Students have a drawing starter activity to consider the importance of precise description. Then students look at short examples of beach descriptions and consider the most effective. Following this, there is a guided question task, where pupils write down answers to some questions designed to get them thinking about beaches. After this, a mind map encourages pupils to visualise their ideas for the final task which would be to describe a beach. Extension tasks include asking students to identify where there is potential to use the senses to describe, and also to consider vocabulary choices.

Using Anthony Horowitz’s retelling of this myth (copy not provided), there are several activities looking at the different sections of this myth. This is the tale of Perseus and how he slays Medusa. Please see my ‘shop’ for further resources. As an optional starter task, you could create a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of objects related to the Gorgon’s Head myth, for students to use to predict what will happen. I have used toy snakes, pebbles, Halloween eyeballs etc. Students then use inference skills to create an impression of King Polydectes, draw the gorgons using the given extract, list four things they have learned about them (in the style of Language Paper 1 Q1) with answers supplied for easy self assessment. After this, students can research Athena on computers or phones. Students then analyse the writer’s use of language to describe Medusa’s cave using an evidence table which supplies suggested answers for easy assessment. Finally, draw Athena’s shield to include Medusa’s head and play the interactive whiteboard game ‘Gorgon’s Head’ to sum up learning.

The main resource here is the Powerpoint presentation exploring three different possible exam questions for Blood Brothers. This includes a cut out activity as preparation for one of the questions. Once preparation has been completed, students can complete the question in full as a class activity. Other resources include various worksheets looking at Mickey and Eddie's friendship, the characters of Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons and some worksheets analysing characters & themes. These can be adapted for other characters too.

Ppt showing a clip of the chocolate room, in the first film version, collage of chocolate room related pictures to help students write a description of the room using a set of given techniques. Then, the same story is used to look at onomatopoeia. Students look at a given extract from the story and identify the onomatopoeia, also considering the effect of it. Final task is to use onomatopoeia to describe a tsunami. 1-2 lessons.

Complete lesson for students to consider the pros and cons of having the death penalty. Pros - examples of 2 killers from different countries, one of whom was given the death penalty and another who wasn’t. Cons - story of a man who was wrongfully convicted and spent over 20 years on death row with serious consequences to his life. Final task is to plan for an essay debating the pros and cons.

This resource contains reading and writing activities based on three extracts from Narnia and one from Jamaica Inn. The final activity is not extract based but requires students to imagine what the firey world of Muspelheim (Norse Mythology) might have looked like before considering how they might describe it. I have included differentiated versions too which include edited and shorter versions of the extract and slightly easier task requirements. Easy to adapt and print off.

Aimed at KS3, this scheme takes you through the morning after a girl called Ellie disappears from her home in the night. There is a village meeting, a bag found at the station containing items that Ellie has lost (giving possible clues to her disappearance), a group effort to put up missing posters, mime to the Beatles’ track She’s Leaving home and much more. Students really enjoy this scheme. Hope you do too!

Here is something that is hopefully a bit different. I have provided information and images on 5 capital cities, from which pupils have to describe them using a range of methods. I have included a WAGOLL and an overview of what is expected for each task. The capital cities here are: Athens, Madrid, Paris, Washington DC and Moscow. Easily adaptable and can be printed off as separate worksheets or as a booklet. Suitable for KS3. I have included differentiated versions of all worksheets plus the overview.

Two lessons Lesson 1 - Unseen lesson on ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost- includes a copy of the poem, questions for pupils to answer / facilitate discussion with suggested answers. Consideration of structure / form (see ppt slide notes) and ending with a question asking what the poet’s thoughts are about life. Set of ‘clear’ criteria given from AQA markscheme for pupils to follow in their response. Really nice poem and links nicely to the Paper 1 Q5 practice. Lesson 2 - idea of using a scene as a way in to description e.g. thinking about bigger ideas such as Autumn being a metaphor for change or an ending. Includes example of planning, skills focus and an example paragraph to use for discussion before pupils write their own. Perfect for current Y10.

Some lesson tasks / ideas for the first 13 chapters of the novel, looking at characters and themes.

