I provide high quality, tried and tested materials, developed over 17 years of teaching KS3-5. There is material to support G3/4 students as well as material to push for G8 and G9s.
I provide high quality, tried and tested materials, developed over 17 years of teaching KS3-5. There is material to support G3/4 students as well as material to push for G8 and G9s.
This unit has everything you need to teach ‘The Woman in Black’ at KS3. It is a fantastic gothic horror novel, and the children are genuinely enthralled by this novel as the secrets are revealed, complimented by the movie with Daniel Radcliffe as an end of unit treat!
This unit of work includes 18 lessons and comes with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar paragraphs, activities to exploit drama, extracts from the text and opportunities for creative writing. Page numbers refer to the 1998 Vintage edition.
Lesson 1: The gothic genre
Lesson 2: Creating a gothic atmosphere
Lesson 3: How Susan Hill uses pathetic fallacy
Lesson 4: Tracking Arthur’s progress north
Lesson 5: Creating mystery and expectation
Lesson 6: Character reactions
Lesson 7: Leaving clues
Lesson 8: Creative Writing
Lesson 9: Writing a formal letter
Lesson 10: Hiding secrets
Lesson 11: How Susan Hill creates tension
Lesson 12: Using rhetorical devices
Lesson 13: Using clues to form predictions
Lesson 14: The letters
Lesson 15: The Ending
Lesson 16: Prepare your assessment
Lesson 17: Write your assessment
Lesson 18: Feedback and improvement
There is an opportunity to assess the students’ progress at the end of the novel in an essay on how Susan Hill creates a sense of mystery.
Are you looking to teach Gothic Horror at KS3, but don’t want to spend hours preparing? Then you have come to the right place!
Develop greater understanding of the conventions of Gothic literature and the horror genre
Analyze how famous authors of Gothic literature used characterization, description, and various literary devices that are consistent with the horror genre
The texts covered are extracts and short stories from: Twilight, Great Expectations, The Werewolf, The Evil Priest, The Woman in Black, Tell Tale Heart and more
Please note, for "The Darker Side of St Ives" lesson you will need to buy a copy of Shanty Baba’s CD, which is available online.
Lesson 1: An introduction to gothic horror
Lesson 2: Creating vampires
Lesson 3: The gothic in Great Expectations
Lesson 4: The Darker Side of St Ives
Lesson 5: The Werewolf by Angela Carter
Lesson 6: Creating school ghost tales
Lesson 7: Performing your tale to the group
Lesson 8: Gerunds and adverbial phrases in The Evil Priest
Lesson 9: The Woman in Black
Lesson 10-11: Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
This unit is ideal as an introduction to how the writer creates setting at KS3 and will save you hours of preparation time! It has 13 lessons focusing on how a writer creates a setting, characters, mood and atmosphere. This unit extends into creative writing so the students can create their own settings and characters. It is fully resourced with PowerPoints, dramatic activities and quizzes. This is perfect for early GCSE preparation on writing to describe.
Lesson 1: describing workhouse in Oliver Twist
Lesson 2: analysing the workhouse
Lesson 3-5: Monkey’s Paw by WW Jacobs
Lesson 6: act out Monkey’s Paw and write your own story
Lesson 7: describing Dracula’s castle
Lesson 8: describing Frankenstein’s laboratory
Lesson 9: writing a London ghost tour
Lesson 10: the legend of Jack the Ripper
Lesson 11: analysing and evaluating the suspects
Lesson 12: Dracula assessment
Lesson 13: assessment feedback
Make public speaking fun and interactive! Help your students conquer their fear of standing up by getting them to explore subjects they love, and are desperate to tell the world about!
This unit of work would suit Grade 7 or Grade 8. There are 10 lessons covering a variety of speeches and rhetorical devices, as well as a final activity for students to write their own inspirational speech. It is fully resourced with ppts, contextual information to illuminate understanding, extracts and activities to promote positive body language. This is perfect for early Speaking and Listening preparation.
Lesson 1: persuasive devices
Lesson 2: debating
Lesson 3: Emma Watson’s speech at the UN
Lesson 4: George Bush’s defense of America after 9/11
Lesson 5: using body language and voice
Lesson 6: your future ambitions
Lesson 7: how to spend money on your school
Lesson 8: analyzing persuasive speeches in movies
Lesson 9: planning a speech
Lesson 10: writing and performing a speech to go to Mars
If your students find Shakespeare dull and inaccessible, this is the unit for you. The lessons are focused on staging a shipwreck, costume, props, bringing the play to life and contextually understanding Elizabethan views of slavery, love, revenge and violence.
