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English language arts
A Christmas Carol: The Context of Victorian Britain!
This engaging and informative lesson students to make sustained and developed links between Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and its social and historical context. In particular, students learn about the harsh treatment of the poor in Victorian society, the selfishness and cruelty of those in power, and attitudes towards sin, religion, and the supernatural. The lesson explores how Dickens explores these ideas through the allegorical nature of the text.
The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through:
- Understanding key information about Charles Dickens, his life, and influences;
- Researching and sharing key contextual understanding about the rich, poor, healthcare, and religion in the 19th Century;
- Reading Stave 1 of ‘A Christmas Carol’ and identifying evidence of contextual influences;
- Analysing how Dickens presents his views about the cruelty of 19th Century life through the opening of the text;
- Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts.
Included is:
- Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive;
- Extract - Chapter 1 of A Christmas Carol;
- Template for researching 19th Century life (and completed answer sheet for teachers);
- Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses;
- Comprehensive lesson plan.
There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to mixed ability year 10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities.
All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.
Climate Change - KS2 Reading Comprehension Lesson!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills, whilst enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of climate change, through reading an informative and age-appropriate non-fiction text.
The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The age-appropriate reading text is produced by NASA kids - it has been downloaded as a PDF and is included in the resource pack, and the link for the source is also provided on the first slide of the PowerPoint presentation.
The session is best suited for children in KS2 (particularly years 3-4), although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.
The Magic Paintbrush - Whole Class Reading Session!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills through reading Julia Donaldson’s ‘The Magic Paintbrush.’
The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The text is hyperlinked (first slide) for ease of access, and a slide show version is also provided as a PDF.
The session is best suited for children in years 1-2, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.
Goodnight Mister Tom - Chapters 3-4 - Double Lesson!
This engaging and thought-provoking double-lesson resource aids students in developing a secure understanding of the chapters 3 to 4 of Michelle Magorian’s 'Goodnight Mister Tom.’ In this section of the text, Tom and Willie visit town. Tom buys Willie the things that he needs, whilst Willie meets a number of new people.
The comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation enables students to understand the text through:
-Retrieving information;
-Inferring and deducing hidden meanings;
-Sequencing plot events.
The sessions include a range of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, explanation and deeper thinking activities. A clear, colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides students through the learning.
There are a wide range of activities in the slides (there are 17 slides in total) so I would recommend breaking into two lessons. The lessons are suitable for students in either KS3 or upper KS2, depending upon the individual context of the school and students.
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Kensuke's Kingdom Big Bundle!
THIS BUNDLE CONTAINS ALL OF THE KENSUKE’S KINGDOM LESSONS, IN ADDITION TO THE COMPREHENSION BOOKLET AND THE KNOWLEDGE ORGANISER!
This engaging, varied, and informative scheme of learning is designed to help students gain understanding, assessment skills, and key interpretations of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom.’ Made up of a wide-range of interesting and exciting lessons, students should complete this scheme having gathered vital skills in: interpreting the significant meanings of the text, understanding the writer’s ideas within the text, identifying the traits of key characters, settings, and themes, and understanding structural and language devices.
Stimulating, visual, and easily adaptable, these lessons provide suggested learning objectives and outcomes for students of a wide-range of abilities - The vast majority of tasks are differentiated to allow for different abilities and needs in your classroom. Each lesson loosely follows this logical learning journey to ensure that students learn in bite-size steps:
Engaging
Defining/ Understanding
Identifying/Remembering
Analysing/ Creating
Peer or self evaluating.
All of the lessons are interactive, employ a variety of different teaching and learning methods and styles, and are visually-engaging. Resources, worksheets, and lesson plans are all provided.
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New GCSE English Language Reading: 19th Century Bundle Pack! (Context, Fiction, Non-Fiction)
This bundle contains all of the resources for:
- New GCSE English Language Reading: 19th Century Context; New GCSE English Language Reading: 19th Century Fiction; New GCSE English Language Reading: 19th Century Non-Fiction.
These informative and engaging lessons enable students to build the skills needed to interpret and analyse 19th Century non-fiction texts. This will aid students through the new GCSE English Language - for which they need to become confident readers of 19th, 20th, and 21st Century fiction and non-fiction texts. These resources give students a strong foundation of knowledge of features of fiction and non-fiction texts in the 19th Century, using a range of visual and varied resources. There are easily enough resources for at least two lessons within this resource pack.
The following resources are provided:
- Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint presentations;
- Visually engaging worksheets;
- Resources for all activities;
- Writing purposes help-sheet, to aid longer writing tasks;
- All Lesson plans;
All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of each PowerPoint. These lessons can also be bought individually - priced at £2.00 each
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Huge SPAG Lesson Bundle!
