English teacher for upper schools with a passion for literature. My resources eschew flashy, clip-art-infested layouts for clean, focused, and advanced worksheets and activities for students and teachers.
English teacher for upper schools with a passion for literature. My resources eschew flashy, clip-art-infested layouts for clean, focused, and advanced worksheets and activities for students and teachers.
This advanced unit of work focuses on Book 1, Chapter 8 of George Orwell’s 1984 or Nineteen-Eighty-Four, with a specific focus on aiding your study of the novel for IGCSE English Literature (1984 is a set text for the IGCSE English Literature Exams in 2020 and 2021).
Although this unit of work, as indeed all of my 1984 handouts and activities are specifically designed to be read at IGCSE level or in preparation for the IGCSE English Literature exams. But they can be used independent of these exams and the IGCSE curriculum, too, of course!
The level is certainly also high enough to be used if you have made 1984 one of the set texts for your IB English A: Literature or English A: Language & Literature course.
The unit of work includes:
1. Comprehension questions for Book 1, Chapter 8 of 1984
2. Analysing Language: Symbolism in Book 1 Activity. This activity is designed to facilitate a close reading of some of the most important symbols in Book 1 of the novel, including Big Brother, Newspeak and the memory hole, Mr. Charrington’s shop and the paperweight etc. The activity uses carefully selected passages and guiding questions to allow students to take a closer look at this symbols.
3. TEACHER’S GUIDE + ANSWER KEY: A detailed teacher’s guide with MODEL ANSWERS for the comprehension questions as well as guiding commentary for the symbols in the close reading activity.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This advanced unit of work focuses on Book 1, Chapter 4 of George Orwell’s 1984 or Nineteen-Eighty-Four, with a specific focus on aiding your study of the novel for IGCSE English Literature (1984 is a set text for the IGCSE English Literature Exams in 2020 and 2021).
Although this worksheet, as indeed all of my 1984 handouts and activities are specifically designed to be read at IGCSE level or in preparation for the IGCSE English Literature exams. But they can be used independent of these exams and the IGCSE curriculum, too, of course!
The level is certainly also high enough to be used if you have made 1984 one of the set texts for your IB English A: Literature or English A: Language & Literature course.
The unit of work includes:
Comprehension questions for Book 1, Chapter 4 of 1984
1984 Then and Now: Extensive article and information text comparing the novel’s concepts of unperson and altering history with the GDPR’s Article 17: The Right to Erasure (commonly known as The Right to be Forgotten). The article outlines the problems with implementing this ruling and also provides food for thought for other ethical implications.
Discussiong Questions designed as a follow-up activity to the 1984 Then and Now newspaper article. Can alternatively be used to elicit written responses from students.
TEACHER’S GUIDE + ANSWER KEY: A detailed teacher’s guide with MODEL ANSWERS for the comprehension questions.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This advanced unit of work focuses on Book 1, Chapter 2 of George Orwell’s 1984 or Nineteen-Eighty-Four, with a specific focus on aiding your study of the novel for IGCSE English Literature (1984 is a set text for the IGCSE English Literature Exams in 2020 and 2021).
Although worksheet, as indeed all of my 1984 handouts and activities are specifically designed to be read at IGCSE level or in preparation for the IGCSE English Literature exams. But they can be used independent of these exams and the IGCSE curriculum, too, of course!
The level is certainly also high enough to be used if you have made 1984 one of the set texts for your IB English A: Literature or English A: Language & Literature course.
The unit of work includes:
Comprehension questions for Book 1, Chapter 2 of 1984
1984 in Context: Information Texts about the Soviet Cult of Childhood, to help students gain a better understanding into the context of composition of the novel. The text is accompanied by helpful discussion questions as a follow-up activity.
Close Reading & Analysis Activity: Establishing Setting in 1984. This activity introduces the relevance of analysing setting in fiction, and defines four main aspects of setting that appear most often in works of fiction: mirror, mould, escape, and alienation.
Close Reading Activity: Aspects of Setting. This activity uses extracts from Book 1, Chapters 1-2 to help guide students’ analysis of various aspects of setting in 1984, thereby encouraging the use of the related concepts previously introduced.
TEACHER’S GUIDE + ANSWER KEY: A detailed teacher’s guide with MODEL ANSWERS for the comprehension questions & the close reading activity is included.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This advanced unit of work focuses on Book 1, Chapter 5 of George Orwell’s 1984 or Nineteen-Eighty-Four, with a specific focus on aiding your study of the novel for IGCSE English Literature (1984 is a set text for the IGCSE English Literature Exams in 2020 and 2021).
