I provide high quality, tried and tested materials, developed over 17 years of teaching KS3-5. There is material to support G3/4 students as well as material to push for G8 and G9s.
I provide high quality, tried and tested materials, developed over 17 years of teaching KS3-5. There is material to support G3/4 students as well as material to push for G8 and G9s.
This scheme of work uses the superhero genre to engage lower achieving students, culminating in writing a formal film review. It works well with low to mid ability KS3 students and could appeal to boy heavy groups. The 14 lesson unit looks at the content and structure of a film review and supports their writing in the final assessment. It is fully resourced with superhero review exemplars, jigsaw readings, quizzes, crosswords and essay frames.
Lesson 1: Designing your own superhero
Lesson 2: Turning this into a comic strip
Lesson 3: Making a superhero movie using online software
Lesson 4: Superhero Origins
Lesson 5: Designing a poster for your film
Lesson 6: Film pitch planning
Lesson 7: Pitching your film to the critics
Lesson 8: Fantastic 4 Review
Lesson 9: X-men review
Lesson 10: Pirates of the Caribbean review
Lesson 11-12: Watching and evaluating a superhero film
Lesson 13: Writing your film review
Lesson 14: Top Trumps
This unit of work is fantastic for stretching high ability students, by encouraging them to amalgamate context into their consideration of the fable. The unit contains 17 lessons covering the whole of the novel, focusing on writer’s use of language, how the writer uses structure, creative writing and the effect of rhetorical devices. It is fully resourced with PowerPoints, contextual information to illuminate understanding of the text, chapter extracts, speech writing and dramatic activities. Page numbers refer to the Penguin Modern Classics Edition.
The lessons include:
Lesson 1: Lenin, Trotsky, Marx and Stalin
Lesson 2: context games
Lesson 3: the characters and their historical equivalents
Lesson 4: analysis of Old Major’s speech
Lesson 5: the animals
Lesson 6: Napoleon vs Snowball vote
Lesson 7: the revolution
Lesson 8: flags as symbols
Lesson 9: formulating a battle plan
Lesson 10: political spin
Lesson 11: propaganda and posters
Lesson 12: leadership styles
Lesson 13: review chapters 1-5
Lesson 14: Napoleon as a dictator
Lesson 15: Scapegoats
Lesson 16: the battle of the windmill
Lesson 17: power and corruption
Lesson 18: assessment preparation
Lesson 19: assessment feedback
There is an opportunity at the end of the unit to plan and write an assessment on Napoleon.
This unit of work is fantastic for introducing the crime genre and detective stories to KS3 students. It includes 18 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, exemplar answers, activities to exploit drama, debates, creative writing opportunities and short stories. This works well with a boy heavy group, who get very excited when they use the clues to solve the crimes before the ending is given away!
Lesson 1: An introduction to crime
Lesson 2: How writers use narrative hooks
Lesson 3: Crime Scene Investigation
Lesson 4: Captain Murderer by Charles Dickens
Lesson 5: Using Voice in Captain Murderer
Lesson 6: Writing feedback
Lesson 7: About His Person by Simon Armitage
Lesson 8: Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
Lesson 9-11: The Darkness Out There by Penelope Lively
Lesson 12: The Trial of Mrs Rutter
Lesson 13: Perform and peer assess
Lesson 14: The Red Room by HG Wells
Lesson 15: Planning your own detective story
Lesson 16: Writing your own detective story
Lesson 17: Writing feedback and improvement
Lesson 18: Who killed Vic Timberlake?
Are you looking to teach Gothic Horror at KS3, but don’t want to spend hours preparing? Then you have come to the right place!
Develop greater understanding of the conventions of Gothic literature and the horror genre
Analyze how famous authors of Gothic literature used characterization, description, and various literary devices that are consistent with the horror genre
The texts covered are extracts and short stories from: Twilight, Great Expectations, The Werewolf, The Evil Priest, The Woman in Black, Tell Tale Heart and more
Please note, for "The Darker Side of St Ives" lesson you will need to buy a copy of Shanty Baba’s CD, which is available online.
