I am a Secondary English Teacher on a mission - to produce the highest quality lessons I possibly can with the intention of saving precious time for teachers!
I am a Secondary English Teacher on a mission - to produce the highest quality lessons I possibly can with the intention of saving precious time for teachers!
TWITTER ISSUES Vol. 3 - Correct the Spelling and Grammar of more Celebrities!
This great starter activity includes 25 grammatically incorrect tweets from famous celebrities. Pop one on the board and get your students to correct them!
A mixture of spelling and grammar issues #Twissues on one fun PPT.
I made this into a TuesdayTwissue activity and the kids LOVE it!
This could also be used in any subject area for Literacy across the curriculum.
Obesity is second only to smoking as the biggest killer in the United States. Morgan Spurlock's award-winning documentary highlights the dangers of fast food in a hilarious and shocking way.
This two-page worksheet is a comprehensive way to ensure that students are watching the 'Super Size Me' documentary with purpose.
This information can then be used for informative or persuasive writing outcomes - my students generate an awareness campaign for other teenagers.
Entirely print and go - no preparation needed!
-NOTE- This documentary is 'PG-13' rated in the US and '12' in the UK. Prior-viewing is advised. There are some brief incidents of bad language and some graphic footage of surgery, along with one conversation of a sexual nature (nothing visual; this is a discussion on Morgan's impeded 'performance' as a result of his diet.)
This resource is my own version of the Edexcel 9-1 English Language Paper 2.
I made a series of practice papers to help my own students as there aren't any past papers yet and only a handful of samples.
I've followed their style very carefully and included a detailed mark scheme to help you assess.
The topic of this paper is 'education' and includes two non-fiction articles on the theme.
The whole paper is prepped and ready to print so you simply need to run off enough copies for your class.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!
This lesson is part of an Imaginative Writing Scheme of Work focused on Science-Fiction and Dystopian short stories.
This is a full lesson guiding students through a close reading of Ray Bradbury's short story, 'The Veldt'. It is fully interactive and engaging with a detailed lesson plan.
PLEASE NOTE:
You will need to download my FREE short story anthology for use with this lesson.
Please Miss, Can I Have Some More?!
This is an engaging Narrative and Creative Writing worksheet comprising 17 high quality tasks and prompts for students to undertake.
Each task has a points value depending on how easy or challenging the task is, which means you can set a points requirement as homework, during the lesson or for the duration of a unit.
SAMPLE TASK:
Describe your first encounter with a celebrity. Tell the story twice - first from your point of view, then imagine how the celebrity felt about meeting you.
The 'task bubbles' presentation means that students can colour in the tasks that they have completed so that you can easily check progress, and it can also be used to add a competitive edge to proceedings!
You can also use this as a homework mat alongside your Narrative/Creative unit to support independent learning.
Have fun with it! I'm always amazed by the quality of the responses!
This is a four-sheet organiser for the main characters in William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
It includes space for:
Ralph
Piggy
Simon
Jack
The Twins
Roger
The Lord of the Flies
Beast.
It asks students to fill in any physical descriptions, inner desires and important traits of the characters. It is an excellent resource to use alongside reading and to make students accountable for their own notes while still giving them some structure.
A whole lesson analysing the poem 'A Poison Tree' from the Edexcel Conflict Cluster (1-9 GCSE)
Includes language analysis, vocab, context and questions.
This bundle is chock-full of my bestselling Lord of the Flies activities, including graphic organisers, homework menus, vocabulary quizzes and fun activities.
Use it to consolidate knowledge or build research skills outside of class. Great for teaching boys!
Study Shakespeare's Macbeth using these high-interest, rigorous worksheets on key scenes! Packed full of tasks to inspire and engage both creatively and analytically, focusing on characters, plot, language and themes.
The sheets include focus on the following sections:
-The Witches
-Act 1 Scene 2
-Act 1 Scene 3-5 (two pages)
-Act 1 Scene 7
-Act 2 Scene 2 (two pages)
-Act 3 Scene 4
-Act 4 Scene 3
-Act 5 Scene 1
-Act 5 Scene 8 and 9
PLUS
Two pages of literary terminology and questions relating to their use in the play.
Enjoy using these resources for grabbing your students attention when studying the remarkable Scottish Play!
