Currently a private tutor, the resources you see available have been adapted from my current practice and when I was teaching as a secondary school English teacher.
I hope the resources are useful and make a difference in your classroom.
If you need to contact me to discuss any of the resources you have downloaded, please email me at sarah@the-browns.gb.net.
Currently a private tutor, the resources you see available have been adapted from my current practice and when I was teaching as a secondary school English teacher.
I hope the resources are useful and make a difference in your classroom.
If you need to contact me to discuss any of the resources you have downloaded, please email me at sarah@the-browns.gb.net.
One of the opening lessons exploring 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', this KS3 resource allows students to read the text and explore the opposites in Lysander's speech, with the opportunity for peer-assessment at the end of the lesson. Homework task is also included to write a personal advert for Helena to find her ideal man. Covered Reading assessment areas are also detailed in the opening slide, for teacher reference only.
Opening lesson on the text 'Holes', exploring how the writer hooks the reader's interest.
Reading and Writing assessment areas that are listed are based on APP, but can be easily adapted to suit the assessment in your department.
Preparing students for the unseen poetry question, this lesson uses 'For Heidi With Blue Hair' by Fleur Adcock. Beginning with finding three poetic techniques used in the poem, the lesson encourages more independent analysis before developing ideas in paired work. The lesson develops with class analysis of the poem, concluding with independent planning for a practice exam question which leads to beginning to write their own response. This task can then be extended to the following lesson or become a homework task.
Files in this resource:
For Heidi With Blue Hair unseen poem exam question - PowerPoint of lesson
For Heidi With Blue Hair - Word document of poem
A fully planned one-hour lesson, this is linked to the 2017 IGCSE English Literature specification, but could be adapted for other exam boards. Allowing students to initially independently analyse the poem before teacher input, this is an ideal lesson to help build confidence when approaching the unseen paper. The lesson closes with preparing for an exam-style question, which could be completed as a homework task or in a following lesson.
Files in this resource:
For Heidi with Blue Hair - PowerPoint of lesson
For Heidi with Blue Hair - Word document of poem
Originally delivered to a weak KS4 group, this lesson could be adapted for KS3. Introducing the term 'presentational devices', the lesson explores how this can be applied to media texts, with an analysis of an Oxfam leaflet. With several questions guiding the students to pick out key features, the lesson leads students to write their own analysis of the text. The plenary encourages personal assessment, comparing their own response to a model answer.
Files in this resource:
Commenting on presentational devices - PowerPoint of lesson
Presentational devices - Word document of leaflet for student annotation
This revision activity encourages students to make links beyond a single quote that has been provided from ‘Of Mice and Men’. The task allows students to consider links to plot, character, setting and context; it also develops their familiarity with the text through finding key quotes and creating a useful revision mind-map.
This lesson can be easily adapted for any significant quote in ‘Of Mice and Men’, beyond what has been used in this lesson. It can allow for more independent working whilst the teacher “troubleshoots” revision areas with individual students. The work produced in this lesson could potentially be used for display purposes as well!
File in this resource: Detailed quote analysis - PowerPoint of lesson
Helping prepare students for their Literature Poetry exam, this lesson begins by testing students on how much they remember about the exam in terms of length, structure and assessment objectives. The lesson then introduces an exam question, using 'Long Distance II' as the named poem and 'Elegy for my Father's Father' as the unseen comparative. (This poem is used in the IGCSE poetry specification, so should be accessible for students, although it can initially be considered as quite challenging - perhaps ideal for students to practice with.)
There are several ways this lesson could be executed, which are detailed in the PowerPoint, enabling students to independently analyse each poem before preparing a plan for the question. The lesson finishes with students identifying areas they feel have been successful and revision targets. This question could be completed in a second lesson or for homework.
Files in this resource:
English Literature Paper 2 practice - PowerPoint of lesson
Long Distance II - Word document of the poem
Elegy for my Father's Father - Word document of the poem
This resource is a matching exercise. Students need to match character descriptions and quotes to a range of key characters in the novel. There are about 80 boxes in the end so this resource is ideal for group work or a potential Speaking and Listening assessment. The answers file gives clues at the end to indicate how many descriptions and quotes there are for each character.
This resource has been used with a student on a one-to-one basis and encouraged discussion of the plot, characters and themes. It also generated a useful revision resource once completed because the character matches are similar to mini-character profiles.
Files in this resource:
Pride and Prejudice character matching exercise answers - Word document - all boxes matched
Pride and Prejudice character matching exercise activity - Word document - all jumbled up, ready to be cut up, with clues at the end of the document
Using the medium of Twitter, this lesson allows students to chart Thornhill’s development over ‘The Secret River’. This can be done over the course of reading the novel or at the end, and can be used as a helpful revision activity.
Differentiation for this task includes the extent to which quotes are used for tweets, assigning characters other than Thornhill, and scaffolding key events to signpost students towards. In addition, homework tasks can be set for students to create a Twitter page for less major characters.
Files in this resource:
Character analysis - PowerPoint of lesson
Twitter Template - Word document of Twitter template - this activity can then be completed by hand or electronically.