Lesson 1: An introduction to gothic horror
Lesson 2: Creating vampires
Lesson 3: The gothic in Great Expectations
Lesson 4: The Darker Side of St Ives
Lesson 5: The Werewolf by Angela Carter
Lesson 6: Creating school ghost tales
Lesson 7: Performing your tale to the group
Lesson 8: Gerunds and adverbial phrases in The Evil Priest
Lesson 9: The Woman in Black
Lesson 10-11: Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
This unit contains everything you need to teach Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan at KS3. This is a sequence of 21 Cirque du Freak lessons that aid KS3 students in developing their understanding of plot, character, language and structure through studying Darren Shan’s text. The unit of work includes:
Lesson 1: Narrative Hooks
Lesson 2: Initial impressions of Darren
Lesson 3: Analysing characters
Lesson 4: Comparing the boys
Lesson 5: Describing setting
Lesson 6: The Freakshow
Lesson 7: Language to describe the snake
Lesson 8: Vampire webquest
Lesson 9: Steve and friendship
Lesson 10: Forming a plan
Lesson 11: The relationship between Steve and Darren
Lesson 12: Building tension
Lesson 13: Analysing Mr Crepsley
Lesson 14: Writing a letter of application
Lesson 15: Designing a vampire
Lesson 16: Writing effective endings
Lesson 17: Assessment Planning on Steve
Lesson 18: Writing your assessment
Lesson 19: Assessment feedback
Lesson 20: Designing a front cover
Lesson 21: The film
The unit ends with an assessment that evaluates the character of Steve Leonard. It is supported with a feedback sheet, writing frames and exemplar answers to mark afterwards.
This scheme of work is ideal as an introduction to classic poetry at KS3. It gives the students an insight into classic poets like Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost and WH Auden. There are 11 lessons focusing on analysing poems, giving students the skills to annotate poems and comment on the effect of poetic devices. It is fully resourced with PowerPoints, quizzes, match ups, terminology definitions and activities that act as a gateway to the poems. This is perfect for early AQA Unseen Poetry preparation.
Lesson 1: Revising poetic techniques
Lesson 2: You Being Born by Brian Jones
Lesson 3: Mirror by Sylvia Plath
Lesson 4: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Lesson 5: Adolescence by Rita Dove
Lesson 6: The Loner by Julie Holder
Lesson 7: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Lesson 8: Stop All the Clocks by W. H. Auden
Lesson 9: Stop All the Clocks assessment
Lesson 10: Assessment feedback
Lesson 11: How to compare poems
Everything you need to revise Blood Brothers at KS4. This unit includes 13 revision lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, extracts and essay structure. The lessons cover character and theme questions. Page numbers refer to the Metheun Drama edition. This unit of work has been designed for the AQA GCSE, but is adaptable to fit other exam board specifications.
Lesson 1: Comedy and tragedy
Lesson 2: Sympathy
Lesson 3: Character posters
Lesson 4: Context
Lesson 5: Mrs Johnstone and motherhood
Lesson 6: Who is responsible?
Lesson 7: The narrator
Lesson 8: Remembering key quotes
Lesson 9: Act 1 review
Lesson 10: Act 2 review
Lesson 11: Mrs Johnstone as a strong character
Lesson 12: Linda
Lesson 13: Planning your answer
Do your students need last minute prep for their exam? This 11 lesson unit is designed for students who have studied a Christmas Carol, but need two weeks intensive revision before their exam. The unit covers a number of characters and themes such as:
Lesson 1: plot and characters
Lesson 2: essay planning and context
Lesson 3: the role of the ghosts
Lesson 4: the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Lesson 5: Scrooge’s transformation
Lesson 6: revision guides
Lesson 7: useful quotes
Lesson 8: context bidding
Lesson 9: Staves 1-2 review
Lesson 10: Staves 3-4 review
Lesson 11: final revision
This unit is designed to approach the AQA GCSE Paper 2 in an original way. It is a journalism unit that teaches the reading and writing skills the students need for Paper 2 without getting bogged down in past papers. It comes fully resourced with articles, discussions, PowerPoints, exemplar answers, readings and reviews. It focuses on more than Paper 2 tests, such as music reviews, reports and website design, so you could skip these lessons if you are pushed for time.
