Four resources covering two lessons from my Year 10 Great Expectations SOW for the new AQA GCSE English Literature spec (the 19th century novel - Paper 1, Section B). Lesson 23 covers key aspects of Chapters 43-46 (Volume Three). A variety of activities are included with extension tasks and differentiation by group/task. A homework task is also included with optional extension questions helping pupils develop their understanding/analysis skills further to access the higher levels for AO1, AO2 and AO3. Lesson 24 focuses on how Dickens presents the characters of Pip and Estella and their relationship. Tasks include active learning, group, pair and individual work. Pupils would then write up their work into a mini essay to be teacher assessed for AO1 and AO2. All the tasks worked well with my Year 10 class and produced high standard mini essays.

Four resources for a lesson exploring how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are presented in Act 1, Scene 7. Resources help pupils understand Macbeth's arguments in his opening soliloquy and how Lady Macbeth persuades him to change his mind. Extension tasks included to challenge the more able and a modelling example is completed on the worksheet. To help pupils focus on the meaning of the dialogue, rather than just reading the scene aloud in pairs, I laminated pictures of tartan trousers and pupils held the trousers when their character held the power in the dialogue. The lesson was created for a Year 9 set 2 class, but could easily be adapted for different abilities or even a KS4 class.

Seven resources on prose extracts which can be used as extension/challenge or homework or starters with KS3 classes. They include a range of tasks (often through differentiation/adaptive learning by choice) to help pupils explore the effects of a range of language and structural techniques plus start to develop evaluative skills. These tasks also help pupils respond to more challenging ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. Pupils have found these short extracts and guidance questions extremely helpful in preparing them for analysis of longer texts in end of unit and end of year assessments. I have these resources (along with my poetry extension/challenge reading tasks and extension/challenge writing tasks) laminated on coloured paper (green for reading and yellow for writing) in a folder my pupils can access if they have completed all my main lesson tasks. I have also used some for cover lessons and as adaptive learning group tasks. Now my school is moving towards pupils using laptops in lessons, I have uploaded these into my KS3 class Teams rooms to encourage pupils to access stretch and challenge activities as part of their independent learning. I have uploaded my reading extension/challange poetry tasks and writing extension/challenge tasks in separate resources on TES. You can also purchase them all in a money saving bundle.

Two language change lessons on early dictionaries and the age of prescriptivism for AQA English Language A Level Paper 2. Resources include two PowerPoints (19 slides and 13 slides) and two accompanying student handouts containing relevant information and a range of thought-provoking and engaging activities to apply learning and make it memorable. These lessons have been tried, tested and honed with numerous Year 13 classes as part of my language change SoW. The Words of the Year (WOTY) are from 2023; I will update when the 2024 ones are released.

An eleven slide PowerPoint which guides pupils through Act 3, Scene 1 and helps them produce a high quality response to the question: Why does Macbeth plan to kill his friend and his friend’s son? The resource includes extension tasks to challenge the more able, starter sentences, modelling examples (including one you can print out and get pupils to annotate and assess before they complete their own answer), the assessment criteria for RAF3 and support for pupils to develop their skills in exploring different levels of meaning and embedding brief quotes into their answers. I got pupils to set their own target for the lesson and then self assess at the end of the lesson to check progress had been made. My school still uses APP levels, but this resource could easily be adapted for flightpaths. This lesson is part of a SOW I created for a set 2 Year 9 class.

5 charts (to be enlarged to A3) with proven success for revising the 15 poems from the new English Lit poetry anthology: Power and Conflict (AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2). Some details are already included to get students started - including some relevant context - and to support less able students. You could remove some of the information for more able groups. The poems are grouped together so students can see clearer links between each group of three poems. The first two charts (effects of conflict) were prepared to help my mixed ability Year 10 class revise the poems we had covered ready for end of year exams. The remaining three charts (power poems) were created for Year 11 revision. The class these charts were originally created for achieved outstanding results in their poetry comparison essays in their GCSE English Lit in 2018. Each time I have used these charts, I have divided the class into groups, allocating poems for students to teach to the rest of the class. Not only do students learn their allocated poems better having to teach them again to others, but after feedback they have explored links between the poems with more confidence because the students know and understand the poems and methods used in more detail. As an extra challenge (if a group complete their allocated poems quickly), they have to discuss and add elements of conflict in the power poems and power in the conflict poems. I also photocopy these single sided so students can display them at home for revision.

Two resources (10 slide PowerPoint and key quotes chart) for a revision lesson on ‘Great Expectations’ preparing Year 11 students for Paper 1 of the new AQA English Literature GCSE. The lesson covers revision of the novel’s main themes; how themes are revealed through characters, events and settings; relevant context and key quotations from across the novel through a range of active learning tasks. Differentiation by choice and extension tasks are included. The key quotes chart (which I enlarged to A3 and printed single sided to encourage students to display at home) includes pictures for each quotation to aid visual learners. I have included some extra details and teaching options in the notes sections below some slides. The homework task is to complete the rest of the chart at home to consolidate and develop each student’s knowledge and understanding from the lesson and prior learning. The lesson was created for a mixed ability Year 11 class. All the activities were well received and helped students write high mark timed essays following my second revision lesson (available separately on TES Resources).

