This engaging and informative lesson enables students to develop a detailed understanding of Antonio, the main antagonist in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. In particular, students develop an understanding of the key features of villains, before establishing how Antonio demonstrates these traits through his behaviour before the play and in Act 2 Scene 1. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which students learn through: Understanding the generic conventions of villains; Interpreting Antonio’s key actions before the start of the play - linking his behaviour to the features of villains; Reading and comprehending a key section of Act 2, Scene 1, in which Antonio attempts to coerce Sebastian into murdering Alonso (the King); Dramatically portraying Antonio in Act 2 Scene 1, through a freeze-frame activity ; Using textual exploration to discover how Antonio is developed over the course of the play; Creating their own Shakespearean villains, based on their understanding of Antonio’s traits; Self-assessing their learning throughout the lesson; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Extract from Act II Scene I (freely available online); Villain Character Profile Template; Comprehensive lesson plan. Resources are provided in PDF (to maintain formatting) and Word (so that they are easily editable - they can be found in the zipfile) The lesson contains opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 10 and 11 classes, however colleagues have used them for between year 9 and year 13 with some adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of David Walliams’ ‘Ratburger.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS2 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children love learning from these resources, whilst they are also of great use to teachers, as 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: ‘An Interview with Zoe’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ ‘Walliams’ Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Explain meanings of words that they know and ask the meaning of new words. Link the meaning of new words to words that they already know;’ ‘Burger Man Burt’ Character Profile!’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ 'Figurative Language in ‘Ratburger’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, to create an impact on the reader.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 21 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 year 3-4 children when writing recounts. 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 mystery stories at lower KS2. It contains distinct sections covering: -Recounts Overview; -Content: Settings, Characters, and Plot; -Language: Descriptive Devices, Dialogue, Conjunctions, Punctuation Checklist and Word Mat; -Structure - Titles, Planning Techniques and other tips; -Key Vocabulary The content is fully aligned with the age-related expectations for Lower KS2 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).

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Siegfried Sassoon’s World War 1 poem ‘Base Details.’ Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for exam revision or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the key English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This engaging and thought-provoking lesson aids students in developing a secure understanding of Chapter 2 of Ted Hughes’ 'The Iron Man.’ This chapter is entitled ‘The Return of the Iron Man.’ The resources guide the children along a learning journey in which they understand the text through: -Retrieving information; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings; -Sequencing the key events so far; -Analysing the language techniques used by the writer. 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Philip Pullman’s ‘Northern Lights.’ 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: Religion’ - 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.’ ‘Pullman’s Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ ‘Lyra’s 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).

This interesting and highly-stimulating lesson enables students to gain a clear and understanding of the key meanings in the Greek Myth ‘Daedalus and Icarus.’ Through close study of the myth, they learn to interpret and infer the key meanings in a myth, understand the moral viewpoint of a myth, and react to the moral message of a myth with their own thoughts and ideas. The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to: - Define the key term ‘hubris’ and apply the notion to other examples; - Read the story ‘Daedarus and Icarus’ and interpret and infer the key meanings; - Identify, explain, and analyse the moral of the story in ‘Daedarus and Icarus;’ - Engage deeply with the myth by challenging and building upon the ideas raised in the myth; - Test their understanding of the story by answering an exam-style comprehension question. -Peer assess each other’s learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Paper copies and online links to the text; - Interpretation worksheet; - A logically scaffolded essay template; - A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein.' It contains comprehensive sections on: - Context; - Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); - Main Characters; - Themes; - Shelley's Language Devices; - Features of Gothic Novels. 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 lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of one of the key scenes in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth – Act II Scene II. In particular, they learn to make insightful interpretations about Shakespeare’s use of symbolism, 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 ‘symbolism’ and establishing its importance as a literary technique; - Understanding the different objects that were used as symbols in Shakesperean times through a multiple choice team game; - Reading and interpreting Act 2 Scene 2, and establishing how symbolism is utilised throughout; - Summarising the events of the scene; - Analysing Shakespeare’s intentions in using literary techniques, and considering the audience reactions to them; - 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; - 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.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Katherine Rundell’s 'Rooftoppers.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS2 expectations within the National Curriculum framework. Children love learning from these resources, whilst they are also of great use to teachers, as 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: ‘Rundell’s Language Techniques’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Explain meanings of words that they know and ask the meaning of new words. Link the meaning of new words to words that they already know;’ ‘Character Analysis of Sophie and Matteo’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ ‘An Interview with Charles Maxim’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ ‘Storyboarders’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Read books that are structured in different ways and for a range of purposes.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is over 20 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. The resource is suitable for home/ remote learning.

