I teach English Lit and Lang at IGCSE and IB Level. Resources here are mainly for these courses but I often upload KS3 resources too. Currently I am working on the new Songs of Ourselves for 2026. Drop me a line on: underthevolcanoagain@gmail.com for one-to-one tuition.
I teach English Lit and Lang at IGCSE and IB Level. Resources here are mainly for these courses but I often upload KS3 resources too. Currently I am working on the new Songs of Ourselves for 2026. Drop me a line on: underthevolcanoagain@gmail.com for one-to-one tuition.
In this 14-slide PowerPoint, you will find: objective and starter, the poem presented as a short story to facilitate comprehension (with questions), key themes (with task), homework PDF of 20 questions (with answers presented as line-by-line annotations for feedback), group work activities to engage creatively, model essay with a task of essay critique. Works best as a PP but can also be used in other formats.
In this 19-slide PowerPoint, you will find: objective and starter, creative writing task to stimulate ideas connected to the poem, reorganise the poem activity, drama task to facilitate first reading, first impression comprehension questions with an extension, form and structure analysis, multiple interpretation ideas (romantic love vs personal tribute to Hamnet), poetic technique analysis, line-by-line analysis, line-by-line homework questions, essay ideas with four PEE model paragraphs, essay plan. Works best as a PP but you can convert to PDF or Google Slides. Hope it’s useful for your students.
In this 13-slide PowerPoint, you will find: starter, video task, first impressions questions, homework questions for flipped learning, line by line analysis, drama activity, and an in-depth essay investigating the ambiguity in the poem. It is a poem that can easily be interpreted in two fairly distinct ways, and so this essay should provide students with a clear model that shows them that poetry is genuinely open to interpretation. It works best as a PP, and not Google Slides.
In this 18-slide PowerPoint, you will find: short video task with a biography of Alexander Pope with comprehension questions, list of key themes, tricky vocabulary explained, interpretative questions, homework PDF, line-by-line questions, line-by-line analysis, linking structure to content ideas, essay question, and an essay plan. It should probably take 2 to 3 hours to complete, maybe longer if the discussion is rich. It works better as a PP.
In this 20-slide PowerPoint, you will find: intriguing starter for students to share opinions on the theme of marriage, a biography of the author with a quiz at the end (with answers), first impressions task, vocabulary challenge, homework task, line-by-line questions, line-by-line analysis, essay question, essay plan, model introduction, model analytical paragraph (colour-coded for clarity, prompts for further analysis paragraphs with quotes identified for each one. This resource will take about 2 hours to complete plus homework and students will gain confidence in understanding and unpacking the poem.
In this 20-slide PowerPoint, you will find: sorting starter, re-organising the poem activity, line-by-line questions, line-by-line analysis, deep mind-map analysis of one stanza, essay question, essay plan, and a full 750-word model essay. The homework PDF is also included. It is a thorough series of two or three lessons that will take several hours to do everything.
In this 27-slide PowerPoint, you will find: thought-provoking starter, quick thematic overview, each stanza accompanied by relevant picture, line-by-line questions (with answers), PDF to complete the questions at home as flipped learning if required, clear essay plan with activities, a fun storytelling activity that has students research a folktale (optional extra if you have time), line-by-line technique annotations. Plenty of activities to really explore the poem in detail.
In this 23-slide PowerPoint, you will find: starter, thought-provoking h/w questions (with answers as annotations), research the author task, vocabulary challenges (with answers), line-by-line analysis, structural questions (with answers), drama task, essay question and essay plan. A thoroughly detailed series of lessons that will most likely take 2 to 3 hours if you complete all activities. This PowerPoint can be used in class, for homework, or for revision.
In this 14-slide PowerPoint, you will find a theme exploration starter, line by line annotations, essay plan, twelve homework questions (students could do this in lesson but I like them to come to class having studied the poem a little), theme and quote matching task, and finally I have included an optional “fun” activity where students use the vocabulary of the poem to create a short playscript, which you could choose to develop into a performance. This PowerPoint will probably take about three hours to complete if you choose to do all the activities. It could also work as revision. Please let me know if you have any feedback.
In this 19-slide PowerPoint you will find a starter activity that helps students understand the concept of lamentation, and a vocabulary task to help with breaking down keywords, key context of Kuwait and a link to an online analysis video, reading comprehension questions, homework challenge questions, line by line questions, line by line analysis, essay plan with topic sentence ideas and quotes for each paragraph, and an essay question for students to tackle the assessment.
