This straightforward activity uses an excerpt from Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story, “The Horror of the Heights” in which an aviator discovers a new ecosystem at a height of 40,000 feet. The tasks increase in difficulty and focus on: vocabulary, information retrieval, inference and analysis. Useful for homework, home learning or cover. Could be used with a small group to structure a guided reading activity.

This activity uses an excerpt from “The Beetle” by Richard Marsh which could slot into a unit on monsters, horror, tension and so on. It could be used for homework, as a cover activity or for small group work, to structure a guided reading session. The resource has the extract, taken from early in the novel, and the questions focus on vocabulary, information retrieval, inference, comprehension (of the structure) and analysis. The questions could be tweaked for greater depth or alternatively used as a springboard into a discussion of greater depth. The resource was planned for KS3 but could be used at KS4 to develop students’ confidence in reading this kind of challenging text.

This straightforward task uses a couple of paragraphs of Charles Dickens’ impressions of travelling in France and there are 20 multiple-choice questions (answers provided) which could be set as homework to form part of a unit on Dickens, used for pre-reading or flipped learning or used to structure a guided reading or catch-up session.

This straightforward task uses an excerpt from Oscar Wilde’s story “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime” and the questions are divided into sections echoing many of the reading skills that will be tested at GCSE: information retrieval, inference, analysis of language, analysis of structure and evaluation. Useful as a homework or cover activity. Created as part of a unit of home-learning during lockdown.

This is a multiple-choice quiz on Oscar Wilde’s poem, “La Mer”. There are 14 questions. Answers are provided. I have set this as homework prior to using class time to explore the poem as an unseen in response to this question: How does the poem present ideas about the natural world? Answers are provided so that peer/self assessment can be used. Alternatively, the questions could be used to struture a guided reading/catch-up session. Some questions lend themselves to further exploration - for example, having identified that the alliteration is on the letter ‘s’ the students could be prompted to think about what that sibilance suggests about the natural world.

This is a multiple choice quiz with 25 questions (answers provided) that could be used as a homework, as a revision activity or as a flipped learning activity, to support students working from home as they work through the poem independently - and then for the teacher to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding prior to teaching the poem. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a small-group revision or catch-up session. Some questions lend themselves to further exploration of the poem; others assess whether basic knowledge is in place.

This is a 20-question multiple-choice quiz on Thomas Hardy’s “Neutral Tones”. It could be used for revision, for homework after the poem has been covered in class or as a flipped learning activity so that the students read the poem and attempt the quiz prior to teaching - that way, subsequent teaching can be targeted towards gaps and misconceptions. Answers are provided so that the task can be self or peer-assessed.

This is a very basic powerpoint display - one ppt is a list of language methods; one is a list of structural methods. Useful on the classroom wall for students to remind themselves which is which so they don’t analyse language when asked to explore structure - or vice versa. Could be made more detailed with examples of each method or could be jazzed up with colour or images.

This powerpoint was used very early in my teaching of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ to year 7. The overall aim is to establish whether Puck is a typical or an atypical fairy. The lesson begins with a focus on the meaning of ‘typical’, after which the pupils are asked to work together to create an acrostic poem using ideas about typical fairies. After that, the pupils are asked to work independently to write a cinquain about a typical fairy. The lesson then shifts to focus on a prose description of the fairy wood (from a re-telling of the play’s story) and the pupils are asked to identify aspects that are typical of fairies and aspects that are atypical, explaining their choices. This skill is then developed with a focus on Puck’s conversation with the fairy in which he outlines his role as Oberon’s jester. First of all, the extract is read and there is a quiz to aid understanding. Once any misconceptions have been identified and addressed through peer marking of the quiz, the pupils are asked to complete a grid explaining which aspects of Puck’s character are typical of a fairy and which aspects are atypical. Also provided is a multiple-choice quiz for homework, the intention of which is to embed and consolidate some of the learning from the lesson.

This short and simple activity could be used for cover or set as homework. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session. The excerpt is Oberon’s short speech about the part of the enchanted wood where Titania sleeps. There are thirteen questions requiring some simple analysis - and the final question could be used as an extension task - asking the pupils to evaluate a simple statement. Suggested answers are provided

The aim of this lesson is to explore the methods Shakespeare uses to present the character of Egeus. The lesson begins with a brief prose overview of the start of of the play and then the lesson moves to focus on Egeus’s speech to Theseus. The lesson uses questioning and asks the pupils to annotate their copy of the speech as well as zooming right in on a specific quotation and exploding it (again, through prompt questioning). There is a homework - a 10-question multiple-choice quiz intended to consolidate some of the learning from the lesson.

This is a multiple-choice quiz with 21 questions, planned for flipped learning so set for homework before the poem was explored - in greater depth - in class. Alternatively, the quiz could be used for a consolidation homework after the teaching of the poem. You might wish to use the quiz to structure a more guided reading session of the poem as some of the questions lend themselves to further questioning and exploration. Answers are provided.

This is a comprehension activity using a deleted segment from H.G.Wells’ “The Time Machine”, (cut from the novella but later published on its own as a short story). There are ten questions, focused on the reading skills that will be tested in the GCSE English Language exam: inference, analysis and evaluation (as well as a couple of questions on vocabulary). Could be used in class to support the development of these key skills or used as a homework or a cover activity.

This is a very straightforward activity using a short fragment from George Orwell’s “The Road to Wigan Pier” which describes a coal mine. Could be used for homework or as a starter activity. There are 10 multiple-choice questions that could be used to open up a discussion about the effect of the writer’s methods in a guided reading session.

This is a simple and straightforward comprehension exercise based on a short excerpt from George Orwell’s “The Road to Wigan Pier” in which he describes Sheffield. There are ten questions, four of which invite a more developed response. This could be used for cover, for homework or home learning, to structure a guided reading activity or as a pre-reading activity to identify any gaps in knowledge and understanding prior to using the text to explore the methods whereby a writer can communicate a viewpoint.

This multiple choice quiz has answers provided and there are 21 questions on Robert Graves’ poem, “The Leveller”. This could be used for flipped learning or pre-reading so that gaps in knowledge and understanding can be identified and then made the focus of subsequent teaching. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session. Useful for homework or home learning.

This is a straightforward, multiple-choice quiz on Robert Graves’ “Two Fusiliers”. There are twenty questions. Answers are provided. This could be set as homework once the poem has been studied in class. Alternatively, it could be used for flipped learning, to identify any gaps in knowledge and understanding prior to a lesson on the poem. The questions could be used to structure a guided reading session and spark discussion.

This activity uses Ambrose Bierce’s caustic poem in which Bierce is fiercely critical of government and monarchy. There are 24 multiple-choice questions (answers provided). This could be used as a homework activity after a study of the poem. Alternatively, it could be set as pre-reading to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching of the poem can be more precisely focused. Could also be used to structure a guided reading session.

This is a multiple-choice quiz (answers provided) on Christina Rossetti’s love poem, “A Birthday”. The quiz could be set for homework to consolidate students’ understanding of the poem after it’s been taught. Alternatively, it could be used as a pre-reading activity to identify any confusion or misconception so that subsequent teaching can be more precisely focused. The quiz could be used to structure a guided reading session or to open up the poem for a wider discussion.

Planned for year 7 as part of their home learning work, this might also be of use for children at the top end of KS2. This straightforward activity uses an excerpt from Ingersoll Lockwood’s “Baron Trump’s Marvellous Underground Journey”. There are ten questions. This task could be used for home learning, as a cover activity, for homework or to structure a discussion about the text, either whole-class or as part of a guided reading session. The third page has notes in italics which suggest the kind of answers that might be expected from a student at KS3.