This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Thomas Hardy’s poem ‘The Oxen.’ Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for exam revision or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the key English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Thomas Hardy’s poem ‘The Voice.’ Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for exam revision or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the key English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This engaging, comprehensive lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of the ‘boat-stealing’ extract from William Wordsworth’s poem 'The Prelude’ (the section of the poem covered by most GCSE exam boards). The lesson has a particular focus upon the poet’s use of language, structure, and subject matter within the poem. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate their knowledge of the text analytically, through assured, appropriate, and sustained interpretations. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Knowledge harvesting what they know about key contextual features, and developing a contextual understanding of Wordsworth’s life; Reading and interpreting the poem, using a provided line-by-line analysis, and interactive group activities; Developing their understanding through inferring and analysing key language and structural choices; Analysing how the themes of youth, age and loss of life are conveyed through Wordsworth’s language and structure choices; Self/ Peer assessing each others’ learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including a hyperlink to a reading of the video) Research template; Copy of poem; Deeper thinking worksheet; Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; I have not included a lesson plan, as the PowerPoint offers a self-explanatory journey through the activities. All resources are provided as word documents (for easy editing) and PDF documents (to ensure consistency of formatting between computers). There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 10 and 11 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension of the opening chapter of Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile. It contains a link to the online text (on the first slide) and this is also provided as a PDF. This is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 2-3, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension of the opening chapter of Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny, the Champion of the World.’ It contains a link to the online text (on the first slide) and this is also provided as a PDF. This is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 3-5, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Act 5 Scene 5 (the final scene) of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ The lesson focuses upon the role of Brutus as the ‘tragic hero’ of the play. Through the comprehensive slideshow, learners are guided on the following learning journey: -Identifying and understanding the features of tragedies (aided by a card sorting activity); -Reading and comprehending Act 5 Scene 5, and answering a range of comprehension questions to check their understanding; -Participating in discussions about how the death of Brutus compares to the earlier death of Cassisus; -Identifying and analysing how Brutus meets the role of the tragic hero throughout the play; -Using a template, with embedded structure strip, to answer an essay-style question about the role of Brutus as a tragic hero; -Demonstrating their understanding of the scene through a recall quiz. The lesson includes a colourful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, a research template for introductory task, and a copy of the necessary extract from the play - all provided in both Word (to allow editing) and PDF (to protect formatting) versions. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Act 3 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ This is the scene in which Mark Antony gives his speech against the conspirators responsible for Caesar’s assassination. Through the comprehensive slideshow, learners are guided on the following learning journey: -Researching and understanding the historical context of Mark Antony’s life; -Reading and comprehending Act 3 Scene 2, and answering a range of comprehension questions to check their understanding; -Participating in discussions about how persuasive devices are used to convince the people of Rome to turn against the conspirators; -Identifying and analysing the persuasive devices used by Shakespeare for effect, including rhetorical questions, repetition, lists of three, etc. -Demonstrating their understanding of the scene through a recall quiz. The lesson includes a colourful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, a research template for introductory task, and a copy of the necessary extract from the play - all provided in both Word (to allow editing) and PDF (to protect formatting) versions. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Act 4 Scene 3 of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ This is the scene in which the ghost of Julius Caesar appears to Brutus. Through the comprehensive slideshow, learners are guided on the following learning journey: -Understanding the sequencing the main events of the text so far; -Reading and comprehending Act 4 Scene 3, and answering a range of comprehension questions to check their understanding; -Participating in discussions about how Shakespeare uses language devices to further develop the characters of Brutus and Cassius; -Working collaboratively to interpret and analyse a number of key quotations from the scene; -Using an template with embedded structure strip to consider Shakespeare’s intentions and the audience reactions in this scene. -Demonstrating their understanding of the scene through a recall quiz. The lesson includes a colourful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, an essay template for main task, a copy of the necessary extract from the play, and copies of the important quotations for the development activity - all provided in both Word (to allow editing) and PDF (to protect formatting) versions. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ This is the ‘Ides of March’ scene in which Julius Caesar is assassinated. Through the comprehensive slideshow, learners are guided on the following learning journey: -Understanding the context of Caesar’s assassination; -Reading and comprehending Act 3 Scene 1, and answering a range of comprehension questions to check their understanding; -Participating in discussions about how Shakespeare uses language devices to develop the character of Marc Antony; -Identifying and analysing the dramatic devices used by Shakespeare for effect, including dramatic irony, stage directions and soliloquies. -Using an essay template with embedded structure strip to analyse the effectiveness of Shaespeare’s dramatic devices throughout Act 3 Scene 1. -Demonstrating their understanding of the scene through a recall quiz. The lesson includes a colourful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, an essay template for main task, and a copy of the necessary extract from the play - all provided in both Word (to allow editing) and PDF (to protect formatting) versions. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Act 1 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ Through the comprehensive slideshow, learners are guided on the following learning journey: -Understanding the context of the Feast of Lupercal; -Reading and comprehending Act 1 Scene 2, and answering a range of comprehension questions to check their understanding; -Participating in discussions about how Shakespeare uses language devices to introduce the characters Brutus and Cassius; -Using a template to demonstrate how the differences between Cassius’ and Brutus’ characters are presented throughout the scene; -Completing a storyboarding activity in order to sequence the main events of the scene. -Demonstrating their understanding of the scene through a recall quiz. The lesson includes a colourful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, a worksheet for the development activity, and a storyboarding template - provided in both Word (to allow editing) and PDF (to protect formatting) versions. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Jules Verne’s ‘Around the World in 80 Days.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in Year 7 and 8, but it could feasibly be used with slightly younger or older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in Year 5 and 6, but it could feasibly be used with slightly older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Act 1 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Through the comprehensive slideshow, learners are guided on the following learning journey: -Understanding the context of the social structure of the Roman Empire; -Reading and comprehending Act 1 Scene 1, and answering a range of comprehension questions to check their understanding; -Participating in discussions about the language and dramatic devices utilised by Shakespeare throughout the scene; -Answering an essay-style question about the Act, using the provided essay template; -Sequencing and summarising the main events of the act. The lesson includes a colourful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, and the well-structured essay template - provided in both Word (to allow editing) and PDF (to protect formatting) versions. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension of the opening chapters of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. It contains a link to the online chapter (on the first slide). This is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 3-5, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Benjamin Zephaniah’s ‘Refugee Boy.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in Year 5 and 6, but it could feasibly be used with slightly older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Scene by Scene Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Dramatic Devices; Features of Tragedy. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).