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 board game has been designed to support students in their revision of Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls”.
The game is for 2-4 players and will require counters and a dice. The rules to follow are clearly documented at the bottom of the page.
It focuses on character, theme, quotes, plot, setting etc.
There are 96 tasks, including:
Plot retrieval
Inference
Debate topics / justifying arguments
Generating quotes relating to character / theme
Similarities / differences between characters
Character relationships / values
Movement tiles
This A3 document has been uploaded as a PDF for easier printing and a word document if teachers wish to tweak certain parts to suit the needs of their students.
I’d recommend printing it in colour and laminating it.
This detailed 17 slide PowerPoint explores several contextual areas of Shakespeare’s “Othello” as a Tragedy to support teachers’ and students’ understanding of the play.
I have used this in my teaching of CCEA’s A2 Unit 1 module (Shakespearean Genres) to help enhance students’ use of AO3 in their written responses. As students are only required to comment on the Literary Context of the play, this PowerPoint focuses solely on Tragedy.
Areas of Contextual Study include the following:
Definitions of Tragedy
Aristotle and Tragedy
Key Elements of Tragedy
Structure of Tragedy
Characters in Tragedy: The Tragic Hero, The Villain
Conventions in Tragedy
Types of Tragedy: Jacobean/ Senecan Revenge Tragedy, Political Tragedy, Domestic Tragedy
Shakespearean Tragedy
Please feel free to leave a rating, review or any feedback that you have.
This detailed 26 slide PowerPoint explores several contextual areas of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” to support teachers’ and students’ understanding of the novel.
This PowerPoint is aimed at A-Level students, but can also be used for high-ability GCSE students. I have used this in my teaching of CCEA’s AS Unit 2 module to help enhance students’ use of AO3 in their written responses.
Areas of Contextual Study include the following:
Biographical Context: Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Percy Shelley.
Literary Context: The Gothic Novel, The Science Fiction Novel, Literary Allusions (Paradise Lost and the Prometheus Myth).
Social/Historical/Cultural Context: Age of Enlightenment, The Romantic Period/Romanticism, Scientific Discoveries and Ideas (Galvinism), Social Unrest, Gender.
Please feel free to leave a rating, review or any feedback that you have.
This detailed 15 page A3 size document has been developed to assist both students and teachers in their understanding of the characters in “An Inspector Calls”.
Each character is designated 2 A3 sheets, with comprehensive lists of interpretations, notes and quotes. Each character has been split up into relevant themes and topics to assist in revision.
There are also approximately 10 exam questions for each character to help pupils apply the notes, quotes and their own understanding.
As this document goes through every character, there will inevitably be some overlap.
An A4 PDF version of this document has also been included for easier printing.
Characters/Topics/Themes include:
The Inspector: Responsibility to others / collective responsibility, Responsibility for actions, How the Birlings respond to the Inspector, Approach to the investigation, Views on Social Class, Physical Description
Mr Birling: Relationship with his family, Responsibility, Sheila’s engagement to Gerald, Reaction to the investigation, Social Class, Treatment of Eva / his workers, physical description.
Mrs Birling: Relationship with her family, responsibility, Treatment of Eva/Daisy, Reaction to the Investigation, Social Class, Initial description.
Gerald: His relationship with Sheila, Responsibility, Relationship with Eva/Daisy, Reaction to the Investigation, Social Class, View of women, Physical Description.
Sheila: Responsibility, Relationship with her family, Relationship with Gerald, Reaction to the investigation, Social Class, Treatment of Eva, Initial Description.
This booklet has been designed to assist pupils in their study of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”.
Each chapter has been broken down into separate sections, each with specific questions to help guide pupils through their reading of the novel and extract important quotes to document and analyse in their exercise books / notebooks.
There is also a “Theme Tracker” throughout each section to help students engage thematically with the novel and organise thieir notes.
This board game has been designed to support students in their revision of Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”.
The game is for 2-4 players and will require counters and a dice. The rules to follow are clearly documented at the bottom of the page.
It focuses on character, theme, quotes, plot, setting etc.
There are 96 tasks, including:
Plot retrieval
Inference
Debate topics / justifying arguments
Generating quotes relating to character / theme
Similarities / differences between characters
Character relationships / values
Movement tiles
This A3 document has been uploaded as a PDF for easier printing and a word document if teachers wish to tweak certain parts to suit the needs of their students.
I’d recommend printing it in colour and laminating it.
This detailed 18 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “The Peninsula” 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 Peninsula” (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of Nature, The Creative Process and Journeys
This document has been developed to assist students in their revision of “An Inspector Calls”.
For each of the main characters, there is a list of 10 Key Quotes that deal with a variety of themes, reveal characterisation and can assist with exam practice.
A blank copy is also included for pupils / teachers to create their own Top 10 Key Quotes.
These resources have been developed to assist pupils in their study of 19th Century Unseen Prose for CCEA’s GCSE English Literature Specification.
The first document is a helpful summary that details the different aspects of the text that should be considered by students. There is also a blank version of this if pupils wish to make hand-written notes in the relevant sections.
The remaining documents include a series of questions to help students unpack and analyse the different aspects of an Unseen Prose text. They have been developed to be helpful and comprehensive, but not overbearing. There are a few versions of this:
A sheet with the questions.
An A4 sheet with the questions and an accompanying table in which to type/write notes.
An A3 sheet with the questions and an accompanying table in which to type/write notes. This is to give a bit more space for students to provide more detail.
They can be also be used for work on short stories.
Each document is in Word form for editing and PDF form for easier printing.
Any comments/feedback would be appreciated.