Four resources covering two lessons from my Year 10 Great Expectations SOW for the new AQA GCSE English Literature spec (the 19th century novel - Paper 1, Section B). Lesson 15 covers Chapters 20-22 (start of Volume Two); it focuses on Dickens' use of setting and analysis developing AO2 skills. A variety of activities are included with extension tasks and differentiation by choice for the main written task based on the description of Mr Jaggers' office (copy of the extract included for pupils to highlight and annotate). A homework task is also included with differentiation by pupil choice of quotes to answer the question about Herbert Pocket. Lesson 16 covers Chapters 23-25 with a specific focus on how Dickens uses setting (Wemmick's castle) and contrasts. Extension tasks for differentiation and a homework task looking back to Chapter 22 (Miss Havisham's story). All the tasks worked well with my Year 10 class.

4 resources (2 PowerPoints of 18 + 7 slides, worksheet and help sheet) for 2 lessons to help pupils improve their accurate use of capital letters and punctuation. Activities include: pair and class discussions; correcting an extract with missing capital letters and punctuation; a creative writing task with a punctuation focus; homework task (differentiation by choice). Differentiation: modelling examples; extension tasks; number of missing capital letters and punctuation marks on task 1 listed; peer checking and peer assessment; pupils set own targets; help sheet with examples of more advanced punctuation used correctly to support all pupils and encourage more able to include semi-colons and colons. I created these lessons for a mixed ability KS3 class. It has helped focus their attention on the need for an accurate clear punctuation range in their writing. Extracts are taken from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and an interview with John Boyne.

Two lessons (lessons 11 and 12 of my Year 10 SOW for the new AQA GCSE English Literature spec) covering aspects of Chapters 8-13. Lesson 11 focuses on character and the theme of social class. Lesson 12 focuses on helping students develop annotation skills and understanding of what to look for in the AQA GCSE English Lit Paper 1 Section B extract (19th century novel - Great Expectations). The specific AO focus for the lesson is AO2. Both lessons include differentiation tasks - extension task and differentiation by choice of extract in lesson 12. A homework task is also included. Both lessons proved extremely successful with my Year 10 class this year.

Three resources covering two lessons on the opening scenes of the play and exploring why Shakespeare opened his play with the witches. Pupils produce a piece of written work at the end of the first lesson which they assess for RAF6. They complete DIRT on this piece at the start of the second lesson before moving onto reading and exploring scene 2 and their first impressions of Macbeth before the audience has even met him. These lessons were created for a set 2 Year 9 class, but could easily be adapted for different abilities or for a KS4 class.

Eleven tried and tested resources which can be used as extension/challenge, homework or starter activities to help pupils improve their creative writing. They include a range of guided tasks (one offers differentiation by choice) including persuasive writing, writing from the point of view of a specific character and descriptive writing based round a picture ready for the GCSE English Language writing tasks. I have these resources (along with my poetry challenge reading tasks and prose challenge reading tasks) laminated on coloured paper (green for reading and yellow for writing) in a folder my pupils can access if they have completed all my main lesson tasks. I have also used these writing tasks for cover lessons, as adapted learning group tasks and with my KS3 creative writing club. Now my school is moving towards pupils using laptops in lessons, I have uploaded these into my KS3 class Teams rooms to encourage pupils to access stretch and challenge activities as part of their independent learning. I have uploaded my reading extension/challenge poetry tasks and reading extension/challenge prose tasks in separate TES resources. Alternatively, you can purchase all the resources in a bundle.

32 page adaptable student handbook for AS / A Level English Literature students. It includes: an outline of the AS and A Level course, details on the assessment objectives, a useful glossary of literary terminology, tips on A Level essay writing (including a list of key phrases to help write well-structured and coherent essays) , critical approaches, context ideas, suggestions on the format of wider reading logs and reading journals, space for students to record essay marks and targets and AS mark sheets. Some of the information is adapted from the AS and A Level specification and online resources to help prepare students for the new specifications. It was produced for the new Edexcel AS and A Level English Literature specification but can easily be adapted for another exam board. It received very positive feedback from my students.

6 resources covering 3 lessons exploring the end of Frankenstein, key quotes, the Prometheus myth, themes and to encourage students to start thinking more carefully about links between Frankenstein and The Handmaid's Tale for their AS and A Level prose comparison exam paper. Resources include: 3 PowerPoints, starter quotes, student handout to help with group tasks and lesson plans. These lessons come after the free resources I have uploaded for teaching Frankenstein, my SOW on The Handmaid's Tale and before the lessons comparing the two texts. They were created for the new English Literature Edexcel AS, but can be used for the full A Level too.

Seven resources covering three lessons: two preparing students for a timed GCSE Lit exam style essay and one where students write the essay. Resources: three PowerPoints (one for each lesson: 15 slides, 6 slides and 1 slide); two example extracts with essay question (based on format from the new AQA GCSE English Literature specimen Paper 1 exam paper); example essay response to one of the example questions; the same example essay response to one of the example questions with key aspects of AOs high-lighted. The lessons go over key success criteria from the AOs including some useful details on what could gain marks for AO3 (context). Also included is a checklist of success criteria, for example: WLA (word level analysis); subject terminology; effect on the audience. Differentiation ideas and extension tasks included. Link to new AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 1 specimen mark scheme also included. Lessons and resources specifically created as a pre-mock activity for my Year 10 class once we had finished studying the play.

