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.
Are you looking for a fresh and creative way to teach Macbeth? To enlighten students on the human condition, power and corruption? 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 Macbeth at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills, analyzing extracts for English Literature and bringing the play to life. It includes 30 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.
Lesson 1: Context
Lesson 2: Shakespearean language
Lesson 3: The plot
Lesson 4: The characters
Lesson 5: A1S1 The witches
Lesson 6: Is Macbeth a hero in A1S2?
Lesson 7: A1S3 The Witches’ prophecies
Lesson 8: A1S5 Lady Macbeth
Lesson 9: A1S7 Macbeth’s soliloquy
Lesson 10: Act 1 Review
Lesson 11: A2S1 Soliloquys
Lesson 12: A2S2 Comparing The Macbeths
Lesson 13: A2S3 Staging Duncan’s murder
Lesson 14: A2S4 Nature and Divine Right to rule
Lesson 15: Act 2 Review
Lesson 16: A3S1 Banquo’s murder
Lesson 17: A3S2 The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Lesson 18: A3S3 Banquo’s death speech
Lesson 19: A3S4 The banquet
Lesson 20: A3S6 Lennox’s suspicions
Lesson 21: Act 3 Review
Lesson 22: A4S1 The Witches
Lesson 23: A4S2 The murder of the MacDuffs
Lesson 24: Comparing Macbeth and MacDuff
Lesson 25: Macduff’s reaction
Lesson 26: A5S1 Lady Macbeth’s madness
Lesson 27: A5S3 Macbeth reclaims his heroism
Lesson 28: A5S5 The death of Lady Macbeth
Lesson 29: A5S8 Good vs Evil
Lesson 30: Act 5 Review
Do you need a way for students to engage with the big questions of today, such as what brings us true happiness in a world obsessed with money and status?
This unit contains everything you need to teach A Christmas Carol at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills for English Literature, as well as the ability to analyze, evaluate and apply context to your writing. It includes 24 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extracts and opportunities to exploit online research. Page numbers refer to the Scholastic Classics Edition.
Lesson 1: Character and plot overview
Lesson 2: A Victorian Christmas
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: Performing the play
Lesson 5: Our first impressions of Scrooge
Lesson 6: Victorian attitudes to the poor
Lesson 7: Marley’s ghost
Lesson 8: Marley and Scrooge
Lesson 9: The Ghost of Christmas Past
Lesson 10: Scrooge’s childhood
Lesson 11: Victorian employers
Lesson 12: Victorian women
Lesson 13: The Ghost of Christmas Present
Lesson 14: The Cratchits
Lesson 15: The struggles of the poor
Lesson 16: The lessons Scrooge learns
Lesson 17: Ignorance and Want
Lesson 18: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Lesson 19: Old Joe’s Shop
Lesson 20: Scrooge’s death
Lesson 21: Pathetic fallacy
Lesson 22: Cyclical structure
Lesson 23: Creating character profiles
Lesson 24: Writing your own quiz
There are also several options for assessment, including how Scrooge changes and the struggles of the poor.
Everything you need to revise Romeo and Juliet at KS4. This unit includes 13 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 GCSE, but is adaptable to fit other exam board specifications.
Lesson 1: Atmosphere in A3S1
Lesson 2: Juliet in A4S3
Lesson 3: Juliet’s changes
Lesson 4: The trial of Friar Lawrence
Lesson 5:Top Trumps
Lesson 6: Juliet’s strong emotions
Lesson 7: Juliet and Romeo’s relationship
Lesson 8: Computer research
Lesson 9: Is Romeo to blame?
Lesson 10: Lord Capulet
Lesson 11: Tybalt
Lesson 12: Context
Lesson 13: Relationships between adults and children
This unit contains everything you need to teach Jane Eyre at KS5 and will save you hours of preparation! It includes 32 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Each lesson is designed to look at a different chapter and aspect of Jane Eyre. The page numbers refer to the World’s Classics edition with an introduction by Margaret Smith.
Lesson 1: Applying context
Lesson 2: Jane Eyre’s childhood
Lesson 3: The significance of the red room
Lesson 4: Chapter summaries
Lesson 5: Jane’s education
Lesson 6: Freedom Past Paper
Lesson 7: Coming of Age
Lesson 8: Helen Burns
Lesson 9: Thornfield
Lesson 10: Male and Female
Lesson 11: Victorian Women
Lesson 12: The significance of the paintings
Lesson 13: Rochester and Jane
Lesson 14: Gothic Romance
Lesson 15: Ice and Fire
Lesson 16: Mystery in Chapter 17
Lesson 17: Blanche Ingram
Lesson 18: The Fortune Teller
Lesson 19: Gateshead
Lesson 20: The paintings
Lesson 21: Pathetic fallacy
Lesson 22: The Jane Eyre debate
Lesson 23: Dreams and reality
Lesson 24: Thornfield
Lesson 25: Bertha Mason
Lesson 26: Bertha Past Paper
Lesson 27: The struggle for the self
Lesson 28: The role of religion
Lesson 29: The Rivers
Lesson 30: Critical Readings
Lesson 31: Return to Thornfield
Lesson 32: The Ending
Everything you need to teach unseen poetry at KS5. This unit of work includes 22 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar material, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. It covers poetry eras such as: Renaissance, Cavalier, Metaphysical, Romantic, Victorian, Modernist and The Beats. This unit of work has been designed for the AQA A-level course but is adaptable to fit other exam board specifications.
