This is a bundle of lessons covering award-winning documentaries BLACKFISH, BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and SUPER SIZE ME. PLUS - two worksheets - one on Aristotle's Means of Persuasion, and one that introduces students to begin working on their own persuasive campaign. SUPER SIZE ME: 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. -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.) BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE:The Columbine tragedy affected the world. It was the first in a wave of school shootings and people have fought to understand why and how it could have happened. Michael Moore's award-winning documentary seeks to unearth the background to America's gun crimes and questions everything from causes to culpability. -NOTE- This documentary is 'R' rated in the US and '15' in the UK. Prior-viewing is advised. There are some incidents of bad language and some graphic footage, but I strongly believe that the importance of this documentary outweighs any potential concerns. BLACKFISH:This documentary explores SeaWorld's treatment of killer whales and interviews past and present employees and orca trainers. A hard-hitting look at the treatment of animals in captivity, this documentary is a perfect way to introduce students to the rules of rhetoric.

This resource is a worksheet comprising four fun activities! They include hunting out local Pokestops and researching their significance, linking Pokemon to literary and historical figures and creating students' own version of the hit game. Technology is only going to become more encompassing, so now is the time for us to embrace it as educators and show students the learning that can take place while playing their favourite games!

This is a learning menu or homework choice mat to encourage students to be more kind! This works really well alongside my Saint Diary to make students more thoughtful in their actions. Some of these tasks are Christmas specific so works brilliantly in the lead-up to the holidays.

Poke Cards are super easy to use, tactile, engaging and self-checking! There are 138 cards included in this set covering pronouns, adverbs, and prepositions. Students simply choose their answer and turn over to see if they were right! I use these for my classes higher up the school as a revision aid for word classes or for an introduction lesson for younger students. These are simply designed with high school students in mind - no childish clip art for those kids who are too cool for that sort of thing! Please be aware that there is some preparation needed beforehand including cutting and laminating, but once completed you have a resource that can be used over and over again! Watch a quick demonstration video

As English teachers, one of the most challenging tasks is ensuring that students see the relevance of Shakespeare's work. I LOVE Shakespeare with every fragment of my heart, and I spend an inordinate amount of time developing resources to make my kids feel the same way! This worksheet is a psychoanalysis of Lady Macbeth. A modern interpretation could view her as suffering from mental health issues - have your students analyse her actions and 'diagnose' her potential illness. This can open up debate about the human nature of Shakespeare's work and also a wider conversation about mental health; a tricky but necessary topic to cover in your classroom. I sincerely hope you enjoy this resource and that it buys you a little breathing space!

Lord of the Flies is a notoriously difficult text to teach, but equally, hugely worthwhile. Have your students do this crossword as a re-cap, revision tool or comprehension quiz. Super engaging, academically rigorous and fun!

This resource contains a set of ten bingo cards for students to get to know each other during their first English lesson back at school. The idea of the activity is that students quiz each other about their reading habits and preferences and collect information to share. Traditional bingo rules apply - first to a line wins, then first to a 'full house'. Tasks include things such as -Find someone who has read all of the Harry Potter books (films don't count!) -Find someone who has read your favourite book -Find someone who has been so scared reading a book that they couldn't sleep And then a few literacy and grammar tasks for good measure! -Find someone who can correctly identify a noun, verb and adjective -Find someone who can give you an example of a metaphor. Files include both UK and US spellings, along with colour and black and white versions for those that are print-budget conscious!

Lord of the Flies is a tricky novel to teach - namely because of the myriad of possible interpretations. Have your students delve into the psychological aspects of the novel by focusing on Freud's concept of human psyche and the id, ego and superego. This resource includes a basic introduction to Freud's findings, a worksheet to enable students to identify the representative characters and collect evidence, and an essay prompt. There is an answer key included for the worksheet, including sample quotations. If you are looking for more resources to help your study of Lord of the Flies, why not try my Lord of the Flies Homework Menu? It makes a great supplement to your novel unit. I also have an engaging crossword to use as a novel recap or revision tool.

This is a PowerPoint lesson focusing on the poem Bayonet Charge by Ted Hughes (AQA Anthology). The lesson focuses on language, symbolism and interpretations of the poem.

These vocabulary quizzes are designed to help students understand the complex vocabulary in Lord of the Flies. They are in three parts - #1 is for chapters 1-2. #2 is for chapters 3-8. #3 is for chapters 9-12. I usually give my students half an hour to find the definitions of the words (you may need to help with a few that aren't in contemporary dictionaries) and then do a quiz to use the words correctly in a sentence OR find them in the novel.

This lesson is part of an Imaginative Writing Scheme of Work focused on Science-Fiction and Dystopian short stories. This is a baseline test based on the previous lesson's work on Unreliable Narrators. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to download my FREE short story anthology for use with this lesson.

This lesson is part of an Imaginative Writing Scheme of Work focused on Science-Fiction and Dystopian short stories. This lesson explores settings, with a particular focus on an extract from 'The Hobbit'. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to download my FREE short story anthology for use with this lesson.

TWITTER ISSUES - Correct the Spelling and Grammar of 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.

This is a beautifully presented Roald Dahl crossword created from facts about his life and works. Also included is an answer key for you to use as you wish. This is a perfect first lesson for students to gain a bit of context and develop their research skills! I used this for my introductory lesson before my 'Darker Side of Dahl' unit for my Year 8 students. They loved it and the answers inform their thinking for the rest of the topic. I took them to the computer suite and encouraged them to use their initiative. The questions are tricky enough not to know, but not so difficult that the students lose interest. This would also be a brilliant activity to use on Roald Dahl Day on September 13th!

This is another no-prep, ready to print learning mat for Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew'! This works brilliantly as homework tasks given out at the beginning of a unit. I ask my students to complete one activity per week and require them to have gained 25 points by the end of the unit. This means that they have the freedom to self-evaluate - if they have a football match and a school concert this week then they only have to do a 2 point task. If they have a quieter week, they may want to bump up the points! I find that the competitive challenge to these tasks really improves homework hand-in rates and the quality of the work produced. I swear by homework mats now! Check out my other learning mats for other topics by clicking on the category to the left. Enjoy!

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.

Welcome to Word Birds, a weekly lesson and resources to build higher-level vocabulary in your Year 9 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.

A whole lesson analysing the poem 'Come On, Come Back' by Stevie Smith.