Exploring Language Tools

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Overview

Subject: English Language
Level: GCSE (Key Stage 4)
Exam Board: AQA
Unit: Mastering AQA Paper 1 — Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing
Lesson: 2 of 4
Lesson Title: Exploring Language Techniques: Identifying and Analysing
Timing: 45 minutes
Class Size: 8 students
Age Group: 14–16
Curriculum Focus: AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1, Section A
Assessment Objective Focus:

• AO2: Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support views.

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Lesson Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify and label a range of language techniques in a literary extract (imagery, simile, metaphor, personification).
2. Annotate texts meaningfully, focusing on method, effect, and reader response.
3. Begin forming analytical PEE paragraphs using appropriate subject terminology.
4. Discuss the emotional and atmospheric effect of key phrases within context.

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Resources Required

• Printed literary extract (see below)
• Annotated ‘model’ version of the extract (for teacher guidance)
• A3 annotation grids (1 per student)
• Colour highlighters (3 colours per student)
• Whiteboard and markers
• Mini whiteboards (1 per student)
• Starter slips: “Technique Quick-Fire”
• Exit tickets with sentence stems for evaluation

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Selected Extract

An extract from “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (used previously by AQA and aligned with Paper 1 expectations — rich in descriptive language, manageable in length).

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Starter Activity (5 minutes)

“Technique Quick-Fire”

Distribute slips with a short sentence (e.g. “The night wrapped its fingers around the house”). Students must:

• Name the technique used
• Write the effect in one sentence
• Share via mini whiteboards

Purpose: Activates prior knowledge of language devices and engages students immediately.

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Introduction / Recap (5 minutes)

Using the whiteboard, quickly recap key techniques:

• Imagery
• Metaphor
• Simile
• Personification

Use simple student-friendly definitions and a humorous mnemonic: “I Make Silly Poems” to help retention.

Teacher Questioning Focus:

• “What’s the difference between a metaphor and simile again?”
• “Can a sentence be personification and imagery?”

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Core Activity – Guided Annotation (15 minutes)

Step 1: Shared Reading (5 minutes)

• Read the extract aloud dramatically.
• Ask two students to re-read paragraphs with rich description.

Step 2: Think–Pair–Annotate (10 minutes)

In pairs, students:

• Highlight three key phrases using a different colour for each technique.
• For each phrase: write labels + phrases such as:
  ‘This metaphor suggests…’
  ‘This creates a sense of…’

Teacher circulates, questioning thinking behind annotations. Use probing:

• “Why this choice of word?”
• “What image does that create in your mind?”

Differentiation:
Support given to one EAL student through a ‘language bank’ of technique phrases.
More confident students may be given a challenge slip: “Find 2 techniques within one sentence.”

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Development – PEE Paragraph Construction (10 minutes)

Students now select one of their highlighted phrases and begin constructing a full PEE paragraph using sentence scaffolds:

Point: The author uses [technique] to…
Evidence: This is shown through the phrase “….”
Explanation: This implies… It makes the reader feel…

Model one example for the class using the board.
E.g.
"The writer uses personification to describe the fog as ‘curling its icy fingertips under the door’. This suggests the fog is sinister and creeping, enhancing the Gothic atmosphere and showing the characters feel under threat."

Students draft with a focus on analytical language — peers can workshop and suggest improvements in pairs.

Challenge extension: Add a second explanation sentence, linking to mood/tone.

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Plenary – Evaluating Effect (5 minutes)

Hand out exit tickets:

Each student completes the sentence:
“One example of [technique] today made me feel… because…”
OR
“My favourite description was… because it created a picture of…”

Volunteers read aloud.

Use final group discussion to emphasise how effective language techniques are not just about spotting them — they change how we feel and think as readers.

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Homework / Continuation Task

Students to find a descriptive paragraph in a novel or short story they enjoy (or from their class reader). They must:

• Identify two techniques
• Write one PEE paragraph for each

To be brought into Lesson 3 for peer critique and exam-style question practice.

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Assessment for Learning

📌 Formative Checks throughout:

• Starter whiteboards
• Quality of annotations
• Peer discussion
• PEE paragraph drafts
• Exit tickets

📌 AFL Focus: Understanding of effect → deeper inference → clear expression using subject terminology

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Teacher Reflection Prompt

After the lesson:

• Did students show deeper insight than last lesson?
• Did pair work support everyone equitably?
• Were students using analytical vocabulary accurately?

Think about adding a creative visual response in the next lesson (Lesson 3) to reinforce stylistic analysis.

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Additional Considerations

• Class Size Advantage: 8 students allows for strong questioning, tailored scaffolds, and deeper personal engagement.
• School Ethos Note (if applicable): This lesson supports rich oracy development and empathy — tying in with PSHE themes around emotional literacy through language.

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🧠 “The effect is everything — spotting a simile is step one. Making it come alive for the examiner? That’s the game.”