An upgraded version of this resource. The approach is to compare Ode on a Grecian Urn to Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn by Tim Turnbull. Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn is one of the modern poems studied on the Edexcel A Level Literature course, so this lesson provides an opportunity to revise the poem and develop students’ knowledge of Keats’s Grecian Urn. There are tasks on theme, language, form and structure, and the infamously nebulous final lines of the poem. Also included is simple table for comparing the themes and ideas in the two poems.

A full lesson on the poem Remember by Christina Rossetti, which appears on the Edexcel IGCSE Literature specification. However, the content of the resource is applicable to any course of study at GCSE level which includes this poem. The resource includes: a starter activity where key techniques in the poem are matched to definitions; an embedded YouTube video of a reading of the poem; a short summary of the poem; guided, step-by-step language analysis through key questions; summary of the main features of form and structure; an exemplar response to an exam-style question (students can then have a go at writing a response themselves).

Some of the better lessons I created for a year 9 War Poetry SOW. They are visual, many contain clips and are all fully differentiated (including LOs).

A full lesson centred around an extract from Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games with activities designed to get students to analyse how the author creates a sense of setting using a backstory and proper nouns. Students then have the opportunity to create their own backstory for a dystopia they have imagined. The resource was created as the fourth installment in a scheme of work, but could be used for a one-off lesson too. It is aimed at high-ability students in Year 7 but would work well for students in years 5, 6 or 8 dependent upon ability.

A full lesson guiding students through the poem ‘Hide and Seek’ by Vernon Scannell, which appears on the Edexcel IGCSE Literature specification. The resource contains: a simple starter activity; guided analysis, breaking down key lines with questions; a plenary activity asking students their thoughts on the moral of the poem. The lesson could be developed with an extended writing activity and additional questions for each section of the poem. These are not included and this resource is not as detailed as some other resources in my shop, hence the lower price point.

A pair of lessons which focus on extract analysis of characters from Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein. The Frankenstein lesson contains printable resources for close language analysis in groups and the Jekyll and Hyde lesson contains an engaging activity where students can draw and label Mr Hyde. I would recommend the resource be used with low to middle ability KS3 students.

The presentation introduces the idea of the double or 'doppelganger' through various famous examples in literature, film and comics. This transitions into discussion on Ofglen as a double for Offred, before looking at how other characters can also be considered doubles. The final task directs students towards Janine's appearances in the novel and there are discussion questions to help them begin analysing her character.

The lesson begins with some definitions of reliable and unreliable narrators, requiring students to justify which they feel Offred is. Next, students discuss the benefits of each type of narrator to an author before looking at some specific sections where Offred can be seen as unreliable. They must analyse the possible reasons and effects of this lack of reliability.

A lesson sequence on the excerpt ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’ from the Edexcel IGCSE anthology. There may be two lessons worth of material here, focused on having students identify and annotate the key features of language and structure. Then, then class are divided in two and provided with tables to complete, which focus them on analysing either the presentation of the people or the place, for question 4 of Paper 1. The resource may be better used with higher ability students, as the majority of the work is student focused, relying on their thoughts and analyses and those of their partner/group. Two AI-generated images have been used for decoration.

A lesson on Kipling’s ‘If-’, which engages students with the poem’s main themes and ideas, and features of language and structure. It contains some background on the poem, information on stoicism (which seems to underpin many of the poem’s ideals), guided annotation, information on form and structure, and an exam-style question with writing frame. The lesson was designed for use with high ability students, studying the Edexcel IGCSE in Literature. The cover image was created using AI and does not reflect the appearance of the the slides in the resource. The image has been uploaded in case you would like to use it.

A lesson filled with contextual information on Keats’s On The Sea. Discussion points are also provided for Keats’s use of the sonnet form as well as his philosophy of negative capability and the role of the poet. Some images have been created using AI.

An updated version of this lesson, now with more activities and greater aesthetic appeal. The presentation contains key context, activities on form and structure, language analysis, and comprehension questions. The final part of the lesson provides questions to prompt comparisons with other poems by Keats, so that students begin to forge connections and understand Keats’s prevailing themes and motifs.

This lesson teaches students how to analyse the language of a poem through a range of activities relating to Counting Tigers by Gillian Clarke. It includes a choice of starter activity, a quotation ‘exploding’ activity, two exemplar responses to an exam-style question on the poem and a writing frame utilising the PETAL acronym to help students write their own response. The lesson is highly visual and there may be enough content to cover more than just one one-hour lesson. I taught this lesson to a low-ability year 9 class, but it could easily be pitched to GCSE students as an unseen poem.

A full lesson on The Eve of St Agnes by John Keats, taking students through key points of plot, context, form and structure, language features and themes. I used this over a two-lesson teaching sequence.

A resource which offers discussion activities on the character of Offred's mother, as well as a simple plot ordering activity for revision.

A step-by-step PowerPoint that takes students through writing an analytical response to a question on Shelley's Ozymandias. It centres on an exemplar piece that might be indicative of a grade 7 or 8 and has a writing frame included. There is also an annotating activity and a web hunt. It does not cover comparison to other poems. Suggested for more able years 10 and 11.

An introduction to Romanticism aimed squarely at KS3. The focus is on the art and ideals of the Romantic era and begins with some annotation of Fuseli's The Nightmare. There is a link to an engaging video on the topic, though it runs rather fast, so it would be worth pausing for discussion or using the video with higher ability only. The presentation contains printable grids with key questions, drawing students attention to important things in the artwork. The resource does not deal with any literature, but provides an opening from which you can segue into the works of the Romantics.

An introduction to the conventions of Gothic literature for KS3. This is an engaging resource with a video clip, a game of taboo, some descriptive writing and peer assessment. It is very accessible and would suit the low to middle ability.

A lesson which examines the imagery, form and context of Keats’s On sitting down to read King Lear once again. A group task is provided to facilitate study of the imagery of the poem quatrain by quatrain.

A full lesson on Keats’s La Belle Dame covering context, form and structure, interpretations and the central theme of the poem. The resource should enable the poem to be taught effectively in a single lesson.