A complete RUAE unit with detailed PowerPoint lessons, introducing the Close Reading component of the National 5 English course, as well as a booklet to complete tasks and a PowerPoint with answers for all tasks. The Power Point Unit shares general information about the course, such as the skills needed and general advice on how to improve. The material and tasks focus on every single close reading question type, giving a description, formula, advice, a question sample and a response sample, as well as a question of each type for pupils to answer independently. This resource comes along with a Word booklet for pupils to complete their tasks and a further Power Point that contains all the answers to the questions for the pupils to self-mark their work or go over it with them. This resource is suitable as an end of S3/Nat 4/but mostly as a Nat 5 unit. The generic information about the course has been adapted from the SQA website and some extracts and questions have been taken from other booklets and adapted for this unit. Hopefully this is useful for all. It has been designed with remote learning in mind, but can equally be used for when we are back in the classroom.

A series of PowerPoint presentations that can be used online/remotely or in person aimed at S3 top set, National 4 and National 5 pupils in Scotland or Year 8/ Year 9 pupils in England. The lessons go through RUAE understanding and analysis skills, focusing on answering questions in your own words, sentence structure, tone and imagery. There are worked out examples of questions and answers. This unit also includes Word documents with a series of RUAE papers out of 20 marks each. The text extracts have been taken from a variety of fiction and non-fiction sources. I hope this is helpful.

This is a complete unit to teach the great novel ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky. The unit is aimed at National 5 students in Scotland, but might also be suitable to Higher English. It can also be used for GCSE Language or Literature courses in England and Wales. It has PowerPoints with all parts of the novel and a PowerPoint for critical essays too. Each PowerPoint contains key points to focus on each part, comprehension questions and key quotations, as well as notes focusing on genre, setting, narrative, character and language. There are also links to the references made throughout the novel (films, songs and other novels). Teachers might want to choose their own preferred audiobook to listen to the novel (available on Youtube for some parts) or read the novel out loud to/with the class. I created this unit since I could hardly find anything online, let alone a complete unit of the novel. I hope this is useful and enjoyable to teach!

This is a full PPT unit to study the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It also comes with a Word booklet for pupils. It’s aimed at National 5 pupils of English and can easily be adapted for Media. It can also be used with an S3 high ability class. This unit can also be used in England and Wales. The film can currently be accessed via Amazon UK or could be purchased as a DVD copy. I hope this is helpful and enjoyable to teach.

This is a complete unit with a detailed PowerPoint, based on the short story The Flowers, by Alice Walker. This story is suitable for S3, National 4 and National 5 classes in Scotland or Year 8 and Year 9 in England. The unit includes context references and materials, such as links to short videos with tasks. It also includes general notes and annotations for most of the story (I encourage pupils to do some independently to seek their own interpretations), as well as comprehension and analysis questions. The questions have been adapted from previously made resources, but all others are my creation. I have attached word files with a copy of the story and the resources needed. I sincerely hope this is useful for the study of this short story.

This complete unit based on the teaching of the novel ‘Once’ by Morris Greitzman. This is aimed at Year 7 students or S1 students in Scotland. The lessons follow the reading of the novel chapter by chapter, each of them including a set of comprehension questions, discussion points, as well as reading and writing tasks. I have also added some questions modeled on Language Paper 1 (England) to review those language analysis skills. I have used a few resources I found or resources made by other teachers and have adapted them to suit my classes and teaching style. I hope this unit is useful and enjoyable to teach!

This is a unit to study the novel Freak the Mighty, aimed at S1 and S2 pupils in Scotland, or Year 7 and Year 8 pupils in England. There is a PowerPoint for each lesson, with a section of the novel to read, comprehension tasks and some creative writing tasks. Towards the end of the unit, there is a diary writing task that could be used as a creative response assessment. Finally, there is an assessment task of a character critical essay with a success criteria, guidance and examples. I cannot take full credit for this unit, as some tasks (the grammar based ones) have been suggested by fellow colleagues, and so I am indebted to them for this, but the rest of the unit, tasks and assessment tasks have all been created by me. There is a very good reading of the novel currently available on Youtube that I have used occasionally, but this is a novel whee some pupils do want to take part on the reading because of its lively young characters.

This unit of work is aimed at students taking National 5 English as part of the Set Text exam. It can also be used at National 4 level. The unit, organised with Power Point lessons and Word files, reviews each scene, with detailed notes and questions about each of them. There are individual practice questions and full practice papers with answers. There is also a copy of the script to create new papers. Some of the tasks have been adapted from other resources. I hope this unit is useful. PS: It pained me to have had to remove the apostrophes from the name files to be able to zip it…

Aimed at Advanced Higher English or A Level, a series of lessons focusing on the song ‘Common People’ by the band Pulp. These lessons explore the lyrics of the song and encourage pupils to write a detailed textual analysis piece. Ideal to introduce language analysis or textual analysis to classes for the first time. Some questions were generated by a colleague and the rest of the steps and tasks by me. Enjoy!

