DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid): Activity Pack for GCSE (first teaching 2015)

Suitable for : AQA | OCR

Delve into the difficult issues of Dennis Kelly's compelling contemporary play. This engaging companion provides a variety of stimulating, ready-to-use activities, covering all aspects of the text.

Carefully considered structure develops understanding:

  1. Build a foundation for learning and get students interested with introductory pre-reading exercises.
  2. Dig deeper with text-based activities. Every scene is explored through a range of thought-provoking tasks.
  3. Consolidate knowledge with whole-text activities focusing on: Characterisation & Relationships • Setting • Themes • Ideas and Messages • Language • Form • Structure • Context

All activities are perfectly matched to the GCSE Assessment Objectives, and the fantastic structure makes the pack accessible for your whole class.

Activities include: Insightful questions; Engaging drama activities; Stimulating reading and writing tasks; Pair and group work; Spoken language practice; Creative activities for visual and kinaesthetic learners
What do teachers have to say about this resource? (1428)
“There is a good range of activities in the pack; I particularly like the peer-assessment/self-assessment sheets. I thought the whole pack was well structured in order to take a class through the play chronologically. The ‘Learning Questions’ are also useful as they give an overriding theme and focus to each activity. I liked the advice reminding the teacher to engage the students in the play as a ‘performance’ and how to facilitate this in the classroom – as this is something that is often overlooked when a play is studied in the English Literature classroom.” - E Gardiner, English Teacher and Independent Reviewer
“Perfect for this new specification. This is a fantastic resource with a close focus on helping the teacher to plan... Clearly enhances and structures learning for the class. There is a lot of peer and self evaluation in the unit - extremely helpful. There is a range of different learning tasks, but enough focus on analysis to keep the unit focused on the AOs. It has a clear match to the specification. Thank you for making this resource... It would benefit many students across the country.” - R Goulds, HoD and Independent Reviewer
“It's been a pleasure to read this. It's excellent and will be invaluable for those new to the play. I really like the fact it treats the play as something to be performed, rather than read off the page. The opening dialogue activity in particular is great because it not only allows students to explore inflection and tone, but also totally engages them in preparation for reading/performance... Genius. It is appropriately challenging for this level and sets high expectations for all, which I really admire.” - A Baiden, Teacher and Independent Reviewer
“A useful resource for anyone teaching this play. I really liked the organisation and the embedding of terminology and analysis of language, form and structure as and when it was appropriate. The pre-reading activities were engaging and insightful. It builds skills and learning, whilst providing the student with clear plot and character development as well as useful quotations. There is a good balance of tasks to enable teachers to pick and choose to the strengths/weaknesses of their classes, as well as providing valuable revision.” - P Town, HoD and Independent Reviewer