This straightforward activity uses an excerpt from Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story, “The Horror of the Heights” in which an aviator discovers a new ecosystem at a height of 40,000 feet. The tasks increase in difficulty and focus on: vocabulary, information retrieval, inference and analysis. Useful for homework, home learning or cover. Could be used with a small group to structure a guided reading activity.

This activity uses an excerpt from “The Beetle” by Richard Marsh which could slot into a unit on monsters, horror, tension and so on. It could be used for homework, as a cover activity or for small group work, to structure a guided reading session. The resource has the extract, taken from early in the novel, and the questions focus on vocabulary, information retrieval, inference, comprehension (of the structure) and analysis. The questions could be tweaked for greater depth or alternatively used as a springboard into a discussion of greater depth. The resource was planned for KS3 but could be used at KS4 to develop students’ confidence in reading this kind of challenging text.

A walkthrough of Thomas Hardy’s “Neutral Tones” intended to be a first teaching of the poem for candidates preparing for their GCSE English Literature exam. When it comes to looking at Hardy’s use of oxymorons with “tedious riddles” and “grin of bitterness”, the ppt makes reference to some of Shakespeare’s methods in “Romeo and Juliet”. This is because this class is also studying the play so the references are intended to support a bit of recall. The final slide sets a homework - there is a multiple-choice quiz also available on TES (though listed separately).

This straightforward activity uses Sara Teasdale’s poem, “Summer Storm”. There are 12 multiple-choice questions. Answers are provided. This quiz could be used to embed knowledge and understanding once the poem has been taught. Alternatively, it could be set as pre-reading or used to structure a guided reading session, as some questions could be used as a springboard into further discussion.

This straightforward activity uses Sara Teasdale’s “Central Park at Dusk” and there are ten, multiple-choice questions (answers provided). Could be set as homework after teaching the poem to embed and consolidate knowledge. Could be set as a pre-reading activity so that subsequent teaching can be more sharply focused. Could be used to structure a guided reading session.

This straightforward activity uses Sara Teasdale’s love poem, “Come”. There are 11 multiple-choice questions. Answers are provided. This quiz could be used to embed knowledge and understanding once the poem has been taught. Alternatively, it could be set as pre-reading or used to structure a guided reading session, as some questions could be used as a springboard into further discussion.

Planned for year 7 as part of their home learning work, this might also be of use for children at the top end of KS2. This straightforward activity uses an excerpt from Ingersoll Lockwood’s “Baron Trump’s Marvellous Underground Journey”. There are ten questions. This task could be used for home learning, as a cover activity, for homework or to structure a discussion about the text, either whole-class or as part of a guided reading session. The third page has notes in italics which suggest the kind of answers that might be expected from a student at KS3.

This is a straightforward, multiple-choice quiz on Robert Graves’ “Two Fusiliers”. There are twenty questions. Answers are provided. This could be set as homework once the poem has been studied in class. Alternatively, it could be used for flipped learning, to identify any gaps in knowledge and understanding prior to a lesson on the poem. The questions could be used to structure a guided reading session and spark discussion.

This activity uses Ambrose Bierce’s caustic poem in which Bierce is fiercely critical of government and monarchy. There are 24 multiple-choice questions (answers provided). This could be used as a homework activity after a study of the poem. Alternatively, it could be set as pre-reading to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching of the poem can be more precisely focused. Could also be used to structure a guided reading session.

This resource uses a poem called “The Walkers” by Robert William Service. The poem uses strong contrast to explore ideas about wealth and poverty - and gender. As a consequence, this poem would sit neatly alongside the teaching of “An Inspector Calls”. The resource features a multiple-choice quiz with 14 questions (answers provided) which is intended to furnish students with some ideas that they can then use in a response to the question: How does the writer express the two speakers’ ideas about where and why they walk? Suitable for use in class, for homework or as a task for home learning. *Please be aware that the female speaker has been driven to prostitution through poverty and there are references to this in the poem. *

This is a straightforward comprehension activity using a recount by George Finch and describing extreme weather during an expedition to climb Mount Everest. There are ten questions requiring a focus on analysis of the writer’s methods as well as some inference. The questions could be used as a starting point for a guided reading session and are useful for revision of key reading skills.