Although this unit of work, as indeed all of my 1984 handouts and activities are specifically designed to be read at IGCSE level or in preparation for the IGCSE English Literature exams. But they can be used independent of these exams and the IGCSE curriculum, too, of course!
The level is certainly also high enough to be used if you have made 1984 one of the set texts for your IB English A: Literature or English A: Language & Literature course.
The unit of work includes:
1. Comprehension questions for Book 1, Chapter 5 of 1984
2. Exam Practice Question: This activity uses an important passage from Book 1, Chapter 5, and emulates the IGCSE English Literature exam by offering both a passage-based and an essay question to choose from. Can be used to facilitate close reading and exam practice.
3. 1984 in Context: Information Text about the Appendix of 1984 which explains the Principles of Newspeak. This is crucial additional information to help students understand the overall purpose of Newspeak in 1984.
4. 1984 Then and Now: This activity uses examples from present-day to highlight how Newspeak is still being used in propaganda, advertising and other ways to manufacture consent etc.
5. TEACHER’S GUIDE + ANSWER KEY: A detailed teacher’s guide with summary & analysis of Book 1, Chapter 5, as well as an MODEL ANSWERS for the comprehension questions & the Exam Practice Question.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This print-and-use, ready to teach unit contains all my activities, worksheets, printables, handouts, answers and teacher’s guide resources for Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
One of my favourite novels to teach, I’ve revisited and revised my Of Mice and Men resources and included a range of activities for each of the six parts of the novel.
This unit, for Chapter 1 of Of Mice and Men, contains the following:
Comprehension & Close Reading Questions for Chapter 1 of Of Mice and Men
Let’s Get Quizzical! - Quote Hunt Quiz for Chapter 1 of the novel.
The Novel in Context - A Short Biography of John Steinbeck - a short, informative biography of the author, can be used at any point in your study of the novel.
Analyzing Characters - George & Lennie - this guided character analysis activity facilitates comparison and contrast of the protagonists of the novel - George & Lennie.
The Novel in Context - Migrant Workers Then & Now - this comprehensive activity uses an excellent documentary about the context of Of Mice and Men (available on YouTube, links etc. included) - as a basis for a listening/video comprehension. Starting with a focus of migrant workers in Salinas, California in the 1920s and 1930s, this activity interweaves history, biographical information about Steinbeck with eye-witness accounts, interviews, and extracts from the novel to paint a comprehensive picture of the context of composition and the timeless qualities of this literary masterpiece.
Teacher’s Guide - Model Answers + Commentary + Analysis - This is a comprehensive teacher’s guide for Part One of the novel, and it includes model answers for all the activities as well as a detailed plot summary and analysis of Part One, designed for teachers who are new to the novel, or veterans who wish to gain fresh insights, as well as for students working independently in a home-schooling setting or in a distance learning environment.
Hoping you find everything you were looking for, please leave feedback!
This is a ready-to-teach worksheet / handout and pre-reading activity for “The Wave” by Morton Rhue / Todd Strasser. The handout includes:
A set of carefully selected quotations designed as pair work or group work, accompanied by questions to facilitate a critical discussion of the central issues addressed.
Many of the central concerns of the novel can be discussed in a thought-provoking, memorable manner.
The quotes can also be used to gauge prior knowledge of the historical context of the novel (e.g. Nazi Germany, Hitler’s rise to power, World War II, propaganda, the Holocaust etc.)
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This activity ties concepts of governance (democracy and military dictatorship) to William Golding's Nobel Prize-winning novel 'Lord of the Flies'. The activity lets students compare and contrast the two governing styles as potentially enforced by either Ralph or Jack on the island. I have had considerable success with this activity as I have taught this novel several times. And there is a lot the students can learn from this activity as a whole. It is best to teach this lesson once the students have read at least half the novel, especially after Jack and Ralph form two different groups due to different leadership styles.
This advanced activity is designed to help students understand W. B. Yeats’ iconic yet rather difficult poem “The Second Coming”, with a particular focus on how it is linked to Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. The activity includes:
1. Context of Composition: An introduction to the context shared by both Achebe’s novel and Yeats’ poem. This includes information about how Achebe was inspired by the poem in the choice of both the epigraph at the beginning of the novel and in his choice of title.
2. Annotated Poem text: (“The Second Coming” by W. B. Yeats) with annotations for difficult concepts, vocabulary, and terminology required to understand the poem.
3. Yeats’ Vision: A diagram and labeled, explaining how “The Second Coming” envisions Yeats’s cyclical, dual gyres of history (as outlined in his book Vision).
