Who or what is the Fire of the West? Get children to guess before they listen to the song. Get them to guess again after hearing you read aloud the first verse. Then listen to the song! Pupils could write their own ballads or stories with mysterious titles. Other creative tasks: diaries, letters, posters &c. For literature, use it to introduce ballad form: originally, a song that tells a story. Listen out for metaphor, simile, repetition, refrain, é rhymes. Enjoy using the song for lessons é concerts! This is my own song é recording so I own the copyright. See lyric sheet for details.

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.

This song aims to calm, encourage and uplift the listener in difficult times. We can be very hard on ourselves and feel dissatisfied with how we haven't done enough. You can play it in assembly to exam classes, play it in lessons about dealing with stress, teach it to young children to encourage being kind to yourself, especially when you&'re trying very hard at something. Enjoy using the song in lessons and concerts! This is my own song & recording so I own the copyright. See base of lyric sheet for details.

This song is a ballad which tells a story through dialogue & third-person description. As well as performing it, pupils can write their own ballads é learn a lot about rhythm é rhyme. Other creative tasks: diaries, letters, posters éc. In literature lessons, the song can introduce ballad form to pupils. Then, when they study ballads in various GCSE Eng Lit anthologies, quatrains, dialogue, imagery and rhymes will make more sense. 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.

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.

This song tells a story in the first person. As well as performing it, pupils can write their own ballad songs/poems, creating feeling with detail, imagery, rhythm & rhyme. In lit. lessons, the song can introduce storytelling poems, monologues, setting, repetition é cyclical structure. Interpretation, too: is ‘Thunder Gold’ a place? A symbol? In creative writing, use it as a springboard for stories: who is/was this person? Diaries, posters etc. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A song about a puffer fish who has a terrible social life. Can his only friend, Jeremy the octopus, help him to solve his problems? A funny children's song or a study of friendship between very different sea creatures? You decide. For a follow-up piece in a creative writing class, pupils could write Henry&'s diary and Jeremy&';s diary at various points in the story. I wrote, performed & recorded the song myself, so the copyright is mine, but you can use it in lessons é school concerts however you wish!

A practical, hands-on way to get pupils to understand that Shakespeare wrote for the stage. You can print this out and give it to pupils as an introduction to speaking Shakespeare themselves - there are examples and things to listen out for, as well as connections made with how song lyrics use imagery to convey emotion. The idea is simple: these aren't books: they&'re plays - so play with them! You may want to give this sheet out one page at a time - it&';s up to you!

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.

You can give this sheet to pupils to introduce them to grammar. Thinking of grammar as an octopus, with all his tentacles working together, is a way into thinking of a sentence as a group of words working together, each with its own job to do. Pupils can talk in pairs about how they would describe the job that each word does in the sentence on the sheet. In plenary, you could get pupils' own descriptions of each &'word job&';. Then, when they’ve understood the concepts, you can ‘drop in’ the correct terms. See LESSON PLAN for more ideas!

This detailed cartoon explains three stages of creating a play: 1. The playwright choosing lines and stage directions 2. The characters onstage with various props and effects of lighting and sound 3. The audience reaction with emotions ranging from tension to anger, sadness to disgust. You can print this off and give it to pupils and then get them to practise that three-stage analysis themselves. It can apply to any play. In essays, get them to include points & even start sentences with 'Priestley', 'The stage directions' and 'The audience' to help nudge dramatic insights.

'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.

Click on the links in this Word Document to websites which advise advertisers about how to use language and images to sell products. Stimulating and thought-provoking for discussion, e.g. if you copy and paste selections from the advice and give it to a class when they have begun their study of advertising and already gained some confidence in using the terms. Reading about advertising from the advertising copywriters' viewpoint is quite revealing! The list of techniques with their effects shows how adverts carefully group consumers, then make them feel like special individuals.

‘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!

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.

You can print this sheet straight off and give it to students. You know your class, so you will know if the older ones are likely to feel that a dragon's cave is a bit too Year 8 for them! You can add your own titles in that &'The Someone&';s Something' format to suit any subject area or literary text that you have studied or are going to study. &'The Sorcerer&';s Cave' for &'The Tempest&'; could ignite interest in how Shakespeare paints Prospero for us. Have fun!