Using the AQA English Literature Paper 1 as a guide, this lesson focuses on practice for how to answer an extract question. After outlining Paper 1 with a reminder of what is being assessed, students work in groups to analyse the extract from ‘Dr Jekyll’ and prepare a plan in response to an exam question. Following class feedback and a whole-group plan, students finish with writing their own response with peer assessment to help identify areas for improvement. An annotated copy of the extract is also included, along with an optional slide that helps to scaffold the second part of the essay question.
I appreciate all constructive criticism, so I hope you are able to take time to review this resource.
Files in this resource:
Extract analysis - PowerPoint of lesson
Extract analysis - Word document of extract
Extract analysis annotated - Word document of annotated extract
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This lesson encourages students to explore the significance of the Prologue. Beginning with an analysis of the extract, students consider how the Prologue foreshadows later events in the novel. The lesson works towards pair planning an essay question which is then developed with further pair work. The question could then be completed as an assessment or Homework task.
Files in this resources:
Strangers - PowerPoint of lesson
Strangers - Word document of Prologue
Exploring the character of Mr Middleton and his relationship with Thornhill, this lesson looks at three short passages, encouraging students to consider how Grenville presents this relationship and the influence it has on Thornhill. The lesson moves to an analysis of how Grenville presents Mr Middleton's death and what changes this signifies for Thornhill. The essay-style question for this lesson focuses on foreshadowing and Mr Middleton's death.
A fully planned one-hour lesson, this is linked to the 2017 IGCSE English Literature specification, but could be adapted for other exam boards. Allowing students to initially independently analyse the poem before teacher input, this is an ideal group-work lesson. The lesson closes with preparing for an exam-style question, which could be completed as a homework task or in a following lesson.
Files in this resource:
The Trees Are Down - PowerPoint of lesson
The Trees Are Down - Word document of poem
Originally delivered to a weak KS4 class as an introduction to non-fiction and writing to argue, this lesson is a helpful opener into developing these writing skills. The lesson can be adapted to KS3 but teachers may find this too simplistic for more-able KS4 students. This lesson could be used as a way in for debating/persuasive writing work.
The lesson explores what is a counter-argument to then apply this to statements which should generate some interesting class discussion! There is a text to analyse, identifying what the writer’s arguments are for the students to create their own counter-arguments.
I appreciate all constructive criticism, so I hope you are able to take time to review this resource.
File in this resource: Arguments and Counter-arguments - PowerPoint of lesson.
Like what you see? Please check out my other resources at https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/sae5 and join my followers.
This lesson allows students to explore the importance of Thornhill and Sal's relationship in Kate Grenville's, 'The Secret River'. With opportunity to work individually or in groups, the lesson encourages students to find pivotal moments in the novel that reflect the importance of their relationship. The lesson allows students to build on their knowledge across the entire novel, leading to a practise exam question to answer at the end.
It is anticipated that this lesson will cover more than one hour to allow for the essay writing, subsequently providing a useful assessment piece for the unit. References to AOs and the mark scheme are taken from the current IGCSE specification.
Unseen poetry practice for AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2. PowerPoint outlines what to expect in Paper 2 and assessment areas. Using Philip Larkin's 'An Arundel Tomb' and 'Tears, Idle Tears' by Tennyson, the lesson encourages group work, with students working independently to annotate the unseen material, before feeding back to the rest of the class. Lesson works towards preparing for both the extended and comparative exam questions, which can be used in the following lesson or homework tasks. Included are annotated copies of the poem for teacher's reference or for students who need that extra support.
I appreciate all constructive criticism, so I hope you are able to take time to review this resource.
Files in this resource:
Unseen Poetry An Arundel Tomb and Tears Idle Tears - PowerPoint of lesson
An Arundel Tomb - Word document of poem
Tears, Idle Tears - Word document of poem
An Arundel Tomb annotated - Word document of poem with notes
Tears, Idle Tears annotated - Word document of poem with notes
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Preparing students for the unseen poetry question, this lesson uses 'The Trees Are Down' by Charlotte Mew. Beginning with finding three poetic techniques used in the poem, the lesson encourages more independent analysis before developing ideas in paired work. The lesson develops with class analysis of the poem, concluding with independent planning for a practice exam question which leads to beginning to write their own response. This task can then be extended to the following lesson or become a homework task.
Files in this resource:
The Trees Are Down unseen poem exam question - PowerPoint of lesson
The Trees Are Down - Word document of poem
Exploring setting in 'The Secret River', this resource allows students to consider language techniques and how setting is important to the development of the story. Likely to cover two lessons, students work in groups to annotate six different extracts from the novel. It is recommended that the teacher creates a booklet of these settings to allow students to have a comprehensive set of notes and annotations which will be useful for revision purposes. Each extract has line numbers to help with discussions and there is a range to allow access for different abilities.
I appreciate all constructive criticism, so I hope you are able to take time to review this resource.
Files in this resource:
Setting - PowerPoint of the lesson
Starter task - Word document
6x extracts for the main focus of the lesson - Word documents
**Like what you see? Please check out my other resources at https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/sae5 and join my followers.**
Introductory lesson on ‘Of Mice and Men’, originally delivered to a weak KS4 group. Lesson closely explores the opening setting description, encouraging students to pull quotes from this scene to show what is being described. This knowledge is then pulled together with a PEE analysis, finishing with character profiling.
Files in this resource:
The opening - PowerPoint of lesson
Opening extract - Word document of opening of ‘Of Mice and Men’