In May 2021 the Minderoo Foundation published a ground-breaking report into the problem of single-use plastics. They discovered that a mere twenty global companies were responsible for over fifty percent of the non-recyclable plastic in our world. The report created the first ‘Plastic Waste Makers Index’. This lesson is based on this report, simplifying complex terminology so that students can understand the shocking detail and the contribution of single-use plastic to the climate crisis, which is predicted to grow even further in the coming years. Activities to engage students are interspersed throughout the 39 slide Powerpoint and the final activity is a letter to government to persuade policy-makers to legislate to curb the prolific production of this noxious product. There is a suggested letter structure and a reminder about persuasive language techniques.

Harriet Tubman not only liberated herself from slavery, but helped at least a further seventy people to escape from enslavement in nineteenth century Maryland, using the Underground Railroad. Later she worked as a nurse, spy and scout for the Union during the Civil War. All this despite suffering from debilitating injuries suffered from her brutal childhood in slavery. Find out more about the life of this truly remarkable woman with this sixty-slide Powerpoint full of interesting information and images. Activities include writing a ballad to celebrate her life with an example of a four verse ballad included as Word document; writing a promotional webpage for the museum dedicated to her life and ideas for further investigation.

In February 2021 the government announced that it was going to open a coal mine in Cumbria. This horrified the climate expert Professor James E Hansen who wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to persuade him not to go ahead with the policy and to reconsider his climate policies. This letter uses a simplified extract of this letter to introduce the fossil fuel climate crisis that is currently emerging and focuses on the persuasive language techniques that the writer uses to persuade the Prime Minister to his point of view. A clean copy and an annotated copy of the abridged letter are included. A twenty-slide Powerpoint accompanies the lesson with introductory activities, context and a choice of post-analysis activities: exam-style question on writing to persuade article for school magazine leaflet for younger students further research on the ‘fee and dividend’ economy described in the letter.

This Powerpoint lesson was inspired by a letter to a newspaper agony aunt about a sister who made a racist joke at a family meal and the two sisters proceeded to fall out. The lesson goes through the letter and the agony aunt’s response, asking students to consider and compare what their responses would be. The message of the lesson is “label the joke, not the person”.

This sixty-slide Powerpoint tells the tale of the amazing life of Frederick Douglass who was born into slavery in the USA in 1818. After escaping to the free state of New York, Douglass worked on various newspapers and travelled Europe campaigning for abolition. After learning about the life of this remarkable man with interesting photographs and graphics, students are invited to write the text for a web page to promote his former home, Cedar Hill, as a site of national, historic importance. The house can actually be visited today.

In May 2021 an investigation found that two out of three sea bass from fish farms in the Atlantic ocean contained micro plastics. In the first part of this lesson, students answer four questions on a newspaper article explaining the investigation. They then have a choice of exam-style writing tasks - letter, article or speech. A Word copy of the article is included and a twenty-slide Powerpoint introduces the subject and walks the students through the tasks with opportunities for discussion of the key ideas.

Volunteers all over the world are collecting tonnes of litter that have been left in beauty spots and beaches. This twenty-two slide Powerpoint introduces the problem with reference to Royal Parks, London which in the month of June 2020 collected rubbish that weighed as much as 15 double decker buses. The folder includes an article on the Royal Parks which explains the problem and students analyse the language techniques used. (Answer sheet included). Ideas and prompts are given for creating a fresh campaign to raise awareness of the problem and to persuade people to change their behaviour. Students can work in groups in apprentice-style teams, or the lesson can be adapted for students to work as individuals.

Lewis Hamilton gave a recent interview in which he opened up about the racist abuse that he had suffered at primary school and at secondary school. By exploring Hamilton’s experience, students are asked to consider the effects of racist abuse on people’s mental health. Students are asked what they can do to follow Hamilton’s example to promote diversity and inclusivity in society.

Teach your students to think outside the box and the power of metaphors with the intense, five-line cinquain poetry lesson. The example poem compares anger to a bull, allowing you also to explore the nature of emotions and the representations of animals. A lot of lesson in just five lines! Enjoy!