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J. D. Gardner's Shop

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(based on 22 reviews)

I teach English at an academically successful school in Berkshire. I only publish resources that I have personally used in the classroom and always aim for maximum visual and interactive impact.

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I teach English at an academically successful school in Berkshire. I only publish resources that I have personally used in the classroom and always aim for maximum visual and interactive impact.
The Handmaid's Tale: Doppelgangers
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The Handmaid's Tale: Doppelgangers

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The presentation introduces the idea of the double or 'doppelganger' through various famous examples in literature, film and comics. This transitions into discussion on Ofglen as a double for Offred, before looking at how other characters can also be considered doubles. The final task directs students towards Janine's appearances in the novel and there are discussion questions to help them begin analysing her character.
On The Sea by John Keats
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On The Sea by John Keats

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A lesson filled with contextual information on Keats’s On The Sea. Discussion points are also provided for Keats’s use of the sonnet form as well as his philosophy of negative capability and the role of the poet. Some images have been created using AI.
The Eve of St Agnes by John Keats
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The Eve of St Agnes by John Keats

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A full lesson on The Eve of St Agnes by John Keats, taking students through key points of plot, context, form and structure, language features and themes. I used this over a two-lesson teaching sequence.
The Handmaid's Tale: Chapter 4
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The Handmaid's Tale: Chapter 4

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The presentation begins by focusing on the character of Nick as first presented in Chapter 4 of the novel. There is a group task with key quotations for this purpose. Next, to promote discussion, there is inter-textual information on Newspeak from Orwell's 1984, which has strong similarities with the language used in Chapter 4. Finally, there are some questions about the end of the chapter and sexual repression in Gilead, along with a link to an online article on the same topic; QR code provided for students with ipad or similar.
Gothic Character Analysis
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Gothic Character Analysis

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A pair of lessons which focus on extract analysis of characters from Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein. The Frankenstein lesson contains printable resources for close language analysis in groups and the Jekyll and Hyde lesson contains an engaging activity where students can draw and label Mr Hyde. I would recommend the resource be used with low to middle ability KS3 students.
Introduction to Romanticism
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Introduction to Romanticism

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An introduction to Romanticism aimed squarely at KS3. The focus is on the art and ideals of the Romantic era and begins with some annotation of Fuseli's The Nightmare. There is a link to an engaging video on the topic, though it runs rather fast, so it would be worth pausing for discussion or using the video with higher ability only. The presentation contains printable grids with key questions, drawing students attention to important things in the artwork. The resource does not deal with any literature, but provides an opening from which you can segue into the works of the Romantics.
The Handmaid's Tale: Reliability of the narrator
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The Handmaid's Tale: Reliability of the narrator

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The lesson begins with some definitions of reliable and unreliable narrators, requiring students to justify which they feel Offred is. Next, students discuss the benefits of each type of narrator to an author before looking at some specific sections where Offred can be seen as unreliable. They must analyse the possible reasons and effects of this lack of reliability.
War Poetry Unit
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War Poetry Unit

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Some of the better lessons I created for a year 9 War Poetry SOW. They are visual, many contain clips and are all fully differentiated (including LOs).
The Handmaid's Tale: The Commander
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The Handmaid's Tale: The Commander

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The lesson begins by building character profiles of Commander Fred Waterford and Fred Judd, and asks students to consider the significance of each character. Next is a close focus on the presentation of his character with discussion questions and, finally, a motion that forms the basis of a debate over his character.
Dystopian Writing - the genre and writing openings
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Dystopian Writing - the genre and writing openings

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Lesson 3 in the scheme of work on writing in the dystopian genre. The lesson could be used as a one-off resource but is designed to build on students’ prior knowledge of noun phrases, non-finite clauses and adverbials. The resource asks students to think about the conventions of the genre and then asks them to write their own story openings. An original exemplar story opening is included to discuss / annotate with the class, which showcases the techniques practised in the previous two lessons. The lesson has been designed for use with high-ability year 7s, but would equally be suitable for students in years 5, 6 or 8, dependent upon ability.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

