This 30-slide lesson provides detailed and comprehensive analysis of Priestley’s dramatic devices throughout ‘An Inspector Calls’. Considers the role of lighting, costume, pace, entrances/exits, dramatic irony, tension, props, and much more. The clever structure of Priestley’s play is unpicked and analysed. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This lesson is perfect for high-attaining students studying the play for GCSE. PowerPoint saved as pdf.

This 25-slide lesson explores Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘Sonnet 43’. The lesson introduces and discusses the sonnet form, noting its history and formal influence by both Petrarch and Shakespeare. This then leads to a discussion of contemporary love songs and their common features, considering the recurring ideas that love poems or songs seek to express. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s life and work is introduced, including the significance of Christian doctrine to her life. We then read the poem and analyse its language, form, structure, and rhyme. Imagery, symbols, and methods are deconstructed, and the poem’s ‘big questions’ are debated. Ambitious vocabulary is provided to enable students to produce sophisticated and precise analysis of the poem. Questions and discussion points are included throughout the lesson. An exam-style essay question is featured at the end. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

A great lesson activity or homework task designed to test and consolidate students’ understanding of proper nouns and common nouns. 15 questions included. Ideal for KS2 or KS3.

A great double-sided lesson worksheet or homework task designed to consolidate students’ understanding of apostrophes (denoting both contraction and possession). Ideal for UKS2 as well as KS3.

An A4 landscape poster all about similes - perfect for your classroom or corridor display. Useful for helping students remember key linguistic vocabulary.

This crossword on Stevenson’s ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ provides an enjoyable but academic activity for pupils to test their knowledge of the novella. It always works as a great starter or plenary task.

This crossword on Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ provides an enjoyable but academic activity for pupils to test their knowledge of the novella. It always works as a great starter or plenary task.

How does Shakespeare present attitudes to gender in ‘Macbeth’? Students so often write about gender dynamics in ‘Macbeth’ with clumsy generalisations that examiners can’t abide. This lesson aims to encourage specific and mature contextualised understanding of gender in the 1600s and within the play itself. This 30-slide PowerPoint explores how Shakespeare exploits and subverts attitudes to gender throughout the play, encouraging students to comment with precision and perception on masculinity and femininity. Ideal for KS4 students in particular but easily adaptable for other ages. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This is a thorough and comprehensive introduction to the context of Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’. The 21-slide lesson details Caesar’s life and role in the Roman Republic, outlining key terminology, politics, and history that will help explain his downfall. Shakespeare’s own life is also explored alongside the plot and focus of the play itself, and Elizabethan parallels with the play’s themes are explained. Questions and tasks are included for pupils, including a research (potential homework) task at the end of the lesson. The lesson is ideal for GCSE pupils, but could easily be adapted for other Key Stages. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This lesson explores various elements and features of comedy as a genre. Students are introduced to various aspects of comedy, including wit/wordplay, satire, misunderstandings, and disguise - among many others - with detailed definitions of each and explanations for how writers use them. Key vocabulary is integrated throughout the lesson, as are some tasks for students to complete to test and consolidate their knowledge of the comedic genre. Students are invited to think about comedic films to make the genre more readily accessible. This lesson is particularly applicable for those studying the ‘Aspects of Comedy’ English Literature A level course with AQA, but it is easily applicable to other needs too, particularly Drama/Theatre Studies and general explorations of genre. PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

Let your students track how each of the Seven Commandments is broken with this great worksheet. Understanding when and why (and by whom) each Commandment is broken is paramount to Orwell’s vision of corruption and manipulation on the farm. Hugely useful for helping students to really know the plot and structure of the novella.

This 23-slide lesson explores Chapter 3 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider the significance of Napoleon’s focus on the education of the young, and the beginnings of the farm’s use of propaganda and indoctrination. Boxer’s stupendous strength is discussed and his role foreshadowed. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about who/what Squealer represents. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This lesson builds to an extract-based essay question (included in the resource), with step-by-step instructions for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint and Word Doc saved as PDF.

This 30-slide exploration of the Witches in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ makes for a comprehensive and detailed revision lesson. The lesson includes key context, as well as focus on the Witches’ language, appearance, and function in the play. Links are made to wider themes (including gender and the supernatural), and questions and tasks are included for pupils throughout. Students are encouraged to deconstruct historical depictions of witches and witchcraft - particularly with reference to misogyny - while considering how Shakespeare exploits/subverts stereotypes. The lesson ends with a practice essay question, which is ideal for those studying the play at GCSE (especially those studying with AQA). PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

This 33-slide lesson explores Patience Agbabi’s poem, ‘Eat Me’. Students begin by discussing key ideas around the relationship between sex and food and society’s beauty standards. We then learn about Agbabi’s work before delving into the poem and establishing its narrative. The lesson then guides students methodically through extensive key ideas related to the poem, including title analysis; intertextual allusions; analysis of language; and analysis of form, structure, rhythm and rhyme. The nature of the dramatic monologue as a form is also discussed, before looking closely at some of the poem’s key images and the use of repetition. Each character in the poem is then dissected, while also looking at key symbols in the poem (eg. the cake, the bed). We also discuss the poem’s colonial undertones. Students are given a list of key themes and key vocabulary to facilitate high-level analysis. There are then some important questions for students to answer once they have explored the whole poem, and a list of potential poems which could be used to compare to ‘Eat Me’ to strengthen comparative analytical skills. This resource is particularly useful for those studying ‘Poems of the Decade’ with Pearson, but could easily be used for any purpose. Two files are included: one has the PowerPoint saved as a PDF so that the fonts and layout are firmly in place; the other is saved as a normal PPT file so that you can edit it.

This 26-slide lesson analyses and revises the characters of Ignorance and Want in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. The lesson considers the characters’ appearance and symbolism, linked closely to the context of Victorian society and the thematic explorations of the novella, as well as Dickens’ Biblical parallels and the characters’ structural significance within the story. Tasks and discussion points are featured throughout, and the lesson ends with an extended writing task on the characters. Though they only appear briefly, this lesson demonstrates the significance of Ignorance and Want as symbols for urgent social issues observed and highlighted by Dickens in Victorian society. This is an ideal lesson for GCSE students, but could easily be adapted for KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Enjoy this stylish poster for ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens to enhance your learning environment. Designed by MrGradgrind.

This 32-slide lesson explores the role of the sheep in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. Thinking about the metaphorical connotations of sheep and the novella’s role as a satirical allegory, this detailed and comprehensive lesson traces how the sheep are used by Napoleon from the beginning to the end of the story. The sheep’s role as loyal supporters and propagandists is analysed through key extracts, with high-level vocabulary provided to bolster the sophistication of students’ analysis. Students are encouraged to be mindful of the sheep’s symbolism in Stalin’s rise to power throughout. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are featured for students throughout. The lesson ends with an extended essay question on the role of the sheep. This lesson is ideal for those studying the novella at GCSE, but could be used with KS3 groups too. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 16-slide lesson explores Chapter 4 of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students are encouraged to think analytically about how Steinbeck introduces Crooks and racism in the novella. Lennie’s innocent optimism is also considered as students continue to explore Steinbeck’s presentation of the power of the American Dream. This lesson ends with a creative writing task for students inspired by this chapter. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. Ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This resource includes an extract from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, along with 4 exam-style questions based on AQA’s GCSE English Language Paper 1. An ideal mock or practice paper to study in class for high-attaining GCSE groups.