I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
Ready-to-teach and easily adaptable 1 hour lesson to teach simple/compound sentences and FANBOYS connectives. This lesson breaks down the difference between independent and dependent clauses and then prompts students to compose their own simple and compound sentences. This lesson includes a very engaging extension task whereby students correct the punctuation in ‘Human’ by Rag’n’Bone Man. This activity really pushes them to consider what is and isn’t an independent clause and the music means that students find it really engaging.
This lesson was designed for key stage 3, but could easily be adapted for key stage 2 or key stage 4 depending on the ability!
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Detailed character profiles for five of the main characters in The Merchant of Venice: Antonio, Bassanio, Shylock, Portia and Jessica. These profiles contain a description of each character and some of their important quotes. They could be used for revision or for learning about the characters before reading the play.
If you would like the lesson which includes these character profiles, click here.
More Resources for The Merchant of Venice
Click here for a bundle of all the lessons to take you through the play plus a quiz, knowledge organiser and character revision posters.
Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
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Ready-to-teach and easily adaptable 1 hour lesson on complex sentences. This lesson teaches students how to write complex sentences and how to move the dependent clause to different parts of the sentence accurately.
This lesson was designed for key stage 3, but could easily be adapted for key stage 2 or key stage 4 depending on the ability!
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This support mat/knowledge organiser is designed to help students in their independent literary textual analysis. It contains the following sections:
Annotation
Sentence starters for comparing/contrasting, introducing new information etc.
How to embed quotes within sentences
A checklist for outstanding analysis.
I use the checklist to help when giving students feedback (which is why they are coded by letters). I would then give students a specific letter to be their target for their next attempt.
I have included the file as a pdf for easy printing, and also as a ppt file so that you can edit it in line with your own teaching methods if you wish.
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A fully-resourced and differentiated lesson to teach students what an infographic is and the purpose of one.
I have used this lesson both in teaching English (looking at purposes of texts or for a way to present student research) or as part of teaching GCSE Media Studies.
I have included it as one-lesson but it could easily be split into multiple lessons in which students research a chosen topic and then create a final version of their own infographic.
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A detailed knowledge organiser to support students studying ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare.
It includes the following:
A brief section on William Shakespeare
Key quotes
Overview of all the important characters
Important literary terms for studying the play
Key terminology used
This is suitable for any age group studying the play. It is an excellent resource to be used for setting homework, quizzing in classes or as a support mat.
If you find this helpful, have a look at my other resources for The Merchant of Venice:
1) A BUNDLE of lessons plus extras (knowledge organiser and revision posters) which can be bought for a big saving.
2) A 40 Question Shakespeare Quiz
3) Introduction to Characters and Themes in The Merchant of Venice
4) Act 1 Scene 1 (Antonio and Bassanio)
5) Portia’s Choice in Act 1 Scene 2 (FREE)
6) Shakespeare’s Portrayal of Shylock in Act 1 Scene 3
7) Jessica’s Character in Act 2 Scenes 1-3
8) The Casket Test in Act 2 Scene 7
9) Shylock’s Portrayal in Act 2 Scene 8
10) Prince Arragon in Act 2 Scene 9
11) Interpretations of Shylock in Act 3 Scene 1
12) Dramatic Irony in the Casket Scene in Act 3 Scene 2
13) Independently Interpreting Shakespeare Using Act 3 Scenes 3-5
14) Act 4: The Courtroom Scene
15) Evaluate the Ending of the Play in Act 5
Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the <a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/LikeAnExpert ">LikeAnExpert</a> shop.
A detailed knowledge organiser to support students studying ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare.
It includes the following:
A brief section on William Shakespeare
Key quotes and explanation of their importance
Overview of all the important characters
Important literary terms for studying the play
This is suitable for any age group studying the play. It is an excellent resource to be used for setting homework, quizzing in classes or as a support mat.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the <a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/LikeAnExpert ">LikeAnExpert</a> shop.
Fully resourced 1 hour lesson in which students learn the difference in meaning between using commas, dashes and brackets and then apply what they have learned to their own writing.
Easily adaptable for KS2, KS3 and KS4.
This lesson includes:
- Full explanation of commas, dashes and brackets.
- Task where students decide which punctuation they will use
- Writing task.
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Comprehensive and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students independently analyse the beginning of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' considering the indirect characterisation of the narrator. Students will complete a graphic organiser in detail, which could then be used as a plan to write an analytical paragraph or essay.
A differentiation support sheet is provided, which could be provided to select students who need additional support. This is easily adaptable to key stages 3 and 4. It is suited to mixed or higher ability classes but could easily be adapted to lower ability and spread over multiple lessons.
This could be used as part of a unit on gothic horror, a unit on short stories or just as a one-off lesson to examine and respond to a text.
This resource includes:
* Full Powerpoint including 'do it now', differentiated learning outcomes all tasks and teacher instructions (including example teacher answers in the notes section).
* Full text of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' with page numbers.
* Graphic organiser.
* Support sheet as a prompt for students.
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Fully resourced 1 hour lesson in which students learn how to punctuate dialogue correctly, edit a piece of dialogue and then construct their own.
Easily adaptable for KS3 and KS4.
This lesson includes:
- Full Powerpoint including teacher instructions
- Worksheet with extension work
- All activities including 'do it now' and plenary.
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1 hour assessment to assess students' knowledge of punctuation and grammar. This writing assessment has 3 sections:
1) Punctuation and grammar (15 marks) - students answer questions defining different sentence types and writing specific types of sentences about topics. They also write sentences using dashes, brackets, colons and semi-colons.
2) Proofreading (20 marks) - students read a piece of writing in which 20 pieces of punctuation are missing and add them in.
3) Descriptive writing (20 marks) - students apply their knowledge by writing one paragraph to describe a beach scene.
Marking key and writing rubric is included for easy and quick marking. This test could be used at the beginning of a writing unit to find out gaps in knowledge or as an end of term assessment.
It was designed for key stage 3 but could be applicable to key stage 2 or key stage 4.
Included as a pdf for easy printing and as a word file in case you would prefer to edit the questions.
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A detailed knowledge organiser/revision mat to support students studying horror writing.
It includes sections on punctuation, grammar, conventions of horror and famous horror writers.
This is an excellent resource to be used for setting homework, quizzing in classes or as a support mat. It is included as a pdf (for easy printing) and as a ppt for editing (please be aware the ppt does not display correctly in the preview).
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1 hour resourced and differentiated lesson which clearly outlines to students how they should write a strong point, evidence, explain answer with an example provided and then gives them the opportunity to write an answer as a pair and then individually.
All teacher instructions provided including printing instructions (although printing is minimal).
This lesson includes:
*Do it now task
*Explanation of PEE (point evidence explain) including a model answer)
*Dracula extract
*Peer assessment slide including the differentiated learning outcomes.
This lesson is immediately ready to teach! It would be suitable for lower ability learners in key stage 3 or key stage 4.
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Fully resourced and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students close read an example horror extract and then write their own description of a setting.
Easily adaptable.
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Fully resourced and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students close read in groups three classic gothic horror extracts (Frankenstein, Dracula and the Exorcist).
Easily adaptable.
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An engaging and detailed lesson to teach students how to approach the summary question in their reading paper for the CIE 0500 English First Language specification. In this resource is an original exam script which students practise answering.
This resource contains:
A ready-to-teach powerpoint with printing and teaching instructions.
An example summary question/extract and the mark scheme
A revision handout so that students can practise the four step method for approaching this question.
This has been updated according to the 2024 specification change.
Learning Objective: Write an effective summary.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will understand how to meet the requirements of the mark scheme for the summary writing question.
Students will experience a ‘walking mock’ of how to approach the summary writing question.
Students will practise applying the mark scheme by using peer assessment.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Think, pair, share: What are the key skills needed for writing a summary?
Starter: Overview of the exam question, skills and marks.
Task 1: Modelled and scaffolded summary task divided into four steps. For the final step, students should be given 15 minutes to write their answer.
