I'm an English Teacher based in Northern Ireland, with extensive experience of delivering the CCEA Specification for GCSE and A-Level Literature and Language. I'm passionate about making resources that are effective, engaging and lesson-ready.
I also teach a little bit of KS3 Maths!
I'm an English Teacher based in Northern Ireland, with extensive experience of delivering the CCEA Specification for GCSE and A-Level Literature and Language. I'm passionate about making resources that are effective, engaging and lesson-ready.
I also teach a little bit of KS3 Maths!
This detailed 22 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Hardy’s “The Man He Killed” to Literature students. This poem features in the CCEA GCSE Conflict Poetry Anthology.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Thomas Hardy(AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Possible thematic connections to other poems in the Conflict Anthology
This Assembly has been used to promote reading among pupils.
The PowerPoint uses engaging images as prompts to guide pupils through the benefits and importance of reading, the lessons to be learned from famous novels, while also offering pupils the opportunity to discuss their favourite books. The script for the assembly is easy to follow, with corresponding slides for the PowerPoint labelled for ease.
Alternatively, a version of the powerpoint that combines the presentation and script is also included.
It is also interactive, allowing for audience participation.
This has been used as part of a wider initiative to promote reading throughout the school.
This resource pack contains a detailed, chapter-by-chapter summary for Nathan Filer's "The Shock of the Fall". It can be used for both teachers and students to assist in engaging with a fragmented and unconventional narrative that is difficult to follow.
Secondly, there is a document that contains detailed character notes and textual references for crucial characters within the novel, focusing primarily on the narrator, Matt. There are also quotes and page references to assist in the analysis of language, imagery etc.
Also included is a document that contains many of the key quotes from the novel and links to external sources for contextual research. There is also a detailed document that explores the narrative style of the protagonist under the following headings: Structure, Purpose of the Narrative, Unreliable Narrator and Chapter Titles.
These resources have been made to assist my pupils who will be studying this novel for their A Level Coursework for the CCEA Specification. However, as the novel is very recent and there are not many materials on it, they will assist anyone in studying it.
This detailed 20 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “The Forge” to Literature students.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Seamus Heaney (AO3)
-Context on “The Forge” (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of The Past and The Creative Process
This detailed 15 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Pope’s “Who’s for the Game?” to Literature students. This poem features in the CCEA GCSE Conflict Poetry Anthology.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Jessie Pope(AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Possible thematic connections to other poems in the Conflict Anthology
This PowerPoint deals with the major themes in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Each theme is explored with references to each character associated with that theme, with detailed points for exploration provided.
My A Level pupils found this to be quite beneficial, assisting them in gathering quotations for critical analysis and exploring the themes in greater depth.
This detailed 52 page document is developed to assist both pupils and teachers in their understanding of the CCEA A Level Frost and Heaney poetry anthology, while guiding them towards a detailed analysis.
For each of the 24 poems in the anthology, there are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza and line-by-line analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of each poem.
Also included in the document-
-specific contextual information for each poem (AO3)
-specific themes for each poem to assist in connections between poems (AO4)
-further prompt questions to analyse specific poetic devices (AO2).
My A Level students have found this document immensely beneficial in group work analysis and individual research and analysis.
Poems:
Frost-Into My Own, Mowing, Going For Water, Mending Wall, After Apple-Picking, The Road Not Taken, Birches, “Out, Out-”, For Once Then Something, Gathering Leaves, Acquainted With The Night, Desert Places.
Heaney- Personal Helicon, The Forge, The Peninsula, The Wife’s Tale, Bogland, The Harvest Bow, The Railway Children, The Summer of Lost Rachel, Postscript, ‘Had I not been awake’, The Conway Stewart, The Baler.
This booklet has been designed to assist pupils in their study of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”.
Each chapter has been broken down into separate sections, each with specific questions to help guide pupils through their reading of the novel and extract important quotes to document and analyse in their exercise books / notebooks.
There is also a “Theme Tracker” throughout each section to help students engage thematically with the novel and organise thieir notes.
These detailed resources have been developed to help enhance the quality of pupils' personal writing essays.
They include a checklist for a successful personal writing response, guidance on how to plan and structure responses and many sample topics to write about. Also provided are worksheets and presentations to assist pupils in using linguistic devices, effective punctuation and varied sentence starters to enhance the quality of their writing.
I have used these resources with both KS3 and GCSE students.
This engaging activity prompts pupils to engage with the imagery used in Wilfred Owen's war poem "Dulce et Decorum est".
Pupils are required to read the poem, while locating examples of imagery that correspond to provided images. Pupils must then document the quote from the poem and analyse the effect of the imagery, with the PowerPoint presentation providing the answer and prompting further analysis. They are also encouraged to discuss what they believe to be the most impactful use of imagery in the poem.
This activity can be used successfully in a study of War Poetry, imagery or as a supplementary activity in a KS3 History class.
This detailed document contains 20 sample essay questions for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, covering major characters and themes.
The questions provided are A Level standard.
This detailed 20 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “Personal Helicon” to Literature students.
There are detailed questions that prompt critical stanza-by-stanza analysis from pupils. Each set of questions enables pupils to focus on identifying and analysing poetic methods (AO2) and strengthening their understanding of the poem.
There are detailed and focused analyses of each stanza, focusing on poetic methods (AO2) to supplement the initial notes taken by students.