Lesson 1: what makes a poem a poem?
Lesson 2-3: poetry era research
Lesson 4: scansion: rhythm, rhyme and meter
Lesson 5: Family relationships in modern poetry
Lesson 6: Male/female relationships in modern poetry
Lesson 7: Loss in Renaissance and Romantic poetry
Lesson 8: Romantic love in Edwardian and Victorian poetry
Lesson 9: Romantic love in the Renaissance
Lesson 10: The Cavaliers
Lesson 11: Romantic love in Cavalier and Metaphysical poetry
Lesson 12: Family relationships and regret in modern poetry
Lesson 13: Family relationships in modern poetry
Lesson 14: The Metaphysicals
Lesson 15: Romantic love in Cavalier and Victorian poetry
Lesson 16: Individual poet research
Lesson 17: The use of satire in Restoration and Beat poetry
Lesson 18: Hitting the assessment objectives
Lesson 19: Breaking Up in modern poetry
Lesson 20: Romantic Love in Modernist and Victorian poetry
This Unit of Work has been designed as a pathway through the Paris Anthology for AQAEnglish A-level Language and Literature. It contains over 33 lessons and covers all of the extracts, as well as lessons to compare the extracts using past papers. It is fully resourced with a linguistic toolkit, features of spoken language mini tests, word class worksheets, past papers, exemplar essays, opportunities for online research and homework tasks.
Lesson 1a: Introduction to The Anthology
Lesson 1b: Grammar and Lexis
Lesson 2: Stories Are Waiting - Eurostar Advert
Lesson 3: Mile by Mile by R Piggott
Lesson 4: Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
Lesson 5a: The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter
Lesson 5b: Comparing The Most Beautiful Walk with Neither Here Nor There
Lesson 6: Paris City Guide by Lonely Planet
Lesson 7a: An introduction to Spoken Language
Lesson 7b: Anna and Zara’s narratives
Lesson 8a: Breathless - Waiting for Goddard
Lesson 8b: Breathless - Roommates
Lesson 9a: Around the World in 80 Dates by Jennifer Cox
Lesson 9b: Writing Guide
Lesson 10: What do you wish… by Trip Advisor
Lesson 11: Visiting Paris conversation: Mike and Sophia
Lesson 12: Rick Steves’ Walking Tour of the Louvre
Lesson 13: French Milk by Lucy Knisley
Lesson 14: Understanding Chic by Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni
Lesson 15: Memories of Places in Paris: Isabelle and Sophia
Lesson 16: Encore Une Fois by Just Another American in Paris
Lesson 17: 18 Months Later by Just Another American in Paris
Lesson 18: Comparing Encore Une Fois and The Most Beautiful Walk
Lesson 19: Traveling to Paris by Gransnet
Lesson 20: Paris for Children by The Rough Guide
Lesson 21-24: NOT FOR PARENTS by Klay Lamprell
Lesson 25a: Hemmingway research
Lesson 25b: On Paris by Ernest Hemmingway
Lesson 26: Foreign Correspondent by Peter Lennon
Lesson 27: Paris Riots 1968 by British Pathe
Lesson 28: The Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne
Lesson 29: Letters from France by Helen Maria Williams
Lesson 30: Fine French Food by Lonely Planet
Lesson 31: The Sweet Life by David Lebovitz
Lesson 32: Eating in Paris: Isabelle, Mike and Sophia
Lesson 33: Comparing Eating in Paris and The Sweet Life
This unit contains everything you need to teach Streetcar at KS5 for AQA A-level English Language and Literature. It includes over 20 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Each lesson targets a scene in the play, a theme, a character or an exam extract. I have used it for the last 5 years to teach top students who have gone on to achieve A* grades and study English Literature at Oxford and Cambridge.