28 page adaptable user-friendly handbook for English Language AS and A Level students. It was created specifically for the new AQA English Language AS/A Level specs, but could easily be adapted for another exam board. Contents include: an outline of both the AQA AS and A Level courses; an extensive glossary of linguistic terminology and examples with space for students to add more terminology they may come across; useful phrases to help create well-structured analyses; tips on how to analyse an extract and what contextual factors to consider; useful website links; a chart covering some key historical events affecting the evolution of the English Language with examples of lexis derived from those eras and space for students to record their assessment marks and targets. Useful websites page updated in September 2020.

Three resources (example essay, checklist and seven slide PowerPoint) for one revision lesson and homework where students revise the poems through a discussion of the visual starter activity, then use a reverse planning activity and checklist to help them focus on the content and structure of a comparative poetry exam essay for the new AQA English Literature Paper 2 GCSE exam (Section B). Students use this newly gained knowledge and understanding to write their own timed essay at home (or in the following lesson). There is a choice of essay titles for differentiation by choice. The main reverse planning activity ensures students read the example essay (comparing ‘Tissue’ and ‘Ozymandias’) carefully; see how relevant context can be integrated into an essay; understand how students can ensure they include relevant comparisons as well as detailed analysis of a range of methods and precise, integrated quotations. Moreover, the activity helps students focus on the importance of a well-structured essay to help gain higher marks. The checklist helps remind students of the key features necessary to gain marks in AO1, AO2 and AO3. Students then reflect on how the lesson activities have helped them before choosing their essay title. This lesson was created for a mixed ability Year 11 class starting to revise for their GCSE exams. It led to the production of some excellent timed student essays.

Four resources (15 slide PowerPoint, modelling examples, AQA style extract essay question - with additional tips to support less able students, and two short extracts for focused close analysis) for one lesson and a homework preparing Year 11 students for their ‘Great Expectations’ essay question in Paper 1 of the new AQA English Literature GCSE exam. A range of activities are included in which students complete tasks (discussions, notes, annotations, PEEL paragraphs, peer and self-assessment, DIRT) in pairs/individually which focus on the need for detailed, close analysis of the exam extract. Two activities also encourage students to include relevant contextual detail in their answers. The lesson builds on my previous revision lesson (available separately on TES Resources) which helps students revise key aspects of the novel as a whole, and builds towards the homework task: timed essay for teacher marking and feedback. Most tasks offer differentiation by choice and students work on their individual targets after peer assessment. Moreover, most slides have additional information or ideas in the notes sections. The lesson was created for a mixed ability Year 11 class. All the activities were well received. My students especially liked the modelling examples and revision of how to analyse structure as well as language. As a teacher, I was extremely pleased with the resulting essays.

Details of the first 7 lessons on my SOW on Wuthering Heights as the main text for the coursework essay for the new Edexcel A Level English Literature spec. It could, however, easily be adapted for the new AQA A Level spec. There are PowerPoints for the first 4 lessons, including introducing students to the main literary theories as well as introducing students to the early chapters in the novel and some historical context. The SOW details activities and the main AOs for each lesson. There is homework set for each lesson and extension activities are in purple on the PowerPoints. The last 3 lessons have students watching a film/TV adaptation of the novel to explore a different interpretation of the text (possible affected by contextual factors) before studying critical reviews later in the SOW. I have also included a number of example coursework essay titles to encourage students to consider their essay focus and choice of second text. These lessons proved to be successful in re-focusing my Year 12 students after their AS study leave. They then read the rest of the novel over the summer before their return in Year 13. Please note that the cloze exercise on Chapter 3 is not included as it is a Teachit resource. This can be downloaded as a PDF from Teachit for free. Teachit also has a useful literary critical theories handout you could give students during lesson 1.

Nine highly engaging lessons on Part Two of ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ for the Edexcel English Literature (Women and Society) A Level spec. Resources include: a 56 slide PowerPoint, 2 model comparative essays, essay mark sheet, starter task on chapter 26, detailed handouts on chapters 23 and 26, reading log sheet. Included on the PowerPoint are a wide variety of teaching and learning tasks (all of which have been successfully tried and tested with Year 12 students), key information to aid understanding and progress, and clear signposts to relevant AOs. All chapters of Part Two of the novel are covered - starting with a summary for each chapter. Tasks vary across the chapters but usually include links to theme(s) or context, details of narrative/character presentation, exploration of key methods and textual evidence. I have not split the PowerPoint into specific lessons but I completed this unit in 9 lessons. If you are pushed for lesson time, some tasks could easily be set for homework. The two A* exemplar essays compare ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ with Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. This unit follows my Part One SoW available separately on TES Resources. My Part Three and Part Four SoW will be uploaded once I have remove all references to my current school from the resources.