Starters and Plenaries for KS3 English

Great ways to start and end a KS3 English lesson!

Inject pace into your English lessons with these packs of pick-up-and-teach starter and plenary activities. Easy to use and specifically designed for the KS3 English national curriculum, covering reading, writing, grammar and spoken language skills.

It's a must have...

...Pupils get to be creative. They are stretched and supported by adapted tasks - each activity has been differentiated...

...These activities fit brilliantly across the whole of KS3 & 4

S Owen, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Effortless Delivery!
Write-on, flexible, in-class activities, complete with detailed teacher's notes, to kick-start or consolidate learning.

  • Ideal blend of individual, paired, small-group and whole-class activities develops independent and cooperative learning methods
  • Short and stimulating activities motivate and enthuse all learning stylessupport and extension material provided for every activity
  • Draws upon a variety of classic authors, alongside contemporary fiction and engaging non-fiction writing examples
  • All answers provided – great for AfL and speedy peer-assessment

The writer of this resource is inspirational...

...I'm excited to think we have teachers like this in the profession and I hope it inspires others

A Baiden, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Activities include: What’s in a title? | Grammar challenge | Non-fiction at the roll of a dice and more!

Multimedia approach: includes crosswords | Tarsia puzzles | social media | YouTube videos and more!

What do teachers say about this resource? (8470)

One of the most original resources I've reviewed in a very long time. It has a great range of activities, with some great original ideas... The writer of this resource is inspirational and is either well-experienced or en route to becoming an outstanding teacher... It was challenging and expects more of students than any other resource of its type I’ve seen recently... the writer provides scaffolding and support... It has original ideas and ‘out of the box’ activities that aren’t just engaging, but definitely educational. Bravo!... The range of activities is quite remarkable with a great variety of different tasks and ways to access / demonstrate learning. [The resource is] challenging, so students can raise their game and LEARN... For new teachers it models excellent practice, and the differentiation is already taken care of... Congratulations on an excellent resource. I'm excited to think we have teachers like this in the profession and I hope it inspires others

A Baiden, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Excellent. A series of differentiated standalone tasks that can be used in a range of ways to start or end a lesson. They range from literature work, to vocabulary extension, to creative tasks - both fiction and non-fiction. It's a must have... I like the way that most pieces have been linked to a text, or perhaps a topic or scheme of work... just about all of them can fit into my current programmes of study without a single tweak!... Pupils get to be creative. They are stretched and supported by adapted tasks - each activity has been differentiated... Opportunities are given to develop oral, reading and writing skills... makes very clear what skill is being considered and developed... These activities fit brilliantly across the whole of KS3 and 4. The poetry questions are fantastic for helping pupils develop their unseen poetry skills... It also gets them digging into the poems they need to study in depth for their coursework... The tasks which are directly linked to Shakespeare plays are great starters for the Shakespeare coursework...

S Owen, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Useful, time saving ideas... Effective starters can make a lesson and lots of these have a good ‘hook’... Highly suitable for year 7!

K Joel, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (11933)

I am very impressed with the quality of this resource, especially in how helpful it is with the notes, tips and guidance before each activity. Most resources, which compile starters, will not go into this depth of information and I think that makes this resource particularly useful to less experienced teachers... I like the variety of activities. I like the links to the national curriculum and that extension ideas and possible adaptations are included... There is nothing I dislike about this resource... This resource enhances learning because it builds a variety of skills such as Spelling, Vocabulary and Grammar as well as Reading, Writing and Speaking and allows for differentiation. The fact that the resource covers many topics, as opposed to focusing on just one topic such as Creative Writing or Grammar, is of good educational value because it can allow teachers to adapt this resource more effectively... I also think this resource would be really useful for lower ability students to help fill in any gaps.