This creative writing unit is aimed at S1 /S2 pupils in Scotland or Year 7/Year 8 pupils in England. It is suitable both for Remove Learning and to be taught face to face. Each PowerPoint contains between 3 and 4 lessons. Each lesson has a starter activity, a short film to watch, understanding and analysis tasks to complete and some have a creative writing task at the end. This unit builds up towards a creative writing piece which revolves around creating a monster and then a story to go with it. It can easily be shortened or adapted to suit each class and ability. I hope this is enjoyable to teach and useful.

This is a complete unit for the study of the novel Holes by Louis Sachar, suitable for S1 or S2 classes in Scotland or Year 7 or Year 8 in England. It includes PP for every chapter with comprehension tasks, questions and creative writing short tasks. The unit builds up to writing a critical essay about one of the main characters. The unit also includes a Speaking and Listening assessment about racism (that could be included as part of the unit or not). Finally, it includes a lesson on how to review the film version of the novel. I have used some tasks I have found online in the past and adapted them to suit this unit of work. I hope this unit proves to be useful to everyone! Enjoy!

Detailed PowerPoint unit with lessons on Creative Writing, aimed at working towards writing the Broadly Creative Portfolio piece. This unit comes with a thorough Word booklet for tasks, suitable for National 5 students, but which can also be adapted for National 4 or S3 classes. These lessons contain a description of the National 5 English course with a focus on Component 3 (Portfolio), taken from the SQA website and other sources. The unit contains a series of engaging reading and writing activities, intended to stimulate and practice pupils’ skills when it comes to creative writing, covering setting, characterisation (STEAL), plot, structure, pathetic fallacy and language. This unit is suitable for remote/online learning, but can also be used for teaching ‘live’. I hope this will prove to be useful.

An introduction to poetry unit, suitable for S1s pupils in Scotland or Year 7s pupils in England. The unit contains 3 PowerPoint presentations containing 10 lessons in total. Each lesson has a poem, comprehension tasks and creative writing tasks. Each PowerPoint is also accompanied by a Word document booklet, where pupils can complete the tasks. This unit has been adapted to be taught online or remotely, but can also be taught in school. The poems have been found online and some of the tasks have been adapted from other resources used before. I hope this is useful.

A complete lesson to inspire creative writing, using Gothic image and a passage from Dracula. It can be used as a one-off lesson, as an introduction to the Gothic genre or as part of a creative writing unit. Ideal for a Year8/Year 9 class or an S2/S3 class in Scotland. It contains a PowerPoint and a Word handout for pupils.

This creative writing unit is aimed at S2/S3 pupils in Scotland or Year 8/Year 9 pupils in England. It is suitable both for Remove Learning and to be taught face to face. Each PowerPoint contains between 2 and 3 lessons. Each lesson has a starter activity, a short film to watch, understanding and analysis tasks to complete and some have a creative writing task at the end. There are also two short stories and their respective short film versions. This unit builds up towards a creative writing piece which revolves around creating a monster and then a story to go with it. It can easily be shortened or adapted to suit each class and ability. I hope this is enjoyable to teach and useful.

One-off lesson based on the poem ‘The Shout’ by Simon Armitage, to discuss use of pronouns, imagery and caesura/enjambment in a poem. Really fascinating poem that pupils seem to access well and enjoy unpicking. Suited to Year 8/Year 9 pupils or S2/S3 pupils in Scotland. This resource includes the PowerPoint lesson and the Word handout. Enjoy!

A study of the transcript of the TED talk by filmmaker Yoruba Richen. Do Now - questions to engage in the topic The Transcript Comprehension Questions Annotations focused on Rhetoric. Analysis questions Handout for pupils with the text and tasks. Ideal for a one-off lesson or an introduction to Language Paper 2 at the end of Year 9 or beginning of Year 10. Also suitable for S3/National 5 pupils in Scotland.

Lesson that can be used as a one-off poetry lesson, to begin a conflict unit or to introduce modern conflicts, aimed at Year8/Year 9 or S2/S3 in Scotland. The lesson explores 9/11, the poem ‘Out of the Blue’ by Simon Armitage, with a set of comprehension questions, annotations and analysis tasks. It has gone rather well so far! Pupils love the poem. This resource includes the PowerPoint lesson and a Word handout for pupils. Disclaimer: a couple of tasks were inspired by tasks created by a colleague.

Aimed at Advanced Higher English or A Level, a series of lessons focusing on the song ‘This is America’ by Childish Gambino. These lessons explore both the video and the lyrics and encourage pupils to write a textual analysis piece. Ideal to introduce language analysis or textual analysis to classes for the first time. Some questions were generated by a colleague and the rest of the tasks by me. Enjoy!

This unit is aimed at S1 and S2 pupils in Scotland or Year 7 and Year 8 in England. It is a very simple unit that requires to watch the film ‘Elf’ in order to discuss Christmas film conventions, genre, setting, characters and plot in the film. At the end there is a choice of several creative writing tasks, as well as the possibility to write a film review with instructions. I hope this provides with a relaxed and entertaining unit for your pupils during November/December time.