I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
Revision guide to support student revision of 'Of Mice and Men'
This resource could be useful as an ongoing homework project as students read the novella in class.
8 fully differentiated lesson (by colour) that support the teaching of writing speeches. (Spoken language) Lessons are meticulously planned and culminate with students writing a speech on a topic that interests them.
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
Speeches that are used as a stimulus:
- Emma Watson
- Winston Churchill
- Queen Elizabeth I
- George W Bush
- Napoleon (Animal Farm)
Students will practice writing speeches using the following topics:
- increase in legal driving age
- importance of mobile phones
- social media
Students will develop the following skills:
- speech writing using the 6 part structure
- persuasive writing
- speaking and listening
- developing effective openings
Over 10 lessons worth of resources to support the teaching of spoken language. All lessons are meticulously planned and fully differentiated by colour. These lessons are ready to go and are numbered for ease of use.
Ideal for use in KS3 given the removal of this component as part of GCSE.
Differentiation:
purple - lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
These resources allow students to identify and analyse the following spoken language techniques:
- face threatening acts
- jargon
- accent and dialect
- formal and informal talk
- Adjacency pairs
- back channel features
- Fillers and hedges
- Holding the floor
- turn taking
- overlapping speech
- standard English
- spontaneous speech
Students will explore spoken language taken from the following sources:
- Catharine Tate as Lauren in the UK sitcom
- Jeremy Paxman interview with Russell Brand
- Ali G interview with Tony Benn
- Jonathan Ross interview with Lady Gaga
- Board room conversations taken from the Junior apprentice
- Classroom talk taken from Highgate Wood school
- Transcripts of students talking with teachers
Links provided for YouTube video clips to allow students to observe the spoken language before analysing
Planning sheets, card sort of techniques, homework tasks and analysis writing frames are also included.
A wide range of ideas and resources for speaking and listening assessments at KS2/KS3.
Speaking and listening lessons included based around:
- Man V food
- Arguing that cats are better than dogs
- Deserted house - selling houses
- Murder mystery
- Banning Christmas
- 50 things to do before you die
- persuasive speeches
Teacher and peer/self assessment proformas also included
Fully differentiated resources to teach Act 4 scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's dream. Focus on the creation of imagery within the scene.
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
Blue - middle ability
yellow = higher ability
A speaking and listening (role play and drama) resource is also included.
Resources to support the teaching of Edgar Allan Poe short stories. (Gothic literature) Lessons are numbered for ease of use.
Short stories resourced:
- Masque of the red death
- The pit and the pendulum
- The tell tale heart
Resources provide opportunities for students to:
- write imaginatively
- analyse language
- develop speaking and listening skills
- explore context - black death
- explore structure
20 full differentiated (by colour) and meticulously planned lessons to support the teaching of reading and writing skills. These lessons are ready to go.
Ideal for transition from KS2 to KS3, for year 6, year 7 or year 8 classes.
Within these lessons students are exposed to a wide range of fiction, non fiction and literary non fiction texts and will use these as a stimulus for creating their own texts.
These lessons allow students to develop skills for accessing the new English language and English literature 9-1 specifications.
Students will explore the following texts/extracts:
- Article on bats
- Extract from the Twits & BFG - Roald Dahl
- Extract from Frankenstein
- Extract from A Christmas Carol
- Extracts from autobiographies
- Extract from Bill Bryson - travel writing (non-fiction literary)
- Extract from Bleak house
- The Lion the witch and the wardrobe
- blogs
- poetry - Sister Maude, Mother any distance
- articles about Friendship
Students will develop the following skills in preparation for accessing new 9-1 GCSE
- Synthesis
- Comparison
- Language. structure, form analysis
- Theme exploration
- Analytical writing
- Imaginative writing - narrative and descriptive
- Transactional writing
Assessment opportunities and homework tasks also included
Carousel activities which allow students to revise the context of Elizabethan England and practice analysing extracts from the play as well as referring to the play as a whole.
Differentiated to allow students to structure an exam response which culminates in an exam practice question.
Two exam questions also included in the structure of the 9-1 literature examination.
Extracts taken from:
Act 1 scene 5
Act 2 scene 2
Act 2 scene 3
Act 4 scene 3
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue - middle ability
yellow = higher ability
Over 13 fully differentiated and meticulously planned lessons to support the teaching of Beowulf as part of the study of the history of the English language. Lessons are numbered for ease of use.
These lessons re ready to go. Download and teach. The lessons help students to make progress against the skills needed for the new 9-1 English specifications.
Assessments included and homework tasks.
Differentiation:
purple = lower ability
blue - middle ability
yellow = higher ability
Resources provide opportunities to:
- analyse language
- explore context
- write creatively
- explore myths and legends
- create villainous characters
- explore heroic characteristics
- compare characters
- work on extract to whole exam skills
Resources to support the teaching of gothic horror short story with focus on the work of Edgar Allan Poe
Short stories and extracts covered:
- Masque of the red death
- The tell tale heart
- Frankenstein
- Dracula
Opportunities provided to:
- explore symbolism
- explore context of gothic and black death
- compare short stories
-analyse language and structure
- identify use of the senses and use the senses to create own gothic writing
- explore genre
Resources to support the teaching of reading skills. Useful resources for KS2/3 transition.