This detailed 25 slide PowerPoint explores several contextual areas of Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” to support teachers’ and students’ understanding of the poem.
I have used this in my teaching of CCEA’s A2 Unit 2 module (Study of Poetry Pre-1900) to help enhance students’ use of AO3 in their written responses. This can also be used an adapted to suit the needs of students/teachers working with this text for other exam boards.
Areas of Contextual Study include the following:
Biographical Context: Geoffrey Chaucer, Geoffrey Chaucer and Cecilia Chaumpaigne.
Literary Context: The Canterbury Tales, The Genre of The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.
Social/Historical Context: Medieval Society, The Three Estates Model, Gentillesse, The Black Death, Social Mobility, The Peasant’s Revolt, The Medieval Church, Pilgrimages, Women, Marriage, Anti-Feminism, Anti-Feminist Literature.
Please feel free to leave a rating, review or any feedback that you have.
This detailed 16 page A3 size document has been developed to assist both students and teachers in their understanding of the characters in “Of Mice and Men".
Each character is designated 2 A3 sheets, with comprehensive lists of interpretations, notes and quotes. Each character has been split up into relevant themes and topics to assist in revision. (Carlson and The Boss share a single page).
There are also approximately 5-10 exam questions for each character to help pupils apply the notes, quotes and their own understanding.
As this document goes through every character, there will inevitably be some overlap.
An A4 PDF version of this document has also been included for easier printing.
Characters/Topics/Themes include:
George: Treatment of others, Relationship with Lennie, Lennie’s Death, Dreams, Loneliness/Isolation.
Lennie: Dreams, Relationship with George, His mental state, Loneliness/Isolation, Physical description/Strength, Interactions with others, His death.
Slim: Physical description / Skill as a worker, Friendship, Power/Influence, How others view him, Views/Values/Beliefs, Treatment of others.
Candy: Dreams, Loneliness/Isolation, Friendship, Treatment of others, Power/Influence/Position on the ranch, Physical description.
Crooks: Dreams, Loneliness/Isolation, Friendship, Power/Influence/Position on the ranch, Prejudice/Discrimination, Physical description/his room.
Curley: How others react to him, Power/Influence, Physical description, Relationship with his wife, Treatment of others.
Curley’s Wife: Dreams, Loneliness/Isolation, Discrimination/Prejudice, Treatment of others, Physical Description, Relationship with Curley, Her death.
Carlson and The Boss.
This detailed 24 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “Bogland” 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 “Bogland” (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Theme of The Past
This detailed 18 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney's "Had I not been awake" 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 "Had I not been awake" (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of Grief and Loss, Self-Discovery and Poetic Inspiration.
This detailed 20 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney's "The Harvest Bow" 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 Harvest Bow (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Theme of Family and Tradition
These documents are designed to assist students in exploring the thematic connections (AO4) between the Frost and Heaney poems in the CCEA A Level Anthology.
In the document, pupils are prompted to use the detailed arguments and connections between pomes (AO1, AO3) to locate textual references and poetic methods (AO2) to further their analysis and understanding of the poems.
These sheets would then be used as a basis for an essay on the poems and provided topic.
The paired poems and themes include: The Road Not Taken and The Peninsula (Journeys), Mowing and The Forge (The Creative Process), Mending Wall and Bogland (The Past).
There is also a blank template for both teachers and students to use for other poems/themes and a list of thematic connections between the poems.
My A Level students have found this approach immensely beneficial in finding the connections between poems and structuring written responses.
This detailed 30 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “The Summer of Lost Rachel” 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 Summer of Lost Rachel (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Theme of Grief and Loss
This detailed 20 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “The Forge” 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 Forge” (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of The Past and The Creative Process
This detailed 23 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Armitage’s “Out of the Blue” 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 Simon Armitage(AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Possible thematic connections to other poems in the Conflict Anthology
This resource has been designed to assist pupils in their study of CCEA’s GCSE Conflict Poetry Anthology.
The document is split into 16 themes and provides questions to help students generate thematic arguments to assist them in their theme-based exam question. The relevant poems to that theme are also documented beside the questions for convenient comparison and reference.
As this document aims to help consolidate a thematic understanding of each poem, it is is best used after the the initial study and analysis of each poem.
Although this has been designed with the CCEA Specification in mind, it can be similarly used/easily adapted for other specifications that feature Conflict Poetry.
Themes covered: Attitude to Conflict, Death, Doubt, Duty, Fear, Futility of Conflict, Impact of Conflict, Inner Conflict, Loss of loved ones, Memory, Motivation/Reasons for Conflict, Non-Combatants in Conflict, Remembrance, Survival, Treatment of the Dead, Understanding the Enemy.
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)
These resources have been designed to assist teachers in delivering engaging lessons and activities that will foster an understanding and enjoyment of Fantasy Fiction in KS3 pupils.
Each resource includes opportunities to test prior pupil knowledge of Fantasy Fiction, explore different Fantasy Fiction texts and compare them to their on-screen counterparts.
These resources, are also used to help pupils generate ideas for their own piece of Fantasy Fiction in the form of a creative writing piece.
As a fun way to finish the lessons, there is also a Fantasy Fiction Quiz.
Included in this pack:
- Introduction to Fantasy Fiction
- Non-humans in Fantasy Fiction
- Non-human template
- Fairies in Fantasy Fiction
- Good vs Evil in Fantasy Fiction
- Codes and Riddles in Fantasy Fiction
- Codes and Riddles Worksheet
- Setting Worksheet
- Fantasy Fiction Quiz and Answers