I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
A detailed and comprehensive knowledge organiser/revision mat for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1. This comprises two A3 pages of information.
This knowledge organiser contains the following sections:
Literary terms
Contextual terms
Themes
Structural terms
Theatrical terms
I have included it in colour and black and white as a Powerpoint (for easy editing) and a PDF (for easy printing).
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A detailed lesson to give students an overview of CIE 0500 Language Paper 1. This presentation breaks down what is in each question (giving examples from the specimen paper and adapted examples from past papers) and what knowledge and skills are requires. Students are prompted to consider how to time themselves effectively in this paper.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach powerpoint with printing and teaching instructions.
Learning Objective: Understand the format and types of questions on language paper 1.
**Learning Outcomes: **
Students will understand the purpose, length and question types of Language Paper 1.
Student will understand which learning objectives they are being assessed on in Language Paper 1.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Think-pair-share what do you already know about papers 1 and 2.
Starter: Detailed overview of paper 1 with key vocabulary shared and teacher questioning to check for understanding.
Task one: How should you divide your time?
Task two: Consolidation of paper 1 overview with students summarizing what the paper covers and assesses.
Plenary: If a friend was stressed about this exam, what would your top three pieces of advice to them be?
More Freebies:
A free lesson giving an overview of CIE 0500 Language Paper Two here.
Free marking templates for CIE 0500 here.
If you find this lesson helpful, have a look at my CIE 0500 Language Paper 1 bundle here or the Language Paper 2 bundle here. If you’re interested in both, there is a combined bundle here which is cheaper than buying them separately.
Please leave a review as I value all the feedback I receive, and have a look at other resources available in my shop. **
This bundle includes everything you need to start a Word Root of the Week programme in school for explicit vocabulary building.
This bundle includes:
An Excel yearly plan outlining which word root should be taught each week of the school year.
Assembly slides or bulletin board posters for each of the 36 word roots. These are a great resource for displaying in assemblies or at the start of lessons to embed vocabulary.
36 lesson starters to explicitly teach and embed the understanding of each word root.
If you would also like two full CPD sessions for staff in addition to the resources above, have a look at this Whole-School Literacy Resources Bundle.
If you have any questions about how to use these, please don’t hesitate to email likeanexpertresources@gmail.com.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free, of up to the same value, from the LikeAnExpert shop.
A spreadsheet plan for an 36 weeks of explicitly teaching word roots. This spreadsheet allocates each week a word root and gives examples of three words that contain this root and are used across a range of subjects across the school.
This can support you to explicitly teach students a word root per week to unlock thousands of words for your students.
Have a look at this bundle of resources for embedding Word Root of the Week in your school.
Related Resources
* Word Root of the Week assembly/form time slides for the whole academic year.
* Staff CPD on Whole-School Reading Strategies
* A bundle of whole-school literacy resources including this CPD, CPD on Reading Strategies and resources for implementing a Word Root of the Week in your school.
Please leave a review as I value all the feedback I receive, and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A collection of knowledge organisers about various topics that are commonly taught in secondary English Language and Literature. If you purchase this bundle, you will also be able to download any additional knowledge organisers that I add in the future.
This bundle includes knowledge organisers on the following topics:
Introduction to Poetry
Macbeth
Of Mice and Men
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Merchant of Venice
Writing Skills (SPAG)
World War 1 Poetry
Cambridge IGCSE 0500 English Language
Romeo and Juliet
Horror Writing
Analytical writing
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A fun and addictive ‘Of Mice and Men’ revision tool that lasts 20-40 minutes to help students revise themes and quotes. The game ends differently each time, so this can be played multiple times to support students in revising the themes and ideas in Of Mice and Men.
Students play as either George, Lennie, Candy or Curley and the aim is to achieve their dream. They play through 40 event cards, which will give them plus or minus DPs (dream points). If they can achieve positive DPs by the end of the game then they achieve their dream. If they don’t then they are doomed to a migrant worker life of working for other people.
This game helps students to revise key events in the book, important quotes and presses them to consider the challenges that characters face to achieve their dreams. Reflection questions for students are included.
It is a print and play game. It is quick and easy to cut out. I would suggest laminating for quick further use, however this is not required. The only additional materials you will need are one die per game and scrap paper for students to keep track of their scores.
Included:
How to play card
Character profiles sheet
Event cards
Reflection questions
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I have a whole range of Of Mice and Men revision resources available in the shop and a range of revision videos on my YouTube channel (this is linked to in my shop).