Page numbers refer to the Penguin Modern Classics edition. This scheme of work has been designed for the AQA A level course. It looks at areas like:
Lesson 1: Naturalist and Expressionist theatre
Lesson 2: Context research on the deep south, the civil war, post WW2 immigration, 1940s New Orleans, The Southern Gothic and Tennessee Williams’ family
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: Impressions of Blanche
Lesson 5: Past Paper on “bitterness”
Lesson 6: The significance of Belle Reve
Lesson 7: Williams’ use of staging
Lesson 8a: The Poker Game and Sonnet 43
Lesson 8b: Past Paper on “loneliness”
Lesson 9: Blanche and The Southern Belle
Lesson 10: The allure of aggressive men
Lesson 11: Comparing Blanche and Stella
Lesson 12: The Southern Gent and Shep Huntleigh
Lesson 13a: Violence in Streetcar
Lesson 13b: Past Paper on “anxieties”
Lesson 14: Essay writing
Lesson 15a: Fantasy and self-deception
Lesson 15b: Past Paper on “tension”
Lesson 16: Elia Kazan’s influence
Lesson 17: Is Stan a victim or a villain?
Lesson 18: The relationship between Blanche and Mitch
Lesson 19a: Essay marking
Lesson 19b: Past Paper on “anger”
Lesson 20: Sherman’s march through Georgia
This unit has been designed for teaching the ‘Mean Time’ option for the AQA poetry section C for A-level English Language and Literature. It has 20 lessons and covers every poem in the anthology. It is fully resourced with past papers, exemplar answers, poetic technique quizzes, mark schemes and notes on the poems.
Lesson 1: An introduction to poetry
Lesson 2: Rhyme, rhythm and meter
Lesson 3: An introduction to Carol Ann Duffy
Lesson 4: Context reading and research
Lesson 5: Context quiz
Lesson 6: Captain of the 1964…
Lesson 7: Nostalgia
Lesson 8: Before You Were Mine
Lesson 9: Beachcomber
Lesson 10: First Love
Lesson 11: Valentine
Lesson 12: Planning an essay
Lesson 13: The Biographer
Lesson 14: Litany
Lesson 15: Stafford Afternoons
Lesson 16: The Cliche Kid
Lesson 17: Small Female Skull
Lesson 18: Never Go Back
Lesson 19: Close
Lesson 20: Mean Time
This unit of work has been designed to prepare A-level students for their AQA Paper 2 Unseen Prose exam. The students have to incorporate context into their answers, so the unit contains 13 lessons ranging from Victorian Literature to more modern, multi-cultural texts like White Teeth. Each lesson will take you about an hour to prepare their answer and a further hour to write an essay if you wish to do so. It comes fully resourced with PowerPoint lessons, exemplar essays, guidance on how to write introductions and conclusions, extracts, and examiner advice. The lessons include extracts from:
The Heart of Darkness
I am Charlotte Simmonds
Brick Lane
Digging to America
White Teeth
Gone with the Wind
Catcher in the Rye
Revolutionary Road
Everything I Never Told You
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
I have used this unit with very high achieving A-level students who have gone on to study English Literature at Oxford and Cambridge, so it is definitely targeted towards the top end.
This unit contains everything you need to make The Great Gatsby fun, exciting and relevant to the students’ world. It includes 21 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Page numbers refer to the Wordsworth Classics edition. The lessons focus on a different chapter and aspect of Gatsby, such as:
Lesson 1: The American Dream
Lesson 2: Gatsby contextual research
Lesson 3: 1920s research
Lesson 4: Alternative titles and the epigraph
Lesson 5: East Egg vs West Egg
Lesson 6: A Superficial Society
Lesson 7: Comparing Jordan, Daisy and Myrtle
Lesson 8: The Outsider
Lesson 9: Conspicuous Consumption
Lesson 10: The Great Gatsby Debate
Lesson 11: Illusion and Reality
Lesson 12: Analysing structure
Lesson 13: Themes, symbols and motifs
Lesson 14: Idealism and Romanticism
Lesson 15: James Gatz
Lesson 16: Analysing Daisy
Lesson 17: Daisy and Tom
Lesson 18: Religious references
Lesson 19: Gatsby’s funeral
Lesson 20: The Ending
Lesson 21: The Outsider
Lesson 22: Desire
This scheme of work focuses on The Handmaid’s Tale at A-level. It contains 28 lessons that allow slow progression through the text, allowing opportunities for analysis and critical thinking. It is fully resourced and comes with worksheets, videos, notes, example essays and critical articles. It is particularly in depth for high achieving students, looking at post-modern concepts such as metafiction and the unreliable narrator. Each lesson focuses on different aspects of the text such as:
why Gilead could come true
the epigraphs
identity
feminist arguments
the irony of Serena Joy
class hierarchy
rebellion
oppression
the role of the mother in society
the female body
use of colour imagery
masculinity
the role of religion
This unit contains everything you need to teach Streetcar at KS5. It includes 22 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Each lesson targets a scene in the play, a theme or a character. I have used it forthe last 5 years to teach top students who have gone on to achieve A* grades and study English Literature at Oxford and Cambridge.