A Nickab, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A clearly laid out, and useful resource – great for getting students thinking and in a time sensitive way too! The Teachers’ notes contents page is fantastic – love the visual, quick way to ascertain which tasks can be done individually, which as a pair, and which are suited to group tasks. Nice breadth of skills covered, and also targeted areas... Focused step by step format. Clearly explains the task to the teacher, and then the subsequent worksheet is ready to go... Very detailed pack, nice breadth of tasks. Enhances learning by breaking down key elements of reading, writing and speaking needed for students in the final year of KS3 – equips them with skills that will be essential for GCSE study. Tasks are self-contained and can be interwoven amongst units of work, supporting the development of skills and ideas... This will be an invaluable resource to focus our students and their acquisition of core skills. A good breadth of areas to focus on. Content prepares students for GCSE study, and tasks can be used here as well – nice to have quick activities at the start or end of a lesson to focus students... A useful and comprehensive resource – would be very welcome in our dept!

N Phillips, Head of English & Peer Reviewer

The resource has some excellent ideas for KS3... The topics are interesting and are National Curriculum appropriate with Assessment Objectives. All sections relate to GCSE study skills... I liked the Anagram idea to consolidate learning. The family plays are interesting with students writing similar dialogues and 'judge a book' has excellent, stimulating examples... Choices of text were superb... The family drama is fun and students love writing dialogue.

S and S Fallon, English Teacher, Tutor & Peer Reviewer

A really good range of activities covering the reading, writing, speaking and listening requirements of the National Curriculum... A good range of activities for different ability students to and all suitable for Year 9... I like the activities on Standard English as it’s often hard to find resources to teach this. I really liked ‘Beat the Bard’ activity - I would use this with GCSE classes too... I like the format of each resource - very easy to follow... Great table at the start outlining each resource in the pack - very easy to follow and great for cover teachers... The activities are suitable and enhance learning... I like the way models and examples of answers are provided - good for when short on time or if used by a cover teacher... As a Second in department I would consider giving all staff a copy of the resource for use when setting cover lessons.

L Prince, Teacher & Expert Reviewer

I like the idea of the resource... It is good there are activities for working alone, in pairs or in groups which means the resource would be useful for most classroom situations and would suit most teaching styles... A lot of the techniques in these activities could be adapted to fit whatever the lesson being taught which would certainly add value.

N Selwood, Head of English & Peer Reviewer

I like how the resource is laid out... I like how there are extension tasks for every activity... Matches [the curriculum] very well.

N Patel, Supply Teacher & Peer Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (8629)

A very well-thought \out resource ... Excellent instructions and with instant ease of use, ready to photocopy and go – a great time saver! ... I liked that there were both support and extension ideas provided – particularly the higher order questioning. I really loved the speaking frame / sentence starters provided for discussion – lots of choice provided. ... Range of activities that develop a range of skills – all activities clearly linked to a skill.

A Berg, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

I really like this resource! The layout of each page is very clear... all the details you need to get the activity up and running quickly... I love ‘The Ballad about Ballads’ – a great way to introduce poetry form... Great to see activities on ‘tense shifting’ because this is such a common problem area... This resource is particularly good at making some potentially boring subjects fun e.g. Affixes... It is very thorough, easy to follow and does all the hard work for me, saving me lots of time... It is all linked to the National Curriculum so I can easily slot activities into my SOW.

L O'Loughlin, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

I really liked the resource and am impressed by how many of the tasks were new or ones that I was unfamiliar with. It gave me a lot of ideas and the level they have been pitched at was particularly good... the teacher’s introduction has a really supportive tone... You can tell it has been written by someone with a lot of teaching experience and insight... It’s supportive... and immediately makes you trust the author... Provision for ESL students is exceptional! I liked the reference to finding the reading age of a text and the advice about additional resources available online... The infer task was really good and would be useful to use with any number of extracts... There are a lot of tasks that are easily differentiated and accessible for a wide range of students and abilities. It has a variety of tasks that would be engaging and often offer a lighthearted approach.

C Marshall, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer