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.
A fully-resourced one hour lesson to guide students through analysing the persuasive techniques used by Lady Macbeth in act 1 scene 7 of Macbeth.
This resource includes:
a full Powerpoint including all teacher instructions that is ready to download and teach straight away.
a ready-to-print worksheet.
For detailed character profiles, please click here.
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An engaging one hour lesson to get students to think about how Shakespeare uses the structure of the play and the character of the porter to build dramatic tension for the audience.
This resource includes:
a full Powerpoint including all teacher instructions that is ready to download and teach straight away.
a worksheet to support students in reflecting upon the tension in the scene.
For detailed character profiles, please click here.
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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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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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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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Two engaging and fully-resourced back to school English lessons with PowerPoints and worksheets which support students to write a slam poem about their identity. This allows the class to get to know each other, reminds students of poetic techniques and analysis and gives them the opportunity to do some creative writing through writing a slam poem.
I have used it regularly with key stage 3 and key stage 4 classes as it can be easily adapted to the poetic knowledge and ability of each class.
LESSON ONE
Learning Objective: Analyse the effect of poetic techniques used in a slam poem.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Identify poetic techniques in a slam poem.
Silver: Explain the effect of vocabulary and poetic techniques in a slam poem.
Gold: Explain how the poet uses rhythm and structure for effect in a slam poem.
Lesson Overview:
Do it now: Vocabulary stretcher: how would you describe yourself in three words? Talk to the person next to you and share examples on a post-it note.
Starter: Think – pair- share: discuss images and techniques used in lines of poetry followed by teacher modelling.
Activity one: Watch example slam poem and discuss meaning and techniques. Teacher leads discussion and models some answers.
Activity two: Based on the slam poem you’ve watched, what would you say are some of the main features of slam poetry?
Plenary: Class tries to match the post-it note from the ‘do it now’ exercise to the correct student.
LESSON TWO
Learning Objective: Write a Slam Poem about your Identity
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Use a range of vocabulary and poetic techniques in your slam poem.
Silver: Use rhyme and rhythm to achieve a desired effect.
Gold: Write powerful stand-out lines that get stuck in the listeners’ minds.
Lesson Overview:
Do it now: What features of slam poetry do you remember from the previous lesson?
Starter: Think – pair- share: what language techniques can you identify in quotes from last lesson’s poem? Can you explain the effect?
Activity one: Use the graphic organiser to start planning your slam poem and then begin to write it.
Plenary: Share your most powerful line
Homework: Complete your slam poem
More Resources:
Check out this lesson which explores writing slam poems in more detail.
If you find this lesson useful, have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
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A fully-resourced one hour lesson to support students in exploring the casket test in Act 2 Scene 7 of The Merchant of Venice. Students will be guided through the reading of the scene and then creatively respond by predicting what they believe will be in the other incorrect casket.
Learning Objective: Explore the casket test for Portia’s suitors.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will read summaries of Act 2 Scenes 4-6 and complete recall questions.
-Students will be guided through the reading of Act 2 Scene 7 and consider the reasons the Prince gives for rejecting or choosing each casket.
-Students will creatively respond to the scene by predicting what will be in the remaining incorrect casket.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Match the character description to the name.
Starter: Summary of Act 2 Scenes 4-6 followed by recall questions and think-pair-share to consider Shylock’s reaction.
Activity one: Guided reading of the scene with student questions interspersed.
Activity two: Students creatively predict what will be inside the other incorrect casket.
Plenary: Act 2 Scene 7 ends with Portia saying “a gentle riddance” as she is happy to see the Prince leave. Why do you think she says this? Is it because she doesn’t want to marry the Prince specifically or is there another reason?
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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A fully-resourced one hour lesson to support students in exploring how Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in Act 3 Scene 2 to create tension as Bassanio chooses a casket. Students will be guided through and discuss the scene.
Learning Objective: Understand how Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to build tension in Act 3 Scene 2
Learning Outcomes:
-Students will experience dramatic irony through a class demonstration.
Students will understand how dramatic irony can be used for humour or to create tension.
Students will discuss Act 3 Scene 2 and interpret the meaning of Shakespearean language.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Recall questions about the casket tests from Act 2.
Starter: Dramatic irony explanation and examples.
Activity one: Think – pair – share after students watch and discuss two examples of dramatic irony.
Activity two: Summary of scene with discussion and interpretation tasks interspersed.
Plenary: Students answer questions on mini-whiteboards or scrap paper.
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.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter seven of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson helps students to consider the changing identity of Pavel. Students are prompted to think about how Pavel is directly and indirectly characterised and then write a diary entry from Pavel’s perspective. Students will need to synthesise information for this task - adapting what they know from the text to their diary format. This lesson also promotes empathy by supporting students to think from Pavel’s perspective.
Learning Objective: Write a personal response in character as Pavel.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Write a diary entry as Pavel reflecting upon your life before and your life now.
Silver: Explain clearly how your identity has changed.
