I'm an English Teacher based in Northern Ireland, with extensive experience of delivering the CCEA Specification for GCSE and A-Level Literature and Language. I'm passionate about making resources that are effective, engaging and lesson-ready.
I also teach a little bit of KS3 Maths!
I'm an English Teacher based in Northern Ireland, with extensive experience of delivering the CCEA Specification for GCSE and A-Level Literature and Language. I'm passionate about making resources that are effective, engaging and lesson-ready.
I also teach a little bit of KS3 Maths!
This Assembly has been used to promote reading among pupils.
The PowerPoint uses engaging images as prompts to guide pupils through the benefits and importance of reading, the lessons to be learned from famous novels, while also offering pupils the opportunity to discuss their favourite books. The script for the assembly is easy to follow, with corresponding slides for the PowerPoint labelled for ease.
Alternatively, a version of the powerpoint that combines the presentation and script is also included.
It is also interactive, allowing for audience participation.
This has been used as part of a wider initiative to promote reading throughout the school.
This detailed 25 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Frost’s “Mending Wall” to Literature students.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Robert Frost(AO3)
-Context on “Mending Wall” (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of Tradition, Rural Life and The Past
This detailed 52 page document is developed to assist both pupils and teachers in their understanding of the CCEA A Level Frost and Heaney poetry anthology, while guiding them towards a detailed analysis.
For each of the 24 poems in the anthology, there are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza and line-by-line analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of each poem.
Also included in the document-
-specific contextual information for each poem (AO3)
-specific themes for each poem to assist in connections between poems (AO4)
-further prompt questions to analyse specific poetic devices (AO2).
My A Level students have found this document immensely beneficial in group work analysis and individual research and analysis.
Poems:
Frost-Into My Own, Mowing, Going For Water, Mending Wall, After Apple-Picking, The Road Not Taken, Birches, “Out, Out-”, For Once Then Something, Gathering Leaves, Acquainted With The Night, Desert Places.
Heaney- Personal Helicon, The Forge, The Peninsula, The Wife’s Tale, Bogland, The Harvest Bow, The Railway Children, The Summer of Lost Rachel, Postscript, ‘Had I not been awake’, The Conway Stewart, The Baler.
This detailed 22 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Douglas’ “Vergissmeinnicht” to Literature students. This poem features in the CCEA GCSE Conflict Poetry Anthology.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Keith Douglas (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Possible thematic connections to other poems in the Conflict Anthology
An effective summary on how to use punctuation to enhance the quality and impact of a piece of writing. Useful for functional writing, personal writing and creative writing.
Pupils are provided with possible uses of the punctuation along with examples of each.
Please feel free to leave a rating, review or any feedback that you have.
This detailed 19 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney's "The Wife's Tale" to Literature students.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Seamus Heaney (AO3)
-Context on The Wife's Tale (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Theme of Rural Life
A fun filled quiz that can be used for World Book Day, International Reading Week or anything literature related.
It has 5 rounds with 10 questions in each, including the following: Opening lines, General questions, Fantasy Fiction, Book Covers and Book or Movie- which came first?
This is a quiz that many of my students have enjoyed, and it can take between 30-60 minutes depending on how you approach the marking of the quiz and the speed of the questions.
This detailed 20 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “Personal Helicon” to Literature students.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Seamus Heaney (AO3)
-Context on Personal Helicon (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of Childhood Experiences, Self-Discovery and Poetic Inspiration.
This bundle contains PowerPoints on every Robert Frost poem in the current CCEA AS Specification. These PowerPoints have been designed to promote student success in their exam response to Robert Frost’s poetry, and each one contains the following:
Detailed, line-by-line analysis of poetic devices and language for each poem (AO2)
Contextual information on Frost and specific context on each poem (AO3)
Questions on the relevant themes of each poem to assist with the thematic connections with Heaney’s poetry (AO4)
Detailed stanza-by-stanza/line-by-line questions to prompt critical analysis from pupils (AO2)
Pre-reading tasks and post-analysis questions to consolidate understanding of the poem
Included poems- Into My Own, Mowing, Going For Water, Mending Wall, After Apple-Picking, The Road Not Taken, Birches, “Out, Out-”, For Once Then Something, Gathering Leaves, Acquainted With The Night, Desert Places.
This detailed 34 page document is developed to assist both pupils and teachers in their understanding of the CCEA GCSE Conflict Poetry anthology, while guiding them towards a detailed analysis.
For each of the 15 poems in the anthology, there are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza and line-by-line analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of each poem.
Also included in the document-
-specific contextual information for each poem (AO4)
-specific themes for each poem to assist in connections between poems (AO3)
-further prompt questions to analyse specific poetic devices (AO2).