Lesson 1: News Values
Lesson 2: The Structure of a Newspaper
Lesson 3: Website Design
Lesson 4: Website Analysis
Lesson 5: Analysing Perspective for Q4 Reading
Lesson 6: Point of view in ‘Snack Attack’
Lesson 7: Writing a Report
Lesson 8: Writing a Film Review
Lesson 9: Travel Writing
Lesson 10: Planning a Job Application Letter
Lesson 11: Writing a Job Application Letter
Lesson 12: Identifying Bias
Lesson 13: Informal Language for Tabloids
Lesson 14: Formal Language for Broadsheets
Lesson 15: Analysing Perspective in Jamie’s Dream School
Lesson 16: Writing a Music Review
Lesson 17: Writing a health Article
Lesson 18: Tarot Cards
Lesson 19: Writing Original Headlines
Lesson 20: Writing to Advise
Lesson 21: Influencers and Fame
This unit contains everything you need to teach the Songs of Ourselves anthology and will save you hours of preparation! It is focused on the CIE IGCSE Paper for English Literature. It includes 26 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, exemplar essays, context research, mark schemes, quizzes and opportunities for self-assessment. It is extremely thorough and allows the students multiple points for reflection to ensure they are confident of what themes to explore in their exam.
Lesson 1: An introduction to poetry
Lesson 2: Poetic techniques
Lesson 3: Scansion: rhythm, rhyme and meter
Lesson 4: Techniques review
Lesson 5: Sonnet 18
Lesson 6: Love Armed
Lesson 7: A Married State
Lesson 8: The Chimney Sweeper
Lesson 9: An Essay on Man
Lesson 10: Quiz review
Lesson 11: Carpet Weavers, Morocco
Lesson 12: Before the Sun
Lesson 13: Storyteller
Lesson 14: Lament
Lesson 15: Lament essay
Lesson 16: Romantic research
Lesson 17: Report to Wordsworth
Lesson 18: Quiz review
Lesson 19: A Different History
Lesson 20: Hunting Snake
Lesson 21: Hunting Snake Essay
Lesson 22: The Cockroach
Lesson 23: Where I Come From
Lesson 24: Follower
Lesson 25: Quiz review
Lesson 26: Revision cards
Are you looking for a fresh and creative way to teach Romeo and Juliet? I recently studied for my Certificate for Teaching Shakespeare at the RSC in Stratford and it has revolutionized the way I teach the bard.
This unit contains everything you need to teach Romeo and Juliet at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills, analyzing extracts for English Literature and bringing the play to life. It includes 31 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extract analysis and opportunities for online research. Page numbers refer to the Cambridge Shakespeare edition.
Each lesson is focused on a scene from the play, so you can easily cut this unit down to focus specifically on a key scene and a theme from the play. I have designed this unit to make it relevant to teenage audiences, so we look at themes like:
the role of women, both then and now
expectations of masculinity in men
the role of the theatre
why set it in Verona?
toxic masculinity in Act 1 Scene 1
the role of a father
suppression and rebellion
violence
role models
and much more…
This unit contains everything you need to teach Chronicle at IB level. It includes 22 lessons to help guide the students through the text, investigating Marquez’s use of magical realism and the detective genre. It ends with essay planning lessons to help them link the themes to other IB texts, and begin to consider a topic for their extended essays and oral presentations. Page numbers refer to the Penguin Books edition.
Lesson 1: Designing context presentations
Lesson 2: Sharing context with the group
Lesson 3: Marquez’s style
Lesson 4: Attitudes to the murder
Lesson 5: Chapter 1 Review
Lesson 6: Bayardo and Angela
Lesson 7: Attitudes to marriage
Lesson 8: Angela Vicario
Lesson 9: Honour
Lesson 10: The Vicario Brothers
Lesson 11: Men and Women
Lesson 12: Heroes and Villains
Lesson 13: Who is the victim?
