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.
1 hour assessment to assess students' knowledge of punctuation and grammar. This writing assessment has 3 sections:
1) Punctuation and grammar (15 marks) - students answer questions defining different sentence types and writing specific types of sentences about topics. They also write sentences using dashes, brackets, colons and semi-colons.
2) Proofreading (20 marks) - students read a piece of writing in which 20 pieces of punctuation are missing and add them in.
3) Descriptive writing (20 marks) - students apply their knowledge by writing one paragraph to describe a beach scene.
Marking key and writing rubric is included for easy and quick marking. This test could be used at the beginning of a writing unit to find out gaps in knowledge or as an end of term assessment.
It was designed for key stage 3 but could be applicable to key stage 2 or key stage 4.
Included as a pdf for easy printing and as a word file in case you would prefer to edit the questions.
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1 hour resourced and differentiated lesson which clearly outlines to students how they should write a strong point, evidence, explain answer with an example provided and then gives them the opportunity to write an answer as a pair and then individually.
All teacher instructions provided including printing instructions (although printing is minimal).
This lesson includes:
*Do it now task
*Explanation of PEE (point evidence explain) including a model answer)
*Dracula extract
*Peer assessment slide including the differentiated learning outcomes.
This lesson is immediately ready to teach! It would be suitable for lower ability learners in key stage 3 or key stage 4.
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This bundle contains resources to help students to develop their understanding of horror conventions and their close reading of texts.
These lessons are all fully differentiated, resourced and ready to teach. All teacher instructions and answers (if required) are included. 'Do it now' activities, differentiated learning outcomes and opportunities for peer assessment are all included.
This bundle includes:
* A lesson on the features of gothic horror description.
* A lesson in which students learn how to write their own gothic horror description.
*A lesson for lower ability learners to teach them how to write a point, evidence, explain answer about 'Dracula'.
* A lesson in which students independently analyse the beginning of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe.
* An independent close reading lesson which can be used multiple times with different texts (could be used with any challenging horror text).
* A horror writing knowledge organiser
* A horror writing homework menu
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Comprehensive and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students independently analyse the beginning of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' considering the indirect characterisation of the narrator. Students will complete a graphic organiser in detail, which could then be used as a plan to write an analytical paragraph or essay.
A differentiation support sheet is provided, which could be provided to select students who need additional support. This is easily adaptable to key stages 3 and 4. It is suited to mixed or higher ability classes but could easily be adapted to lower ability and spread over multiple lessons.
This could be used as part of a unit on gothic horror, a unit on short stories or just as a one-off lesson to examine and respond to a text.
This resource includes:
* Full Powerpoint including 'do it now', differentiated learning outcomes all tasks and teacher instructions (including example teacher answers in the notes section).
* Full text of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' with page numbers.
* Graphic organiser.
* Support sheet as a prompt for students.
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Fully resourced 1 hour lesson in which students learn how to punctuate dialogue correctly, edit a piece of dialogue and then construct their own.
Easily adaptable for KS3 and KS4.
This lesson includes:
- Full Powerpoint including teacher instructions
- Worksheet with extension work
- All activities including 'do it now' and plenary.
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Introduce your students to the dynamic world of slam poetry with this fully resourced 90-minute lesson. Ideal for years 9 and above, this lesson can be easily adapted for younger students. The featured poem addresses the theme of addiction, making it more suitable for mature students, but a selection of alternative slam poems is included for flexibility.
What's Included:
* 20-Slide PowerPoint: Engaging presentation covering the history, evolution, and impact of slam poetry.
* Graphic Organiser: Helps students to mind-map and structure their slam poems effectively.
* Detailed Instructions: Step-by-step guidance on writing a slam poem, focusing on both creative and technical aspects.
* Curated Slam Poems: A range of recommended slam poems that can be used as substitutes, ensuring suitability for different age groups.
**Learning Objective:** Express Ourselves Through Writing Powerful Slam Poetry.
**Learning Outcomes:**
- Understand the conventions of powerful slam poems.
- Use a range of language and structural devices in my poem.
- Perform part of my poem for maximum impact.
**Lesson Overview**:
Do it now: Think-Pair-Share questions on Slam Poetry. With teacher-support, the class arrive at an inferred definition of slam poetry.
Starter: A teacher-guided history of slam poetry followed by 5 recall questions with answers provided.
Activity 1: Watch ‘21’ and discuss questions
Activity 2: Use graphic organizer to write down ideas and then begin writing slam poem
Plenary: Share most powerful line
Extension: Poems for further study
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Fully resourced 1 hour lesson in which students learn the difference in meaning between using commas, dashes and brackets and then apply what they have learned to their own writing.
