This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Wilfred Owen’s power and conflict poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth.’ Teachers have found them 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 informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of the portrayal of women in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The lesson places a particular focus upon the perceived role and characteristics of women in the late 1700s, and compares this to the manner in which they are presented in the text. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate an ability to argue whether they think Shelley’s portrayal of women challenges or recycles existing ideas of women living at the time. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Understanding the social and historical context of life for women in the late 1700s;’ - Making links between contextual understanding and what is noted from the text; - Reading and understanding key extracts from chapters 8, 22, and 23 - extracts that provide exposure to the female characters in the text; - Inferring, and interpreting the key events of the extracts, and considering the impression that is given of women by Shelley; - Arguing whether they feel that Shelley recycles or challenges the role of women at the time, using a purpose-made essay template; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including an animated Frankenstein’s monster to guide them through the lesson); - Inferring and interpreting worksheet (and a teacher answer sheet); - Extracts from Chapters 8, 22, and 23; - The role of women 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 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.

Based on the popular game show ‘Pointless’, this resource is perfect for use as a starter activity, plenary, or revision tool. Editable, so that you can change to any other topic or change questions. Containing almost 30 slides of sound clips, engaging visuals, and suitably challenging questions, this resource is effective at both promoting engagement and enhancing learning. There are several full rounds of questions to build learning of Persuasive Writing: 1. Emotive Language 2. Definitions of Persuasive Devices 3. Adding and Contrasting Connectives 4. Remembering Persuasive Devices The nature of the game ensures that this resource can challenge students of all levels. A blank template is now included, so that you can create your own Pointless games!

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make precise, detailed interpretations regarding the relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda in The Tempest. In particular, students consider their introduction to one another at the end of Act 1 Scene 2, before tracking the development of their relationship throughout the play. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which students learn through: Reading and comprehending how Ferdinand and Miranda are introduced to one another in Act 1 Scene 2; Using textual exploration to discover how the characters’ relationship is then developed over the course of the play; Considering Shakespeare’s intentions in his portrayal of the relationship; Answering an essay-style question about Ferdinand and Miranda’s relationship; Self-assessing their learning through the lesson; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Essay template (includes structure strip); Tracking template; Copy of extract from Act I Scene 2 (freely available online); 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 engaging and interesting lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of one of the key characters in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Lady Macbeth. In particular, they learn to make insightful interpretations about the character, and are enabled to draw links between Lady Macbeth and their knowledge of women in Shakespearean times. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be visual and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey: - Inferring key information about the character of Lady Macbeth from picture clues; - Identifying and ordering the key events in the text in which Lady Macbeth is involved; - Understanding her role in the rise and downfall of Macbeth; - Comparing and contrasting between her character and the expected role of women at the time the play was written; - Analysing Shakespeare’s development of Lady Macbeth as a key character throughout the text; - 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 sequencing activity, detailing Lady Macbeth’s numerous actions throughout the play; - 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 detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Willy Russell’s ‘Blood Brothers.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Scene by Scene Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Russell’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 clear, detailed and well-informed interpretations of Scout Finch’s development as a character throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. In particular, students develop their background understanding of how her character is introduced, before plotting her development against the different stages of protagonists in Bildungsroman novels. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Taking part in a fun quiz in order to gain/recap knowledge about Scout Finch’s background information (e.g. family history, family members, etc.); Reading selected extracts from the text and answering comprehension questions about Scout’s introduction at the start of the novel; Understanding the different stages of development in the Bildungsroman genre, and plotting Scout’s development against this; Understanding Lee’s intentions/messages in presenting Scout in the way that she did; Using knowledge of protagonist development and structure in order to create their own Bildungsroman storyboard templates; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Interesting Scout Finch development worksheet; Selected extract (from chapter 2); Storyboard template Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also 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 8 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 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Kit Wright’s poem 'The Magic Box.’ Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for revision or guided reading sessions. 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 clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for lower KS2 children when writing historical fiction narratives. 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 historical fiction stories at lower KS2. It contains distinct sections covering: -Historical Fiction Overview; -Content: Settings, Characters, and Plot; -Language: Descriptive Devices, Dialogue, Conjunctions, Punctuation Checklist and Word Mat; -Structure - Titles, Structure Mountains 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). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This engaging and detailed resource pack has been designed to make the learning of expanded noun phrases (particularly prominent in the new curriculum) easily accessible, engaging and interesting for all children. Throughout the lesson, students learn to improve their skill at using appropriate, concise, and precise expanded noun phrases within their own writing compositions. 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 what expanded noun phrases are; - Identify varied and interesting nouns and adjectives; - Analyse and evaluate what it is that makes some nouns and adjectives more effective than others; - Utilise prepositions in order to open up new levels of detail in their own expanded noun phrases; - Write an extended piece with the employment of exceptional expanded noun phrases; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet for the development task; - Picture resources for the main activity; - 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/ the bottom of worksheets.