Revision cards/posters for the five main characters in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare - great for quizzing, introducing characters or as prompts for lessons or homework. These posters contain visual clues about the characters plus four important character quotes for students to remember.
The characters included are:
Antonio
Bassanio
Shylock
Jessica
Portia
More Merchant of Venice Resources:
A complete bundle of resources for The Merchant of Venice which includes lessons to take you through the entire play, a quiz, knowledge organiser and revision posters. .
This bundle includes:
1) A 40 Question Shakespeare Quiz
2) Introduction to Characters and Themes in The Merchant of Venice
3) Act 1 Scene 1 (Antonio and Bassanio)
4) Portia’s Choice in Act 1 Scene 2 (FREE)
5) Shakespeare’s Portrayal of Shylock in Act 1 Scene 3
6) Jessica’s Character in Act 2 Scenes 1-3
7) The Casket Test in Act 2 Scene 7
8) Shylock’s Portrayal in Act 2 Scene 8
9) Prince Arragon in Act 2 Scene 9
10) Interpretations of Shylock in Act 3 Scene 1
11) Dramatic Irony in the Casket Scene in Act 3 Scene 2
12) Independently Interpreting Shakespeare Using Act 3 Scenes 3-5
13) Act 4: The Courtroom Scene
14) Evaluate the Ending of the Play in Act 5
15) A 35-Question Quiz on the Play with Answers Included
16) A knowledge organiser with key information for studying the play.
Merchant of Venice Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
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A 15 lesson scheme of work designed to support students through the entire play of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. This is aimed at high-ability key stage 3 (it was originally designed for a high ability year 9 class), but it would be easily adapted for key stage 4. It contains a range of tasks that have been modelled on GCSE literature tasks.
All of the lessons are available to download - some of them are free.
Resources for the lessons on the scheme of work:
Click here for a bundle of all the lessons to take you through the play plus a quiz, knowledge organiser and character revision posters.
1) A 40 Question Shakespeare Quiz
2) Introduction to Characters and Themes in The Merchant of Venice
3) Act 1 Scene 1 (Antonio and Bassanio)
4) Portia’s Choice in Act 1 Scene 2 (FREE)
5) Shakespeare’s Portrayal of Shylock in Act 1 Scene 3
6) Jessica’s Character in Act 2 Scenes 1-3
7) The Casket Test in Act 2 Scene 7
8) Shylock’s Portrayal in Act 2 Scene 8
9) Prince Arragon in Act 2 Scene 9
10) Interpretations of Shylock in Act 3 Scene 1
11) Dramatic Irony in the Casket Scene in Act 3 Scene 2
12) Independently Interpreting Shakespeare Using Act 3 Scenes 3-5
13) Act 4: The Courtroom Scene
14) Evaluate the Ending of the Play in Act 5
15) A 35-Question Quiz on the Play with Answers Included
16) A knowledge organiser with key information for studying the play.
Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
Please leave a review as I value all the feedback I receive, and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A fully-resourced one hour lesson to support students in exploring the question of ‘how is Prince Arragon presented in The Merchant of Venice?’ Students will be guided through a class discussion of the scene and then will complete a slow writing PETER paragraph on Prince Arragon.
Learning Objective: Write an analytical paragraph about how the Prince of Arragon is presented in Act 2 Scene 9.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will consider the morphology of the word ‘analysis’.
-Students will unpick the meaning of Act 2 Scene 8 with teacher support.
-Students will be guided through how to write a PETER analytical paragraph.
Students will write predictions about what will come next in the play.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Recall questions about the first casket in act 2 scene 7
Starter: Think – pair – share about the meaning of the word ‘analysis’ followed by morphological explanation of the word.
Activity one: Class discussion and reading of Act 2 Scene 9 to support students in unpicking the meaning of the text.
Activity two: Slow writing of PETER paragraph to answer the question of ‘how is the Prince of Arragon portrayed?’
Peer Assessment
Plenary: Based on selected points, students write a prediction for what will happen next in the play.
More Resources for The Merchant of Venice
Click here for a bundle of all the lessons to take you through the play plus a quiz, knowledge organiser and character revision posters.
Freebies:
For character revision posters for your classroom, click here.
For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here.
For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here.
Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
A mini bundle containing my four most downloaded reading resources for secondary students!
This bundle contains:
A resuable lesson that embeds close reading skills. Just choose a text (fiction or non-fiction) and students work through the steps to improve their comprehension and analysis of it (although sample texts are also provided to get you started).
TES recommended book club discussion questions, which also work very well in English lessons.
