knowledge across the
two reading sections and can be used following any intervention course to check
• To remember the key
new understanding.
question types for
each paper. The Facing the Questions activities are available for Paper 1 and Paper 2 and
come in three differentiated versions. These can be used to check understanding
at the beginning or can be kept as a means of recording the knowledge gleaned
Context throughout the intervention sessions. This resource might also be used as a final
This is an the first of ten
test of knowledge following completion of the intervention work.
lessons devoted to better
understanding of the reading
elements of the GCSE English Moving On
Language papers. This pack
contains everything necessary This set of resources is the first in a ten-lesson pack set for intervention purposes.
to create intervention lessons Students should move on to more intensive analysis revision with the language
around the AQA syllabus. The and structure units.
opening lesson concentrates
on the need for students to
understand exactly what is
being assessed and how to
approach each question.
The pack is not prescriptive
and the multiple worksheets
can be used or changed
to suit individual teaching
purposes. The aim of the
unit is to provide sufficient
differentiated material for 10
intervention sessions of 45
minutes to 1 hour in length.