This scheme of work designed as a way into Shakespeare at KS3. It includes opportunities for online research and extract analysis from the most popular plays. It is fully resourced with fun facts, quizzes and creative writing lessons. It also works well with Roland Emmerich’s 2012 ‘Anonymous’ , as the plays studied match the plays performed in the film, allowing the students to see the words come to life on the stage.
Lesson 1: Othello
Lesson 2: Othello feedback
Lesson 3: Romeo and Juliet
Lesson 4: Agony Aunt writing for Juliet
Lesson 5: Romeo and Juliet movie analysis
Lesson 6: Anthony and Cleopatra
Lesson 7: Sonnet 130
Lesson 8: Macbeth witches
Lesson 9: Iago
Lesson 10: Midsummer Night’s Dream
Lesson 11: Midsummer Night’s Dream
Lesson 12: Hamlet
Lesson 13: Richard III
Lesson 14: The Tempest
Lesson 15: Caliban
Lesson 16: Staging
Lesson 17: Henry V
Lesson 18: King Lear plot
Lesson 19: King Lear A1S1
Lesson 20: Midsummer Night’s Epilogue
Do you find it difficult to engage teenagers, especially boys, with creative writing and story telling?
This unit includes everything you need to teach Fantasy Writing at KS3 . It includes 10 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, exemplar paragraphs, IWB resources and extracts. This unit works well with boy heavy groups who are interested in fantasy worlds and science fiction such as Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones.
Lesson 1: Verb-Noun collocations in Lord of the Rings
Lesson 2: How fantasy writers create characters
Lesson 3: Describing a market in Game of Thrones
Lesson 4: Structuring a story in an enchanted forest
Lesson 5: How George RR Martin uses language
Lesson 6: How George RR Martin uses structure
Lesson 7: Designing a presentation
Lesson 8: Describing an alien planet in Star Wars
Lesson 9: How to describe a castle
Lesson 10: The Weird Sisters in Macbeth
This 21 lesson unit of work for Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, contains comprehension by chapter, vocabulary challenges, creative writing opportunities, the trial of Jack Will, camp planning, friend dilemmas and much more!
This literature unit is teacher and student friendly. It contains a wide variety of activities, along with open-ended questions and role plays that will enthrall your students, especially those who have just started at a new school, as Auggie overcomes the challenges students face on a daily basis.
The unit ends with an assessment evaluating Jack Will’s role as a friend and his relationship with Auggie. It is supported by extracts and important pages in the novel, so the students don’t have to trawl through 400 pages looking for a quote!
Lesson 1: First day at middle school
Lesson 2: Treacher-Collins syndrome
Lesson 3: Jack, Julian and Charlotte
Lesson 4: bullying
Lesson 5: write your own precept
Lesson 6: Halloween
Lesson 7: Via’s perspective
Lesson 8: the trial of Jack Will
Lesson 9: Summer
Lesson 10: Jack Will
Lesson 11: the parents
Lesson 12: Justin
Lesson 13: dealing with bereavement
Lesson 14: losing friendships
Lesson 15: the camping trip
Lesson 16: the fight and social acceptance
Lesson 17: the aftermath
Lesson 18: graduation
Lesson 19: prepare your assessment
Lesson 20: write your assessment
Lesson 21: assessment feedback
This unit contains everything you need to teach myths and legends at KS3, and it will save you hours of preparation! This unit of work includes 10 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar answers, quizzes and the classical stories. The unit includes:
Lesson 1: Online research of classic fables
Lesson 2: Echo and Narcissus
Lesson 3: The Illiad
Lesson 4: The Odyssey
Lesson 5: Theseus and The Minotaur
Lesson 6: King Midas
Lesson 7: Arachne
and much more…
Are you looking for an original way to hook visual learners into creative writing?
This unit of work contains everything you need to teach Descriptive Writing at KS3 and is fantastic early preparation for English language descriptive writing. It includes 13 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, exemplar answers, IWB interactive resources, intriguing pictures, activities to exploit drama and poems. It uses classic art as inspiration, such as Bird in an Air Pump, Thomas Chatterton and The Lady of Shalott.