A quiz made for World Book Day which quizzes students on a range of secondary age books.
A support mat/knowledge organiser for developing students’ independent textual analysis.
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Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson (ppt and worksheet) to introduce students to ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson requires students to infer what themes they think the novel will cover and then guides them through independent analysis of some key quotes by Bruno at the start of the novel. This lesson is easy to differentiate for different abilities.
This resource includes a Powerpoint presentation and a worksheet.
Students have the opportunity to practise inference considering connotations of words, and they also practise analysis by zooming in on specific quotes from chapter 1. This lesson is easy to differentiate for different abilities.
Learning Objective: Develop inference skills to make predictions about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Infer basic details about Bruno.
Silver: Add creative details to your inferences.
Gold: Independently choose a quote from the text from which you can infer details about Bruno.
Lesson Overview:
Do It Now: What can you infer from the title?
Starter: Mind map based on front covers.
Activity 1: Think – pair – share based on the inferences they have made.
Activity 2: Reading and response with worksheet
Peer assessment
Plenary: How would you describe Bruno in 3 words?
More Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter twelve of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson prompts students to consider how John Boyne shows Bruno and Shmuel’s innocence and requires them to compare and contrast the two characters.
Learning Objective: Compare and contrast Bruno and Shmuel.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Create a timeline of Bruno and Shmuel’s life so far.
Silver: Find the similarities and differences between them.
Gold: Explain why John Boyne has created similarities between these two characters.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Venn diagram of Bruno and Shmuel.
Starter: In chapter 12, how does John Boyne show the innocence of Shmuel and Bruno? (Reading focus).
Activity 1: Think-pair-share – quote inference activity.
Activity 2: Students complete a timeline comparing and contrasting Bruno and Shmuel’s lives.
Peer assessment
Plenary: One minute recall challenge: what are the main similarities between Bruno and Shmuel?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Two engaging and ready to teach lessons to introduce students to context to prepare them to study the main themes in ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne.
Lesson overviews, printing instructions and worksheets are all included.
This resource includes a Powerpoint presentation for 2 one-hour lessons (although in the past I have spread this over more lessons if required). For research, students can either use devices to access the Internet, but if this is not available I have included a pdf document which includes 16 sources that students can use for their research in class.
The topics included in this lesson are:
Auschwitz
The Jewish ghettos
The Final Solution
Hitler and anti-Semitism
The night of broken glass
LESSON ONE Learning Objective: Identify strong sources of information to complete research about the Holocaust.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Identify a reliable source of information about my topic.
Silver: Write down my research in my own words.
Gold: Find multiple reliable sources of information.
Teaching activities:
Do it now: Students complete first column of KWL grid about the Holocaust
Starter: Think, pair, share: discussion of what makes a reliable source.
Activity 1: How do we take effective notes?
Activity 2: Research and completing scaffolding notes sheet.
Peer assessment
Plenary: Students complete the L section of their KWL grid.
LESSON TWO Learning Objective: Identify the most important points in your research and present these to your classmates.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Identify the key vocabulary in the research I have completed.
Silver: Take brief and clear notes on other topics of information.
Gold: Make links between different knowledge and ideas.
Teaching activities:
Do it now: Recall – what are reliable and unreliable sources of information?
Starter: Review and summarise your research from last lesson.
Activity 1: Use your research to create an informative poster with only 10 words on it.
Activity 2: Carousel activity for students to share their information with each other.
Plenary: Highlight the three most important facts that you learned this lesson.
More Freebies:
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A detailed lesson to give students an overview of CIE 0500 language paper 2 - directed writing and composition. The paper gives an overview of what assessment objectives are covered in the exam and ideas of what the questions look like. Students will critically consider how to organise their timing in th exam.
Learning Objective: Understand the format and types of questions on language paper 2
Learning Outcomes:
Students will understand the types of questions and mark scheme for Language Paper 2.
Students will consider how to allocate their time in this exam to ensure they have enough time to plan their answers and check their SPAG.
Lesson Overview:
Do it now: Think pair share – what are the differences between paper 1 and paper 2?
Starter: Overview of the two papers.
Task one: Timings for the exam.
Task two: Consolidation quiz (on scrap paper or mini whiteboards)
Task three: Fit the key information on a postcard.
Reflection: Personally, which do you think you will find more challenging – section A or section B? Why? What can you do to help you to prepare?
More Freebies:
A free lesson giving an overview of CIE 0500 Language Paper One here.
Free marking templates for CIE 0500 here.
