This 1 hour worksheet helps guide pupils through a reading of Janet Frame’s The Bath in preparation for GCSE questions. It focuses on setting and themes in particular. This resource can be used as a class activity, to support understanding of the text or as homework.

This worksheet helps pupils prepare for an essay questions about use of Symbolism at GCSE level. It guides them through basic comprehension of the main ideas of the story and leads onto an essay style question. Suitable as a class activity or can be done for homework. Similarly it could be used as a revision exercise.

A worksheet to guide students through a reading of The Open Boat by Stephen Crane for GCSE Literature. Introduces key themes, techniques and aspects of narrative. Includes answer sheet as a separate document.

This 1h30 minute lesson can be used to introduce or revise AO2 Writing & persuasive techniques for directed writing at IGCSE for the paper 3 (writing) paper for Cambridge. A great subject for getting pupils engaged but you’ll need a strong stomach! It looks at a recent news article regarding the Fatberg in London. It could equally be used to explore important themes about the negative impacts of modern society in a PSHE lesson. A full set of teacher notes is included, as well as answers.

This resource would be suitable for one or two hours of lesson time (or alternatively, the essay writing task could be given as a homework activity). It breaks down the aspects of essay writing, through identifying key terms in the essay title, brainstorming ideas using technical terms and helping pupils draft analytical points, supported by evidence. The final activity is a peer assessment task so pupils can explore what was successful in their partner’s work.

This revision worksheet is designed to help pupils identify useful quotes and analyse, explain and explore these. It helps develop essay writing skills and the construction of analytical PEE paragraphs. Once they’ve identified who has said the quote and where it features in the play, they have to comment on context, characters and themes. The teachers notes cover detailed suggested responses.

This 1 to 2 hour lesson resource helps pupils understand the short story The Stoat by John McGahern, helping them to identify the significance of the allegory in relation to the story. A useful worksheet in preparation for essay writing for the IGCSE questions on prose. It focuses on the significance of the allegory in particular. This resource can be used as a class activity, to support understanding of the text or as homework. It includes suggested answers for the teacher which can be shared as part of the feedback.

A 2 hour class which consists of students creating their own revision worksheets on the poetry studied in class. Pupilis work in groups and respond to a series of questions, the answers of which should be included on the worksheet. At the end, pupils present their final worksheet to the rest of the class and then the teacher can collect these and photocopy/scan and share with all the class. Dead simple but very effective and engaging for pupils!

This resource is designed for students preparing Americanah as a text for A Level. The material focuses largely on the first half of the story and provides up to 10 hours of lessons and discusssion (27 slides). It is designed to cover various discussions around themes of race, identity, and the concept of hair. It also provides links to other resources that can help towards AO5 part of the assessment. A number of essay titles are planned and developed to help critical thinking. The resource includes an example essay that could be used as a class marking activity. The chapter summary grid should be used at home while pupils read the novel so that they have an easy reference to the different sections.

This lesson, based on an article by Peter Bradshaw which reviews the film 127 is designed as a way to engage pupils with the Response Writing task for the Extended paper at IGCSE, but could also be used for directed writing. The lesson deliverable is a Newspaper report based on the contents of the article.

This resource is designed as a group activity for students to practise close reading of a passage in preparation for the GCSE passage based questions. After a brief run through of what is required in the exam, pupils work in groups to analyse a passage from the play, which advice on what to look for. This then feeds into an essay planning process (again in groups) and finishes with peer assessment. I've had some really positive results and the essay plans students produced as a result were A* standard! They can be asked to write up the essay as homework, or explore another passage, depending on how confident they felt at the end. This resource also works well if used in conjunction with my other resource on PEE paragraphs on A View from the Bridge.

This fun 1 hour 30 minute lesson includes 2 worksheets and can be spread over one or two lessons depending on the level of detail you want in the interview. Great for revision session, or for pupils who are approaching the end of the play and need a recap. The lesson focuses on AO2 in the drama question: Comment on their actions in the play, words they might say, values and attitudes using the text to help you gather ideas. My experience is that pupils get very involved and even those who are more reticent about acting can take part. Some of the questions they ask can be quite advanced and it really gets them thinking about the character’s different points of view. Weaker pupils benefit from the opportunity to review events in the play up until this point.

This resource is to help teach pupils correct punctuation rules for punctuating dialogue correctly. It includes a short activity at the end which is based on the book Wonder by RJ Palacio. It can be adapted to any class reader.

This 1 hour lesson consists of a worksheet designed to encourage pupils to engage and sequence the components of a well-structured essay. They are required to identify how to organise and develop points in a way that is logical, using the PEE structure. It is also a good opportunity to discuss appropriate register and academic style of writing. Pupils are asked to guess the essay title at the end in order to help them recognise how the essay title should be apparent from the response.

This is a resource for teachers of KS3 who need a bit of extra help getting pupils to write PEE paragraphs at this level. It deals with the elements of a good PEE paragraph, breaking down what a point is, looking at how to select appropriate evidence and finally how to explore and analyse the quote in detail. It is based on the novel Wonder by RJ Palacio, but could be adapted to suit another text as necessary. I have used this format with my KS3 classes and the results have been fantastic!

This resource is designed to help students create insightful and analytical PEE (or APE) paragraphs in preparation for writing either a passage based or essay style question at GCSE. It can easily be adapted to suit another text besides A View from the Bridge

This Powerpoint presentation offers a plot summary, historical background/context, a discussion of key themes and symbols, some alternative interpretations (as per assessment objective 5) - including a discussion of the play’s tragic elements, comparisons of the characters of Richard and Henry Bullingbrook, a consideration of the use of verse, and scene by scene questions.

3 hour resource looks at the main components of narrative writing for GCSE, ranging from sourcing ideas, planning and technical suggestions.

This lesson is based on an article that discusses addictions to social media. It is designed to mimic the Cambridge extended Language paper for Reading (papers 1 & 2: Core and Extended) and the Writing (paper 3). It uses one source text (as opposed to two for the reading and 1 for the writing paper). Initial activities are meant to help pupils access and understand the meaning of the text, whilst enhancing their vocabulary, whereas the later activities are replicas of the questions they would be asked in the Reading and then Writing exam. It could equally be used as the basis for a PSHE discussion regarding sensible use of social media.

This resource is designed for teachers who want to ensure that the pupils are making analytical comments in PEE paragraphs, rather than falling into the trap of simply summarising the narrative or explaning the action occuring on stage or in the story. It is based on Macbeth but could easily be adapted to another text.