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of William Wordsworth’s romantic poem ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.’ 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 informative lesson enables students to understand the role that the theme of ‘appearances’ plays in R.J. Palacio’s Wonder. In particular, students consider how appearances impact upon our lives on a daily basis, learn more about TCS (the condition affecting the protagonist - Auggie), and link what they find out to information in the novel. They then communicate their own ideas on the subject of judging people based on appearances. There is easily enough content for 2-3 lessons here, following a step-by-step learning journey. Children learn through: -Comprehending how appearances influence our lives - touching on the ideas of representations and stereotyping; -Learning about Treacher Collins Syndrome, through a short engaging video, and distilling key information; -Hot-seating, demonstrating empathy for characters whose appearance is ‘different’; -Linking what they have learnt to what is read in the opening pages of Wonder; -Communicating their ideas about judging people based on their appearances, as a part of a well-structured debate; -Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Research template; Writing to Argue helpsheet; Comprehensive lesson plan. All resources are provided in Word (for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure formatting remains fixed between different computers). Word documents are in the zip file. There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with a year 6 class, however colleagues have used them for between years 5 and 8 with only minor adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

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 ‘Suicide in the Trenches.’ 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 is the perfect resource for teachers looking to build students writing skills across the curriculum. Aiding students in the four key areas of their writing (Openers, Vocabulary, Connectives, and Punctuation) and also addressing a few common writing mistakes, my students now ask for this whenever they are asked to complete writing tasks, in any of their subjects. It is extremely visually engaging, and can also be used as a poster. Nothing needs to be done to this resource. It is already in A3. Simply print off and laminate. 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 £4.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Eva Ibbotson’s 'Journey to the River Sea.’ 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 and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in KS2. I originally used this with Year 4-5 children, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through reading and interpreting the opening section of Katherine Rundell’s ‘Impossible Creatures.’ The resource pack includes the extract needed and a clear and well presented PowerPoint, guiding the teacher and learners through the various activities. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, sequencing 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 5-6, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to understand how the lead protagonist of Philip Pullmans’s Northern Lights, Lyra, develops as a character and as a heroine throughout the narrative. In doing so, students learn the key features of heroes and heroines, and apply these to the different behaviours that Lyra exhibits over the course of the novel. They then go on to design their own hero/heroine development storyboards! The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: -Defining what heroes and heroines are, and identifying their key features; -Comprehending how Lyra is initially introduced to the reader, using an extract from the text; -Tracking Lyra’s development as a hero over the course of the novel, using a development graph and justification table; -Creating a storyboard for their own heroic journey, using the template provided; Self assessing their learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Extract from Chapter 1 of Northern Lights; Lyra’s development tracking template; Create your own Bildungsroman novel storyboard template; Comprehensive lesson plan. All resources are provided in Word (for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure formatting remains fixed between different computers). There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 7/8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 5 and 10 with some adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.