Lessons are numbered for ease of use.
Students develop the following skills:
- skimming and scanning
- reading for meaning
- note making
- summarising
-making sense of difficult texts
- understanding character, mood and setting
Students explore a range of texts on varying topics including:
- hurricanes
- Christianity
- Harry Potter
- Shakespeare
- Hunger Games
- Animals
A booklet of the texts (and many more) is included which was taken from the national literacy strategy
Resources to support the teaching of poetry analysis and exploration. These lessons were taught to year 8 but are suitable for any KS3 group as well as KS2.
Poems/poets explored include:
- Carol Ann Duffy - Valentine
- Sophie Hannah - Symptoms
- Deserted house
- Sonnet 18
- A Married state
- Declaration of need
- Lady of Shalott
- Roger McGough
Opportunities provided for students to:
- develop speaking and listening skills
- explore the idea of marriage
- analyse language, structure and form
- explore pathetic fallacy
22 fully differentiated lessons (by colour) that enable students to explore a wide variety of poetic forms. Opportunities to create poems of a variety of forms.
These lessons are meticulously planned and are ready to go. Lessons are numbered for ease of use. Assessment opportunities and homework tasks also included.
Poetic forms explored:
- Villanelle
- shape
- ballad
- Elegy
- love poetry
- war poetry
- free verse
- limerick
- haiku
- dramatic monologue
- song and rap
- blank verse
- dialect poetry
- simile poems
- culture poems
Featured poems/poets:
- Carol Ann Duffy
- John Agard - Half Caste
- The Chimney sweep
- This is this six o'clock news
- Alone
- Daffodils
- London
- Declaration of need
- William Blake
- Robert Graves
- Blessing
Resources provide opportunities for students to:
- analyse language, structure and form
- create their own anthology of poetry
- explore context
- explore the relevance of poetry
Differentiation:
purple = low ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
red = most able
Differentiated resources to support the teaching of 'Pig Heart Boy.' Lessons are numbered for ease of use.
Ideal for year 7 or year 8
Resources provide opportunities for students to:
- explore and research context - Xenotransplantation
- explore themes such as perseverance, friendship, optimism, forgiveness,
- explore and analyse characters and themes
- write persuasively
- develop speaking and listening skills
- develop sympathy and empathy skills
Fully differentiated resources to support the revision of 'Of Mice and Men.'
Opportunities to:
- revise characters
- revise themes
- practice exam style questions
- study model paragraphs in response to exam style questions
- revise the context 1920s and 1930s America
- extract to whole
Differentiation:
yellow = higher ability
blue = middle ability
purple = lower ability
Fully differentiated (by colour) resources to support the teaching of 'Of Mice and Men' for KS3/GCSE.
Ideal resources for year 8/9 students. These lessons are meticulously planned and embed skills needed for GCSE English language and literature. These lessons are ready to. Download and teach!
Lessons support:
- reading of the novel
- analysis of Steinbeck's language
- character analysis
- theme analysis
- context exploration and analysis
- revision of characters and themes
- begin to structure exam responses
- modelled exam paragraphs
Differentiation:
purple= lower ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = higher ability
19 fully differentiated lessons (by colour) that enable students to explore a wide variety of non-fiction texts and create their own.
These resources are meticulously planned and are ready to go. Simply download and teach.
Analysis of the following texts:
- leaflets - theme of holidays and attractions
- articles - theme of legal driving age
- reports
- adverts
- newspapers - range of broadsheet and tabloid
- posters - NSPCC
- social media
- tv news
- autobiography
- letters - ban mobile phones
Differentiation by colour:
yellow = higher ability
blue - middle ability
purple = lower ability
These resources provide opportunities to:
- Analyse language, form and structure of non fiction texts
- analyse the use of persuasive language
- write persuasively
- create a wide variety of non fiction texts
- explore texts from a variety of sources and media
- explore relevant topics for young people
- develop speaking and listening skills
Ideal for KS3 ahead of GCSE 9-1
9 fully differentiated lessons that help students develop skills for analysing and comparing non fiction and literary non-fiction texts in preparation for 9-1 GCSE. Writing and speaking and listening opportunities also included including speech writing using the 6 part structure.
Ideal for year 7,8 or 9 ahead of new GCSE.
These resources are ready to go.
The following texts are explored and included in this bundle:
- Martin Luther King I have a dream speech
- Rudolf Holsse - concentration camp German perspective
-Anne Frank's diary
- Teenage lottery winner article
Differentiation by colour:
purple = low ability
blue = middle ability
yellow = high ability
Resources provide opportunities to:
- analyse language and perspective
- compare non fiction texts
-synthesise information
-create non fiction texts
-plan effective speeches using the 6 part structure
-debate - speaking and listening
Resources to support the teaching or revision of contextual information of An Inspector Calls
Resources include:
-1912v1945
-suffragettes
-Titanic
-Welfare state
-Trade unions
-deadly sins
Opportunities provided to carousel information for students to recap their understanding.