This engaging and thought-provoking double-lesson resource aids students in developing a secure understanding of the first two chapters of Roald Dahl’s ‘Boy: Tales of Childhood.’ The comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation enables students to understand the first two chapters through: -Retrieving key information; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings; -Linking texts to context. The session begins with an introduction to Roald Dahl and his writing of the book, before guiding students through reading and understanding the opening chapters utilising retrieval, vocabulary, inference, explanation and deeper thinking activities. There is easily enough material for two lessons here (20 slides in total). The lessons are suitable for students in either KS3 or (for advanced classes) upper KS2, depending upon the individual context of the school and students.

This engaging and thought-provoking lesson aids students in developing a secure understanding of Chapter 8 of Clive King’s 'Stig of the Dump.’ This chapter is entitled 'Midsummer Night.’ The resources guide the children along a learning journey in which they understand the text through: -Retrieving information; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings; -Explaining key ideas; -Predicting future text events. Children are guided through the lesson via a colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation, which includes a range of thought-provoking activities and model examples/ answers. The tasks are comprised of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, summarising, explaining and deeper thinking activities. Children also get the opportunity to partake in a creative activity at the end of the lesson. There’s a lot in the session (16 slides in total) so you may wish to either select the content that is pertinent to you/ your class or spread the lesson resource over two sessions. The resource is ideally pitched for children in lower KS2, but could feasibly be used with slightly older or younger children, depending upon the individual context of the school and students.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Arthur Miller's 'A View from the Bridge.' It contains comprehensive sections on: - Context; - Scene by Scene Summary (with quotes); - Main Characters; - Themes; - Miller's Dramatic Devices; - The Features of Tragedy. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make precise and sustained interpretations regarding Susan Hill’s portrayal of Eel Marsh House in the early chapters of The Woman in Black. In particular, they consider how the language (e.g. similes and pathetic fallacy) are used to introduce and develop the imagery and atmosphere of the house. They also consider how the features of the house (e.g. its isolation and age) relate to the generic conventions of scary settings. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Defining the key conventions of ghostly settings; - Reading extracts introducing Eel Marsh House, and relating the conventions of ghostly settings to the description of Eel Marsh House; - Identifying and exploring how the features of Hill’s language help to create imagery and an atmosphere that surrounds Eel Marsh House; - Analysing how Hill’s language and subject matter are effective in the description of Eel Marsh House; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Extracts from ‘The Journey North’ and ‘Across the Causeway’ of The Woman in Black; - The Features of Ghostly Settings worksheet; - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This engaging and thought-provoking double-lesson resource aids students in developing a secure understanding of the second chapter (‘April’) of Stephen Kelman’s 'Pigeon English.’ In this section of the text, Harri sees Lydia washing blood-soaked clothes, and his relationship develops with Poppy. The comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation enables students to understand the text through: -Making predictions; -Retrieving and inferring information; -Analysing plot events; -Evaluating characters. The sessions include a range of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, explanation and deeper thinking activities. A clear, colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides students through the learning. There’s a lot of content in the resource (20 slides in total) and in the past I have utilised this material over two or even three lessons. The lessons are best suited to students in KS4, and develop students’ knowledge and skills in relation to a number of GCSE assessment objectives.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Roger Robinson’s poem 'A Portable Paradise.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: -Context; -Line-by-Line Analysis; -Poetic Devices/ Language Devices; -Themes; -Form/Structure; -Poems for Comparison; -Links to Further Reading. The organiser is perfect for those studying the ‘Worlds and Lives’ anthology. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A4 or A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in exam revision, comprehension tasks, or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the KS4 expectations within the National Curriculum framework - this makes the tasks suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the play ensuring that students gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: ‘Context: Shakespearean Times’ - to aid students with ‘Drawing on knowledge of the purpose, audience and context of the writing, including its social, historical and cultural context and the literary tradition to which it belongs, to inform evaluation;’ ‘Shakespeare’s Description’ - to aid students with ‘Analysing a writer’s choice of vocabulary, form, grammatical and structural features, and evaluating their effectiveness and impact;’ ‘Brutus’ and ‘Cassius’ character profiles- to aid students with ‘Seeking evidence in the text to support a point of view, including justifying inferences with evidence;’ ‘Editing the Play’ - to aid students with ‘Making an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 30 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for KS1 children when writing instructions. The organiser is also perfect for teachers, parents and English subject leaders - aiding their planning and supporting of children’s knowledge development for this writing text type. The organiser has a particular focus on the content, language and structural features required to write effective instructions at KS1. It contains distinct sections covering: -An Overview of Instructions; -Content: Recipes, Directions, How To Guides and Procedures; -Language:Vocabulary Choices, Imperative/ Bossy Verbs, Time Conjunctions, Prepositions, Conjunctions, Punctuation Checklist and Word Mat; -Structure - Titles, Bullet Points, Images and other tips; -Key Vocabulary The content is fully aligned with the age-related expectations for KS1 children in writing. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included). Read less

This lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of one of the key scenes in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth – Act III Scene IV. In particular, they learn to make insightful interpretations about the changing nature of Macbeth’s tone throughout the scene, and are enabled to understand how this would have affected Shakespearean audiences. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be visual and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey: - Defining the key term ‘tone’ and establishing its importance as a literary technique; - Understanding how tone is used to depict mood and attitude across a range of fiction; - Reading and interpreting Act 3 Scene 4, and establishing how Macbeth’s tone alters throughout; - Reflecting upon why this may/ what effect this may have had on audiences at the time; - Summarising the events of the scene; - Analysing Shakespeare’s intentions in sharply altering Macbeth’s tone throughout; - Peer/self evaluating the learning in the lesson. Included in this resource pack are: - A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Resources for the reading and interpreting activity - full scene transcript with space for notes; - A template to help scaffold the main task, complete with P.E.E instructions; - Cards for the card sorting group activity - A comprehensive teacher guidance form/lesson plan to assist delivery. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

These resources enable students to understand and analyse the character of Squealer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. More precisely, students learn to make clear and accurate interpretations regarding his role in within the consolidation of Napoleon’s dictatorship. Students also demonstrate their understanding of chapters 7 and 8, with a particular emphasis upon the actions of Squealer. There are easily enough resources here for two lessons. Students learn through the following tasks: - Gauging and collaborating previous knowledge of ‘propaganda’ through a discussion-based starter task; - Using an interactive, out-of-seat, group activity to build understanding of the features of propaganda; - Reading chapters 7 and 8 with a particular focus on the character of Squealer, and demonstrating their understanding through a related activity sheet; - Developing their understanding of Squealer’s actions, and finding textual evidence to back this up, through a scaffolded, retrieval activity; - Using their imaginative and creative skills, in addition to their knowledge of Squealer and propaganda posters, to construct their own propaganda poster for Animal Farm; - Peer assessing their partners’ learning attempts. The following resources are provided: - Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint - Teacher lesson guidance/plan; - Squealer’s Propaganda worksheet; - Four propaganda texts for group analysis; - Template for recording group analysis; - Chapters 7 and 8 worksheet (plus teacher answer sheet); - Copies of Chapters 7 and 8. All images and videos are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This engaging and thought-provoking double-lesson resource aids students in developing a secure understanding of the chapters 5 to 6 of Emma Carroll’s 'Secrets of a Sun King.’ In this section of the text, Lil reads Professor Hanawati’s letter and the first section of the transcription of Lysandra’s story. The comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation enables students to understand the text through: -Retrieving information; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings; -Explaining key ideas. The sessions include a range of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, explanation and deeper thinking activities. A clear, colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides students through the learning. There’s a lot in the session (18 slides in total) so I would recommend breaking into two lessons. The lessons are most suitable for children in key stage 2, (they were originally used for those in years 4 and 5).

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Sue Townsend’s ‘The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS3 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that children gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: ‘Context: 1980s Britain - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know the purpose, audience and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension.’ ‘Townsend’s Language Devices’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ ‘Bert Baxter Character Profile’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.’ ‘Vocabulary Inspector’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Learn new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 23 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

These informative and engaging resources enable students to build the skills needed to interpret and analyse 19th Century non-fiction texts. This will aid students through the new Paper 2 Section A of GCSE English Language - for which they need to become confident readers of 19th, 20th, and 21st Century non-fiction texts. These resources give students a strong foundation of knowledge of features of non-fiction texts in the 19th Century, using newspaper stories from the time based on 'Jack the Ripper' as the predominant examples. There are easily enough resources for at least two lessons within this resource pack. Students learn through the following tasks: - Inferring and deducing contextual knowledge through an interactive starter task; - Understanding the features of London in 1888 through a video introduction; - Building close reading skills through a study of a non-fiction extract about Jack the Ripper; - Answering exam-style questions interpreting and inferring the key meanings in the text; - Using models and templates to write extended analysis responses about the language used in the non-fiction extract; - Peer assessing their partners' learning attempts. The following resources are provided: - Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint; - Jack the Ripper newspaper extract; - Teacher lesson guidance; - Interpretation worksheet; - Analysis worksheet; - Writing to analyse. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening two chapters of Eoin Colfer’s ‘Artemis Fowl.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions, fact-checking and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in lower KS3 (or advanced upper KS2 classes).

This highly engaging and informative double lesson (around 1.5 to 2 hours of teaching materials) helps students to build skills in demonstrating appropriate, sophisticated, and original structures in their writing, and provides them with theories and techniques to help them to organise their writing adequately. I wrote this lesson because I noticed that there are an extremely high volume of students that approach extended writing tasks (even in their GCSEs) with practically no sense of organisation. Even though they have clearly learnt a number of writing techniques from their teachers, their writing can be extremely short, repetitive, and in some cases the topic is confused. This lesson aims to address each of those issues. Students learn: - What structure and organisation mean; - Narrative structure theory and 'plot mountain;' - How time order can effect a creative text; - How to expand using the five key senses; - How and when to use paragraphing; - Plan for their own extended piece of writing; Included are all worksheets, and detailed and visual PowerPoint presentation, which explains each concept clearly, and a lesson plan for teacher guidance. Alternatively, you can buy the Descriptive Writing Big Bundle (All descriptive devices lessons, structuring and organising writing lesson, capturing the readers attention lesson, and the literacy writing mat) for £5. All images are licensed for commercial use, and authors are cited on the final slide.