Lesson Series: Exploring ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe Learning Objectives: Understand how Edgar Allan Poe explores Gothic literature, the concept of madness, and macabre themes in “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Lesson 1: Introduction to Gothic Literature and "The Tell-Tale Heart" Discuss and write down initial thoughts on how “The Tell-Tale Heart” might fit into the Gothic genre based on these features. Lesson 2: The Concept of Madness in "The Tell-Tale Heart" Number key events in the story to arrange the plot in chronological order. Using these events, create a “Madness Progression” graph, plotting the narrator’s descent into madness on a scale of 1 to 10. Lesson 3: Symbolism and Atmosphere in "The Tell-Tale Heart" Students create a movie poster that captures the story’s themes, focusing on madness, obsession, and Gothic elements. Encourage use of dark colours, shadowy figures, and symbolic imagery (like the eye or heart) to convey the atmosphere.

A fun lesson that I made for my Year 9 class whilst doing a scheme of learning on People and Relationships Poetry. It uses the song ‘Exile’ by Taylor Swift to teach perspectives in poetry, as well as to help sell the idea that modern poetry/songs wouldn’t be possible without the poets of the past! Can be used for unseen poetry for a bit of end of term fun at GCSE, half-term homework, or just general poetry lesson!

A lesson I made for my Y9 class which focuses on Sylvia Plath’s poem, ‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’, focuses on how people can become victims of relationships. The Unit this originates from is a People and Relationships Poetry SOW Can be used to practise English GCSE Poetry analysis skills, I taught to KS3 Y9, but can be adapted.

A Scheme of Work (SOW) that I made for my KS3 Year 9 English class, it is focused on GCSE English Language Paper 2 Skills. It uses ‘relevant’ topics such as whether or not Barbie is a feminist masterpiece, whether or not guns should be banned in the US and also focuses on things such as compulsory voting (there is a whole lesson dedicated to the recent UK General Election of 2024 for this) and issues such as capital punishment. My class really got on quite well with this last year, you can easily adapt it too! Not all lessons have powerpoints, but most do.

FREE FIRST LESSON - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13149689 FREE SECOND LESSON - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13152951 PLANNING AND RESEARCH SHEETS -https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13153398 A whole unit of lessons (ten lessons - although some lessons may take longer!) which uses Bill Bryson’s Travelogue/Travel Writing style as inspiration to write an English Language GCSE Paper 1 Section B style response! The focus of these lessons is to help students write engaging travelogues inspired by Bill Bryson’s style. The lessons emphasise the use of humor, vivid descriptions, character observations, cultural engagement, and personal reflections to create compelling travel narratives. Students are guided through drafting, editing, and refining their work with practical exercises, planning tools, and peer feedback to enhance their storytelling. I have previously uploaded an earlier version of this SOW, but it was made when I was teaching the class I made it for once a week, so I have heavily edited it, expanded it and made it much more substantial! Travel Writing Scheme of Work which can be used for Mixed ability Y7 and Y8 groups, or a lower ability Y9. Could even be adapted for GCSE or “flip”/step-up lower ability KS4 English groups.