I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
One academic year’s worth of Word Root of the Week slides (36 weeks) for displaying in during assembly and/or form times. These are very effective for normalising the breaking down of words into their component parts and digging deeper into how they affect the word’s meaning.
Each slide displays the definition of the word root followed by three examples of words containing it which are broken down into their component parts.
These words correspond with this free Excel file which provides a yearly plan with 36 word roots and example words.
For more Word Root of the Week resources, have a look at this bundle.
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This treasure hunt activity is a great way for you and your students to check their understanding of how to use different punctuation marks and simple, compound and complex sentences.
For this treasure hunt, each student starts of at a station with a question. Their task is to find the next card with the correct answer. That card will give them the next question. They will know that they have completed the task with the correct answers once they are taken back to their original station.
You can either arrange these cards on clearly-identifiable desks around the room or you can hide them. The latter works particularly well as a fun end-of-term activity.
This works well for Key Stage 3, but Key Stage 4 students have also enjoyed it as a fun activity to practise writing skills for their GCSE revision.
I really hope you and your students enjoy this! Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
A 22 page year 6 to year 7 transition guide containing discussion prompts, creative writing tasks and poetry to help year 6s navigate their journey to secondary school. This can be taken home by families to use with their children or it can be used within a year 6 or year 7 classroom.
The first section of this guide should be used as year 6s prepare to leave primary school and the second part should be used once they have started year 7.
Part of this guide involves discussion of poems from Steven Camden’s anthology Everything All At Once. This is widely available from bookshops and libraries.
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An engaging hour-long lesson which introduces students to the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio in Act 1 Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice. This is aimed at students in Key Stages 3 and 4.
Learning Objective: Analyse the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio in Act 1 Scene 1.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will complete comprehension questions on Act 1 Scene 1.
Students will practise ‘exploding’ a quote for deeper analysis.
Students will write an analytical paragraph using the PETER framework.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Think – pair – share – students infer details about Antonio from quotes.
Starter: Introduction to Antonio and Bassanio.
Activity 1: Read up until line 68 and discuss questions.
Activity 2: Read until the end of the scene and discuss questions.
Activity 3: Teacher modelling of how to explode a quote. Students write an analytical PETER paragraph to examine a quote in detail.
Plenary: How are the audience meant to feel at the end of the scene?
More Resources for The Merchant of Venice
Click here for a bundle of all the lessons to take you through the play plus a quiz, knowledge organiser and character revision posters.
Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
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Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter twelve of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson prompts students to consider how John Boyne shows Bruno and Shmuel’s innocence and requires them to compare and contrast the two characters.
Learning Objective: Compare and contrast Bruno and Shmuel.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Create a timeline of Bruno and Shmuel’s life so far.
Silver: Find the similarities and differences between them.
Gold: Explain why John Boyne has created similarities between these two characters.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Venn diagram of Bruno and Shmuel.
Starter: In chapter 12, how does John Boyne show the innocence of Shmuel and Bruno? (Reading focus).
Activity 1: Think-pair-share – quote inference activity.
Activity 2: Students complete a timeline comparing and contrasting Bruno and Shmuel’s lives.
Peer assessment
Plenary: One minute recall challenge: what are the main similarities between Bruno and Shmuel?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter ten of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson introduces students to STEAL analysis as a way of understanding a character. Students complete STEAL analysis of Shmuel and then make predictions on what they think will happen in the text.
Learning Objective: Use STEAL analysis to understand Shmuel as a character.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Find appropriate quotes from the text to analyse Shmuel.
Silver: Infer details from the quotes.
Gold: Make links between parts of the text.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Make a prediction based on the chapter title.
Starter: Reading focus – how is Shmuel described?
Activity 1: Discussion of STEAL analysis
Activity 2: STEAL analysis poster in pairs
Peer assessment
Plenary: Now that Shmuel and Bruno have met, what do you predict will happen?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter eleven of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson provides information about Eva Braun and her relationship with Adolf Hitler. Students synthesise information from the novel with the information provided about the couple to write a diary entry as Eva Braun. This could be used as a creative writing assessment.
Learning Objective: Synthesise information from the novel with knowledge about context to write a diary entry as Eva Braun.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Incorporate details about Eva Braun into a diary entry.
Silver: Infer details about her from the text.
Gold: Add thoughtful and creative details to explore who Eva Braun was.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Picture of Hitler with Eva Braun. How does this affect your opinion of Hitler?
Starter: Pre-reading discussion and questions followed by reading of chapter 11.
