Although the Celts lived in Britain before the arrival of the English language, some words have survived into English. This twenty slide powerpoint contains an introduction to the history of the Celts and then some matching activities where students match the Celtic word to its English equivalent with answers provided. This is followed by an activity to learn about how Celtic place names have survived into English and what they mean.

This fifty -slide Powerpoint celebrates the influence of Indian languages on English both past and present. Starting off with a matching activity of new words that have come into English as recorded in Baljinder K Mahal’s dictionary “The Queen’s English: How to Speak Pukka”, the lesson then proceeds with a quiz on words that have come into English from India from one hundred years ago. (Answers provided). For the final activity, in groups students either write a story or script using as many of the words that they have learnt.

I recently saw a photograph of Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset and was blown away by how picturesque it looked. I started to research it on the internet and discovered that it was used by Ridley Scott in his advert for"Hovis" bread called “Boy on a Bike”. There were so many photos of it on the web that I thought it would make great inspiration for some writing to describe a place. The folder includes a 23 slide Powerpoint with a choice of two writing tasks - either write two paragraphs contrasting day with night or four paragraphs describing the hill during each of the four seasons. Lots of support is given with sensory description and a planning sheet is included. The Powerpoint includes lots of views of the hill and a link to the Ridley Scott advert. A worksheet with ideas for describing places is also included.

After you have completed the free worksheet on changing the -y to an -i in singular and plural words, you can also try this 86 slide Powerpoint that explains how lots of other words change the -y ending to an -i ending when you add a suffix. All answers are provided on the slides and there is an accompanying worksheet to consolidate and embed the learning. Designed to be completed as an individual or for a class.

Test your students’ knowledge of the work of the most popular children’s writer ever. In this fun quiz there are ten multiple choice quiz questions on a range of Roald Dahl’s books. All answers provided.

Using Wordsworth’s classic poem ‘Daffodils’, student learn to identify his use of personification. Then they personify an element from nature that they have chosen and write a poem personifying it. Students are given questions to help them consider the world from the point of view of the element and an example of a poem personifying a lake. Worksheet and copy of poem included with powerpoint.

Taking three poems which personify the wind as examples, students will be inspired to write their own personification poem on one of the three remaining elements - fire, water or the Earth. The thirty-five slide powerpoint explains how the Ancient Greeks used to personify the four winds. An accompanying worksheet includes a fill-in-the-blank exercise on the key poem and asks students to consider the effect of the personification. Step by step on how to create your own poem to lead to understanding of how and why writers use personification.

Film vocabulary quiz on 15 key terms from the world of film. The first round gives a clue and the second round provides the answers. Cartoon graphics also give clues. A fun activity to help students write a film review.

Everything that you need to teach about the life of the great bard. A Powerpoint gives the important known details of his life and an additional Powerpoint includes a quiz with multiple choice answers to the key questions about his life. The folder contains a worksheet with three pages of written information on his life and a timeline to fill in that could be used as follow-up or homework.

Simple literacy activities on spelling and sentence structure are contained in this twenty page booklet on the theme of animals. Short poems by Benjamin Zephaniah and Gyles Brandreth and information about electric eels keep students interested with scope for their own research and writing about an animal of their choice. Aimed at students who need to catch up at secondary school or primary school students.

Don’t you just hate it when students overuse the verb “get” in their writing? With this fun powerpoint, you can encourage your students to abandon this tedious and unimaginative verb. The powerpoint contains several quick-fire activities and the folder includes five worksheets to embed the learning. Great for teaching synonyms and how to vary your vocabulary.

This lesson on creating complex sentences with the relative pronoun “which” contains two activities. First of all there are ten pairs of sentences to combine into one sentence, with answers provided. Students are then given the first part of a sentence, which they have to extend with “which”.

Forty-four clues to names of animals that have come into English from nine different languages. Teach students to recognise that English is a language full of borrowings from other languages in this fun powerpoint-based lesson. All answers provided on the slide to enable students to mark their own work. Can be completed individually or in groups.

Students learn how to personify their home town in a poem by studying two examples of poems that personify cities. Twenty-five slide powerpoint, plus worksheets with fill in the blanks exercises.

Inspire an interest in reading by telling your students about the fascinating life and work of Michael Morpurgo. This thirty slide Powerpoint covers his early life, his career, marriage and work. Find out the amazing story about how he discovered the identity of his biological father and how the author’s note at the beginning of War Horse was a little white lie until 2011. Finally there are four choices of activities for students to complete ranging from researching one of his books to writing an article about him. Students find real lives interesting, so this is a good way to hook them into reading.

Help your students to become better writers with this Powerpoint which explains how to construct complex sentences with embedded subordinate clauses. Students have several supported opportunities to practise the construction and the second section includes ten supported sentences where students have to come up with the embedded clause about X-Men superheroes. Finally, students create three sentences using the construction independently.

This lesson begins with a quiz to see if the students can guess which animal is being described by the poet. They are given a second chance to guess the animal with a series of images to represent each line of the poem. After a short analysis of the writer’s message, students are then given help to write their own six-line poem on an animal of their choice. Students are then guided through the re-drafting and presentation process. A fun couple of lessons that can link into work on animal rights. Alternatively, it could be used to set up a school poetry competition.

A set of twelve comprehension questions on the opening to Ray Bradbury’s novel helps students to subsequently tackle the English Literature exam-style question ‘How does the writer present Montag in the opening of the novel’. The folder includes a Powerpoint with starter activity and an exemplary introduction to the exam question, as well as a Word copy of the opening and a Word set of comprehension questions.

In May 2021 the Minderoo Foundation published a ground-breaking report into the problem of single-use plastics. They discovered that a mere twenty global companies were responsible for over fifty percent of the non-recyclable plastic in our world. The report created the first ‘Plastic Waste Makers Index’. This lesson is based on this report, simplifying complex terminology so that students can understand the shocking detail and the contribution of single-use plastic to the climate crisis, which is predicted to grow even further in the coming years. Activities to engage students are interspersed throughout the 39 slide Powerpoint and the final activity is a letter to government to persuade policy-makers to legislate to curb the prolific production of this noxious product. There is a suggested letter structure and a reminder about persuasive language techniques.

Teach your students how to collate information from two sources into a structured report with recommendations. This fourteen slide Powerpoint introduces the purpose of reports and then guides students through how to write a report for their headteacher on the suitability of two applicants for the position of English teacher at their school. The Word worksheet with the teacher applications is included.