Lesson 14: The Detective Genre
Lesson 15: Reader suspicions
Lesson 16: The end
Lesson 17: Chapter 4-5 Review
Lesson 18: The Trial of Santiago Nasar
Lesson 19: Character Reviews
Lesson 20: Overall text revision
Lesson 21: Choose your activity
Lesson 22: Class presentations on themes and links
This scheme of work contains everything you need to teach Imaginative Writing at IGCSE and will save you hours of preparation! It is focused on Paper 3 coursework, but can easily be adapted for Paper 2 exam preparation. It includes 24 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, short stories and extracts, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, writing checklists and activities to exploit drama. Each lesson targets a different area of the mark scheme for the students to master.
Lesson 1: An introduction into imaginative writing
Lesson 2: How to structure a story using a story mountain
Lesson 3: How to write an effective opening
Lesson 4: Using connectives
Lesson 5: Creating characters with depth
Lesson 6: Writing about a party
Lesson 7: Focus on punctuation in ‘The Hero’
Lesson 8: Avoiding cliche in “The 100% perfect girl”
Lesson 9: Using dialogue
Lesson 10: Multiple narrative voices in “Not My Best Side”
Lesson 11: Writing a story using a unique voice
Lesson 12: Structure in ‘The Fugitive’
Lesson 13: A Day in the Life of a Nobody
Lesson 14: Writing a personal response
Lesson 15: Creating titles
Lesson 16: Expanding and planning
Lesson 17: Topic sentences
Lesson 18: Openings and endings
Lesson 19: Endings
Lesson 20: Narratives and dialogue
Lesson 21: Opening lines
Lesson 22: Creating a sense of place
Lesson 23: Show don’t tell
Lesson 24: Narrative Tenses in The Beach
This unit contains everything you need to teach transactional writing (letters, speeches, articles, essays, reviews and leaflets) at IGCSE. This unit of work is focused on Pearson Edexcel Paper 1 for English language and teaches the students how to argue, advise and persuade. It includes 25 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson Powerpoints, exemplar answers, newspaper articles, leaflets, essays, reviews and speeches.
Lesson 1: Introduction to transactional writing
Lesson 2: Coronavirus response
Lesson 3: How to counter-argue
Lesson 4: Tough love
Lesson 5: Raising children
Lesson 6: Travel Writing
Lesson 7: Charity speech
Lesson 8: Letter of application
Lesson 9: Write your letter of application
Lesson 10: Technology
Lesson 11: Fame
Lesson 12: English teacher application
Lesson 13: Health leaflet
Lesson 14: Mobile phones
Lesson 15: Parents are over-protective
Lesson 16: Who would you vote for?
Lesson 17: Film censorship essay
Lesson 18: Writing your essay
Lesson 19: Protecting the countryside
Lesson 20: Virgin Atlantic complaint letter
Lesson 21: Meghan and Harry
Lesson 22: Writing your opinion
Lesson 23: Foreign holidays
Lesson 24: Writing a film review
Lesson 25: Writing a book review
Everything you need to teach the Pearson Edexcel IGCSE Anthology. This unit of work is focused on Paper 1 non-fiction texts . It includes 12 lessons, but the amount of material could easily cover 22 lessons with 2 lessons per extract. It is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar answers, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extracts and opportunities for online research.
Lesson 1: An introduction to non-fiction reading
Lesson 2: The Danger of a Single Story
Lesson 3: Passage to Africa
Lesson 4: The Explorer’s Daughter
Lesson 5: Explorers or boys messing about?
Lesson 6: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Lesson 7: Young and Dyslexic?
Lesson 8: A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat
Lesson 9: Beyond the Sky and Earth
Lesson 10: H is for Hawk
Lesson 11: Chinese Cinderella
Lesson 12: Revision activities
Everything you need to teach non fiction texts at SL or HL. This unit of work is focused on Paper 1 IB for English Language and Literature. It includes 13 lessons and is fully resourced with exemplar answers, past papers, workbooks and key aspects of each genre.
