This lesson gives pupils ways to dig themselves out of ‘going blank’. You can give the Worksheet to pupils & put up a choice of photos for them to write about. Example from Worksheet: Start by asking yourself some simple questions. There are no right answers. Just see what comes up in your mind: 1. Am I warm or cool? Hot or cold? See Worksheet for more ways to get ideas from your own mind! Note: You can use the Worksheet with any photos of places. (These were all taken in Greece; the tomb pix = Mycenae.) See my ‘WORD WITCH’ for another way to get ideas: rub two words together like sticks…

This is a traditional ballad which dates back at least as far as 1611. So it is contemporary with Shakespeare e.g. 'Macbeth&'. Pupils could write a modern version with the talking crows, or poems to lament the mysterious dead knight. GCSE students could compare different interpretations of the imagery. See my Lesson Ideas for more things to do. Enjoy using the song as a resource for lessons & concerts! This is my own song é recording so I own the copyright. See base of lyric sheet for details.

These sheets use cartoons to explain when to write 'it's and when to write 'its'. Crazy Dog hates getting apostrophes stuck in his tail and loves rain... Pupils make up plenty of their own sentences using 'it's' and then plenty of their own using 'its'. Only then let them switch between the two! Note: the first page starts 'When does 'its' need an apostrophe?' Give that one first so that it makes sense as a little story.

Zeus or Poseidon? Let your class decide! Is he throwing a thunderbolt or a trident? Photo 3 shows his arm: what do you think was in it? Get pupils to look at the rest of him, & stand up, maybe look at other sculptures of both gods, to help decide. Apologies, I am hopeless at PowerPoint - but I took these photos, so you can them as you wish. This incredible bronze statue was found at the bottom of the sea off Cape Artemision (aka 'The Artemision Bronze&'.) C. 460 B.C. &';Severe' Classical Style. One of the few preserved original works of the Severe Style. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Writing non-fiction such as an article or opinion piece for AQA Language Paper 2 Question 5 involves abstract ideas and technical terms. Young learners can struggle with these. Dave the Dog, a writer for Sports Hound, describes each stage of writing a non-fiction piece. How to get ideas, planning the bones of an argument and writing with flair - Dave the Dog walks us through it all. There are three worksheets: How to Plan and Article, How to Plan an Article if Your Mind Goes Blank, and How to Write an Article. Download each one as a PDF or a Word Document so you can edit it if you like. These three sheets provide a clear and memorable way into non-fiction writing. Once learners have gone through them, you can set simple topics for opinion writing, such as ‘Which make better family pets - dogs or cats - and why?’ ‘Which would you rather be - a cat or a dog - and why?’ You can get some quite moving pieces from a title such as ‘What My Dog Taught Me About Love’. Learners can focus on what they want to say and how to say it - drawing on their own experience and/or that of their peers. The third worksheet has spaces for learners to fill in their own examples of each technique. It’s well worth making sure that learners do these, maybe in pencil so they can change their minds! It’s a quick mark to check their grasp of the techniques. They often come up with some wonderful sentences, free from the pressure writing a whole piece. If a child who struggles can come up with a really good simile that makes the whole class laugh, this can boost their confidence no end. This can also lead to great discussion about reader response. You can give Dave the Dog to young learners and then bring him back for revision in Years 10 or 11. That way, GCSE learners will be drawing on long-term memory, which is stronger than short-term memory. Exam students may also feel surprisingly nostalgic about something they were given so many years ago, when they were young!

This song tells the story of Friendly Shoeman Jake whose red shoes suddenly learn to talk. They want to do different things so they start fighting... Enjoy using the song as a resource for lessons & concerts! This is my own song é recording so I own the copyright.

This video can be used with my ‘MACBETH’ - ANIMALS IN CHAOS! Worksheets. Two puppet horses explain ‘Macbeth’ with reference to beliefs about natural order in Shakespeare’s time. They focus on ‘Macbeth’ Act 2 Scene 4: 'Duncan’s horses…Turn’d wild in nature…‘Tis said, they eat each other.’ The horses then explain the Great Chain of Being, to help us understand the whole play in the context of its time. This eight-minute film will help anyone studying Shakespeare’s tragedies or history plays to grasp the beliefs about God, man and nature that underpin the plot, characters and language. It is particularly helpful to GCSE English Literature pupils who need to place Shakespeare’s plays in context. I’ve included two images from the video: the Great Chain of Being Diagram and the cartooned extract.

You can use all three pages of this worksheet or just sections of it. There is a version with cartoons and without. It aims to inspire pupils to read old books - fiction or non-fiction - and give them a method for understanding an extract from one of them. There is so much technical jargon in the teaching of GCSE prose analysis that it can turn pupils off reading books altogether. This worksheet - or 'thinksheet' as you can also call it - aims to explain some of the reasons why picking up a book that was written a long time ago can be worth doing in the first place. See also 'MORE TIPS ON READING OLD BOOKS' for more practical advice. Analysis using technical terminology is vital, of course. Other sheets will deal with that. However, these sheets mainly aim to motivate wider reading for enjoyment, and make students realise that they can pick up any old book and see where it takes them.