Lesson 1: Bird in an Air Pump by Joseph Wright
Lesson 2: Chatterton by Henry Wallis
Lesson 3-4: The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse
Lesson 5: Voice in Not My Best Side by UA Fanthorpe
Lesson 6: Original Writing
Lesson 7: How to create original characters
Lesson 8: Describing alien planets in Star Wars
Lesson 9: Describing The Iron Islands in Game of Thrones
Lesson 10: Narrative Viewpoint in Assassin’s Creed
Lesson 11: Planning your assessment on ‘The Scream’
Lesson 12: Writing your assessment
Lesson 13: Assessment feedback
This scheme of work contains everything you need to teach Narrative Writing at KS3. This unit of work is great preparation for AQA Paper 1 for English language. It includes 13 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson ppts, exemplar paragraphs, IWB interactive resources, activities to exploit drama, media activities and fun ways to engage the students using horror writing.
Lesson 1: How to create tension in your writing
Lesson 2: Using camera angles
Lesson 3: Filming your Sandman
Lesson 4: Designing a storyboard
Lesson 5: Narrating over the Sandman
Lesson 6: Planning and structure
Lesson 7: Editing, extending and improving
Lesson 8: Focus on grammar
Lesson 9: Focus on sentence structure
Lesson 10: Planning your story
Lesson 11: Writing your story
Lesson 12: Less is more - being concise
Lesson 13: Designing a Sandman poster
Everything you need to teach unseen poetry at KS5. This unit of work includes 22 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar material, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. It covers poetry eras such as: Renaissance, Cavalier, Metaphysical, Romantic, Victorian, Modernist and The Beats. This unit of work has been designed for the AQA A-level course but is adaptable to fit other exam board specifications.
Lesson 1: what makes a poem a poem?
Lesson 2-3: poetry era research
Lesson 4: scansion: rhythm, rhyme and meter
Lesson 5: Family relationships in modern poetry
Lesson 6: Male/female relationships in modern poetry
Lesson 7: Loss in Renaissance and Romantic poetry
Lesson 8: Romantic love in Edwardian and Victorian poetry
Lesson 9: Romantic love in the Renaissance
Lesson 10: The Cavaliers
Lesson 11: Romantic love in Cavalier and Metaphysical poetry
Lesson 12: Family relationships and regret in modern poetry
Lesson 13: Family relationships in modern poetry
Lesson 14: The Metaphysicals
Lesson 15: Romantic love in Cavalier and Victorian poetry
Lesson 16: Individual poet research
Lesson 17: The use of satire in Restoration and Beat poetry
Lesson 18: Hitting the assessment objectives
Lesson 19: Breaking Up in modern poetry
Lesson 20: Romantic Love in Modernist and Victorian poetry
This unit contains everything you need to teach Othello at KS5, and will save you hours of preparation time! It includes 26 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes and opportunities for extract analysis. The page numbers refer to the Cambridge School Shakespeare edition. This unit of work has been designed for the AQA A-level course but is adaptable to fit other exam board specifications.
Lesson 1: Plot overview and key lines
Lesson 2: Shakespearean language and use of sounds
Lesson 3: Context reading and application
Lesson 4: Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio in A1S1
Lesson 5: Impressions of Othello in A1S1
Lesson 6: Challenging stereotypes in A1S2
Lesson 7: Othello’s use of verse and prose in A1S3
Lesson 8: Focus on Iago in A1S3
Lesson 9: The importance of Cyprus as a setting
Lesson 10: Iago in A2S1
Lesson 11: Cassio in A2S3
Lesson 12: Shakespeare’s use of body language in A2S3
Lesson 13: Analysing Cassio’s actions in A3S1
Lesson 14: Iago’s tactics in A3S3
Lesson 15: Focus on essay writing
Lesson 16: Analyse how and why Othello has changed
Lesson 17: Comparing Bianca, Desdemona and Emilia
Lesson 18: Iago’s use of manipulation in A4S1
Lesson 19: Othello and colour prejudice - GK Hunter
Lesson 20: Desdemona’s plea in A4S2
Lesson 21: Extract to essay in A4S2
Lesson 22: The willow scene in A4S3
Lesson 23: Street fight in A5S1
Lesson 24:Desdemona’s death in A5S2
Lesson 25: Essay marking
Lesson 26: Poetic justice in A5S2
This unit contains everything you need to teach Streetcar at KS5. It includes 22 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Each lesson targets a scene in the play, a theme or a character. I have used it forthe last 5 years to teach top students who have gone on to achieve A* grades and study English Literature at Oxford and Cambridge.
