Do you ever feel frustrated that your students have simply stopped using capital letters? This twenty-seven slide powerpoint reviews the rules in a fun and interactive way, then explains the difference between use of capital letters for common nouns and proper nouns. There are copious amounts of exercises to correct, which can be done on the board as a class or can be printed off for homework. If you want to embed the use of capital letters, this is the lesson for you. To complete all activities would take over one hour.

This powerpoint contains twenty sentences with a word beginning with the silent “k” missing. Students have to guess what the missing word is. They are provided with a visual clue to help them and the answers are included at the end. This activity would help EAL students as well.

Working on the assumption that people remember things better if like is grouped with like, this booklet contains twenty-one lists of commonly mis-spelled words, all under different categories. Ranging from adjectives to adverbs to animals to birds to body parts to food and sports, the concept is that students will remember the spellings more easily if they can remember patterns and connections between words. This free resources complements the booklet “The Definitive Guide to Spelling” found at Mrs Shaw’s Shop, which is a seventy-four page booklet covering all the major spelling rules with exercises and answers, on sale at just £10. This photocopiable resource is a bargain for anyone wanting to help their students improve their spelling.

This Powerpoint introduces the historical context of witches in Macbeth with a true or false game where students have to identify the correct or incorrect statements about witches. Students are then given some information about James V1th’s role in witchcraft persecution. Before studying Act One Scene One they are presented with a modern translation so that they understand what is going on. They then read Shakespeare’s Act One Scene One and consider what was lost in the translation and why Shakespeare’s scene is much more powerful. Students enjoy reading and acting out the scene in groups. They are then asked to design three costumes for a modern version of the play, focusing on representing the witches as powerful, evil and frightening. At the end of the lesson, you can show them Roman Polanski’s opening scene and compare and contrast their costumes with Polanski’s choices. Could be used as a precursor to my lesson on the witches’ spell; as part of an introduction to Shakespeare or as part of a scheme on Macbeth.

Using Shakespeare’s famous spell from the witches in Macbeth, this Powerpoint allows students to explore Shakespeare’s language in a fun and interactive way. After considering why people might cast spells, students are given a cloze exercise and fit the missing ingredients into the spell. They then complete a matching exercise focusing on the meaning of the ingredients. Thirdly students categorise the ingredients and then finally they come up with appropriate ingredients for a sleeping spell. This could be a stand alone lesson introducing students to Shakespeare’s language; part of a scheme on Macbeth or a precursor to my follow-up lesson when students write their own spell. Powerpoint with answers and worksheet included.

This Powerpoint uses Bernard Levin’s fantastic poem “On Quoting Shakespeare” to illustrate to students the huge influence that Shakespeare had on the English language. The slideshow introduces how many words Shakespeare was responsible for creating; a brief biography of Levin and then the poem split up over 30 slides so that it can be read/performed to the class in a fun way. Students are then asked to explore what some of the idioms that he created mean. The zipped folder includes a worksheet with the idioms split up to be cut up and given to students and a copy of the poem itself.

Introduce your students to the fascinating story of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with this thirty-four slide powerpoint, complete with visually stimulating images to illustrate the information. The follow-up activities include: A twenty-three sentence cloze exercise to help students embed and remember the information. Diagrams of the theatre to label. An interview with an imaginary theatre-goer to stimulate further understanding of the context. Support for a writing task where students imagine that they have been to see a Shakespeare play. True or false on Shakespeare’s Globe. Written information on Shakespeare’s Globe that could be used for homework. Transport your students back in time to the seventeenth century with this comprehensive folder of resources!

Many students write stories in which they jump between the present and the past tenses. This Powerpoint explains the difference between the simple past and the simple present tenses and contains a variety of exercises to encourage tense consistency and to help them to feel more confident. The zipped file also contains two informative and practical follow-up worksheets which ask students to put a passage about William the Conqueror into the past tense. The other worksheet asks them to put information about the Titanic into the past tense also.

Designed to last thirty minutes, this editable Powerpoint explains the rule of subject verb singular and plural agreement and contains three sets of exercises to clarify this rule. Firstly students are asked to choose the correct form of the verb “to be” in the present tense; next they have to choose the correct form of the verb “to have” in the present tense and finally the correct form between “was/were”. Students are also reminded about irregular foreign plurals. Help your students to become masters of standard English with this fun activity.