Task 2: Scaffolded peer assessment - students assess multiple other examples so that they can see a range of answers.
Task 3: Self-reflection
Leaving question: What questions do you still have about writing a summary?
Freebies:
A free lesson giving an overview of CIE 0500 Language Paper One here.
A free lesson giving an overview of CIE 0500 Language Paper Two here.
Free marking templates for CIE 0500 here.
If you find this lesson helpful, have a look at my CIE 0500 Language Paper 1 bundle here or the Language Paper 2 bundle here. If you’re interested in both, there is a combined bundle here which is cheaper than buying them separately.
Please leave a review as I value all the feedback I receive, and have a look at other resources available in my shop. **
An engaging and detailed lesson to teach students how to approach the directed writing question in paper 2 for the CIE 0500 English First Language specification.
This resource contains:
A ready-to-teach powerpoint with printing and teaching instructions.
An original example directed writing question with two insert texts provided.
A revision handout so that students can can revise how to approach this question.
Learning Objective: Understand how to approach the paper 2 directed writing task
Learning Outcomes:
Students will understand what the directed writing task looks like and what is assessed on the mark scheme.
-Students will be introduced to a five step writing guide for this question.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: What is directed writing? Discuss with your partner?
Starter: What does the question look like and what is the mark scheme?
Main task: Five step guided directed writing.
Discussion Plenary: What questions or concerns do you still have about directed writing?
Freebies:
A free lesson giving an overview of CIE 0500 Language Paper One here.
A free lesson giving an overview of CIE 0500 Language Paper Two here.
Free marking templates for CIE 0500 here.
If you find this lesson helpful, have a look at my CIE 0500 Language Paper 1 bundle here or the Language Paper 2 bundle here. If you’re interested in both, there is a combined bundle here which is cheaper than buying them separately.
Please leave a review as I value all the feedback I receive, and have a look at other resources available in my shop. **
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter sixteen of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson teaches students the features of an obituary and then requires them to write an obituary about Grandmother.
Learning Objective: Write an obituary for Grandmother.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: List the features of an obituary.
Silver: Apply these features in writing an obituary.
Gold: Creatively infer details about Grandmother.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: What is an obituary? What are the steps for writing an effective one?
Starter: Reading focus on Grandmother.
Activity 1: What are the features of an obituary? Paired work.
Activity 2: Planning and writing an obituary.
Peer assessment
Plenary: How do you think Father feels about the death of his Mother?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter fifteen of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson asks students to probe how they think Bruno would feel after betraying Shmuel to Lieutenant Kotler. They explore how to use figurative language and different sentence structures and then write a diary entry as Bruno.
Learning Objective: Write a personal response as Bruno.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Consider the complex emotions that Bruno feels in this chapter.
Silver: Express these feelings using figurative language.
Gold: Use a range of simple, compound and complex sentences.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: How would you describe the feeling of guilt using figurative language?
Starter: Reading focus – how does Bruno feel? Students create a mind-map and use a thesaurus to build vocabulary.
Activity 1: Hot-seating as Bruno, Shmuel and Lieutenant Kotler.
Activity 2: Focus on simple, compound and complex sentences.
Activity 3: Write a diary entry as Bruno
Peer assessment
Plenary: What thoughts and feelings do you think Shmuel would have experienced during this same time period?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter fourteen of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson requires students to practise STEAL analysis of Gretel and then write a personal response as her to explore who she is as a character.
**Learning Objective: **Use STEAL analysis to explore Gretel’s character.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Find appropriate quotes from the text for effective analysis.
Silver: Infer details from the quotes.
Gold: Synthesise what you know about Gretel with your knowledge of context to write a personal response as Gretel.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: How would you describe Gretel? Vocabulary builder.
Starter: Reading focus – find quotes that describe Gretel.
Activity 1: STEAL analysis of Gretel followed by whole-class feedback.
Activity 2: Students choose a task to develop their understanding of Gretel.
Students share work
Plenary: How do you think that Gretel will change as a character as she continues to live at Auschwitz away from her friends?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.