This is a unit of work for the play Frankenstein by Philip Pullman/ Mary Shelley. This includes some guided questions for each Act, group discussion tasks, Understanding questions, a task to design a set, a storyboard and the final outcome is a critical essay on Sympathy. This could be used with S1-S3. I’ve included the SchoolTube link to the play starring Benedict Cumberbatch but I wouldn’t recommend watching the entire play- parts are not appropriate for lower school. I suggest you watch ahead and decide which are suitable.

This was produced for a 6-8 period rotation of English classes. This includes researching facts about Paris, reading an article and starting to pick out good descriptive phrases. The final outcome is a travel brochure. You would need some research time either at home or on computers in school. This also involves an episode of Travel Man on Prime but this is optional.

This is based on Alfred Noyes’ poem ‘The Highwayman’. This can be used for online lessons or in class. This is a 8 lesson unit which has some Close Reading, discussion of techniques used in the poem and some fun tasks of Wanted Posters and Leaflet creation.

This is a film creation task based on the short story Voodoo (included). It is a one off lesson (more than likely 2-3 periods of work) in which pupils read the story and create a filmed retelling of the story. I suggest several different ways of doing this: Tiktok, Instagram reels, photo montage, Google photos, or even simply just a series of photos on the phone/ ipads. Group tasks will include storyboarding the lesson and planning it out, then filming. Could be English work/ Drama/ Media.

This is a lower/ mixed ablility unit that I made initially for S3, but could be used for a S2, or perhaps a N4 S4. This has several starters, fun and interesting tasks as well as a focus on RUAE skills - In Your Own Words, Word Choice, Sentence Structure, Imagery. We look at Theme and Characterisation as well. I’ve included group tasks of a Tarsia puzzle, a Hot Seating task, a Homework research task and the final outcome is a critical essay on the theme of good versus evil.

This powerpoint includes lots of different ideas for your bookclub. I ran this for several years and although we had the usual bookclub tasks- discussion of favourite books, author visits, staff members visiting to discuss books etc, I also needed a couple of filler ideas for when we didn’t have something going on. We never had the money to purchase groups sets for the club, and if I’m honest, a lot of the children who came voluntarily to the lunchtime club tended to really just want a safe space, so tasks had to be inclusive and non threatening. These are ideas I have used throughout the year - some word games, some imaginative writing, some discussions. Hopefully it’ll help your bookclub get started too!

This is a setting essay on the early chapters of Gatsby. It’s my experience when tackling a novel that I like to get pupils to tackle an essay quite early on rather than wait until the finishing the novel- it makes me feel more secure. Setting is a popular Higher question and these paragraphs can easily be tweaked into other questions- character, theme etc. The powerpoint takes the class through different settings with hints of analysis that can be used. It encourages pupils to find their own quotes and gives PEAR paragraph examples. I’ve also included a Key Quote booklet for help, and a list of popular previous essay questions that work for Gatsby. After this, I’ve added a Character question on Complex character whom you feel sympathy for- and detailed slides to help my class who were struggling. This is for when you have finished the whole novel.

This is a critical essay using the PEAR structure (easily adapted) to answer on how Felix changes as a character. It includes page suggestions for quotes and takes pupils through each step of writing an essay. I’ve also included a differentiated worksheet for anyone struggling.

This is a small unit taking you through writing a critical essay on Desiree’s Baby. It has an introduction to the story, some notes and then introduces writing the essay with an example paragraph.