Poems:
The Charge of the Light Brigade (Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
Vitai Lampada (Henry Newbolt)
The Man He Killed (Thomas Hardy)
Who’s for the Game? (Jessie Pope)
Easter Monday (In Memoriam E.T.)(1917) (Eleanor Farjeon)
Anthem for Doomed Youth (Wilfred Owen)
An Irish Airman Foresees his Death (W B Yeats)
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why (Sonnet XLIII) (Edna St. Vincent Millay)
Vergissmeinnicht (Keith Douglas)
Bayonet Charge (Ted Hughes)
Requiem for the Croppies (Seamus Heaney)
Mametz Wood (Owen Sheers)
Last Post (Carol Ann Duffy)
Poppies (Jane Weir)
Out of the Blue (Simon Armitage)
This detailed 14 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth” to Literature students. This poem features in the CCEA GCSE Conflict Poetry Anthology.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Wilfred Owen (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Possible thematic connections to other poems in the Conflict Anthology
This engaging activity prompts pupils to engage with the imagery used in Wilfred Owen's war poem "Dulce et Decorum est".
Pupils are required to read the poem, while locating examples of imagery that correspond to provided images. Pupils must then document the quote from the poem and analyse the effect of the imagery, with the PowerPoint presentation providing the answer and prompting further analysis. They are also encouraged to discuss what they believe to be the most impactful use of imagery in the poem.
This activity can be used successfully in a study of War Poetry, imagery or as a supplementary activity in a KS3 History class.
This workbook acts as an engaging and accessible entry for KS3 pupils into a study of poetry.
It includes the following sections:
1. Introduction to Poetry- exploring what poetry is, what others have said about poetry and a study of "An Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.
2. Researching the definition and examples of poetic devices.
3. Understanding and using personification.
4. Introduction to War Poetry- understanding the context of WWI, understanding and analysing imagery in 'Dulce et Decorum est" and "Who's for the Game?".
5. Poetic Form: the Haiku: examples of Haiku, Haiku guessing game and crafting Haiku.
6. Poems and Songs- understanding the similarities and differences between poems and songs, analysing songs as poems.
This lesson focuses on giving pupils an insight into the conditions of World War 1 and how propaganda was used to persuade young men to join the army.
Pupils are provided a worksheet and, in groups, they conduct a multi-modal analysis of the propaganda posters, focusing on purpose, audience, layout and language.
This activity has been used successfully in both KS3 English and History classes.
This detailed 19 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Frost’s “Birches” to Literature students.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Robert Frost(AO3)
-Context on “Birches” (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of Childhood Experiences, Self-Discovery and Nature
This detailed 60 page document has been designed to assist students and teachers in their thematic understanding of Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”.
For each theme, detailed interpretations of the text are provided, along with accompanying quotations and line references to assist in a student’s exploration of that theme in an essay. This has proven beneficial for my A-Level students, by having them directly engage with Chaucer’s language and methods to help achieve AO2.
Due to the repetitive nature of the Wife’s narrative, there will inevitably be some overlap with some of the themes. However, my students have found this beneficial as it has made some of the ideas easier to learn.
Themes that are explored:
Marriage
Authority / Power
Gender / Gender Roles
Gentillesse / Social Class
Male / Female Relationships
The Wife’s Narrative Style
Sexual Relationships
The Church
The Wife as a Character
Struggle for Power / Maistre
This booklet has been designed to assist students in their revision of the Conflict Poetry Anthology for CCEA’s GCSE English Literature Specification and help organise their notes.
Each poem has been designated a page, split into its relevant themes and there is space for students to document thematic ideas about the poems, while providing quotes that illustrate those ideas.
These have been used to compliment the annotations that students have already made in class and help them organise their notes.
There is a Word Document if pupils wish to type notes, or a PDF version for easier printing and hand-written notes.
These documents have been developed to assist teachers and students in preparing for their A-Level Literature exam on Shakespeare’s “Othello”.
The first document has 43 essay questions that deal with Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, Bianca, Cassio, Roderigo and the many major themes of the play.
The second document has been specifically formatted to assist in preparing for the CCEA A2 Unit 1 (Shakespearean Genres) exam. 28 extracts have been selected from the play, each with corresponding exam-style essay questions to assist students in selecting appropriate parts of the play for their written responses.
Please feel free to leave a rating, review or any feedback that you have.
These detailed resources have been developed to help enhance the quality of pupils' personal writing essays.
They include a checklist for a successful personal writing response, guidance on how to plan and structure responses and many sample topics to write about. Also provided are worksheets and presentations to assist pupils in using linguistic devices, effective punctuation and varied sentence starters to enhance the quality of their writing.
I have used these resources with both KS3 and GCSE students.
This worksheet acts as an accompaniment for a study of metaphors and similes. Pupils must determine whether the provided examples are metaphors or similes, while providing a brief analysis of the figurative language.
I have used this with both 1st Years and lower ability pupils.