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 18 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney's "Had I not been awake" 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 "Had I not been awake" (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Themes of Grief and Loss, Self-Discovery and Poetic Inspiration.
This detailed 19 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney's "The Wife's Tale" 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 Wife's Tale (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Theme of Rural Life
This workbook acts as an engaging and accessible entry for KS3 pupils into a study of poetry.
It includes the following sections:
1. Introduction to Poetry- exploring what poetry is, what others have said about poetry and a study of "An Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.
2. Researching the definition and examples of poetic devices.
3. Understanding and using personification.
4. Introduction to War Poetry- understanding the context of WWI, understanding and analysing imagery in 'Dulce et Decorum est" and "Who's for the Game?".
5. Poetic Form: the Haiku: examples of Haiku, Haiku guessing game and crafting Haiku.
6. Poems and Songs- understanding the similarities and differences between poems and songs, analysing songs as poems.
These resources have been designed to allow pupils to understand the essential components of a creative writing piece and incorporate them into their own extended writing.
I have used these for both KS3 pupils and GCSE pupils.
This series of lessons begins with the fundamentals (adjectives, verbs, adverbs etc.) before moving onto more challenging elements of crafting a creative writing piece (narrative structure, sensory descriptions). Each lesson and activity incorporates Active Learning strategies to fully engage pupils in a fun and interactive study of creative writing, with plenty of opportunities to develop their descriptions as they proceed.
Included in these resources are PowerPoints and Worksheets on:
- Creative Writing Checklist
- Developing Descriptions: Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs
- Understanding Metaphors and Similes
- Metaphor and Simile Homework Sheet
- Using Vivid Language
- Using Sensory Imagery (guessing game)
- Worksheets to help include Sensory Imagery
- Famous opening lines and Sentence Openers
- Inspiration for famous pieces of literature
- Descriptive Settings Guessing Game
- Structuring Stories
- Re-writing boring descriptions
- Settings images
These resources have been designed to assist teachers in delivering engaging lessons and activities that will foster an understanding and enjoyment of Fantasy Fiction in KS3 pupils.
Each resource includes opportunities to test prior pupil knowledge of Fantasy Fiction, explore different Fantasy Fiction texts and compare them to their on-screen counterparts.
These resources, are also used to help pupils generate ideas for their own piece of Fantasy Fiction in the form of a creative writing piece.
As a fun way to finish the lessons, there is also a Fantasy Fiction Quiz.
Included in this pack:
- Introduction to Fantasy Fiction
- Non-humans in Fantasy Fiction
- Non-human template
- Fairies in Fantasy Fiction
- Good vs Evil in Fantasy Fiction
- Codes and Riddles in Fantasy Fiction
- Codes and Riddles Worksheet
- Setting Worksheet
- Fantasy Fiction Quiz and Answers
These resources have been developed to assist teachers in introducing a study of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" to both KS3 and GCSE pupils. They allow pupils to engage with the world of Shakespeare and his play in an accessible manner, and stress the relevance of both Macbeth and his wider works in contemporary times.
Included in this bundle:
1. Introduction to Shakespeare (PPT)- explores the life and works of Shakespeare, evaluates the impact of Shakespeare on the modern world and tackles and pre-conceptions pupils have of Shakespeare.
2. Macbeth Plot Summary (PPT)- an accessible and concise summary of the play with visual aids.
3.Macbeth Context (PPT)- explains the social and historical factors that influenced the writing of Macbeth, including King James I and The Gunpowder Plot.
4. Gender Context (Doc)- explains the gender roles of men and women in Early Modern England and the conventional views on masculinity and femininity.
5. Macbeth and the Witches (PPT)- explores the Early Modern view of witches and compares it with pupils' contemporary view of witches.
6. Macbeth Themes (PPT)- a detailed exploration of the key themes in Macbeth: Ambition, Fate, Deception and Guilt.
7. Macbeth Motifs (PPT)- a detailed exploration of the motifs in Macbeth: Blood, Darkness/Light, Hallucination/Madness, Prophecy, Children/Family.
8. Macbeth PEED Paragraphs (PPT)- a guide to help pupils structure an analytical response to Macbeth, with an accompanying sample paragraph.
9. Macbeth: The Witches (Doc)- a literary and linguistic analysis of the witches in Act 1 Scene 1.
10. Macbeth Question Worksheet (Doc)- guided questions to assist pupils in their analysis of Act 1 Scene 1.
11. Macbeth: Key Quotes and Themes (PDF)- a series of key quotes and themes that will allow pupils to ascertain elements of the plot and meaning in Macbeth.
This detailed 30 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney’s “The Summer of Lost Rachel” 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 Summer of Lost Rachel (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Theme of Grief and Loss
This detailed 20 slide PowerPoint has been developed to assist teachers in delivering a detailed analysis of Heaney's "The Harvest Bow" 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 Harvest Bow (AO3)
-Pre-reading tasks
-Initial reading questions
-Questions on the Theme of Family and Tradition
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 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.
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.
Presentation that prompts pupils to contemplate the themes in Of Mice and Men. Also examines the idea of dreams, The American Dream and the importance of Burns' poem.