This lesson will suit sets 1-4. Students will explore the different aspects of forming an argument through the context of Macbeth. Extension tasks provided, as well as sentence stems for constructing arguments. Group work will encourage speaking and listening skills, as well as writing to argue and persuade. Plenary allows students to self and peer assess group work contributions. Typically suited to a 50 minute lesson. Links to WAF2/5 and RAF3.

Content: This lesson explores language and structure in the poem ‘Half-Caste’ by John Agard. Students will complete a variety of independent and paired tasks in order to pick apart the subtleties of the popular poem. Also includes an interactive mini plenary that assesses the students’ understanding of the writer’s choices. Differentiation: Sentence stems provided for response task. Separate resource includes full writing frame to comment on language and structure. Extension and super extension tasks Links to AO2, typically for a mid-top set at KS3/4. Lesson duration: 100 minutes (double) Lesson recently rated good+ in an observation with outstanding features.

This lesson can be used for any group at Key Stages 2,3 and 4. The lesson explores the features of gothic writing, and asks the students to create their own fictional character. Some brief notes on the origin of Gothicism is explored and linked to modern day literature and film. An ideal, light hearted, creative lesson for new classes/last lessons of the day and for cover. Typically suited to a 50 minute lesson. Can be extended to a double if students are asked to create a story based on their fictional characters.

This starter task is aimed at Spanish speaking students to improve their literacy and consolidate their own knowledge of phonics. Suitable for students of all age groups. Extension task provided.

This lesson explores the complexities of the war poem, Poppies. Students will be given tasks that utilise their critical thinking skills to find out the meaning of the poem. Imagery is the focus, with the tasks geared towards a response that will show the students’ understanding of how imagery creates meaning for the reader. Differentiated sentence starters and extension tasks provided. Plenary encourages students to review their work, checking for spelling, punctuation and grammar accuracy. Can be used for any set studying conflict poetry.

This interactive quiz will challenge students of all abilities to recap their knowledge of grammar and the rules of literacy. Students will enjoy working individually, in pairs or small teams. Can also be used for a staff icebreaker/training aid/beginning/end of term/cover lesson.

This lesson was recently used with a low ability year 9 girls’ group; successfully. This lesson will familiarize students with analyzing at word level: a key skill for both language and literature papers. Students will create mind maps of 6 high frequency words via dictionary/thesaurus work. Students will then write a series of paragraphs simply analyzing key words from a variety of sentences extracted from current news and popular culture publications. Plenary includes a score based peer assessment. Typically a 50 minute lesson; low to mid ability groups.

Content: This interactive lesson is most suitable for a double period of two 50 minute lessons. The students will partake in a range of analytical tasks, including close reading, challenging ideas of stereotypes and evaluative assessments of pair work. The starter task will introduce the students to the play ‘DNA’ by Dennis Kelly; key words are highlighted to guide less able students to the main ideas in the text. The students will then have a guided discussion on the definition of gangs, reviewing images of young people in groups and review a video with a short commentary on gangs. They will then decide how the images represent gangs (or not.) Teacher led discussions will enable the students to contemplate where their interpretations are derived from i.e. media, own experiences etc. Students will then practise a dramatic reading of the beginning of the play; teacher should monitor the students and select 4 to perform at the end of the lesson. Students will then peer assess each performance using an evaluative sheet.

This resource can be set for a literacy lesson (approximately 50 minutes,) or for homework. Students will review the basic rules of sentence structures and complete a variety of literacy tasks, including the revision of nouns and adjectives, aimed at improving literacy. The workbook is differentiated and becomes more challenging, concluding with a descriptive writing task. This resource has been used for EAL learners and low ability students.

Assessment Focus: WAF5 An outstanding, well paced, interactive lesson which covers the conventions of writing to persuade. Students will study tone, review and test their knowledge of language techniques, and use punctuation to add expression to their writing. Students are also given opportunities to take part in ‘mini tasks’ lasting 60 seconds each, throughout the lesson, offer peer reviews and practice their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills for WAF5. Main independent task includes success criteria and prompt questions. Suitable for a double lesson: mid to top set ability groups, however lower sets would benefit, simply split the tasks over 2-3 lessons and allow an in-depth revision lesson on the list of language techniques provided-or simply exclude the more complex techniques from the list. KS3/4.