Lesson 1: Analysing comics
Lesson 2: Analysing graphic novels
Lesson 3: Reviewing comics
Lesson 4: Graphic novel revision
Lesson 5: Analysing ‘The Arrival’
Lesson 6: How Adverts Persuade Us
Lesson 7: How To Read a Photograph
Lesson 8: Analysing Speeches
Lesson 9: Understanding Photographs
Lesson 10: Analysing Websites
Lesson 11: Fighting Back Past Paper and Exemplar Answer
Lesson 12: McDonalds Exemplar and Past Paper
Lesson 13: Key Features of the Genre
Everything you need to revise Othello at KS5. This unit includes 14 revision lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, extracts and critical articles. The lessons cover character and theme questions. Page numbers refer to the Cambridge Shakespeare edition. This unit of work has been designed for the AQA A-level, but is adaptable to fit other exam board specifications.
Lesson 1: Desdemona
Lesson 2: Who is responsible?
Lesson 3: Literary Criticism
Lesson 4: Hitting the assessment objectives
Lesson 5: Past Paper
Lesson 6: Film overview
Lesson 7: Brabantio and Roderigo
Lesson 8: Iago
Lesson 9: Love and Hate
Lesson 10: Iago and love
Lesson 11: Past questions
Lesson 12: Bradley vs Leavis
Lesson 13: Revision guides
Lesson 14: Love and Loyalty
This unit contains everything you need to teach Rime of the Ancient Mariner at IB Standard or Higher level, but it could easily be adapted for GCSE and A-level. It includes 16 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual research, poetic devices revision, gothic extracts, Romantic research and vocabulary support.
Lesson 1: Gothic and Romantic
Lesson 2: Poetic rhyme, rhythm and meter
Lesson 3: Poetic devices research
Lesson 4: The Plot
Lesson 5: Part 1
Lesson 6: Part 1 Revision
Lesson 7: Part 2
Lesson 8: Part 3
Lesson 9: Part 4
Lesson 10: Part 5
Lesson 11: Part 6
Lesson 12: Part 7
Lesson 13: Parallel Research
Lesson 14: Themes and Symbols
Lesson 15: Links to crime genre
Lesson 16: Exam questions to plan
This unit contains everything you need to teach Paper 1 reading at IGCSE. This unit of work teaches the students how to answer questions on the writer’s thoughts and feelings, describing events, perspective and writer’s use of language and structure . It includes 16 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, newspaper articles, speeches, autobiographies, travel writing and two past papers for practice.
Lesson 1: Introduction to non-fiction reading
Lesson 2: Perspective
Lesson 3: Thoughts and feelings
Lesson 4: Perspective
Lesson 5: Gervase Finn
Lesson 6: Language
Lesson 7: Structure
Lesson 8: Thoughts and feelings
Lesson 9: Language and structure
Lesson 10: Perspective
Lesson 11: Boomers vs Millennials
Lesson 12: Analysing JFK’s speech
Lesson 13: Leonardo DiCaprio’s UN Speech
Lesson 14: Muhammad Ali’s speech
Lesson 15: Malala Yousafzai’s speech
Lesson 16: Emma Watson’s speech on equality
This unit contains everything you need to teach Midsummer Night’s Dream at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills, analyzing extracts for English Literature and bringing the play to life. It includes over 25 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extract analysis and opportunities for online research. Page numbers refer to the Cambridge Shakespeare edition.
Each lesson is focused on a scene from the play, so you can easily cut this unit down to focus specifically on a key scene and a theme from the play.
Lesson 1: Context
Lesson 2: Online research
Lesson 3: The Globe
Lesson 4: Character research
Lesson 5: Language
Lesson 6: Plot and characters
Lesson 7: Act out the play
Lesson 8: A1S1 Theseus and Hippolyta
Lesson 9: A1S2 The Mechanicals
Lesson 10: A2S1 Puck
Lesson 11: A2S1 Oberon and Titania
Lesson 12: A2S1 Demetrius and Hermia
Lesson 13: Language
Lesson 14: A2S2 The love potion
Lesson 15: A3S1 The rehearsal
Lesson 16: A3S1 Bottom and Titania
Lesson 17: A3S2 Oberon and Puck
Lesson 18: A3S2 The lovers
Lesson 19: A3S2 Young love
Lesson 20: A4S1 Bottom
Lesson 21: A4S1 Explanations
Lesson 22: A5S1 The play
Lesson 23 A5S1 The end
Lesson 24: Blockbusters review game
Lesson 25: Revision cards