This is a fun and exciting review game for Macbeth which comprises of 50 character clues.
Instructions for play:
Stick the character names to the wall or board.
Split the class into teams (two works best, but you can rotate players if you need more) and have them nominate a ‘swatter’ to begin. You will need something they can use to hit the character answer – a flyswat or paper plate works well.
As you read out each clue, the players race to find the correct character name on the board and be the first to hit it.
This works wonderfully for an end of study review, or for revision before an exam. I hope it brings as much enthusiasm to your classroom as it does to mine – happy playing!
This is a whole lesson on imaginative writing and the skill of 'show, don't tell', originally developed for Year 9. It includes a full lesson plan and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation.
It uses clips from Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' and the Netflix hit 'Stranger Things.'
There are lots of fun activities and an extended writing task.
All links are copied into the 'notes' sections of the slides in case they do not work.
This lesson is part of an Imaginative Writing Scheme of Work focused on Science-Fiction and Dystopian short stories.
This is an engaging lesson in which students present their own idea for Room 101. This is a lighthearted introduction before the very sinister truth next lesson when they read an extract from Orwell’s ‘1984’.
PLEASE NOTE:
You will need to download my FREE short story anthology for use with this lesson.
This is a set of progressively more challenging gap-fill sheets to help students learn key quotations for the Edexcel Conflict poetry cluster.
Begin by giving students the completed quotations to learn. I then give them a week to practise them and give them the next sheet to complete either independently or in groups.
This has had tremendous results for my students, all of whom are now feeling much more confident about sitting the poetry exam!
Create a visually appealing display while encouraging recall and quotation retention!
This set includes 30 key quotations from Orwell’s novella, taken from across the ten chapters.
Each is clearly labelled with the chapter it has come from, and, where relevant, the character that said it.
It is an excellent way to quiz students on their knowledge retention, and studies show that having these visuals displayed in classrooms helps students to remember the quotations in the exams!
Roll the dice and create something TERRIFYING!
This is a Halloween version of my popular roll the dice board game for Creative Writing. It consists of a vibrant grid full of spooky Halloween-inspired images, words and phrases to provoke out-the-box thinking and writing!
Students roll the dice to choose a genre, then roll again moving across the board to land on weird and wonderful prompts, including fangs, thunderstorm, snake, creepy doll and a full moon.
This has produced some really outstanding writing from my students and can be used to aid writers' block in even the most reluctant of budding authors.
NOTE: This product requires you to supply your own dice.
Welcome to Word Birds, a weekly lesson and resources to build higher-level vocabulary in your 8th Grade students.
These weekly lessons include the following:
• a single word plus definition as a PDF designed to be printed as a poster and displayed in your room
• a PowerPoint slide to accompany the poster, with an example of how to use the word in a sentence
• 6 entertaining task cards to get your students using the word in a variety of ways including my trademark comic strip!
• a Word Bird helpsheet explaining the differences between verbs, adjectives, nouns and adverbs.
• a record sheet to go in student exercise books to help them keep track of the words they have learnt.
Most school years run for 38 weeks, but I’ve included 40 words in case you don’t fancy using any of them or you want to use them on other occasions too.
Package includes:
40 slides PowerPoint
40-page PDF of words plus definitions for student handouts or posters
6 mini task cards
1 record sheet
1 help sheet to be used as a student handout.
NOTE: This set will be followed with Word Birds for grades 8-12 shortly, along with a complete bundle of all six sets!
This is a complete lesson for teaching Act 1 Scene 1 of Julius Caesar.
I have included a copy of the 'No Fear Shakespeare' version of the scene for you to use if you wish.
The lesson includes the following:
- Key/complex vocab exploration
- Introduction to puns
- Creative task
- Prediction of future events.
Look out for more Julius Caesar lessons from me soon!
This is a dynamic and engaging collection of lessons to study Act 1 of the Merchant of Venice.
It includes research tasks, video clips, high-level thinking skills and engaging close-reading activities.
This is detailed and thorough and was designed to prepare the group for the Literary Heritage Controlled Assessment.
This is a whole lesson analysing Belfast Confetti by Ciaran Carson. Includes analysis, background information on 'The Troubles' and an excellent video link of Carson explaining his thought processes.