Useful to structure a guided reading activity, to set as homework or to use as cover, this is a comprehension activity based on a single paragraph from Dickens’s “The Uncommercial Traveller” in which he recounts the appeal of a churchyard he nicknames St Ghastly Grim and describes an evening that he visited it in a thunderstorm. There are ten comprehension questions.

Useful for a homework task or for cover, this uses the description from “Dracula” where Jonathan Harker is being driven through the Transylvanian darkness to Dracula’s castle. The questions are divided into four sections: vocabulary, information retrieval, inference and the effect of the writer’s methods. This worksheet could be used to structure a guided reading session.

A very matter of fact comprehension exercise based on an excerpt from chapter 19 of “Frankenstein” in which Victor ‘hides out’ on Orkney in order to create a bride for his creature. There is a focus on inference and the characterisation (in terms of thoughts and feelings) of Victor Frankenstein as he narrates this part of his story.

Emily Dickenson’s “Summer Shower” with 11 questions intended to encourage close reading and some simple analysis. Planned for year 7 as part of a unit on poetry but also suitable at the top end of KS2. Could be used as a homework activity or for cover - the questions could also be used to structure a guided reading session.

This is an old-school comprehension activity focusing on the excerpt from “Great Expectations” in which Mrs Joe is introduced. Created for a year 8 class who needed a cover lesson in the middle of a Dickens SOW, this has 17 questions and could be used as intended - for cover - but also for homework or even to structure a guided reading activity. If you find this useful then I would be very grateful if you could take the time to leave a review.

The extract used is the description of Jonathan Harker’s journey towards Dracula’s castle. There are 12 questions focusing mainly on the writer’s methods and their effect. Useful for homework or as a cover activity. Could also be used to structure a guided reading session.

This is a comprehension activity - structured for increasing difficulty - with the tasks and questions divided into four sections: vocabulary, information retrieval, inference and explanation of methods. Useful for cover or for homework. Useful for a focused study of this particular section of Stoker’s novel.

This is a very bog-standard powerpoint using some questioning to support students’ recall of Hardy’s ‘Neutral Tones’ and ‘Singh Song’, “Love’s Philosophy” and Sonnet 29 - prior to asking them to tackle a question about the presentation of feelings about romantic relationships. Might come in useful as a starting point for revision. If you find this of use, I would very much appreciate you taking the time to leave a review.

This is Belloc’s cautionary tale of Jim who was eaten by a lion and there are 16 multiple-choice questions focusing on vocabulary with some basic comprehension. Originally set for h/w but could be used as a pre-reading activity to identify and address any misconceptions prior to some more work on the poem.

This is a straightforward worksheet. It uses the narrative poem, “The Farmer’s Wife” and there are questions alongside each verse. These questions could be given to pupils for independent work or alternatively could be used to structure a guided reading session. Planned for a year 7 class as part of their distance learning - but might be of use for year 6.

A basic comprehension activity on “Snow” by Walter de la Mare. There are ten questions focusing on the writer’s methods and their effect. Originally created as a homework. Could also be used as a cover activity, for exclusion work or for distance learning.

A simple and straightforward comprehension activity on Walt Whitman’s poem, “The World Below the Brine”. Questions focus on language, structure, viewpoint and ideas. There are 11 questions in total. Could be used for homework or set as cover. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading activity or prompt class discussion.

This is an activity that I created for a year 7 class as part of their home learning. It uses an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland in which Alice meets the Caterpillar and a worried pigeon. There are five tasks, four for reading and one for writing. The reading tasks increase in difficulty and focus on (in turn) information retrieval, inference, analysis and evaluation. The writing task asks the children (hopefully inspired by the extract) to write a short descriptive piece, describing the landscape of a dream. Could be used for cover or set as homework.

I created this powerpoint as part of a home learning pack for a year 7 class but it could be adapted for classroom use. It uses Lewis Carroll’s acrostic poem spelling out the name of Alice Liddell, his muse. The powerpoint has 9 teaching slides (the tenth is merely a title slide). The start of the learning asks the pupils to do some research and find answers to these questions: Who wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”? What is an acrostic poem? Write down an example of an acrostic poem. What is a muse? Slide 3 has some context about Carroll and the afternoon that gave rise to the story of Wonderland. Slides 4, 5, 6 and 7 use questioning to look at extracts from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” with a focus on dreaming and the attitude of Alice’s older sister towards Alice, reality and growing up. Slides 8 and 9 explore the poem. Slide 10 asks the pupils to write their own acrostic poem about someone (real or fictional) who’s important in their life.

This straightforward activity uses Sara Teasdale’s poem, “Summer Storm”. There are 12 multiple-choice questions. Answers are provided. This quiz could be used to embed knowledge and understanding once the poem has been taught. Alternatively, it could be set as pre-reading or used to structure a guided reading session, as some questions could be used as a springboard into further discussion.

This is a straightforward multiple-choice quiz (answers provided) on Sara Teasdale's "There Will Come Soft Rains". There are 14 straightforward questions. Could be set for homework either after having studied the poem or as a pre-reading activity to identify any gaps that need particular focus in the lesson. Could also be used to structure a guided reading activity, in which case you will find that several of the questions invite follow-up questioning.

This straightforward activity uses Sara Teasdale’s “Central Park at Dusk” and there are ten, multiple-choice questions (answers provided). Could be set as homework after teaching the poem to embed and consolidate knowledge. Could be set as a pre-reading activity so that subsequent teaching can be more sharply focused. Could be used to structure a guided reading session.

This straightforward activity uses Sara Teasdale’s love poem, “Come”. There are 11 multiple-choice questions. Answers are provided. This quiz could be used to embed knowledge and understanding once the poem has been taught. Alternatively, it could be set as pre-reading or used to structure a guided reading session, as some questions could be used as a springboard into further discussion.

Planned for year 7 as part of their home learning work, this might also be of use for children at the top end of KS2. This straightforward activity uses an excerpt from Ingersoll Lockwood’s “Baron Trump’s Marvellous Underground Journey”. There are ten questions. This task could be used for home learning, as a cover activity, for homework or to structure a discussion about the text, either whole-class or as part of a guided reading session. The third page has notes in italics which suggest the kind of answers that might be expected from a student at KS3.

This is a simple powerpoint intended to teach or embed the skills of analysis of an unseen poem. The aim of the lesson is to explore an unseen poem using ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. The poem used is Edna St Vincent Millay’s ‘Witch-Wife’. There are ten slides using questioning - and modelling on slides 6 and 9. Could be used at KS3 or at KS4.