Activity 1: Mind map to plan for writing.
Activity 2: Diary writing task
Peer assessment
Plenary: Think-Pair-Share - Why has John Boyne included Eva Braun as a character?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter fifteen of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson asks students to probe how they think Bruno would feel after betraying Shmuel to Lieutenant Kotler. They explore how to use figurative language and different sentence structures and then write a diary entry as Bruno.
Learning Objective: Write a personal response as Bruno.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Consider the complex emotions that Bruno feels in this chapter.
Silver: Express these feelings using figurative language.
Gold: Use a range of simple, compound and complex sentences.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: How would you describe the feeling of guilt using figurative language?
Starter: Reading focus – how does Bruno feel? Students create a mind-map and use a thesaurus to build vocabulary.
Activity 1: Hot-seating as Bruno, Shmuel and Lieutenant Kotler.
Activity 2: Focus on simple, compound and complex sentences.
Activity 3: Write a diary entry as Bruno
Peer assessment
Plenary: What thoughts and feelings do you think Shmuel would have experienced during this same time period?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Fully resourced and differentiated 2 x 1 hour PSHE lessons in which students consider the causes of food insecurity and consider possible solutions to it.
Easily adaptable.
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A detailed knowledge organiser to support students studying ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare.
It includes the following:
A brief section on William Shakespeare
Key quotes and explanation of their importance
Overview of all the important characters
Important literary terms for studying the play
This is suitable for any age group studying the play. It is an excellent resource to be used for setting homework, quizzing in classes or as a support mat.
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This resource includes:
* A 1 hour lesson on complex sentences
* A 1 hour lesson on compound sentences and FANBOYS
* A writing skills knowledge organiser
* A 1 hour assessment that questions students on sentence types.
* Images that can be used to teach sentence structures using dual coding.
All lessons are designed to be one hour long, easily adaptable and contain teacher instructions.
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Two engaging and ready to teach one hour lessons to cover chapters 17 - 20 of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. The first lesson (chapters 17 - 18) requires students to use a range of reading skills and techniques - they read independently and in pairs to practise their comprehension and inference skills. The second lesson (chapters 19 - 20) requires students to think about the effects of pathetic fallacy and dramatic irony in the penultimate chapter and then to reflect on how they feel about the ending.
LESSON ONE
Learning Objective: Practise a range of reading skills.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Read in pairs and individually, and use skimming, scanning and inference skills.
Silver: Support your partner by correcting them constructively in paired reading.
Gold: Make a perceptive prediction about what will happen at the end of the book.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Match the reading term to the definition.
Starter: Paired reading of chapter 17 followed by comprehension and inference questions.
Activity 1: Chapter 18 individual comprehension questions and marking.
Activity 2: What do you predict will happen at the end of the book?
Plenary: How has Bruno changed over the course of the book?
LESSON TWO
Learning Objective: Reflect upon the story.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Understand the terms pathetic fallacy and dramatic irony.
Silver: Explain how pathetic fallacy and dramatic irony are used to create tension.
Gold: Reflect upon the end of the novel.
Lesson Overview:
Do It Now: What are your expectations for finishing the book?
Starter: Explanation of pathetic fallacy and dramatic irony– how does that impact your expectations?
Activity 1: Reading focus for chapter 19.
Activity 2: Chapter 19 reflection followed by class questions for teacher.
Activity 3: Chapter 20 reflection.
Plenary: Questions on a post-it note.
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
This one-hour lesson is designed to help students analyze and annotate Lady Macbeth’s powerful soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 5. Perfect for teachers seeking an engaging, fully-prepared resource that saves time, boosts understanding of Lady Macbeth’s character and supports students with their annotation and analysis skills.
What’s included:
Ready-to-teach PowerPoint with detailed teacher instructions, so you can download and start teaching immediately.
A photo of a sample annotation to guide students through the process.
Printable extract of Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy with a built-in glossary for key terms, enhancing comprehension.
Learning Objective: Explore Lady Macbeth’s Character in Act 1 Scene 5.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will be introduced to the character of Lady Macbeth and vocabulary to describe her.
Students will be guided through a close annotation of Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy.
Students will identify language techniques used in the soliloquy and discuss the effects of them.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Think – Pair – Share around students’ expectations of Lady Macbeth.
Starter: Vocabulary – match words to describe Lady Macbeth to their definitions.
Activity 1: Guided annotation of Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy.
Activity 2: Answer questions followed by discussion of questions.
Activity 3: Watch and discuss a modern interpretation of this scene.