4. Comprehension, Close Reading & Analysis Questions for the poem
5. Food for thought and essay questions for additional in-depth reflection and to ensure higher-order thinking and writing skills are also catered to.
6. Analyzing Okonkwo’s Character: The Tragic Hero: This PowerPoint presentation (included here as a PDF to ensure cross-platform compatibility) provides a no-prep guide through teaching Yeats’ poem, and connecting it to an analysis of Okonkwo’s character as a classical tragic hero. The PPT includes:
It introduces the poem “The Second Coming” by W. B. Yeats, Achebe’s source of inspiration for the title of the novel. The presentation includes a glossary of difficult terms for the poem and places it in the context of the novel, to facilitate a deeper understanding of the overall purpose of the novel as well as the wonderful poem by Yeats itself. Comprehension and close-reading questions accompany the poem.
Linked to “The Second Coming” and its central message, the presentation introduces the concept of the tragic hero in literature and enables a detailed analysis of how Okonkwo (the novel’s protagonist) is, ultimately, a tragic hero.
The PowerPoint includes a final form of assessment that you can optionally use to wrap up the unit about Okonkwo as a tragic hero.
NB: I’ve opted for a minimalistic, no-fuss design to allow you to focus on the content rather than the flashy (but ultimately pointless) functions of a PowerPoint. I hope this allows you to seamlessly include the lesson into your study of the novel.
7. Teacher’s Guide + Answer Key - this provides a detailed answer key with model answers for all the activities - designed for teachers who are new to the novel, or veterans who wish to gain fresh insights.
Perfect for independent study and distance learning.
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The title, Of Mice and Men, is an allusion to a line in a poem called “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns.
This no-prep print-and-use pre-reading activity includes:
A copy of the poem in its original Scots
Modern English translation
Comprehension, analysis & discussion questions
Connections to the novel and the title in particular.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This handout contains a slew of well-chosen essay and discussion questions for “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, designed as a post-reading activity or to enable an essay-style assessment of the entire novel once you have completed its study in class.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This handout and worksheet provides two pre-reading activities to begin your study of William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies with your students. The handout objectives include:
Imagine certain scenarios linked to the novel.
Explore complex questions of ethics and morality.
Work in a group to make difficult / impossible decisions.
There are two different activities, which can be completed by a class consecutively, or, if you wish, separately.
Edition of the novel used: Lord of the Flies (William Golding), Faber and Faber Educational Edition.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
This is an activity that helps students to visualize the metaphors, similes, personifications, and wonderful imagery of Macbeth’s soliloquies, especially in Act 1 Scene 5 (Lady Macbeth’s two short soliloquies) and Act 1, Scene 7 (Macbeth’s first soliloquy: “If it were done, when 'tis done …” by guiding students through the storyboarding process to how a film might show these soliloquies. This is a great way to show visual learners the imagery and the power behind Shakespeare’s language, and to bring soliloquies to life in the classroom.
The handout is extensive and includes:
introduction and definition of soliloquies
comprehension activities to introduce each soliloquy to the students and to ensure understanding before they start the storyboard activity.
storyboard activity with the texts of the soliloquies split into meaningful groups, ideal for group work or pair work,
storyboarding template.
It makes sense to print the storyboard template onto A3-sized paper so that students have enough room to draw their storyboard onto it.
Enjoy!
This advanced handout guides students through the process of writing an essay about William Golding’s iconic and Nobel-prize winning novel Lord of the Flies.
Specifically, the handout teaches students how to write a well-structured, thorough and insightful character analysis.
The handout can be used at any point in your study of the novel, but I recommend that you let your students read at least half (up to Chapter 6: Beast from Air) or to the end before you let them attempt the essay.
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
An informative handout to introduce Rupert Brooke and a unit of analysis for his famous war poem ‘The Soldier’. The handout includes the following:
a short biography of Rupert Brooke, the poet
annotated text of the poem ‘The Soldier’ (includes a glossary of key terms explained in the context of the poem)
comprehension, close reading, and analysis questions
holistic, ‘food for thought’ question to elicit an essay-style response.
This unit of work focuses on Chapter 1 of William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies; as a comprehensive unit for Chapter 1, it includes the following:
1. Comprehension, Close Reading & Discussion Questions for Chapter 1 of the novel.
2. Analyzing Setting - The Island - this activity provides an opportunity for students to practice close reading skills and to explore the setting of the novel; it caters for visual learners (students are asked to use the provided passage from Ch. 1 to draw a map of the island - bird’s eye view, etc.
3. Setting & Symbolism - The Island as Microcosm of Human Nature & Civilisation - This guided activity forces students to dig deeper into the symbolic significance of the island as a setting for the novel, especially in the backdrop of the context in which Lord of the Flies was written - World War II, nuclear war, the Cold War, etc.