These engaging and detailed resources have been designed to make the learning of SPAG concepts (particularly prominent in the new curriculum) easily accessible, engaging and interesting for all children. Throughout each lesson, students learn to improve their skill at using appropriate, concise, and precise spelling, punctuation, and grammar, and practice employing them within their own writing compositions. Each lesson contains a comprehensive whole lesson PowerPoint, all of the worksheets/ resources that you will need, and a lesson plan.
The pack also includes a literacy writing mat to help students build their extended writing skills.
All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint/ the bottom of worksheets.
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Macbeth Huge Bundle!
THIS BUNDLE CONTAINS ALL OF THE MACBETH LESSONS, IN ADDITION TO THE COMPREHENSION ACTIVITY BOOKLET, THE MACBETH KNOWLEDGE ORGANISER, AND THE POINTLESS GAME!
This engaging, varied, and informative scheme of learning is designed to help students gain understanding, assessment skills, and key interpretations of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth.’ Made up of a wide-range of interesting and exciting lessons, students should complete this scheme having gathered vital skills in: interpreting the significant meanings of the text, understanding the writer’s ideas within the text, analysing key characters, settings, and themes, and understanding Shakespeare’s language devices.
Stimulating, visual, and easily adaptable, these lessons provide suggested learning objectives and outcomes for students of a wide-range of abilities - The vast majority of tasks are differentiated to allow for different abilities and needs in your classroom. Each lesson loosely follows this logical learning journey to ensure that students learn in bite-size steps:
- Engaging
- Defining/ Understanding
- Identifying/Remembering
- Analysing/ Creating
- Peer or self evaluating.
All of the lessons are interactive, employ a variety of different teaching and learning methods and styles, and are visually-engaging. Resources, worksheets, and lesson plans are all provided.
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Power and Conflict Poetry Comprehension Activity Booklets Bundle!
These 16-page resource booklets contain a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of all 15 of the ‘Power and Conflict’ poems in the newest exam board anthologies. Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for exam revision or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the key English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate.
Each booklet is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers).
Activities across the booklets are as consistent, to provide an equal understanding of each poem, and include (amongst many others):
‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’
‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’
‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’
‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’
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Love and Relationships Poetry Knowledge Organisers Huge Bundle!
THIS BUNDLE CONTAINS KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS FOR ALL 15 OF THE LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS POEMS!
These clear, detailed and visually-appealing knowledge organisers offer complete reference points for students learning or revising the following poems from the ‘Love and Relationships’ anthology:
Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy;
Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse;
Eden Rock - Charles Causley;
Follower -Seamus Heaney;
Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley;
Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley;
Mother, Any Distance - Simon Armitage;
Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy
Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning
Singh Song - Daljit Nagra
Sonnet 29: ‘I think of thee’ - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew
Walking Away - Cecil Day-Lewis
When We Two Parted - Lord Byron
Winter Swans - Owen Sheers
Each organiser contains a number of detailed, clear, and colourful sections explaining the key elements of the poem:
Context;
Line-by-Line Analysis;
Poetic Devices/ Language Devices;
Themes;
Form/Structure;
Poems for Comparison;
The Poet’s Influences.
The resources are designed to be printed onto A3, and are provided as both PDFs and Word documents (so that you can edit should you wish to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).
Private Peaceful: The Context of World War I
This engaging and informative lesson enables students to understand the key features of the historical context of World War I, in order to gain a clearer of understanding of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful. In particular, students learn about the horrific ordeal faced by young soldiers in WWI, and then relate their understanding of historical context to different plot features throughout the text.
The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through:
- Researching and understanding key information about World War I, including enlistment, life in the trenches, and accusations of cowardice;
- Linking the key features of context to sections of the text, including descriptions of Tommo’s trench and Charlie’s arrest;
- Reading selected extracts from the text, in order to link ideas regarding context and text together;
- Creating their own propaganda posters, detailing what war was really like for young soldiers;
- Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts;
Included is:
- Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive;
- Research Template
- Links to WWI worksheet (and answer sheet for teachers);
- Comprehensive lesson plan.
PDFs are included, and Word versions are in the zip file. There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 7 and 8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 3 and 9 with minimal adaptations.
Please note that students will need internet or library access to complete the research introduction task.
All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.
Teaching Phonics: The Basics CPD Session!
This informative, engaging CPD session is intended to offer a valuable introduction to phonics for teachers and support staff. It aims to enable participants to:
-To understand what phonics are and understand why they are widely used;
-To grasp key phonics terminology and apply it in different contexts;
-To break down the key phonics stages, comprehending how skills develop.