Easily adaptable for KS2, KS3 and KS4.
This lesson includes:
- Full explanation of commas, dashes and brackets.
- Task where students decide which punctuation they will use
- Writing task.
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A simple worksheet to help students to plan the creation of their own superhero. Students consider the main character traits that they would like their character to have and then plan backwards to think about how this could be portrayed to the reader through their costume, name, body language etc.
This would be helpful when studying characterisation, connotations and superhero conventions. Suitable for KS3.
Unlock your students’ critical thinking skills with this 90-minute, fully resourced lesson focused on teaching inference through crime scene investigation. Designed to captivate students’ imagination, this lesson challenges them to propose solutions to a fictional crime based on evidence found at the scene, before creating their own crime scene scenarios. The lesson ends with students inferring information about their classmate’s criminals based on the clues at the crime scene.
Perfect for a range of settings, this versatile lesson can be easily adapted for different age groups and abilities. It provides a balanced mix of independent and group work, with both oracy and writing activities included to reinforce learning. Ideal as part of a detective fiction unit, a precursor to crime writing, or as a standalone lesson dedicated to honing inference skills.
This resource includes:
An 18-slide PowerPoint presentation guiding the entire lesson.
A scaffolded inference worksheet for individual student use.
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This bundle includes fiveone hour lessons on the following topics:
1) Compound sentences and FANBOYS
2) Complex sentences
3) Colons vs semicolons
4) Commas, dashes and brackets
5) Punctuating dialogue
It also includes a writing skills SPAG knowledge organiser, dual coding images for sentence structures and a 1 hour assessment, which assesses all the skills taught in these lessons.
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Fully resourced and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students learn how to use a colon and a semi-colon and then apply it by completing a short piece of writing.
This lesson is aimed at KS3, but it could easily be adapted to younger or older students.
This lesson includes:
- Full explanation of the rules for using colons and semi-colons.
- Worksheet for students to practise using colons and semi-colons (including examples where either could be used correctly to prompt discussion about the different effects of using them).
- Writing task for students to apply their knowledge of colons and semi-colons.
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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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Worksheet for use in class or homework to prompt students to write a description of household objects. It is included as a word doc and pdf for easy printing and editing.
24 question cards for students to use as prompts for book club discussion. I keep a laminated set with me and then students take it in turns to draw cards and answer the question. They make for great discussion!
Fully resourced and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students close read an example horror extract and then write their own description of a setting.
Easily adaptable.
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Fully resourced and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students close read in groups three classic gothic horror extracts (Frankenstein, Dracula and the Exorcist).
Easily adaptable.
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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 seven of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson helps students to consider the changing identity of Pavel. Students are prompted to think about how Pavel is directly and indirectly characterised and then write a diary entry from Pavel’s perspective. Students will need to synthesise information for this task - adapting what they know from the text to their diary format. This lesson also promotes empathy by supporting students to think from Pavel’s perspective.
Learning Objective: Write a personal response in character as Pavel.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Write a diary entry as Pavel reflecting upon your life before and your life now.
Silver: Explain clearly how your identity has changed.
Gold: Creatively describe details from your life before ‘Out-With’
Lesson Overview:
Do It Now: Students infer what they can work out about the man in the picture? Introduce the idea of appearances being deceptive.
Starter: Read chapter 7 and create a mind-map about Pavel
Activity 1: Think-pair-share discussion about a quote which shows Pavel’s changing identity.
Activity 2: Students write diary entry (example sentence starters given).
Peer assessment
Plenary: Read and discuss diary entries
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 six of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson helps students to consider why John Boyne portrays Bruno’s Father - a Nazi - as a complex and sometimes likeable character in this chapter. They then complete a discussion in role as characters from the book. This could be used as an assessment: assessment criteria for marking and self-assessment are included. Students make notes before the discussion and then peer assess themselves afterwards to reflect on the task.
Learning Objective: Effectively speak in role as a character from the book.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: You will stay in role and make clear points in the discussion.
Silver: You will portray your character using verbal and non-verbal characteristics. You help to move the discussion forward.
Gold: You will be convincing in role and lead the discussion forward. You listen carefully and respond to others’ points.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: What descriptive words come into your head when you think about the Nazis?
Starter: Read chapter 6.
Activity 1: Write notes for discussion
Activity 2: Discuss which skills we are practicing/complete discussion
Self-assessment
Plenary: How did it feel to argue for something that you don’t necessarily believe in yourself?
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.