Part Two of the introductory unit: Literature Through the Ages A further 8 lessons with pupil anthology (two separate ones for just core texts and then all texts), CPD booklet and knowledge organiser. Pupils will build on their knowledge from Part One of the unit to cover the following extracts: Daphne & Phoebus - Hesiod The Seven Pomegranate Seeds - Horowitz The Ramayana - retold by Donald A Mackenzie The Odyssey - translated from Homer Adventures of Sir Lancelet - Malory The intention of this unit is to provide students with some knowledge of how stories originated, came to be written down and how some of those same stories have been retold and developed over time, such as Horowitz’s re-telling of a popular Greek myth, in our unit. Students should understand that there does not have to be one single version of a ‘story.’ Some may have originally been made up to explain mysteries about the world and to enable humans to understand their place within it. Stories are constantly evolving and shaped by their social and historical influences. We can see, for example, that the concept of the Underworld has been around for centuries. Students will study the Underworld described in the Renaissance period by Dante, as a way of teaching his readers to live purer lives on Earth, but we can also enjoy its imaginative appearance in Rick Riordan’s modern ‘Percy Jackson’ tales. We can introduce the concept that, historically, the female figure has been presented as temptress and the cause of human suffering, an idea developed in ‘the Serpent’s Deception’ and Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, or later subverted in Le Morte d’Arthur, where the female is weak and in need of a chivalrous male to save her. We can see stories as a reaction to the beliefs and fears of society at the time. Shelley’s Frankenstein can be interpreted as a reaction to society’s distrust of the advancement of scientific experimentation. Running through all these stories is a series of symbols that capture a society’s values, beliefs and fears. Through the identification of symbolism in these stories, such as the snake in Serpent’s Deception, Daphne & Phoebus and Le Morte d’Arthur, it is hoped that our Y7s can learn to become confident in spotting symbols in future stories they read and have the confidence to critically evaluate the significance of them, in relation to their own contextual experience and a knowledge of literature throughout the ages.

AIMED AT HA KS3, THIS COMPLETE LESSON IS A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO HOW DUFFY USES THE EXTENDED METAPHOR OF THE ONION. POEM INCLUDED AS PART OF PPT.

Aimed at middle to low ability KS3, this lesson looks at the context of Victorian England, giving a range of information about life in the workhouse and looking at the difference between the lives of the rich and poor. There is also an extract from Berlie Doherty’s ‘The Street Child’ to analyse. Perfect for introducing any Victorian novel, but with A Christmas Carol in mind. Could be useful as re-capping context prior to exam.

1-2 LESSONS RE-CAPPING ONOMATOPOEIA, IDENTIFYING IT IN THE POEM 'NOISE', DESCRIBING A TSUNAMI WITH VISUAL STIMULUS USING ONOMATOPOEIA AND FINALLY LOOKING AT ITS USE IN A SHORT EXTRACT OF CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

LESSON 1 LOOKS AT TWO EXAMPLE STORIES AND ASKS PUPILS TO IDENTIFY WHAT IS EFFECTIVE AND WHAT REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT. INCLUDES A SIMPLIFIED MARK SCHEME TO ALLOW PUPILS TO ASSESS. TIPS ON PLANNING AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO PLAN IS BUILT IN. A TSUNAMI HOMEWORK IS PROVIDED AS HOMEWORK FOLLOWING THIS LESSON, PROVIDING A WRITING FRAME FOR PUPILS TO CREATE THEIR OWN STORY USING A GIVEN PICTURE. NARRATIVE WRITING LESSON 2 FOLLOWS UP ON THIS HOMEWORK, WITH A FURTHER EXAMPLE STORY TO LOOK AT. A NARRATIVE WRITING ASSESSMENT IS INCLUDED, FOR PUPILS TO APPLY SKILLS LEARNED. THIS COULD BE TEACHER OR PUPIL ASSESSED.

AIMED AT KS3, THIS LESSON USES CHOCOLATES TO HELP INSPIRE PUPILS TO CREATE MOUTHWATERING ADJECTIVES AND VERBS. FOCUS IS IMPROVING LANGUAGE CHOICE IN DESCRIPTIVE WRITING. STUDENTS WORK THROUGH ACTIVITIES TO CREATE THEIR OWN BESPOKE BOX OF CHOCOLATES AND THEN DESCRIBE TO ADVERTISE!

THIS RESOURCE AIMS TO BROADEN PUPILS' KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BELIEFS AND TREATMENT OF WITCHES BY FOCUSING ON THE STORY OF THE PENDLE WITCHES. USEFUL INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY FOR STUDYING MACBETH.

This lesson introduces the big Las Vegas hotels and the themes they are based around. After looking at some example, and watching some clips, students are tasked with creating their own and presenting their ideas to persuade the audience that their hotel should be the next one to be built on the strip.