• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Suffixes that change word class (-ness, -ous, -ify, -ly…); Naming language techniques (GCSE)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. What word class is this word? Use its suffix to decide. dangerous (noun / verb / adjective / adverb) → adjectivePrompt: Find the suffix at the end of the word.
2. Which technique matches this description? Describing something as if it IS something else, without 'like' or 'as'. (metaphor / personification / sibilance / simile) → metaphorPrompt: Recall the key test for each technique: like/as? human actions? weather? s-sounds? exaggeration? contrast?
3. Join the word and the suffix. Type the new word, spelled correctly. create + ive → creativePrompt: Does the word end in e or y?

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Word classes in quotations (for language analysis). Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: What word class is the word in capitals in this quotation? "a wave of FURY"
• Step 1: GCSE questions ask about 'words and phrases'; naming the word class precisely ('the verb shrieked') makes analysis sharper.
• Step 2: 'Fury' is a thing (an abstract noun).
• Step 3: So the answer is: noun
• Answer: noun
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. What word class is the word in capitals in this quotation? "the BRITTLE leaves" (noun / verb / adjective / adverb) → adjectivePrompt: What job is the word doing in THIS phrase?
2. In which quotation is the word in capitals this word class: adverb? ("the sea DEVOURED the shore" / "the GLEAMING towers" / "the crowd waited ANXIOUSLY") → "the crowd waited ANXIOUSLY"Prompt: What job is the word doing in THIS phrase?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. What word class is the word in capitals in this quotation? "he spoke BITTERLY" (noun / verb / adjective / adverb) → adverbPrompt: What job is the word doing in THIS phrase?
2. In which quotation is the word in capitals this word class: adjective? ("she moved SILENTLY" / "the JAGGED rocks" / "a wave of FURY") → "the JAGGED rocks"Prompt: What job is the word doing in THIS phrase?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-9.