Fun little starter to get students thinking. They're asked to look at 8 different objects and try to group them into pairs and explain their reasons why. Students can work individually, in a pair or in a group depending on their ability.

Powerpoint offering definitions of tragedy, tragic flaw, tragic hero to aid discussion of the play and its title character. This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.

Students use this sheet to chart their sympathy for Candy throughout the novel. This sheet could be blown up to A3 to allow students lots of room to annotate the chart with key quotations from the text.

Students are to review the play and consider reasons, with supportive quotations, as to whether or not Macbeth should kill King Duncan. This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.

10 examples of written reports for Year 10 students studying for their GCSEs. There are examples of reports for students making 'adequate', 'good' and 'excellent' progress. Reports include targets for improvement.

Students to correct these commonly mixed-up idioms. This activity could lead into a lesson about the origin of idioms and why idioms are part of the English language.

Do ‘Starter Activity for Descriptive Writing’; this should put students in the right mind-set for descriptive writing. This activity should encourage students to tune into their senses, which is an essential skill for writing descriptively. Ideally, students should use mini whiteboards, but if these are not available, then exercise books are satisfactory. Hand-out ‘An Example of Writing to Describe’ sheet. Ask students, in pairs, to read it through and highlight – in different colours – the words and sentences that relate to the five senses. Recap the five senses – sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Feedback. Ask students why description is important. Hand-out ‘Planning Sheet for Descriptive Writing’. Explain that, as it is a planning sheet, it does not matter if they alter or change their ideas throughout. They are to write about a place or event, perhaps building on the ideas they established in the starter activity. Students could write up their piece of descriptive writing as a writing assessment.

Print off enough of these sheets to ensure you have one skill per student or group. When students are rehearing for a speaking and listening performance, hand students or groups one skill each. They have to focus on improving that skill in their rehearsals. You may swap the skills to ensure students are focusing on more than one skill.

Spelling activity based on unstressed vowels. Students learn what unstressed vowels are before trying to come up with tricks to remember spellings with unstressed vowels.

Work through the PowerPoint for the lesson which includes a starter activity, contextual information, 'crunched poem' activity (creative, language analysis), annotated poem, exam question and comparison activity. This could cover 1-2 lessons.

This is a fun way of offering further exploration of Bayonet Charge by appealing to students' different strengths and skills, e.g. artistic, creative, visual, mathematical or social. This is an engaging, outstanding lesson, and was designed with Garner's Multiple Intelligences in mind. You will need to prepare for this lesson beforehand by creating the 'resource stations': Resource Station 1: Visual – Saving Private Ryan Clip, available on YouTube, lined paper (x5), instructions Resource Station 2: Creative – activity (x5), lined paper (x5), instructions Resource Station 3: Social – activity, instructions Resource Station 4: Artistic – plain A4 paper, activity, instructions Resource Station 5: Mathematical – activity (x5), instructions Lesson Plan: Ensure that students are sat in groups of five. Tell them that the group they’re sat with is their ‘home group’. Show students the ‘resource stations’ slide. Explain to students that they’ll see five different resource stations around the room. Explain the activity at each resource station. Explain that each group will send one group member to each resource station to complete the activity. After 20 minutes, all group members will return to their home group and feedback what they’ve learnt. Give groups one minute to decide which group member will go to each resource station. If they cannot decide, then they’ll be randomly numbered one-five and will go to the corresponding station. Check students’ understanding by using ‘thumbs-up’. Ask a student to re-explain if there’s misunderstanding. Allow students to move to their designated resource station to start their activity. Instructions and resources will be ready at each station. Teacher facilitates, circulates, ask students questions to deepen their learning. After 20 minutes, students are to return to their ‘home groups’ to feedback. Tell them that they have 10 minutes and they should hear from everybody. Ask students in their books to write down three things they feel they’ve learnt from other people about Bayonet Charge.

In this lesson students will develop skills in writing to argue, and structuring an argument. This is a fun and engaging approach to writing to argue. This lessons involves debate to get students actively arguing, but it also encourages students to articulate their arguments on paper, not just vocally. Two videos are also included in this lesson to encourage engagement in the central argument of: Is the internet a good thing or a bad thing? Instructions for the lesson are written on the PPT in the 'notes' section at the bottom of each slide.