The session is aimed at those who are new to phonics. I myself moved from secondary to primary, and can understand how daunting phonics schemes can appear! These resources, whilst detailed, present ideas in a simple way, helping to make key ideas understandable. Included is:
A 27-slide colourful, clear PowerPoint presentation, including post-CPD quiz;
Resources for an optional card-sorting activity, to learn appropriate phonics terminology;
A comprehensive phonics helpsheet, detailing most of the main points from the session.
I hope that you find these resources helpful. Many thanks!
Romeo and Juliet: Act 3 Scene 1 - The Fight Scene!
This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to gain a detailed understanding of the fight scene in William Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Students learn to demonstrate a developed understanding of the plot and meanings throughout the scene, with the support of precisely-selected textual evidence. In particular, students consider Romeo’s struggle between love and honour throughout the duration of the scene, and how social demands lead him towards his demise.
The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be attentive and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey:
- Establishing the events leading up to the fight, including a discussion regarding the characters and events that make a physical confrontation inevitable;
- Reading and interpreting Act III Scene I, interpreting and inferring the key meanings;
- Understanding the key themes throughout the scene, including Romeo’s struggle between love and honour;
- More closely analysing the key meanings and developments within the scene;
- Peer/self evaluating the learning in the lesson.
Included in this resource pack are:
- A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation;
- Resources for the reading and interpreting activity - full scene transcript with space for notes;
- A closer analysis worksheet based upon Romeo’s struggle;
- A template to help scaffold the main task, complete with P.E.E instructions;
- A challenging and thought-provoking worksheet, and an answer sheet for the teacher.
All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.
Romeo and Juliet - KS2 Whole Class Reading Comprehension Lesson!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills whilst reading key extracts from an age-appropriate adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (the pages needed for the lesson are provided).
The extract is from the ‘Shakespeare Stories: Romeo and Juliet’ adaptation by Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross. The sections of the story that children read are when Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball (Act 1 Scene 5) and the balcony scene (Act 2 Scene 1).
The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s VIPERS skills: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, sequencing and summarising. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The text to read is provided in both PDF and Word format.
The session is best suited for children across KS2 - the lesson has been tried and tested with children in years 4 to 6. Hope that you find it useful!
Animal Farm: Old Major's Dream and The Revolution!
These resources enable students to understand and analyse the Old Major’s dream and the events of the animal revolution, in the opening two chapters of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. More precisely, students learn to make clear and accurate interpretations about events and characters, with appropriate links to the Orwell’s allegory and relationship to context.
Students learn through the following tasks:
- Gauging and collaborating previous knowledge through a discussion-based starter task;
- Reading the first two chapters and demonstrating their understanding through a related activity sheet;
- Developing their understanding of characters and context through a a making links activity;
- Analysing the allegorical nature of the opening chapters by further exploring the connections between characters and contexts;
- Peer assessing their partners’ learning attempts.
The following resources are provided:
- Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint (includes links for video)
- Teacher lesson guidance/plan;
- Chapters 1 and 2 worksheet;
- Making Links Activity Sheet (1x more difficult, 1 x easier);
- Copies of Chapters 1 and 2.
All images and videos are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint. Note - internet connection is needed if you plan to use the video.
Macbeth - Whole Class Reading Session!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills through reading an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. The adaptation was created by Neil Richards for BBC Teach, and the whole class reading session focuses explicitly on the first four acts.
The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop comprehension skills through VIPERS activities: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, and summarising. It also contains a vocabulary check and key context information to clarify any unfamiliar language and subject matter.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The extract needed is provided as PDF, but I’ve also a link to a web-based version of the playscript on the first slide.
The session is tried and tested, and was initially delivered to a high-attaining year 6 class, although with only minor adaptations I believe the questions and content would be suitable for those in years 5-8.
Arctic Star - Whole Class Reading Session!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Tom Palmer’s ‘Arctic Star.’
The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities.
The session is best suited for children in upper KS2. I originally used this with Year 5-6 children, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.
Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie - Whole Class Reading Session!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan.’
The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities.
The session is best suited for children in Year 5 and 6, but it could feasibly be used with slightly older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.
The Paper Dolls - Whole Class Reading Session!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills through reading Julia Donaldson’s ‘The Paper Dolls.’
The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities.
The session is best suited for children in years 1-2, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.
The Legend of Spud Murphy - Whole Class Reading Session!
This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension of the opening chapter of Eoin Colfer’s ‘The Legend of Spud Murphy.’
It contains a link to the online chapter (on the first slide - also provided as PDF). This is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language.
The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities.
The session is best suited for children in years 2-3, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.