Gold: Creatively describe details from your life before ‘Out-With’
Lesson Overview:
Do It Now: Students infer what they can work out about the man in the picture? Introduce the idea of appearances being deceptive.
Starter: Read chapter 7 and create a mind-map about Pavel
Activity 1: Think-pair-share discussion about a quote which shows Pavel’s changing identity.
Activity 2: Students write diary entry (example sentence starters given).
Peer assessment
Plenary: Read and discuss diary entries
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 six of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson helps students to consider why John Boyne portrays Bruno’s Father - a Nazi - as a complex and sometimes likeable character in this chapter. They then complete a discussion in role as characters from the book. This could be used as an assessment: assessment criteria for marking and self-assessment are included. Students make notes before the discussion and then peer assess themselves afterwards to reflect on the task.
Learning Objective: Effectively speak in role as a character from the book.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: You will stay in role and make clear points in the discussion.
Silver: You will portray your character using verbal and non-verbal characteristics. You help to move the discussion forward.
Gold: You will be convincing in role and lead the discussion forward. You listen carefully and respond to others’ points.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: What descriptive words come into your head when you think about the Nazis?
Starter: Read chapter 6.
Activity 1: Write notes for discussion
Activity 2: Discuss which skills we are practicing/complete discussion
Self-assessment
Plenary: How did it feel to argue for something that you don’t necessarily believe in yourself?
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 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.
A 22 page year 6 to year 7 transition guide containing discussion prompts, creative writing tasks and poetry to help year 6s navigate their journey to secondary school. This can be taken home by families to use with their children or it can be used within a year 6 or year 7 classroom.
The first section of this guide should be used as year 6s prepare to leave primary school and the second part should be used once they have started year 7.
Part of this guide involves discussion of poems from Steven Camden’s anthology Everything All At Once. This is widely available from bookshops and libraries.
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An engaging and detailed PowerPoint containing 40 questions and answers to introduce students to the weird and wonderful life of William Shakespeare.
**The questions are split into four rounds, each containing 10 questions: **
Shakespeare’s life and family
Shakespeare’s character
Shakespeare’s writing
The Globe theatre
This could be used across a one hour or 90 minute lesson, or as a detailed starter across multiple lessons. It is aimed at key stages 3 and 4. After each round, students are prompted to mind-map what they have learned about Shakespeare.
30 slides in total.
I really value all the feedback I receive. Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
A detailed and engaging one hour lesson to support students in their analysis of Judy in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1. This lesson supports students in considering how Judy changes throughout the play and how this affects her relationship with Christopher.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher and printing instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
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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A detailed and engaging one hour lesson to support students in their analysis of the theme of truth and lies in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1. This lesson is best used towards the start of the teaching unit and then referred back to as you work through the play.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher and printing instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
This revision workbook is ideal for any student preparing for an exam and for teachers and parents supporting them. This 12 page guide walks students through how to prioritise revision topics, create an effective revision timetable using spaced learning and how to revise using retrieval practice.
The guide contains a revision template so that students can complete a RAG analysis of what they already know. It also contains a revision plan template. This would be ideal for teaching PSHE or Study Skills.
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This bundle includes fiveone hour lessons on the following topics:
1) Compound sentences and FANBOYS
2) Complex sentences
3) Colons vs semicolons
4) Commas, dashes and brackets
5) Punctuating dialogue
It also includes a writing skills SPAG knowledge organiser, dual coding images for sentence structures and a 1 hour assessment, which assesses all the skills taught in these lessons.
Leave a review on at least one of these products and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
One academic year’s worth of Word Root of the Week lesson starters (36 weeks). Each starter prompts students to explore and practise using a root word in more detail to explicitly build in teaching vocabulary over the year.
Each week has a starter that lasts between 5-15 minutes. There are 165 slides in total.
If you wish to purchase further resources to support your Word Root of the Week programme, have a look at these word root slides for displaying in assembly. or a complete bundle of resources.
These words correspond with this free Excel file which provides a yearly plan with 36 word roots and example words.
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A fully-resourced one hour lesson to support students in exploring the question of ‘to what extent was Shakespeare Anti-Semitic in his writing of The Merchant of Venice?’ Students will be guided through a class discussion and then work in pairs to unpack the language in act 2 scene 8.
Learning Objective: Consider to what extent Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock is anti-Semitic.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will learn key vocabulary such as cultural context, stereotype etc.
Students will be introduced to the cultural context of anti-Semitism in Elizabethan England and in Venice.
Students will work in pairs to analyse the language in act 2 scene 8.
Students will write a PEE question on Shakespeare and anti-Semitism.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Match the key terms to the definition.
Starter: Cultural context of anti-Semitism in Jacobean society.
Activity one: Reading Act 2 Scene 8 and discussion questions.
Activity two: Students work individually or in pairs to complete the worksheet.
Plenary: Write a PEE paragraph to answer the question ‘to what extent do you think Shakespeare was anti-Semitic?’
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.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.