Page numbers refer to the Penguin Modern Classics edition. This scheme of work has been designed for the AQA A level course. It looks at areas like:
Lesson 1: Naturalist and Expressionist theatre
Lesson 2: Context research on the deep south, the civil war, post WW2 immigration, 1940s New Orleans, The Southern Gothic and Tennessee Williams’ family
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: Impressions of Blanche
Lesson 5: Intertextuality with Ulalume
Lesson 6: The significance of Belle Reve
Lesson 7: Williams’ use of staging
Lesson 8: The Poker Game and Sonnet 43
Lesson 9: Blanche and The Southern Belle
Lesson 10: The allure of aggressive men
Lesson 11: Comparing Blanche and Stella
Lesson 12: The Southern Gent and Shep Huntleigh
Lesson 13: Violence in Streetcar
Lesson 14: Essay writing
Lesson 15: Fantasy and self-deception
Lesson 16: Elia Kazan’s influence
Lesson 17: Is Stan a victim or a villain?
Lesson 18: The relationship between Blanche and Mitch
Lesson 19: Essay marking
Lesson 20: Sherman’s march through Georgia
Lesson 21: Blanche’s lament for the South
Lesson 22: Themes and critics
This unit contains everything you need to make The Great Gatsby fun, exciting and relevant to the students’ world. It includes 21 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Page numbers refer to the Wordsworth Classics edition. The lessons focus on a different chapter and aspect of Gatsby, such as:
Lesson 1: The American Dream
Lesson 2: Gatsby contextual research
Lesson 3: 1920s research
Lesson 4: Alternative titles and the epigraph
Lesson 5: East Egg vs West Egg
Lesson 6: A Superficial Society
Lesson 7: Comparing Jordan, Daisy and Myrtle
Lesson 8: The Outsider
Lesson 9: Conspicuous Consumption
Lesson 10: The Great Gatsby Debate
Lesson 11: Illusion and Reality
Lesson 12: Analysing structure
Lesson 13: Themes, symbols and motifs
Lesson 14: Idealism and Romanticism
Lesson 15: James Gatz
Lesson 16: Analysing Daisy
Lesson 17: Daisy and Tom
Lesson 18: Religious references
Lesson 19: Gatsby’s funeral
Lesson 20: The Ending
Lesson 21: The Outsider
Lesson 22: Desire
This unit contains everything you need to teach Mean Time at High School. It includes 17 lessons covering ‘Mean Time’ and allows ample opportunity to compare poems and themes. It is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Each lesson covers one of the poems, or gives the students the chance to reflect and build on previous learning by linking themes and style.
Lesson 1: an introduction to poetry
Lesson 2: rhyme, rhythm and meter
Lesson 3: an introduction to Duffy
Lesson 4: context research
Lesson 5: context quiz
Lesson 6: Captain of the 1964….
Lesson 7: Nostalgia
Lesson 8: Before You Were Mine
Lesson 9: Beachcomber
Lesson 10: First Love
Lesson 11: Valentine
Lesson 12: Essay planning
Lesson 13: The Biographer
Lesson 14: Litany
Lesson 15: Stafford Afternoons
Lesson 16: The Cliche Kid
Lesson 17: Small Female Skull
Lesson 18: Never Go Back
Lesson 19: Close
Lesson 20: Mean Time
Everything you need to teach Murmuring Judges at KS5. This unit of work includes 40 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and articles that explore the relationship between the 3 branches of the criminal justice system. Page numbers refer to the Faber and Faber edition.
This unit contains everything you need to teach Lady Windermere’s Fan at KS5. It includes 22 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. The page numbers refer to the New Mermaid’s edition. Each lesson focuses chronologically on a different scene and analyses a different aspect of the play.
Lesson 1: Plot and characters quiz
Lesson 2: Context research
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: The aesthetic movement
Lesson 5: Expectations of Victorian women
Lesson 6: Socialism
Lesson 7: Marriage
Lesson 8: Society and morality
Lesson 9: Fin de siecle
Lesson 10: Comparing the female roles
Lesson 11: The importance of marriage
Lesson 12: The “new” woman
Lesson 13: DVD and plot lesson
Lesson 14: Mrs Erlynne
Lesson 15: The Dandy
Lesson 16: Comparing the male characters
Lesson 17: the moral messages of the play
Lesson 18: A “good” woman
Lesson 19: Secrets and lies
Lesson 20:Reputations
Lesson 21: Character reviews
Lesson 22: Extract practice
This unit contains everything you need to teach Jane Eyre at KS5 and will save you hours of preparation! It includes 32 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Each lesson is designed to look at a different chapter and aspect of Jane Eyre. The page numbers refer to the World’s Classics edition with an introduction by Margaret Smith.
