Students are asked to write a short paragraph about their weekend using three connectives from the list displayed in the PPT. Students are then asked to share their paragraph before reflecting on how connectives help to improve their writing.

Place these facts around the room. Students have five minutes to search for the facts in the room and write them down. Allow time to feed back and discuss afterwards. This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.

This is an extended piece of homework that students can complete at home over a two-week period. In lessons students have been reading Macbeth by William Shakespeare. They have looked at how different directors have interpreted the witches and how they look, move and behave. They are going to create a portfolio of three pieces of work which shows how they would interpret the witches imagining that they are going to stage a production of Macbeth. This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.

Starter: Be active, not passive! Display PowerPoint. Go through slides 1-3. Explain to students the difference between active and passive voice. Teach students the idea of bringing the subject to the front of the sentence in order to transmit meaning more clearly, directly and succinctly. In this lesson students are going to put together a whole article individually or in pairs (depending on your group’s ability). Ideally, this should be done on laptops, but it’s possible to do on paper. You are going to feed students pieces of information via the PPT. Students will use the information to put their article together. Laptops are better for this activity as they are able to edit previously written paragraphs more efficiently. For lower ability students, it’s probably best to print off the slides. Explain task using slide 4. Show students slide 5-11, leaving about 5 minutes between each slide. For slide 10, you’ll need to print copies of the Article for pairs. In the last five minutes, instruct students to check through their work using slide 12. Students to swap their laptop with another pair and compare articles. Show students Original Article. This is the actual article based on the same information published in 2008. This resource is taken from my KS3 English Newspaper/Journalism SOW which you can buy from my shop.

Print off the slides from the PPT. It is the students' task to match up the 'types' of connectives with the 'examples'. Once students have completed the match-up activity, ask them to come up with three example sentences using three different types of connectives.

On this graph students are to read Candy's key moments in the story, written at the bottom of the graph, and then plot how much sympathy the reader feels towards Candy. Depending on ability, students can write a quotation and/or explanation beside their plots on the graph.

Blow this worksheet up to A3 size. Students draw lines between the characters and note down how they're connected. They can also jot down notes and quotes for individual characters. This will become a revision aid for students.

Issue 'Shakespeare Prologue' to pairs. Students work through the prologue as if they are detectives deciphering a piece of evidence. They must 'zoom in' on individual words, decipher their meaning and try piece together what the entire prologue actually means and what is going to happen in the play. Allow students 20 minutes to do this before discussing the prologue and finally handing them 'Prologue Explained' which is the prologue translated into modern English. Albeit simple, students love the detective element to this activity. It really helps to engage them.

Issue Belfast Confetti ‘Wordle’ to students. Explain that the Wordle contains the entire poem, with the prepositions removed. All that’s there is the core vocabulary; these lexical words provide the meaning of the poem. Tell students that you want them to sort the words into lexical sets (groups of words that are associated by meaning), categories essentially. Ask students to invent their own groupings and categories and find their own associations: for example, punctuation or place names. Students may then decide to create thematic categories. Through this activity students can ‘discover’ patterns of meaning, for instance underlying metaphors, before reading the poem and seeing them revealed in the true context of the whole text.

Work through the PowerPoint for the lesson which includes a starter activity, contextual information, 'crunched poem' activity (creative, language analysis), annotated poem, exam question and comparison activity. This could cover 1-2 lessons.

Ask students to create a social network for the characters using this user-friendly sheet. On the characters' connecting lines write how the characters are connected. Around each character's face write key quotes and characteristics. An example is shown.

Issue Characteristics of a Shakespearean Hero to pairs. Read through. Students are to find evidence for the characteristics; some have been done for them. After this activity, ask students: What is your personal response to Macbeth? Is he a likeable character? Do you feel sorry for him? Or do you think he deserves everything he gets? This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.

Students are asked to analyse a short piece of dialogue between a teacher and student. They are to 'zoom' in on the language and focusing specifically on words, e.g. the difference between the words 'chat' and 'discussion'.

Before the lesson display the difference words/phrases used to describe Macbeth 'Rise and Fall of Macbeth'. Students are to walk round the room and pick one phrase written on white paper and one phrase written on grey paper. They should jot these down in their exercise books. Once they’ve done that. Ask students to think carefully about the ‘grey paper’ phrase. They should think about how they say it. Instruct students to walk around the room and say it to whoever they meet. Feedback – Ask students how they said it? In what tone? Why? Do the same again but for the ‘white paper’ phrases. Feedback – Ask students how they said it? In what tone? Why? Explain to students that these are all phrases used to describe Macbeth throughout the play. What does this suggest about the character of Macbeth? This resource is taken from my KS3 Macbeth SOW which you can buy from my shop.

This PPT looks at three different responses to: In Of Mice and Men explore the ways the writer presents relationships between characters. LENNIE AND CURLEY’S WIFE Focusing specifically on AO3: Read and understand texts, selecting material appropriate to purpose Develop and sustain interpretation of writers’ ideas and perspectives Explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, grammatical, structural and presentational features to achieve effects and engage and influence the reader. There is a grade D/E response, a grade C response and a B/A response. Students are able to see how they can improve and develop their analysis to achieve higher grades. There's also a comprehensive and detailed essay plan to aid students' planning of a response to the exam question above.

This resource offers a fun way of researching context. Before the lesson print of the questions and put them into colour-coded piles. You'll need as many questions are you have groups of students. For example, if you have 6 groups, you must of 6 print-outs of the questions. You'll need 6 x yellow questions, 6 x green questions, 6 x blue questions etc. Put students in teams of 3-4 students. Students must have immediate access to a laptop or computer to be able to find the answers to the questions. You need to put the piles of questions on your desk. Issue Q1 to all groups and 1 answer sheet to all groups. Groups must find the answer to Q1, write it down on their answer sheet and then bring their answer sheet to you. If the answer is correct, you issue them with Q2, and so on until groups have found all the answers to all the questions. It is basically a race to the finish, but the answers must be of quality because you have to 'okay' them before they're issued with the next question. Students enjoy the competitive element of this task. You may wish to give the winning group a small prize as an added incentive. Discuss the contextual research once the task is over and discuss its links with the play.

This resource offers students an 8-step guide to approaching poetry, divided into: 1. Title 2. Shape 3. Personal response 4. Voice 5. Vocabulary 6. Imagery 7. Structure 8. Interpretation There are prompt questions under each 'step' to help students. This resource can be applied to any poem to encourage students' independent analysis of poetry.

Print off enough of these sheets to ensure you have one skill per student or group. When students are rehearing for a performance, hand students or groups one skill each. They have to focus on improving that skill in their rehearsals. You may swap the skills to ensure students are focusing on more than one skill.

Print off enough of these sheets to ensure you have one skill per student or group. When students are rehearing for a speaking and listening performance, hand students or groups one skill each. They have to focus on improving that skill in their rehearsals. You may swap the skills to ensure students are focusing on more than one skill.

Students must look at the definition on each slide and identify which type of 'voice' it is. The answer will appear at the bottom of the screen.