An engaging hour-long lesson which introduces students to the main characters and themes in The Merchant of Venice before studying the play. This is aimed at students in Key Stages 3 and 4. This resource includes: A full Powerpoint including all teacher instructions (including printing instructions) A graphic organiser for students to record their notes. 5 detailed character profiles: Antonio, Bassanio, Shylock, Jessica and Portia. Learning Objective: Understand the main themes and characters in The Merchant of Venice. Learning Outcomes: Students will consider the title and posters of the play to mind-map themes. Students will work in groups to use an example summary and success criteria to write their own summary of a character from the play. Students will share features of their character with other students in the class. Lesson Outline: Do it now: Mind-map your ideas about the play based on the title. Starter: Look at these covers and posters; add your ideas you have about themes and ideas in the play to your mind-map. Think-pair-share ideas with the class. Activity 1: Modelling of an effective summary. Students read character profiles in groups and write a summary. Activity 2: Students circulate, share information and write down notes about the other characters. Plenary: Character quiz. More Resources for The Merchant of Venice Click here for a bundle of all the lessons to take you through the play plus a quiz, knowledge organiser and character revision posters. Freebies: For character revision posters for your classroom, click here. For an English/Drama lesson based on Portia’s choice in Act 1 Scene 2, click here. For a Scheme of Work overview for the unit, click here. Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.

An hour long engaging lesson in which students are introduced to the main characters and themes in Macbeth. Through individual and group work, students will practise reading skills - in particular comprehension, inference and summarising - and collaborate with each other to share information that they have gleaned from profiles about the key characters in the play. Students will also be shown images representing Macbeth and prompted to infer themes they think will be evident in the play. Learning Objective: Get to know the main characters and themes in Macbeth. Learning Outcomes: Find and highlight key information about your character in the play. Re-write information about your character and share it with others in your own words. Question others about their characters and make connections between different characters. Lesson Outline: Do it now: Think – Pair – Share question about ambition Starter: Students look at five images representing Macbeth and infer themes from them. Activity one: Students are assigned a character from Macbeth. They read the information sheet and take bullet points notes in their graphic organiser. Activity two: Students circulate around the room swapping facts until they have completed all five character profiles. Plenary: Mini quiz based on the characters in the lesson. This lesson contains a 16-slide PowerPoint and five printable character profiles. Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.

This is an engaging and fully-resourced one hour lesson to introduce students to the characters of the witches and some of the key themes in Act 1 Scene 1 of ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare. This resource includes a full PowerPoint including all teacher instructions that is ready to download and teach straight away. Students will consider pathetic fallacy and the paradox of ‘fair is foul, and foul is fair’. Students will work in groups to complete an engaging worksheet and then will work individually to write an analysis paragraph (which is scaffolded with an example paragraph included). Students will also have the opportunity to stage the opening scene and consider how they could increase the fear for the audience. Lesson Objective: Analyse how Shakespeare creates fear at the start of Macbeth. Learning Outcomes: Understand how the opening scene introduces some important themes in Macbeth. Evaluate Shakespeare’s use of literary devices. Distinguish between the reactions of a Shakespearean audience and a modern audience. Lesson Outline: Do it now: Questions for students to consider how a Shakespearean audience would have reacted to the witches. Starter: Think – Pair – Share about witches in Shakespeare’s time. Activity 1: Read act 1 scene 1 and students complete worksheet to identify language techniques with answers provided. Activity 2: Students write an analytical paragraph to answer the question ‘how did Shakespeare create fear for a Shakespearean audience?’ They will see a modelled paragraph first and peer assess afterwards. Activity 3: In groups of 3, consider how they would stage and direct the scene to really terrify a Shakespearean audience. Plenary: How would a modern audience react differently to the opening of Macbeth? Do you think it is still as scary even though the belief in witchcraft isn’t as widespread? Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.

A fun and addictive ‘Of Mice and Men’ revision tool that lasts 20-40 minutes to help students revise themes and quotes. The game ends differently each time, so this can be played multiple times to support students in revising the themes and ideas in Of Mice and Men. Students play as either George, Lennie, Candy or Curley and the aim is to achieve their dream. They play through 40 event cards, which will give them plus or minus DPs (dream points). If they can achieve positive DPs by the end of the game then they achieve their dream. If they don’t then they are doomed to a migrant worker life of working for other people. This game helps students to revise key events in the book, important quotes and presses them to consider the challenges that characters face to achieve their dreams. Reflection questions for students are included. It is a print and play game. It is quick and easy to cut out. I would suggest laminating for quick further use, however this is not required. The only additional materials you will need are one die per game and scrap paper for students to keep track of their scores. Included: How to play card Character profiles sheet Event cards Reflection questions Leave a review and choose any other resource for free from the LikeAnExpert shop. I have a whole range of Of Mice and Men revision resources available in the shop and a range of revision videos on my YouTube channel (this is linked to in my shop).