A song which creates a character mostly through setting, detail & imagery. As well as performing it, pupils can write their own songs/poems é learn about rhythm é rhyme. Other creative tasks: 'Meeting a Witch&', diaries, letters, posters éc. it can also introduce ballad form. This helps quatrains, dialogue, imagery, repetition, refrains é rhymes to make more sense. The use of metaphor é simile to create mood can be studied, too. Enjoy using the song as a resource for lessons é concerts! This is my own song é recording so I own the copyright. See base of lyric sheet for details.

'Comment on the choice of words&' often puzzles pupils. &';You're Shakespeare - Choose A Word!&' gets pupils to choose their own words to fill in the gaps in 10 lines of Shakespeare. Pupils then speak the lines aloud to see what effects their word choices have had on meaning, feeling and sound. &';Which Words Did Shakespeare Choose?' gives them the complete lines with the names of the characters and plays. Of course, you could compile your own examples from a play you&'re teaching. It’s worth teaching &';effect' = noun, &'affect&'; = verb, before they write their analysis.

Tells you about the structure and content of Pindar's Olympic Victory Odes and then tells you how to write your own! You can write about a sporting celebrity such as Rebecca Adlington and there is an excellent example at the end of these sheets. &'English - Prize poetry&'; is the article I wrote in Resources with more ideas about how to use these worksheets: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6257863

The pupils’ activity is simply the lyrics for the song ‘When This Lousy War Is Over’, with guitar chords. The MP3 is a recording of a female voice. Also find the song on YouTube from the film, ‘Oh What A Lovely War’, with male voice choir - the link is included here. The other website has lyrics for the same song and a few others.

‘I Shop Smartly’ presents the main advertising techniques as a mnemonic that can be learnt. ‘If Seal Puppies Shop Smartly, Do You?’ is more detailed, and you might just want to select from this sheet in your own way. Pupils could pick the techniques they tend to forget & make up their own mnemonic! The last page of this has ideas for written work. One way to teach the idea of target audience is to get pupils to design adverts for different year groups. They are so close to the distinctions between Years 7, 8 and 9 that their observations on concerns and language can be very sharp and funny!

A filmed parody of the Kate Bush song, 'Wuthering Heights&', which sends up the original novel as much as it does the song! Fun to watch as part of a term&';s work on the Gothic genre: pupils can spot the elements of the Gothic in the whole style in which the film is shot as well as the performance itself. Good for teaching them what parody and satire are as well. Fun if you've studied &'Wuthering Heights&';, too! I enclose leadsheet (lyrics and chords) and video script. There may be some differences between the leadsheet, script & final film.

This song tells a story in the first person. As well as performing it, pupils can write their own ballad songs/poems. Use it as a springboard for stories: who was the Star Mountain Girl? What was her story? Diaries, posters etc. Pupils learn to create feeling with detail, imagery, rhythm & rhyme. In lit. lessons, the song can introduce ballads, monologues, setting, repetition é cyclical structure.Enjoy using the song as a resource for lessons é concerts! This is my own song é recording so I own the copyright. See base of lyric sheet for details.

Poetic rhythm is often neglected as it can be hard to write about. You can scoop up marks for doing it, though. The sheet 'Poetic Rhythm&' explains how rhythm can suit subject & feelings of a poem, é how to write well about this. You can give pupils this sheet on its own, then use it for anthologies é unseen poems. ‘The Tigger Song’ is a clear é memorable eg of how rhythm suits subject é feeling. Onomatopoeia, repetition, refrains é made-up words come up, too. Pupils analyse lyrics then watch the YouTube video, to experience the techniques in action! See Lesson Plan for more ideas.

This song tells a story through first-person description. As well as performing it, pupils can write stories, poems, songs e.g. ‘Letter from a Ghost’. They learn about creating atmosphere with detail, imagery, rhythm & rhyme. In literature lessons, the song can introduce storytelling poems, monologues, setting, repetition é cyclical structure. Enjoy using this song as a resource for lessons é concerts! This is my own song é recording so I own the copyright. See base of lyric sheet for details.

A song that tells a story: so you can use it to help students understand ballad form. The use of quatrains, dialogue, repetition and rhymes will then make more sense. You can also use the song to inspire creative writing e.g. 'The Soldier&'s Letter&'; and 'The Maid&'s Diary&';. Pupils can write their own ballads & learn about rhythm é rhyme. Enjoy using this song as a resource for lessons and concerts! This is my arrangement é recording of a traditional song. See base of lyric sheet for details.

This sheet is designed to help students to think of the play they are studying as a drama to be acted onstage, not a book to read in silence. You can do some of the exercises in class or as a homework. Reading a section of dialogue with sock puppets is a fun way to explore who is speaking to whom, who has power in a scene and who is silent. Encouraging students to do this at home can make revision stimulating and memorable. Theatrical observations start to creep into essays as a result.

This song tells the story of a tooth fairy who wants to become a surgeon. It may comfort children worried about a wobbly tooth or going into hospital. As well as performing it, pupils can write their own songs/poems about a character who is fed up wants a change. Other creative tasks: diaries, letters, posters &c. The subtext for anyone worried about career choices is: one thing can lead to another. Enjoy using the song as a resource for lessons é concerts! This is my own song é recording so I own the copyright. See base of lyric sheet for details.