This is a straightforward comprehension activity, useful for home learning, for homework, for cover or to structure a guided reading activity (perhaps to assess and support the key reading skills of inference and anaysis). There are ten questions.

This is a multiple-choice quiz with 14 questions used to support the teaching of “A Christmas Carol” by giving students a bit of context in terms of Victorian poverty. Answers are provided. This could be used as a starter activity, as (originally planned) as homework or to structure a guided reading activity with less confident learners - some questions lend themselves to further discussion of ‘how’ and ‘why’ the writer’s methods work as they do.

This is a simple and straightforward activity that uses Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Kiss”. There are 22 multiple-choice questions. This could be used as homework or a plenary after studying the poem in class. Alternatively, it could be used as a starter or as a pre-reading activity so that subsequent teaching can be more precisely focused. Answers are provided.

This could be used as a walking/talking mock exam. It’s a very straightforward powerpoint with example questions 1, 2, 3 and 4 from paper 1 of the AQA English Language exam. The powerpoint presents the questions and little more - there is some guidance to remind students how to approach question 2 and the Word document containing the extract has space on the right for students to make notes to help them answer question 3. The text used is pre-1914 so no worries about copyright infringement.

This is a simple and straightforward powerpoint using questioning to elicit ideas that the students can then use to annotate their texts or copies of the sonnet that is Romeo and Juliet’s first conversation. The lesson begins with a quick quiz (answers provided on the subsequent slide so pupils can mark their own). A couple of the questions could elicit deeper questioning. Thereafter, the questions focus on the language and structure of the sonnet.

This is a straightforward but lengthy quiz so suitable for homework. The text used is James Shirley’s “Death the Leveller”. There are 21 questions. Answers are provided. If used in class, this could be used as a pre-reading activity prior to a lesson on tackling unseen poetry. The quiz could identify gaps in knowledge and understanding enabling subsequent teaching to be more precisely focused. Alternatively, answers to the quiz could be used as a scaffold for students in answering a question about how the poet presents ideas about power - for example. The questions could be used to structure a guided reading activity, some providing a springboard for further questioning to deepen understanding. It’s a Word document so questions can be added, removed or edited to suit the focus of your teaching.

This is a simple and straightforward activity based on a letter of 4th February 1917 written by Wilfred Owen to his mother, Susan. The letter has been slightly abridged. There are 12 multiple-choice questions (answers provided). The first question is basic information retrieval. Subsequent questions ask pupils to identify methods and draw inferences. Some questions can act as springboards for deeper questioning. This could be set for a homework or used as a pre-teaching activity to identify gaps in pupil knowledge and understanding.

16 questions on the Queen Mab speech. Could be used as a pre-reading activity to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching can be more sharply focused. Could be set as homework to embed learning. Word document so editable. Answers provided.

Planned for KS3 (11-14) as part of a project on stretch and challenge, this lesson uses Edith Nesbit’s “The Grey Folk”. The aim of the lesson is to use close reading to support an evaluation of the poem. There are 10 slides, which include questioning. The settler activity encourages a close look at the poem’s title, asking pupils to think about the connotations of the colour, how the colour establishes mood - and why, the impact of the definite article and the effect of the plural. There is then a close focus on the setting and the use of personification in the first verse. Thereafter the focus changes to the writer’s use of the metaphor with ‘the green fields of yesterday’ and pupils are asked to consider the effect of the contrast of grey and green. The final zoom in is on the repetition of the modal verb in the final verse - “they will not”. After this, pupils are asked to draw their learning together, recording at least five ideas that support the idea that this poem is about ghosts. They are then asked to think, pair and share to come up with an answer to the question - if this poem is not about ghosts, what might it be about? Finally, pupils are asked to explain to what extent they agree with the statement that this is NOT a poem about ghosts. If the writing is to be undertaken in class, this will go across more than an hour’s teaching time. Alternatively, the questioning and note taking can be done in class and the written response set for homework