In this 16-slide PowerPoint you will find an interesting starter where students use the vocabulary of the poem to make a wall display of haikus, a discussion task on the allusions to sea gods, full read through discussion, homework task, comparison of two Wordsworth poems to help understand Cheng’s ideas, very detailed line by line annotations, essay question with mindmap for essay planning, full essay plan. It should take between two and five hours to complete.
In this 17-slide PowerPoint you will find a research the author challenge, comprehension questions about the poem’s basics, a comparison of both Chimney Sweep poems from innocence and experience which is necessary to understand the poem properly, a fill in the blanks summary task, homework analysis challenge (line by line questions), detailed annotations of every line in the poem, an essay question and a full model essay. This will take anything from between one and three hours to teach.
In this 26-slide PowerPoint you will find a thought-provoking starter, matching poetry technique task, in-depth discussion task, creative writing exercise (using the key vocabulary from the poem), an artwork imagery task, homework questions, line by line questions, deep line by line annotations/analysis, essay question and plan, and a model paragraph (colour-coded). This could take anything between one and three hours of teaching, depending on the cohort.
In this 18-slide PowerPoint, you will find: starter and extension; vocabulary creative writing task; deep delve into the gods mentioned in the poem; classwork/homework PDF attached with 22 thought provoking questions (with answers); line by line analysis; summary of the poem; colour-coded example paragraphs; and finally, an essay question and essay plan. The PowerPoint works best downloaded and not converted to Google Slides (you will lose the animations I believe on Google Slides, but all the content will remain). I hope it is useful. Any doubts, let me know.
In this 25-slide PowerPoint, you will find a starter activity, vocabulary challenge, line by line annotations, activities on the author, a fun drama task, line by line questions (with answers), a summary of the poem, an activity about the rhyme scheme, and two possible essay questions to challenge students’ knowledge.
An 18 question PDF handout (with answers) is also attached for h/w or pre-reading.
This PP and PDF can be used as a teacher tool and/or revision resource. It is very detailed and should really take up to about 3-4 hours of teaching time. I hope you find it useful. If there is anything you are unhappy about, please let me know and I will try my best to satisfy your query.
18 questions for students to show their understanding of the plot. This could also be used as an intro to the text and students could work on computers to find the answers. I have also included an answer sheet for quick marking.
In this bundle you will find a wide variety of resources to help you teach War of the Worlds. This is a new text for the iGCSE syllabus starting in September 2022 ready for first exams in 2024. It is also a useful resource if you just want to teach the text as part of KS3/5, or for a different spec. It is ready to be shared with students so that they can keep up with the work from home and access the PowerPoints for revision.
The activities are broad and varied, ranging from traditional teacher-led tasks, to paired/group work, and individual assignments. There are some more creative activities included throughout, like designing aliens and drama. I have also included some model paragraphs of analysis, technique analysis, quite a few vocabulary tasks, discussion topics, and I have included a selection of tailor-made assessments. Every chapter has also been summarised. Lessons have objectives, and are aesthetically striking.
Each of the 12 PowerPoints vary in length of delivery. Some will take between 1 and 2 lessons, others may take between 3 and 4, but you can pick and choose the activities to skip as you go along. I have tried my best to pitch a range of different tasks for a range of abilities, including regular extension work. Instructions and tasks are very clear for students and teachers to follow.
This should be all you need to teach the text, and if you need a copy of it, there are many freely available online. If you buy the whole bundle, you will save £18 compared to if you had bought each PowerPoint separately.
This 22-slide PowerPoint covers the final 4 chapters of the novel, and contains: vocabulary activities, line by line extract analyses (with answers), matching activity, Freytag’s pyramid summary task (also with answers), discussion questions, and 5 practice exams. Please see bundle for discounted prices.
12-slide PP covering three chapters. A range of activities for these chapters and some model responses analysing the language and themes. Matching tasks and summaries galore. Please see shop for full bundle.
In this 18-slide PowerPoint, you will find an initial vocabulary activity based on some of the tricky words in Book 2, Chapter 1, then some straightforward discussion questions to facilitate active reading, followed by a fun activity where students design their own technological alien and write a 200-word profile for it. Included is a gap fill activity to check understanding of Book 2, Chapter 2, followed by a “discussion” with HG Wells regarding the themes of reason/belief. This final activity should really get to the heart of the book and with the right teacher guidance there will hopefully be a rich discussion. All three chapters are also concisely summarised.