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A simple lesson focusing on the use of rhyme in Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. I would recommend it being taught to younger students getting to grips with how we annotate rhyme schemes and compose rhymed poems; I taught this lesson to a mixed ability year 7 class. The presentation includes a starter asking students to use metaphors. Then, there is a slide exemplifying the difference between true and near rhyme. I’ve included an embedded video of a good reading of the poem. Following this is an annotation exercise and, finally, students are asked to write their own rubai using the same rhyme scheme as Frost.
Counting Tigers by Gillian Clarke
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Counting Tigers by Gillian Clarke

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This lesson teaches students how to analyse the language of a poem through a range of activities relating to Counting Tigers by Gillian Clarke. It includes a choice of starter activity, a quotation ‘exploding’ activity, two exemplar responses to an exam-style question on the poem and a writing frame utilising the PETAL acronym to help students write their own response. The lesson is highly visual and there may be enough content to cover more than just one one-hour lesson. I taught this lesson to a low-ability year 9 class, but it could easily be pitched to GCSE students as an unseen poem.
Ozymandias PEAL paragraph writing
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Ozymandias PEAL paragraph writing

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A step-by-step PowerPoint that takes students through writing an analytical response to a question on Shelley's Ozymandias. It centres on an exemplar piece that might be indicative of a grade 7 or 8 and has a writing frame included. There is also an annotating activity and a web hunt. It does not cover comparison to other poems. Suggested for more able years 10 and 11.
Introduction to the Gothic
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Introduction to the Gothic

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An introduction to the conventions of Gothic literature for KS3. This is an engaging resource with a video clip, a game of taboo, some descriptive writing and peer assessment. It is very accessible and would suit the low to middle ability.
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer by John Keats
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On First Looking into Chapman's Homer by John Keats

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This lesson takes students through the Petrarchan sonnet form and Keats’s use of it, key context surrounding the poem and discussion / language analysis questions which focus students on its main interpretations. The language analysis task can be enacted in groups or as individual / paired comprehension. I have also included some information on Apollo and his relevance to Keats, as well as information on ‘The Camelion Poet’.
The Great Modern Poets - Robert Frost
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The Great Modern Poets - Robert Frost

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This is a 35-slide series of lessons for the Edexcel English Literature A level course on the poetry anthology ‘The Great Modern Poets’. The resource introduces modernism briefly and then contains individual lessons for the six poems of Robert Frost’s in the anthology: The Runaway Mending Wall Stopping by woods Mowing The Road Not Taken Out, out- Engaging YouTube videos are linked, there are a variety of discussion questions about language, form and structure and key context is provided. I have also drawn on online web articles (contained within) as a stepping-off point for discussion - mainly from the Poetry Foundation website, which I found very useful in teaching this scheme. Links to the original articles are included. Note that for ‘Out, out -’, there is only a one-slide brief for a student presentation, rather than the more in-depth, discussion-based material provided for other poems.
Dystopian Writing - Persuasive Language
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Dystopian Writing - Persuasive Language

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Intended as the fifth in a creative writing scheme of work on dystopian writing. However, this lesson will work independently. The resource is centred around an extract from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick as an example of how students could write a persuasive advert for their own automaton - either humanoid or animal. I have included an additional starter activity as the material may take more than one lesson to cover. The resource was designed for high ability year 7 students, but could work for students in years 5, 6 or 8, dependent upon ability.
If- by Rudyard Kipling
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If- by Rudyard Kipling

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A lesson on Kipling’s ‘If-’, which engages students with the poem’s main themes and ideas, and features of language and structure. It contains some background on the poem, information on stoicism (which seems to underpin many of the poem’s ideals), guided annotation, information on form and structure, and an exam-style question with writing frame. The lesson was designed for use with high ability students, studying the Edexcel IGCSE in Literature. The cover image was created using AI and does not reflect the appearance of the the slides in the resource. The image has been uploaded in case you would like to use it.