A step-by step look at John Keats’s ‘When I have fears that I may cease to be’. The lesson begins with a look at the context, the unusual form of the poem and then the language. It also asks students to begin to make comparisons to similar ideas in some of Keats’s other poems e.g. the ocean in On The Sea and the harvest in *To Autumn. *

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 lesson with group work tasks on Keats’s In drear nighted December. The tasks also provide links to Keats’s later poems including Ode on a Grecian Urn and To Autumn.

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.

This lesson takes students through the Petrarchan sonnet form and Keats’s use of it, key context surrounding the poem and discussion / language analysis questions which focus students on its main interpretations. The language analysis task can be enacted in groups or as individual / paired comprehension. I have also included some information on Apollo and his relevance to Keats, as well as information on ‘The Camelion Poet’.

An updated version of this lesson, now containing a web quest and group tasks on the form and structure, and imagery in John Keats’s O Solitude. The lesson is designed for A level students studying Edexcel English Literature. It is highly visual and engaging. At the end of the PowerPoint are the previously used slides containing key contextual information, which are useful for reference and revision.

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 three-lesson scheme of work on John Keats, designed to teach students about the sonnet and ode forms, context and Romantic ideals including the Sublime. The poems covered are: On The Sea, To Autumn and Bright Star.

The first part of a scheme of work on poetry from Beowulf, through Chaucer to the Romantic era. It gives students an understanding of how language has changed and the importance of the oral tradition. Lessons on the Romantic era help students engage with the sonnet and ode forms, provide context and teach them about Romantic ideals such as the sublime. The lessons on Keats are also available as a separate, smaller bundle.

A KS5 scheme of work (or a KS4 scheme for the more able). It covers the introductions, the Romantic genre, Walton's narrative, the first part of Victor's narrative, Byron and the Oedipus complex. The scheme is resourced with links to external websites such as the British Library and comes supplied with articles for which I claim no intellectual credit. Students can access the QR codes and hyperlinks which are given from time to time with an ipad or mobile phone.

A KS3 scheme of work which covers the first three chapters of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. There are a range of activities which cover both reading and writing aspects of the novel. Note that we use ipads at my school so, where they are infrequently mentioned, you could set the task as a homework or else book a computer room. Keep your eyes peeled for lessons on chapters 4 and 5 in the coming weeks.

A simple planning resource and essay question for The Handmaid's Tale

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

A presentation which gets students to re-write classic fairy tales with a twist. Very visual and comes complete with planning grids. Suitable for KS2 and early KS3.

A mini bundle with activities for comparing the following poems from the new Eduqas GCSE specification: Mametz Wood, Dulce et decorum est, Afternoons, Too Autumn and Ozymandias.

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.

The lesson begins by building character profiles of Commander Fred Waterford and Fred Judd, and asks students to consider the significance of each character. Next is a close focus on the presentation of his character with discussion questions and, finally, a motion that forms the basis of a debate over his character.

The presentation looks at Moira across the text. It begins with a quotation hunt , contains a task where students evaluate who would be the better protagonist (Moira or Offred) , considers the issue of race and provides a starting point for an essay question.

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 presentation begins by focusing on the character of Nick as first presented in Chapter 4 of the novel. There is a group task with key quotations for this purpose. Next, to promote discussion, there is inter-textual information on Newspeak from Orwell's 1984, which has strong similarities with the language used in Chapter 4. Finally, there are some questions about the end of the chapter and sexual repression in Gilead, along with a link to an online article on the same topic; QR code provided for students with ipad or similar.