This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to build their understanding of Inspector Goole, one of the chief protagonists in ‘An Inspector Calls.’ In particular, students understand the Inspector’s main characteristics and quotations. They also contemplate whether they feel the Inspector presents the voice and key messages of Priestley himself. The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to: - Recall and understand the key features of The Inspector's character profile; - Link The Inspector to Priestley's key messages and the context of the play; - Piece together the Eva Smith case from the viewpoint of The Inspector; - Read and understand the final section of the play; - Analyse the character further in response to key quotations; - Argue the extent to which the Inspector presents the views of Priestley himself; - Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet on interpreting The Inspector's character; - Extract from Act 3 of the play for students to read and interpret; - Inspector's notepad to piece together the Eva Smith case; - A scaffolded template for students to complete the main analysis task; - A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson. 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 section of Onjali Q. Rauf’s ‘The Lion Above the Door.’ The resource pack includes the extract needed. This is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. A vocabulary check helps to secure children’s understanding of any new or unfamiliar language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 4-6, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This engaging, comprehensive lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Carol Ann Duffy’s contemporary war poem ‘War Photographer’ with particular focus upon the language and structure used within the poem to depict the photographer’s experiences. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate their knowledge of the text analytically, through assured, appropriate, and sustained interpretations. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Defining the role of the war photographer, and understanding difficulties in their job; - Securing contextual understanding of Carol Ann Duffy - the poet; - Reading and interpreting the poem, using a provided line-by-line analysis, and interactive group activities; - Developing their understanding through inferring and analysing key language and structural choices; - Understanding how the war photographer's life varies between war-torn locations and 'Rural England;' - Analysing how language and structure are used to portray the photographer' experiences; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including hyperlinks to informative and engaging videos) - Copy of poem; - Deeper thinking worksheet (including a scaffolded version, and a teacher answer sheet); - 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 9/10 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Roald Dahl’s ‘Boy.’ 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 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: ‘Dahl’s Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ ‘The Matron Profile’ and ‘The Headmaster Profile’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.’ ‘Context: 1920s 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.’ ‘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.

This engaging and thought-provoking lesson aids students in developing a secure understanding of Chapter 5 of Clive King’s 'Stig of the Dump.’ This chapter is entitled 'The Snargets.’ 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; -Summarising events from the text. 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 engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ knowledge and understanding of the character of Curley’s Wife in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men: Her dreams, her loneliness, and how her plight is a product of the Great Depression. The lesson also aims to improve students’ analytical skills, so that they can demonstrate sustained and sophisticated interpretations of the character. This pack includes the full lesson presentation, with animations and key information, a double-page worksheet with clear and concise instructions, True and False cards for the starter activity, a writing to analyse help-sheet, and full teacher guidance. The learning journey is clear and progressive, following a pathway of progressively more difficult tasks, including: - An engaging true or false game to help students understand what life was like for women in the Great Depression; - A worksheet that enables students to demonstrate understanding of key quotations about Curley’s Wife, and also to link Curley’s Wife to key themes and ideas. - Close reading of a modelled analysis paragraph; - Joint creation of an analysis success criteria; - An opportunity to answer an exam style question based upon the character of Curley’s Wife; - A chance to peer assess against the success criteria. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the presentation. You can choose to buy this resource alone, or as part of the ‘Of Mice and Men - All Lessons and Scheme’ bundle, which contains seven full lessons, resources, teachers notes, and PowerPoint presentations, plus a Pointless Of Mice and Men game, for just £5!