Lesson 1: Applying context
Lesson 2: Jane Eyre’s childhood
Lesson 3: The significance of the red room
Lesson 4: Chapter summaries
Lesson 5: Jane’s education
Lesson 6: Freedom Past Paper
Lesson 7: Coming of Age
Lesson 8: Helen Burns
Lesson 9: Thornfield
Lesson 10: Male and Female
Lesson 11: Victorian Women
Lesson 12: The significance of the paintings
Lesson 13: Rochester and Jane
Lesson 14: Gothic Romance
Lesson 15: Ice and Fire
Lesson 16: Mystery in Chapter 17
Lesson 17: Blanche Ingram
Lesson 18: The Fortune Teller
Lesson 19: Gateshead
Lesson 20: The paintings
Lesson 21: Pathetic fallacy
Lesson 22: The Jane Eyre debate
Lesson 23: Dreams and reality
Lesson 24: Thornfield
Lesson 25: Bertha Mason
Lesson 26: Bertha Past Paper
Lesson 27: The struggle for the self
Lesson 28: The role of religion
Lesson 29: The Rivers
Lesson 30: Critical Readings
Lesson 31: Return to Thornfield
Lesson 32: The Ending
Are you looking for a fresh and creative way to teach Romeo and Juliet? I recently studied for my Certificate for Teaching Shakespeare at the RSC in Stratford and it has revolutionized the way I teach the bard.
This unit contains everything you need to teach Romeo and Juliet at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills, analyzing extracts for English Literature and bringing the play to life. It includes 31 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extract analysis and opportunities for online research. Page numbers refer to the Cambridge Shakespeare edition.
Each lesson is focused on a scene from the play, so you can easily cut this unit down to focus specifically on a key scene and a theme from the play. I have designed this unit to make it relevant to teenage audiences, so we look at themes like:
the role of women, both then and now
expectations of masculinity in men
the role of the theatre
why set it in Verona?
toxic masculinity in Act 1 Scene 1
the role of a father
suppression and rebellion
violence
role models
and much more…
Are you looking for a fresh and creative way to teach Macbeth? To enlighten students on the human condition, power and corruption? I recently studied for my Certificate for Teaching Shakespeare at the RSC in Stratford and it has revolutionized the way I teach the bard.
This unit contains everything you need to teach Macbeth at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills, analyzing extracts for English Literature and bringing the play to life. It includes 30 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extract analysis and opportunities for online research. Page numbers refer to the Cambridge Shakespeare edition.
Lesson 1: Context
Lesson 2: Shakespearean language
Lesson 3: The plot
Lesson 4: The characters
Lesson 5: A1S1 The witches
Lesson 6: Is Macbeth a hero in A1S2?
Lesson 7: A1S3 The Witches’ prophecies
Lesson 8: A1S5 Lady Macbeth
Lesson 9: A1S7 Macbeth’s soliloquy
Lesson 10: Act 1 Review
Lesson 11: A2S1 Soliloquys
Lesson 12: A2S2 Comparing The Macbeths
Lesson 13: A2S3 Staging Duncan’s murder
Lesson 14: A2S4 Nature and Divine Right to rule
Lesson 15: Act 2 Review
Lesson 16: A3S1 Banquo’s murder
Lesson 17: A3S2 The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Lesson 18: A3S3 Banquo’s death speech
Lesson 19: A3S4 The banquet
Lesson 20: A3S6 Lennox’s suspicions
Lesson 21: Act 3 Review
Lesson 22: A4S1 The Witches
Lesson 23: A4S2 The murder of the MacDuffs
Lesson 24: Comparing Macbeth and MacDuff
Lesson 25: Macduff’s reaction
Lesson 26: A5S1 Lady Macbeth’s madness
Lesson 27: A5S3 Macbeth reclaims his heroism
Lesson 28: A5S5 The death of Lady Macbeth
Lesson 29: A5S8 Good vs Evil
Lesson 30: Act 5 Review