This PPT looks at new words and where they come from, which includes looking at blended words (jeans + leggings = jeggings), clipped words and new, organic words. They begin to understand how new words are added to the dictionary. If possible, allow students access to computers and let them explore the Oxford Dictionaries website which has lots of information about new words added to the dictionary.

This scheme of work contains 13 lessons with over 35 resources, taking students right through the play. It is a comprehensive scheme of work that was incredibly successful with Year 9 students of varying abilities. It includes a reading, writing and speaking & listening assessment. This SOW includes film clips and drama to really engage students with the play. Opportunities to differentiate tasks for higher or lower abilities are highlighted in green in the SOW. Whilst the scheme was put together by me, some resources are taken from the RSC Shakespeare Toolkit for Teachers. The SOW has the following reading, writing and speaking & listening assessments: READING - Starting with this speech (Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 1), explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a tragic hero. WRITING - Letter from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth arguing for or against her ideas. SPEAKING & LISTENING - Dramatic performance of Act 3, Scene 4 (the banquet scene with the ghost of Banquo) The SOW takes students through the following learning objectives: LESSON 1 To understand the characteristics of a tragedy and to understand the battle described at the opening of Macbeth LESSON 2 To explore the meeting between Macbeth, Banquo and the Witches and how to make interpretive choices about the stage of the scene. LESSON 3 To develop an understanding of characters’ thoughts and motives LESSON 4 To understand the persuasive tactics that Lady Macbeth uses to influence Macbeth. LESSON 4.5 To construct a letter that has a clear purpose. LESSON 5 To understand how Macbeth makes the decision to kill Duncan LESSON 6 To understand the Macbeths’ reactions to their murder of Duncan LESSON 7 To understand the motivations of Macbeth and Banquo in the aftermath of the murder of King Duncan. LESSON 8 To understand how Act 3, Scene 4 works dramatically. LESSON 9 To recap the plot and to develop an understanding of how Shakespeare has presented Macbeth as a `tragic hero. LESSON 10 To understand the rise and fall of Macbeth / To identify dramatic devices and to start planning your essay LESSON 11 To structure an essay response to Macbeth which analyses language and dramatic devices. LESSON 12 To see a performance of Macbeth LESSON 13 To see a performance of Macbeth

This activity teachers students that good writers show us their characters rather than just telling us about them. Firstly, students look at an example of 'showing'. The example is a questionable supply teacher entering a classroom. Students are then asked to put their new-found knowledge to the test by transforming a 'telling' piece of description into a piece that 'shows' the character. This activity will last between 10-15 minutes.

Ask students to close their eyes and put their heads on the table. Play Thomas Newman track and read the second-person edit of Chapter Two's description of the garage. Read the description slowly to allow students to imagine how Michael would feel entering the garage. After you've read the description, allow students 1-2 minutes to reflect with their eyes closed. Explain that once they open their eyes, they're to write down how they felt in the given situation. Ask students to share with a partner. De-brief post-activity; ask students: ‘How did it feel to do that?’ This activity should help students to engage with Michael's character and how he feels when entering the garage where Skellig resides.

Will Christopher get to London? Christopher is about to face a situation that will be very difficult for him. How will he cope? Will he manage to get to London? In this resource students are asked to consider how Christopher's Asperger's Syndrome will affect his experience at the train station. They're to consider challenges he'll face and strategies he'll use to cope. This will take students 10-15 minutes to complete. Using either thumbs-up, thumbs-down or thumbs in the middle, vote as a class for whether Christopher will cope at the train station or not. This resource is taken from my KS3 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time SOW which you can buy from my shop.

This is a collection of quotations about what poetry is. Place these around the room before students enter. Ask students to 'tour' the room and find the quotations. They're to write down what quotations most resonate with them. Ask students to explain what poetry is to them. If students 'hate poetry', may be suggest to them that musical lyrics also class as poetry and ask them to express what music means to them.

This is an extended piece of homework that students can complete at home over a two-week period. In lessons students have been reading Macbeth by William Shakespeare. They have looked at how different directors have interpreted the witches and how they look, move and behave. They are going to create a portfolio of three pieces of work which shows how they would interpret the witches imagining that they are going to stage a production of Macbeth. This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.