Encourage environmental conservation with this great poster! Urge students to ‘PROTECT OUR PLANET’!

This 27-slide lesson on William Blake’s ‘The Garden of Love’ from the ‘Songs of Experience’ deconstructs the poem as a tool of political and social protest. The lesson explores Blake’s context as a radical Dissenter, his use of the pastoral genre, and considers in detail his use of language and imagery. The poem’s themes of sexual restriction, corrupt authority, and shattered innocence are considered through a variety of questions and tasks for students. At the end of the lesson, an extended essay question is included. This lesson is ideal for those studying Blake’s ‘Songs’ through AQA’s ‘Political and Social Protest’ paper at A level. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Enhance your learning environment with this poster of J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’, designed by Mr. Gradgrind.

Enhance your learning environment and encourage reading with this poster, designed by Mr. Gradgrind.

Explore elements of political and social protest in this extract from Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man’. Excellent practice for those studying AQA’s Political and Social Protest Writing A level syllabus. This extract is particularly effective for studying how writers protest against racism.

This top-band descriptive writing exemplar is a perfect model for those studying AQA GCSE English Language. Based on Question 1B, where students must complete a 40-mark piece of creative writing, this exemplar on a dark forest and a mysterious man is ideal for teaching structure, narrative, language, vocabulary, punctuation, and much more.

This is a complete mock paper 2A for those studying AQA GCSE English Language. Four questions (as per the exam) are included. The paper contains two sources (one from the 19th century and one from the 21st century) on the topic of Presidents of the United States. One concerns the election campaign of Donald Trump; the other concerns the death of Abraham Lincoln.

Explore William Blake’s ‘The Lamb’ as a critique of organised religion and child exploitation with this comprehensive lesson. Perfect for those studying Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ for AQA’s ‘Political and Social Protest Writing’ paper.

Explore Jessie Pope’s famous jingoistic poem ‘Who’s For The Game?’ in this comprehensive and engaging 20-slide lesson. Perfect for KS3 students with some introductory knowledge of World War I, but this could just as well work for a KS4 group who are analysing poetry. Questions, key vocabulary, and tasks are included, as well as some biographical information on Pope and context on the First World War. Exemplar analytical paragraphs on the poem are also included. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson explores William Blake’s poem, ‘The School Boy’. Students are prompted to consider the poem’s themes, images, structure, rhythm, and key ideas. We think about Blake’s identification with radical politics and his widespread condemnation of institutionalised authority. School in the poem is read as a metaphor for the conformity and control that undoubtedly contradict Blake’s Romantic vision of the child as a free individual. Contextual links are made to Rousseau and John Locke, as well as children’s literature in the 18th century. The poem’s language (and imagery) is deconstructed in detail. We consider how this poem connects to other poems in the ‘Experience’ collection. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson ends with a larger essay question too. Perfect for those studying Blake’s ‘Songs’ as part of AQA’s Political and Social Protest course, this lessons encourages students to look beyond this poem’s surface-level simplicity and form conceptual links to other poems in the collection. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Explore how Dickens uses Fezziwig in ‘A Christmas Carol’ to convey his message of charity, togetherness and humanity in the 19th century. This PowerPoint considers Dickens’ characterisation of Scrooge’s former employer, how he functions as the symbolic antithesis of Scrooge, and why the Spirit takes Scrooge back to the convivial Christmas party of his youth. Includes extract from the novella in which Fezziwig is introduced for students to highlight and annotate.

Help students to finally master apostrophes with this engaging lesson that covers all the rules. We all know that many students struggle with apostrophes. This lesson aims to explain the theories alongside practical examples. It explains how to use apostrophes for omission/contraction and possession, including plurals and names ending in ‘S’. Also included is a worksheet with apostrophe-related questions/tasks for students to complete either in class, as a homework task, or a starter activity to test knowledge retention in the next lesson. This lesson is ideal for KS3, but could definitely be used for GCSE students struggling with apostrophes too. PowerPoint and worksheet saved as PDF.

How does Shakespeare explore deception and performance in ‘Macbeth’? This 27-slide lesson explores this pivotal question. Things are never what they seem in ‘Macbeth’: fair is foul and foul is fair when it comes to the much-contested fate of the crown. Explore how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth commit regicide through endless deception and performance, but also how they ultimately become trapped in their own web of lies. Questions, discussion points and tasks are included. An essay question (based on an extract from the play) is featured at the end of the lesson. This lesson is perfect for those studying the play at GCSE, but could be used for other year groups too. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Help students to score high marks in the hugely significant 40-mark persuasive writing question of AQA’s English Language Paper 2 (Section B). This top-band exemplar response (responding to the statement: ‘Superheroes are bad role models for children.’) always engages students with its relevance, reasoning and relatability. Layered with an abundance of lingustic techniques, sophisticated vocabulary, advanced punctuation, and coherent structure, this exemplar response is perfect for showing students how to impress examiners in this challenging part of the exam.

How does Shakespeare present attitudes to gender in ‘Macbeth’? Students so often write about gender dynamics in ‘Macbeth’ with clumsy generalisations that examiners can’t abide. This lesson aims to encourage specific and mature contextualised understanding of gender in the 1600s and within the play itself. This 30-slide PowerPoint explores how Shakespeare exploits and subverts attitudes to gender throughout the play, encouraging students to comment with precision and perception on masculinity and femininity. Ideal for KS4 students in particular but easily adaptable for other ages. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Explore one of Britain’s most famous poems with this 27-slide lesson on William Blake’s ‘London’ from the Songs of Experience. This lesson includes an exploration of significant contextual issues and a line-by-line close reading of the text. Numerous questions are included for students throughout, as well as references to Blake’s key themes and images within ‘London’. Aimed in particular at those studying ‘Political and Social Protest Writing’ with AQA at A level, this lesson could easily be adapted for high-ability GCSE students. There are questions included for students at the end of the lesson, as well as an official ‘mock’ A level question to be answered in which ‘London’ must be compared with other poems from across Blake’s Songs. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This top-band essay analyses how Shakespeare presents Macbeth and Banquo’s attitudes to the supernatural, based on the (infamous) AQA exam question from 2018. Many students found this question challenging when it appeared in the summer of 2018. This essay is perfect (for HA pupils, in particular) to see how to structure a sophisticated and perceptive essay. The extract and exam question are included on the first page.

For those studying AQA GCSE English Language, here is an extract from and 4 exam-style questions on John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Perfect practice for the AQA exam. Structured and ‘scaffolded’ starter questions are included to help SEND students, as well as step-by-step guidance for how to tackle questions 3 and 4, which are notoriously more challenging.

This PowerPoint is perfect for introducing Greek Tragedy to KS3 pupils in either English or Drama lessons. Originally designed to introduce a lesson series on ‘Antigone’, this PowerPoint is easily adaptable to consider any Greek tragedy.

Let your students track how each of the Seven Commandments is broken with this great worksheet. Understanding when and why (and by whom) each Commandment is broken is paramount to Orwell’s vision of corruption and manipulation on the farm. Hugely useful for helping students to really know the plot and structure of the novella.