Also included in this document:
-Context on Seamus Heaney (AO3)
-Context on Personal Helicon (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of Childhood Experiences, Self-Discovery and Poetic Inspiration.
This detailed 60 page document has been designed to assist students and teachers in their thematic understanding of Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”.
For each theme, detailed interpretations of the text are provided, along with accompanying quotations and line references to assist in a student’s exploration of that theme in an essay. This has proven beneficial for my A-Level students, by having them directly engage with Chaucer’s language and methods to help achieve AO2.
Due to the repetitive nature of the Wife’s narrative, there will inevitably be some overlap with some of the themes. However, my students have found this beneficial as it has made some of the ideas easier to learn.
Themes that are explored:
Marriage
Authority / Power
Gender / Gender Roles
Gentillesse / Social Class
Male / Female Relationships
The Wife’s Narrative Style
Sexual Relationships
The Church
The Wife as a Character
Struggle for Power / Maistre
This detailed 17 slide PowerPoint explores several contextual areas of Shakespeare’s “Othello” as a Tragedy to support teachers’ and students’ understanding of the play.
I have used this in my teaching of CCEA’s A2 Unit 1 module (Shakespearean Genres) to help enhance students’ use of AO3 in their written responses. As students are only required to comment on the Literary Context of the play, this PowerPoint focuses solely on Tragedy.
Areas of Contextual Study include the following:
Definitions of Tragedy
Aristotle and Tragedy
Key Elements of Tragedy
Structure of Tragedy
Characters in Tragedy: The Tragic Hero, The Villain
Conventions in Tragedy
Types of Tragedy: Jacobean/ Senecan Revenge Tragedy, Political Tragedy, Domestic Tragedy
Shakespearean Tragedy
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These series of lessons take students through the necessary requirements for the successful completion of the Spoken Language Controlled Assessment.
Within the PowerPoints and Word Documents, pupils are shown how to identify and analyse linguistic devices and paralinguistic features with several video clips and sample speeches to practise with. There are also some active learning tasks to help students with their understanding of linguistic and paralinguistic features.
Also included are sample paragraphs, guidance on analysing techniques and writing detailed paragraphs and a sample Top Band essay on Obama speeches.
This worksheet has been developed to assist pupils in a study of Jessie Pope's "Who's for the Game?". It requires pupils to focus on poetic techniques, particularly the imagery that is used.
Also included is a poetic techniques list with detailed questions to prompt further analysis.
This has been used successfully with KS3 pupils studying poetry and History and with lower ability GCSE pupils.
A fun filled quiz that can be used for World Book Day, International Reading Week or anything literature related.
It has 5 rounds with 10 questions in each, including the following: Opening lines, General questions, Fantasy Fiction, Book Covers and Book or Movie- which came first?
This is a quiz that many of my students have enjoyed, and it can take between 30-60 minutes depending on how you approach the marking of the quiz and the speed of the questions.
This bundle contains PowerPoints on every Seamus Heaney poem in the current CCEA AS Specification. These PowerPoints have been designed to promote student success in their exam response to Seamus Heaney’s poetry, and each one contains the following:
Detailed, line-by-line analysis of poetic devices and language for each poem (AO2)
Contextual information on Heaney and specific context on each poem (AO3)
Questions on the relevant themes of each poem to assist with the thematic connections with Frost’s poetry (AO4)
Detailed stanza-by-stanza/line-by-line questions to prompt critical analysis from pupils (AO2)
Pre-reading tasks and post-analysis questions to consolidate understanding of the poem
Poems include- Personal Helicon, The Forge, The Peninsula, The Wife’s Tale, Bogland, The Harvest Bow, The Railway Children, The Summer of Lost Rachel, Postscript, ‘Had I not been awake’, The Conway Stewart, The Baler.
This bundle contains PowerPoints on every Robert Frost poem in the current CCEA AS Specification. These PowerPoints have been designed to promote student success in their exam response to Robert Frost’s poetry, and each one contains the following:
Detailed, line-by-line analysis of poetic devices and language for each poem (AO2)
Contextual information on Frost and specific context on each poem (AO3)
Questions on the relevant themes of each poem to assist with the thematic connections with Heaney’s poetry (AO4)
Detailed stanza-by-stanza/line-by-line questions to prompt critical analysis from pupils (AO2)
Pre-reading tasks and post-analysis questions to consolidate understanding of the poem
Included poems- Into My Own, Mowing, Going For Water, Mending Wall, After Apple-Picking, The Road Not Taken, Birches, “Out, Out-”, For Once Then Something, Gathering Leaves, Acquainted With The Night, Desert Places.
This detailed 26 slide PowerPoint explores several contextual areas of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” to support teachers’ and students’ understanding of the novel.
This PowerPoint is aimed at A-Level students, but can also be used for high-ability GCSE students. I have used this in my teaching of CCEA’s AS Unit 2 module to help enhance students’ use of AO3 in their written responses.
Areas of Contextual Study include the following:
Biographical Context: Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Percy Shelley.
Literary Context: The Gothic Novel, The Science Fiction Novel, Literary Allusions (Paradise Lost and the Prometheus Myth).
Social/Historical/Cultural Context: Age of Enlightenment, The Romantic Period/Romanticism, Scientific Discoveries and Ideas (Galvinism), Social Unrest, Gender.
Please feel free to leave a rating, review or any feedback that you have.