This powerpoint and word document present the Eduqas GSCE English Language and Literature content and assessment objectives in student-friendly language. Show the students the presentation and then give them a copy of the objectives in student speak so that they are confident going forward in these exams.

Encourage your students to write a powerfully persuasive formal letter from a choice of five letter writing tasks. After studying an extract from Mahatma Ghandi’s 1940 open letter to Hitler, designed to persuade him to stop World War Two, students choose a subject that they are passionate about from the following choices: A letter to your local council arguing that the building project should not go ahead. . Write a letter to the organisers of an expedition persuading them that you should be on the team. Write a letter to a well-known person persuading them to visit your school or college for the benefit of the students. Write a letter to a celebrity of your choice persuading him or her to support a campaign to end world poverty. Write a letter to the Manager of the School Meals Service in which you offer your advice. Key persuasive features are identified on a twenty slide powerpoint. Students are encouraged to use emotive language; antithesis; rhetorical question; simple sentences; repetition and direct address. Perfect for teaching GCSE transacational writing.

How influential has the term “gothic” been throughout history? This powerpoint explains the origin of the term “gothic” and how it applies to architecture and fashion, not just to literature. It then explains the history and conventions of gothic literature with examples, followed by an explanation of gothic characters. It ends with a gothic writing task for students, imagining that they have been forced to move into a new spooky house and they must describe the exterior, interior and their bedroom using the conventions of gothic literature. Eighteen slides in total, which students find fascinating.

This twenty-two slide powerpoint introduces the poet and her relationship with her husband; focuses on key language features; scaffolds students to write two PEE paragraphs on language and allows them to investigate the sonnet form. It concludes with them considering how love is presented in the poem in preparation for an exam-style question.

Designed to teach the Seamus Heaney poem “Death of a Naturalist” in the Eduqas Poetry Anthology, this zipped folder contains a powerpoint with starter activity, context, student activities and plenary. There are three student worksheets focussing on Heaney’s use of sensory description; a storyboard of the key events in the poem and an exploration of what Heaney’s original images make students imagine. There is also a colour-coded annotated copy of the poem for teachers’ reference and a relevant answer sheet for one of the student’s worksheets. An added bonus is an example of a comparison to another poem in the anthology. Overall this should take two lessons and explore the poem in great depth and detail, making it memorable for students.

This thirty-two slide Powerpoint explains the historical reason why there are many words from French in the English language. The first activity then asks students to match Old English synonyms to their French equivalents. The second activity gives ten adjectives from French and students have to match the adjective to the definition. The third activity gives ten words for colours from French and asks students to match the description to the colour. Next there are twenty clues to words from French and finally there are eight inventions that have been named after French people that the students have to guess. This will take one hour or two thirty minute lessons. No need for worksheets. All questions and answers on the slides.

Have fun learning to speak like an American with this quiz on the difference between British and American English. In teams students guess the American equivalent of thirty British English nouns. Cartoon graphics make this accessible to second language speakers. All answers are provided and the activity culminates by challenging students to talk like Americans, making up a script that uses as many of the thirty words that they have guessed as they can. Give extra points for those who can add the accent! A worksheet embeds the learning and could be completed in class or for homework.

A comprehensive explanation of the regular and irregular formations of the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives. All exercises are provided with answers for peer or self-assessment. The seventeen slide powerpoint ends by challenging students to write a piece of advertising copy, using as many superlative adjectives as they can. A useful follow-up lesson to Adjectives, this lesson should take 30 to 45 minutes.

Covering pre-modification, post-modification and the use and creation of compound adjectives. This twenty-three slide powerpoint full of exercises and answers concludes with a fun activity where students are shown how Shakespeare used compound adjectives to be inventive. They are then challenged to be inventive themselves. The lesson would take one hour or two thirty minutes sessions.

As a follow on from Nouns (Common, proper, abstract), this twenty slide powerpoint teaches students to extend their vocabularies with a range of exercises and quizzes on collective nouns, all with answers provided. The lesson then covers compound nouns, modifying nouns, countable nouns and uncountable nouns. A final cloze exercise summarises the learning. This could be two thirty minute lessons.

This eighteen slide powerpoint begins with an exercise to identify the nouns, followed by explanations and examples of common, proper and abstract nouns. Students are then given twenty-five different nouns which they have to classify into the three different categories. There is an exercise to differentiate between common and proper nouns and whether they need capital letters or not. A short exercise encourages students to use abstract nouns. The plenary is a cloze exercise to embed the learning. All answers provided and fully adaptable.