If you find this lesson helpful, have a look at my CIE 0500 Language Paper 1 bundle here or the Language Paper 2 bundle here. If you’re interested in both, there is a combined bundle here which is cheaper than buying them separately.
Please leave a review as I value all the feedback I receive, and have a look at other resources available in my shop. **
A GCSE/IGCSE revision quiz on the social and historical context of Of Mice and Men as assessment preparation.
The rounds included in the full quiz are:
Context
Setting, Structure and Symbols
Literary Devices
Descriptions - Name the Character
Animals
Character Names and First Lines
George and Lennie
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapters Five and Six
If you find this useful, please leave a review and consider purchasing the full 100 question quiz with 12 rounds or this Of Mice and Men revision bundle (more free resources in there too!)
A detailed homework/online learning resource for students to learn about the context of Of Mice and Men. Students work through four sources (videos and articles) and then answer questions on them. The answers are provided as a separate PDF.
The four contextual topics covered are:
John Steinbeck
The Great Depression
Racism
The American Dream
I have an Of Mice and Men resources bundle available here. . I have a whole range of Of Mice and Men revision resources available in the shop and a range of revision videos on my YouTube channel (this is linked to in my shop).
Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
A simple start of year activity that requires students to write an acrostic poem to describe themselves. This worksheet is very versatile and could be used as a lesson or homework activity in an English or PSHE lesson. It could be used for key stages 2 or 3.
It is included as a pdf for easy printing and as a word document in case you would like to edit it.
For other English, PSHE and Media activities, see my Like An Expert shop.
This treasure hunt activity is a great way for you and your students to check their understanding of how to use different punctuation marks and simple, compound and complex sentences.
For this treasure hunt, each student starts of at a station with a question. Their task is to find the next card with the correct answer. That card will give them the next question. They will know that they have completed the task with the correct answers once they are taken back to their original station.
You can either arrange these cards on clearly-identifiable desks around the room or you can hide them. The latter works particularly well as a fun end-of-term activity.
This works well for Key Stage 3, but Key Stage 4 students have also enjoyed it as a fun activity to practise writing skills for their GCSE revision.
I really hope you and your students enjoy this! Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
This bundle contains 20 resources that can be used and adapted for key stage 3 English lessons. It contains resources that cover reading, writing and speaking skills.
All lessons are ready to download and teach immediately. This bundle contains the following:
Writing Skills
Lesson on colons vs semi colons
Lesson on commas, dashes and brackets
Lesson on complex sentences
Lesson on compound sentences
Writing skills (SPAG) knowledge organiser
Writing skills for key stage 3 assessment with answer rubric included.
Figurative language - writing similes and metaphors
Lesson on punctuating dialogue
Lesson on assonance
Lesson on sibilance
Lesson on personification
Reading Skills/Poetry
12) Booklet to help students create their own poetry anthology
13) Lesson on the features of poetry and prose
14) 2 lessons on successful annotation and analysis of poetry.
15) Lesson on how to write a slam poem
16) Reusable lesson to embed close reading skills
17) Introduction to poetry knowledge organiser
18) World Book Day reading quiz
19) Poetry analysis lesson on ‘The Lesson’ by Roger McGough
Speaking and listening skills
20) Introduction to group discussion lesson
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This dynamic one-hour lesson is designed to engage students in understanding how Macbeth is introduced as both a violent and loyal character. Perfect for exploring themes and character development, this lesson encourages students to think critically and creatively and prepares students to analyse how Macbeth changes later in the play.
What’s Included:
A complete PowerPoint with ready-to-use teacher instructions, allowing you to download and teach immediately.
Interactive activities where students will order the events of the battle and craft a compelling news war report based on the scene.
Ideal for:
Enhancing comprehension of Macbeth’s character and motivations.
Encouraging students to connect with the text through creative writing and discussion.
Lesson Objective: Write a news report about the battle in Act 1 Scene 2.
Learning Outcomes:
Read the scene multiple times to decipher the orders of events in battle.
Infer details about Macbeth’s character.
Add imaginative details to create a news report about the battle in this scene.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Think – Pair – Share What are the key features of a news war report?
Starter: Reading focus – as you read the scene as a class, students write down quotes that describe Macbeth’s character followed by an activity to list adjectives that describe him.
Activity 1: Re-read the scene in pairs and put the events in the correct order.
Activity 2: Students discuss features of a news report and then write their own based on Act 1 Scene 2.
Plenary: What are your predictions about Macbeth now that you know more about his as a character?
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