A fully resourced 6-lesson unit for SMP 5: Print (Magazine), designed to help students explore magazine media language, representation and contextual issues through structured exam preparation and analytical writing practice.

This unit is highly ESL-friendly, featuring:

A consistent lesson and presentation structure throughout
Clear iconography and visual scaffolding to support accessibility
Embedded literacy and vocabulary support within every lesson
Repetition of analytical terminology and exam command language
Scaffolded sentence structures, model responses and guided writing tasks

Every lesson is aligned directly to exam practice outcomes, helping students develop skills for:

Analyse questions (Q1.3)
Explain questions (Q7)
Extended evaluative “How far?” responses (Q8)
NEA preparation, reflection and improvement tasks

The unit explores:

The conventions of print and online magazine media
Audience targeting and niche readerships
Representation and cultural issues in magazine publishing
Economic influences on magazine production and content
Structured preparation for extended Q8 responses
Creative task preparation and literacy improvement

Students develop analytical and evaluative skills through:

Annotated magazine and website analysis
Representation exploration through media language
Investigation of economic influences on media products
Chunked exam writing practice and scaffolded responses
Structured debate and personal position development
Self and peer assessment against exam success criteria

A key focus of the unit is helping students build confidence with the more demanding Q8 “How far?” response. Lessons progressively scaffold students from identifying key contextual issues and forming viewpoints through to independently producing and evaluating extended written responses.

Support materials include:

Model answers and annotated exemplars
Structured analysis tasks
Q7 and Q8 writing scaffolds
Success criteria breakdowns
Peer and self-assessment opportunities
Literacy correction activities
Vocabulary and syntactic structure drills
Reflection and feedback frameworks

The adaptable structure means content can easily be switched out for alternative magazine titles or print media products while maintaining the same progression of skills, contextual understanding and assessment alignment.

Lessons are fully mapped against the curriculum framework, with the accompanying curriculum map also available separately for purchase.