This starter task is aimed at French speaking students to improve their literacy and consolidate their own knowledge of phonics. Suitable for students of all age groups. Extension task provided.

This lesson offers the opportunity, for students to analyse language and structure in the poem ‘Infant Sorrow,’ by William Blake. Starter task encourages students to work independently by reading and annotating the poem, utilising a dictionary for unfamiliar words. A thorough, timed task is the main activity and focuses on the structure of the poem (stanzas, line breaks etc.) as well as the use of language to communicate ideas to the reader. Plenary task is a self assessment against AO2. Differentiation: Students may work in pairs to complete the starter task. Simplistic to complex analysis questions provided in the main task. Extension tasks provided for closer analysis of language in the poem. Typically for a 50 minute lesson-students can complete the main task as homework if the set is lower than a 3 and timing for the starter task goes beyond 10 minutes.

During this lesson, students will explore the poem ‘Quickdraw’ by Carol Ann Duffy. Starter task asks students to identify a range of poetic devices. They will then be expected to discuss the effects of these devices and produce a written response to their findings. Peer assessment task concludes the lesson. Differentiation: Model PEAR paragraph included, as well as sentence starters and extension tasks. Typically for a 50 minute lesson (mid-top set) Teachers of lower sets can facilitate learning by recapping poetic devices and annotating the poem before delivering this lesson. Teachers only need to print copies of the poem-of which can be found online/in anthology texts.

This lesson explores the social context in the novella, ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. Students will watch videos about The American Dream and The ‘Roaring Twenties,’ making notes on the grid provided. Includes extension tasks and a starter reflection task on punctuation. Suitable for a 50 minute lesson for all sets studying ‘Of Mice and Men.’

This lesson is focused on question 5 (40 mark question) Students will revise brackets, discourse markers and synonyms before completing a mock question 5 response. Students will spend 40 minutes writing their piece. This lesson is designed for students who are targeted at level 5 and above for the English Language exam. Typically a double lesson (100 minutes.)

This starter task is aimed at Kurdish speaking students to improve their literacy and consolidate their own knowledge of phonics. Suitable for students of all age groups. Extension task provided.

This resource will enable students to write a creative piece on a topic of their choice. Suitable for primary schooled students/EAL learners.

These lessons explore the use of imagery in Macbeth’s soliloquy-act , scene 7. Students will annotate the extract, brainstorm ideas and translate these ideas into sentences and then paragraphs. Used with an intervention class to help aid understanding and encourage critical thinking skills. Part 2 goes into more detail and the students will write a complete PEEL paragraph. Lesson is heavily geared towards gaining marks for detailed explanations- a key focus for KS3 students. Sentence starters and extension tasks provided. Resource provided is act 1, scene 7, with underlined words and phrases for lower ability students.

The case of Stephen Lawrence was reignited with the ‘Joint Enterprise’ Law in 2012. If you witness a crime and you do not report it, are you just as guilty as the perpetrator? Students will be introduced to a brief history of joint enterprise and the details of the Stephen Lawrence case, giving students a real life example of the law at work. Students will use a range of connectives to create a balanced argument which feeds into evaluative writing (AO4) for the GCSE English language paper, as well as analytical writing (AO2) in the GCSE English literature paper. Activities include: paired discussions, peer assessments and a short BBC video clip. Lesson duration: 50 minutes for sets 1 & 2. Double (100 minutes) for sets 3 and below, Differentiation: sets 3 and below should use dictionaries throughout the lesson. Challenge tasks offered for higher sets.

This lesson was judged as outstanding in a recent observation. Students will build on their annotation skills and consider five areas for comparison: main ideas, language techniques, themes, structure and the effect on the reader. Students will work independently and compare two poems (Catrin and To a Daughter Leaving Home) Teachers are welcome to alternate the poems, by providing copies of different ones and simply changing the titles in the presentation. Included is also a detailed writing frame for comparative analysis. Suitable for a double lesson (each being 50 minutes.) Differentiated for all abilities. For the lowest sets, use simpler poems and break the lesson up over a week.