Plenary: What do you predict will happen next? What will Lady Macbeth’s role be in this play?
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A detailed lesson on Act 5 of The Merchant of Venice in which students are introduced to Freytag’s Pyramid so that they understand how the falling action leads to a resolution at the end of the play. They then consider which characters do or do not have a happy ending and write a review of the play.
Learning Objective: Evaluate the experience of different characters at the end of the play.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will be introduced to Freytag’s Pyramid and understand how the action falls towards the end of the play.
Students will read and discuss a summary of Act 5 scene 1.
Students will evaluate the experience of different characters at the ending of the play.
Students will write a review of the play.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Recall questions about Act 4
Starter: Introduction to Freytag’s Pyramid.
Activity one: Read and discuss summary of Act 5.
Activity two: Students complete a worksheet about whether the characters have a happy, sad or mixed ending. Students then swap and peer assess each other’s work.
Plenary: Students write a review of the play.
More Resources for The Merchant of Venice
Click here for a bundle of all the lessons to take you through the play plus a quiz, knowledge organiser and character revision posters.
Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
A fully-resourced one hour lesson to support students in exploring the casket test in Act 2 Scene 7 of The Merchant of Venice. Students will be guided through the reading of the scene and then creatively respond by predicting what they believe will be in the other incorrect casket.
Learning Objective: Explore the casket test for Portia’s suitors.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will read summaries of Act 2 Scenes 4-6 and complete recall questions.
-Students will be guided through the reading of Act 2 Scene 7 and consider the reasons the Prince gives for rejecting or choosing each casket.
-Students will creatively respond to the scene by predicting what will be in the remaining incorrect casket.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Match the character description to the name.
Starter: Summary of Act 2 Scenes 4-6 followed by recall questions and think-pair-share to consider Shylock’s reaction.
Activity one: Guided reading of the scene with student questions interspersed.
Activity two: Students creatively predict what will be inside the other incorrect casket.
Plenary: Act 2 Scene 7 ends with Portia saying “a gentle riddance” as she is happy to see the Prince leave. Why do you think she says this? Is it because she doesn’t want to marry the Prince specifically or is there another reason?
More Resources for The Merchant of Venice
Click here for a bundle of all the lessons to take you through the play plus a quiz, knowledge organiser and character revision posters.
Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
A detailed one hour lesson to support students to write their strongest answers in the IGCSE exam for Edexcel English Literature 4ET1 on the question on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) .
This lesson gives students a clear five step technique for approaching the exam in order to maximise their own critical engagement and language analysis skills. This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher and printing instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A detailed and engaging one hour lesson to support students in their analysis of Judy in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1… This lesson supports students to annotate and analyse the flashback scene to understand who Judy is.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher and printing instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
Two fully resourced and differentiated 1 hour lessons in which students are guided to independently analysing ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen which culminate in students writing a PETER paragraph on it using a scaffold (explanation of PETER paragraphs included).
The second lesson was observed by two members of SLT in my school and rated ‘outstanding’.
This two lesson unit would be suitable for a high ability KS3 class but is easily adaptable.
This resource includes:
*Full Powerpoint for two lessons (20 slides) - breakdown of each lesson is provided.
* Copy of ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ including glossary of difficult vocabulary.
* PETER paragraph scaffold with sentence starters.
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Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter nine of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson helps students to consider how the Nazis used propaganda in education to influence the population - and apply this to the character of Herr Liszt. Students then consider which subject they would add to the curriculum and propose their reasons in detail.
Learning Objective: Analyse how school curriculums were used as propaganda during the Holocaust.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Add a new subject to the curriculum and explain why in detail.
Silver: Use persuasive techniques to convince your classmates.
Gold: Predict the long-term effect of adding your subject to the curriculum.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Look at anti-Semitic propaganda. How would people have reacted to it?
Starter: Introduction to education in Nazi Germany
Activity 1: Read chapter 9 and pay attention to how Herr Liszt is introduced.
Activity 2: Design a new curriculum – students make a poster to propose that a new subject be added to the curriculum and give supporting reasons.
Student carousel and feedback
Plenary: What would the long term effect be of adding your subject to the school curriculum? In 5 years, 20 years, 100 years?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
A detailed knowledge organiser/revision mat to support students studying ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare.
It includes the following:
Literary terms definitions
Structure and form definitions (including iambic pentameter and blank verse)
Descriptions of the main characters
An outline of some of the key themes.
This is an excellent resource to be used for setting homework, quizzing in classes or as a support mat. My students in particular find the relevant literary terms helpful.
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