Page numbers refer to the Penguin Modern Classics edition. This scheme of work has been designed for the AQA A level course. It looks at areas like:
Lesson 1: Naturalist and Expressionist theatre
Lesson 2: Context research on the deep south, the civil war, post WW2 immigration, 1940s New Orleans, The Southern Gothic and Tennessee Williams’ family
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: Impressions of Blanche
Lesson 5: Intertextuality with Ulalume
Lesson 6: The significance of Belle Reve
Lesson 7: Williams’ use of staging
Lesson 8: The Poker Game and Sonnet 43
Lesson 9: Blanche and The Southern Belle
Lesson 10: The allure of aggressive men
Lesson 11: Comparing Blanche and Stella
Lesson 12: The Southern Gent and Shep Huntleigh
Lesson 13: Violence in Streetcar
Lesson 14: Essay writing
Lesson 15: Fantasy and self-deception
Lesson 16: Elia Kazan’s influence
Lesson 17: Is Stan a victim or a villain?
Lesson 18: The relationship between Blanche and Mitch
Lesson 19: Essay marking
Lesson 20: Sherman’s march through Georgia
Lesson 21: Blanche’s lament for the South
Lesson 22: Themes and critics
This unit contains everything you need to teach Othello at KS5, and will save you hours of preparation time! It includes 26 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes and opportunities for extract analysis. The page numbers refer to the Cambridge School Shakespeare edition. This unit of work has been designed for the AQA A-level course but is adaptable to fit other exam board specifications.
Lesson 1: Plot overview and key lines
Lesson 2: Shakespearean language and use of sounds
Lesson 3: Context reading and application
Lesson 4: Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio in A1S1
Lesson 5: Impressions of Othello in A1S1
Lesson 6: Challenging stereotypes in A1S2
Lesson 7: Othello’s use of verse and prose in A1S3
Lesson 8: Focus on Iago in A1S3
Lesson 9: The importance of Cyprus as a setting
Lesson 10: Iago in A2S1
Lesson 11: Cassio in A2S3
Lesson 12: Shakespeare’s use of body language in A2S3
Lesson 13: Analysing Cassio’s actions in A3S1
Lesson 14: Iago’s tactics in A3S3
Lesson 15: Focus on essay writing
Lesson 16: Analyse how and why Othello has changed
Lesson 17: Comparing Bianca, Desdemona and Emilia
Lesson 18: Iago’s use of manipulation in A4S1
Lesson 19: Othello and colour prejudice - GK Hunter
Lesson 20: Desdemona’s plea in A4S2
Lesson 21: Extract to essay in A4S2
Lesson 22: The willow scene in A4S3
Lesson 23: Street fight in A5S1
Lesson 24:Desdemona’s death in A5S2
Lesson 25: Essay marking
Lesson 26: Poetic justice in A5S2
This unit contains everything you need to teach Mean Time at High School. It includes 17 lessons covering ‘Mean Time’ and allows ample opportunity to compare poems and themes. It is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. Each lesson covers one of the poems, or gives the students the chance to reflect and build on previous learning by linking themes and style.
Lesson 1: an introduction to poetry
Lesson 2: rhyme, rhythm and meter
Lesson 3: an introduction to Duffy
Lesson 4: context research
Lesson 5: context quiz
Lesson 6: Captain of the 1964….
Lesson 7: Nostalgia
Lesson 8: Before You Were Mine
Lesson 9: Beachcomber
Lesson 10: First Love
Lesson 11: Valentine
Lesson 12: Essay planning
Lesson 13: The Biographer
Lesson 14: Litany
Lesson 15: Stafford Afternoons
Lesson 16: The Cliche Kid
Lesson 17: Small Female Skull
Lesson 18: Never Go Back
Lesson 19: Close
Lesson 20: Mean Time
This unit contains everything you need to teach Lady Windermere’s Fan at KS5. It includes 22 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. The page numbers refer to the New Mermaid’s edition. Each lesson focuses chronologically on a different scene and analyses a different aspect of the play.
Lesson 1: Plot and characters quiz
Lesson 2: Context research
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: The aesthetic movement
Lesson 5: Expectations of Victorian women
Lesson 6: Socialism
Lesson 7: Marriage
Lesson 8: Society and morality
Lesson 9: Fin de siecle
Lesson 10: Comparing the female roles
Lesson 11: The importance of marriage
Lesson 12: The “new” woman
Lesson 13: DVD and plot lesson
Lesson 14: Mrs Erlynne
Lesson 15: The Dandy
Lesson 16: Comparing the male characters
Lesson 17: the moral messages of the play
Lesson 18: A “good” woman
Lesson 19: Secrets and lies
Lesson 20:Reputations
Lesson 21: Character reviews
Lesson 22: Extract practice
Everything you need to teach Murmuring Judges at KS5. This unit of work includes 40 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and articles that explore the relationship between the 3 branches of the criminal justice system. Page numbers refer to the Faber and Faber edition.