This 26-slide lesson covers the Prologue to Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in great detail, analysing its purpose and the questions that it raises for the audience about how the story might unfold. The lesson includes: an introduction to the function of Renaissance Prologues; an explanation of the setting of ‘Romeo and Juliet’; a step-by-step modern translation of Shakespeare’s Prologue; analysis of the Prologue’s key images and themes; key vocabulary; and several small tasks/questions to tackle. This is ideal for KS3 or GCSE pupils commencing their study of the play. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

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.

This 15-slide lesson explores Chapter 4 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider how Orwell presents the Battle of the Cowshed and its significance in the animals’ quest for independence. Alongside this, we explore how Snowball and Napoleon exhibit very different styles of leadership. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about who/what Mr Pilkington and Mr Frederick represent. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide exploration of the Witches in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ makes for a comprehensive and detailed revision lesson. The lesson includes key context, as well as focus on the Witches’ language, appearance, and function in the play. Links are made to wider themes (including gender and the supernatural), and questions and tasks are included for pupils throughout. Students are encouraged to deconstruct historical depictions of witches and witchcraft - particularly with reference to misogyny - while considering how Shakespeare exploits/subverts stereotypes. The lesson ends with a practice essay question, which is ideal for those studying the play at GCSE (especially those studying with AQA). PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

This 27-slide lesson explores Ted Hughes’ poem, ‘Hawk Roosting’. The lesson begins with a comprehensive introduction to hawks, noting their mythological associations, biological behaviour, and linguistic connotations. Students then learn about Ted Hughes’ unsentimental depiction of nature in his poetry. The poem is explored in detail, considering how Hughes characterises the titular hawk through his language, imagery, and first-person narrative. The violent and natural imagery of the poem is unpicked. To consolidate students’ knowledge, there is an analytical writing task and a creative writing task. A high-quality model paragraph is included to help students with the analytical/essay writing task, and there is an opportunity for self-assessment. This lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as a PDF.

This worksheet is great for revising the key themes of AQA’s ‘Love & Relationships’ poetry anthology. In the right-hand column, students can write all of the poems in the collection which they think match the theme in the left-hand column. Encourages students to think thematically and comparatively about the poems.

This resource includes an extract from E.M. Forster’s 1909 short story, ‘The Machine Stops’, as well as an accompanying PowerPoint with four questions on the source based on AQA’s English Language GCSE Paper 1.

An A4 landscape poster all about similes - perfect for your classroom or corridor display. Useful for helping students remember key linguistic vocabulary.

This crossword on John Boyne’s ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ provides an enjoyable but academic activity for pupils to test their knowledge of the novel. It always works as a great starter or plenary task. Ideal for KS3 and high-attaining KS2 pupils. Note: answer to the question of Shmuel’s religion is ‘Judaism’ not ‘Jewish’ or ‘Jews’, etc.

A lesson designed to revise the character of Eva Smith in J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’. Lesson includes a thorough study of what life would have been like for someone of Eva Smith’s class in the Edwardian era. At the end of the lesson is an essay prompt for analysing ‘class’ within the play. Perfect for those studying AQA English Literature GCSE, especially high-attaining students. Lesson is PowerPoint pdf.

This is a thorough and comprehensive introduction to Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, outlining the key context necessary to understanding the novel. This 25-slide lesson details the novel’s key historical context, exploring the Deep South of the 1930s and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, as well as Lee’s own life and the novel’s key themes and legacy. Questions, tasks and discussion points are featured throughout. An extended (potential homework) task is included at the end of the lesson. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

A comprehensive A-Z list of key terminology to help students understand and analyse political and social protest writing as part of the AQA A level Literature paper. This resource aids pupils’ expansion of vocabulary and promotes sophistication and maturity when analysing texts and their contexts.

This 32-slide lesson on Wilfred Owen’s harrowing portrait of the First World War, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, contains a detailed and comprehensive exploration of the poem. The lesson includes context on the war, propaganda, and Owen himself, as well as analysis and questions on each stanza of the poem, including structure and form. Questions and tasks are included, with a final essay question for students (and two exemplar paragraphs) at the end. A copy of the poem is included too. This lesson is ideal for KS3 (particularly HA) and GCSE students, but could be easily adapted. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

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.

This 23-slide lesson explores Chapter 3 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider the significance of Napoleon’s focus on the education of the young, and the beginnings of the farm’s use of propaganda and indoctrination. Boxer’s stupendous strength is discussed and his role foreshadowed. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about who/what Squealer represents. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This lesson builds to an extract-based essay question (included in the resource), with step-by-step instructions for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint and Word Doc saved as PDF.

This 20-slide lesson explores Chapter 5 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider how the farm juggles punishing dissenting characters like Mollie as plans develop for the windmill. The most significant event explored here, of course, is Napoleon’s attack on Snowball, revealing his behind-the-scenes quest for leadership and paving the way for his totalitarian dictatorship. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about Stalin’s expulsion of Trotsky from the Soviet Union. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. An extract-based question is also included here. An exemplar introduction is featured in the PowerPoint. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 15-slide lesson explores Chapter 7 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider how Napoleon begins to consolidate his totalitarian rule through establishing a reign of terror. As animals begin to show signs of dissent and mild revolt, the pigs’ increasing use of violence shatters any illusion of a utopian society. As ever, Squealer’s propagandistic rhetoric is analysed. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about the Great Purge and the Peasants’ Revolt in the Soviet Union. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson explores Stave Five of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. Students are encouraged to consider how Dickens presents Scrooge’s metamorphosis from a miserly misanthrope to a charitable and responsible citizen in the final chapter of the novella. We think about how Dickens evidences Scrooge’s change, exploring what leads Scrooge to reconsider his relationship with charity, Church, his local community, Fred, and the Cratchits. As we finish the novella, we consider the allegorical function of the story and whether Dickens’ messages are still relevant to our own society. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This is ideal for those studying the novella at GCSE or at KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 28-slide lesson explores the themes of duality and double-lives in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. The lesson encourages students to think about the numerous binaries and dualities throughout Wilde’s play, and how these relate to the idea of ‘earnestness’ that the play satirises. Sophisticated vocabulary is provided to help students with their analysis. Students are presented with important literary and historical context, including Wilde’s own ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ and Stevenson’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, plus examples of real-life late-Victorian scandals which fed into and fuelled fin de siecle interests in the duality of man. We also explore dualities in Wilde’s own life. The lesson considers how deception plays into the play’s key themes, and explores Wilde’s literary preoccupation with ‘masks’. Key quotations from the play (linked to duality or double-lives) are considered throughout the lesson, and each of the key characters are dissected. Discussion points and questions are featured throughout. This lesson is ideal for A-level (age 16+) study of the text. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Top band essay analysing how Priestley explores the ‘generation gap’ in ‘An Inspector Calls’. Perfect for high-attaining students studying the play at GCSE. Includes a key for reading and highlighting the essay with your class.