4. Teacher’s Guide + Answer Key - this provides a detailed answer key for all the activities as well as a teacher’s guide for Chapter 1 of the novel - including a summary and an analysis of Chapter 1. This is designed for teachers who are new to the novel, or veterans who wish to gain fresh insights, as well as for students working independently in a home-schooling setting or in a distance learning environment.
Edition of the novel used:* Lord of the Flies* (William Golding), Faber and Faber Educational Edition.
Hoping you find everything you’re looking for, please leave feedback!
This is a set of print-and-use worksheets, activities, handouts and presentation-mode PDFs for J. R. R. Tolkien’s iconic fantasy children’s novel The Hobbit, and more specifically for Chapter 8 - Flies and Spiders.
This comprehensive teaching unit includes the following:
Comprehension & Close Reading Questions for Chapter 8 - Flies and Spiders.
Read & Response Journal Questions for Chapter 8.
Creative Writing / Drama Activity: This chapter can be linked to the theme of prejudices and the ancient feuds between the wood-elves and the dwarves. This creative writing/drama activity (can be used as either type of activity) enables an engaged, critical discussion of a central theme of the novel.
TEACHER’S GUIDE + MODEL ANSWERS for the comprehension & close reading questions as well as slides for teaching the lesson. I’ve also included a DETAILED SUMMARY & ANALYSIS of Chapter 8 as further guidance for teachers, especially useful for those teaching The Hobbit for the first time, or in a homeschooling, DISTANCE LEARNING setting.
NB: I’ve included a range of different (and differentiated) activities so that you can choose what best suits your class of students, and depending on how much in-depth analysis you would like to go into for each chapter. I usually read The Hobbit with Grade 7 students, but this unit of work can naturally be used with Grade 6 or Grade 8 students as well!
Enjoy, and please leave feedback!
An informative handout to introduce Wilfred Owen and a unit of analysis for his famous war poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’.
You can buy this handout as part of the IGCSE Poetry May 2018 / May 2019 bundle, here: IGCSE Poetry May 2018 / 2019 Bundle
The handout includes the following:
biography of Wilfred Owen and accounts of what he had to endure during the Great War.
annotated text of the poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ (includes glossary of key terms explained in the context of the poem) as well as some additional information about why Wilfred wrote his ‘Anthem’.
comprehension, close reading and analysis questions
holistic, ‘food for thought’ questions to elicit an essay-style response.
Check out also my other World War I poetry worksheets and handouts:
This is a handout that guides through the analysis and close-reading of IGCSE poetry tested on the IGCSE English Literature exams.
This handout covers the following poem:
'Drummer Hodge' - by Thomas Hardy
The handout includes:
- an introduction with biographical and contextual information about the author
- the poem text with a glossary of key vocabulary
- comprehension and close-reading questions, with a focus on analysing the poem's structure, language and use of poetic devices, and main ideas or themes.
- an answer key with detailed responses to the close reading and analysis questions.
Enjoy!
This handout focuses on the ‘real-life’ ‘The Wave’ teacher Ron Jones, whose classroom experiment inspired Morton Rhue’s novel ‘The Wave’.
The handout includes an article and interview with Jones, who looks back at the experiment and the aftermath of it all, including Morton Rhue’s novel fictionalisation.
The worksheet includes:
An edited version of the original article by the San Francisco Chronicle
Comprehension questions and activities that accompany the article and allow for pair-work or group-work approach to teaching the real-life, historical context of the novel.
This no-prep unit of work is designed to enable an in-depth teaching and preparation of the poem “Rich and Poor or, Saint and Sinner” by Thomas Love Peacock. The poem is also on the IGCSE English Literature curriculum for exams in 2025-2027.
The unit includes:
1) Short biography and introduction to the poet
2) The poem text with line numbers to facilitate a close-reading, and explanatory notes where necessary.
3) Pre-reading & After-Reading Activities (to facilitate teaching the poem & exam prep in class). I’ve focused on metaphor, as Peacock uses metaphor extensively in his poem.
**4) Comprehension, close-reading & analysis **questions, with a particular focus on poetic devices and the IGCSE English Literature exam criteria.
5) Essay questions to facilitate IGCSE exam practice, modeled after the IGCSE English Literature Assessment Criteria (AO1-AO4)
6) In-depth, detailed model answers for all activities, questions, as well as model answers for the practice exam questions, again based on IGCSE Exam Rubric (A01-AO4).
**Happy reading, teaching, studying, and revising!
Please leave feedback!**