I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
I am an experienced English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. All of my resources are organised, engaging, ready to teach and designed to save you - the teacher - your valuable time!
Please have a look at all of my resources - at least 20% of which are free.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter seven of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson helps students to consider the changing identity of Pavel. Students are prompted to think about how Pavel is directly and indirectly characterised and then write a diary entry from Pavel’s perspective. Students will need to synthesise information for this task - adapting what they know from the text to their diary format. This lesson also promotes empathy by supporting students to think from Pavel’s perspective.
Learning Objective: Write a personal response in character as Pavel.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Write a diary entry as Pavel reflecting upon your life before and your life now.
Silver: Explain clearly how your identity has changed.
Gold: Creatively describe details from your life before ‘Out-With’
Lesson Overview:
Do It Now: Students infer what they can work out about the man in the picture? Introduce the idea of appearances being deceptive.
Starter: Read chapter 7 and create a mind-map about Pavel
Activity 1: Think-pair-share discussion about a quote which shows Pavel’s changing identity.
Activity 2: Students write diary entry (example sentence starters given).
Peer assessment
Plenary: Read and discuss diary entries
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter six of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson helps students to consider why John Boyne portrays Bruno’s Father - a Nazi - as a complex and sometimes likeable character in this chapter. They then complete a discussion in role as characters from the book. This could be used as an assessment: assessment criteria for marking and self-assessment are included. Students make notes before the discussion and then peer assess themselves afterwards to reflect on the task.
Learning Objective: Effectively speak in role as a character from the book.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: You will stay in role and make clear points in the discussion.
Silver: You will portray your character using verbal and non-verbal characteristics. You help to move the discussion forward.
Gold: You will be convincing in role and lead the discussion forward. You listen carefully and respond to others’ points.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: What descriptive words come into your head when you think about the Nazis?
Starter: Read chapter 6.
Activity 1: Write notes for discussion
Activity 2: Discuss which skills we are practicing/complete discussion
Self-assessment
Plenary: How did it feel to argue for something that you don’t necessarily believe in yourself?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter two of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson introduces the key words juxtaposition and foreboding. Students then look at three quotes and consider the techniques and effects used in them before writing a scaffolded PETER paragraph about the chapter.
This resource includes a ready-to-teach lesson and a printable scaffolding worksheet.
Learning Objective: Write a PETER paragraph about the impression of Bruno’s new house.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Write a paragraph using the PETER structure.
Silver: Explain the effect of the quote in detail.
Gold: Make links between different parts of the text.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Students try to work out the meaning of the two key words of today’s lesson.
Starter: Students read the chapter and write down any quotes that give a foreboding impression
Activity one: Think – pair- share discussion of the literary techniques used and the effects.
Activity two: Students use PETER paragraph outline to write an analytical paragraph.
Peer assessment
Plenary: What do you think made Bruno feel “cold and unsafe” in the new house?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter four of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson begins with a reminder of key words and techniques in the book so far. It moves onto a silent debate about statements about the Holocaust - I have used this activity a number of times and it creates a very powerful atmosphere in the classroom.
Students are then guided towards independently analysing an extract with guiding questions provided.
Learning Objective: Independently analyse an extract from the text.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Independently identify literary techniques in the novel.
Silver: Explain in detail the effect on the reader.
Gold: Consider how there might be different interpretations of the novel.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: Key words reminder - match the word to the definition
Starter: Silent debate and gallery
Activity 1: Class reading
Activity 2: Independent analysis
Discuss students’ answers as a class
Plenary: What do you predict will happen next?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
Engaging and ready to teach one hour lesson to cover chapter thirteen of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne. This lesson requires students to consider how John Boyne creates tension in the dinner party scene and to compare how this is shown in the book and the movie. Students will then devise their own drama scene to put into practice tension-building devices.
Learning Objective: Analyse how writers and directors create tension.
Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Understand which techniques can be used by writers and directors to create tension.
Silver: Explain clearly how these techniques create tension.
Gold: Use some of these techniques yourself to construct a dramatic performance.
Lesson Outline:
Do It Now: How might a movie director create tension?
Starter: Reading focus – how does John Boyne create tension?
Activity 1: Students complete an analysis table based on quotes from this chapter with teacher support.
Activity 2: How is tension created in the film?
Activity 3: Devising their own scene in groups and performing.
Plenary: What do you think happened to Pavel? What do you think will be the consequences for Lieutenant Kotler?
Freebies:
Two pre-reading lessons to introduce students to the context of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.
A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.
If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop. .
Leave a review and choose any other resource of up to the same value for free from my shop.
A detailed PowerPoint with accompanying printable worksheets for students to explore the context of Shakespeare’s Macbeth before embarking on their reading of the play. This lesson prompts students to dive deep into the historical and cultural backdrop of the play while honing critical skills like summarising, analysis, and collaboration.
The lesson includes a thorough exploration of Macbeth’s context, including the reign of King James I, the Gunpowder Plot, witchcraft and the supernatural, family life, and gender roles. Through teacher modelling, students learn effective summary writing techniques, equipping them with the tools to distill complex information into concise and impactful summaries. They then put this into practice by using one of the worksheets to summarise information on their given topic.
Students then engage in a carousel activity, where they delve into each of the context topics, learning from their peers, and collaboratively constructing their understanding.
Learning Objective: Summarise contextual information about British society in the Jacobean period.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will read and comprehend new information and life in Jacobean times.
Students will summarise this information in their own words.
Students will clearly articulate what they have learned to your classmates.
Lesson Outline:
Do it now: Students think – pair – share about the importance of understanding a text’s context.
Starter: Walkthrough of how to write an effective summary using an example text about James I.
Activity 1: Students write their own summary of one of the contextual topics (King James I and the Gunpowder plot, Witchcraft, Family Life and Gender – these are differentiated by ability as shown by notes on PPT slide). Students spend 15 minutes creating their summary and then self-assess.
Activity 2: Summary carousel – students move around the classroom sharing their summaries and taking notes on the various topics.
Plenary: Mini whiteboard questions on the topic from this lesson.
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This treasure hunt activity is a great way for you and your students to check their understanding of how to use different punctuation marks and simple, compound and complex sentences.
For this treasure hunt, each student starts of at a station with a question. Their task is to find the next card with the correct answer. That card will give them the next question. They will know that they have completed the task with the correct answers once they are taken back to their original station.
You can either arrange these cards on clearly-identifiable desks around the room or you can hide them. The latter works particularly well as a fun end-of-term activity.
This works well for Key Stage 3, but Key Stage 4 students have also enjoyed it as a fun activity to practise writing skills for their GCSE revision.
I really hope you and your students enjoy this! Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
Two fully resourced and ready-to-teach one-hour lessons which introduce students to the skills of annotating a poem and then writing an analytical PEE paragraph about it. These lessons are designed so that they can be downloaded and taught immediately and all printing instructions are included. The poem used is ‘I am Offering this Poem’ by Jimmy Santiago Baca.
This lesson is aimed at KS3 and would be suitable for an introduction to poetry unit - but it could easily be adapted to younger or older students. Students will need to know what personification, similes, alliteration and repetition are already.
These lessons include:
A 22-slide Powerpoint
Differentiated learning outcomes
Copies of the poem with a glossary (in both word and pdf formats - for editing or printing).
Explanation of annotation
A model PEE paragraph
Structured peer assessment
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A detailed knowledge organiser about Curley’s wife accompanied with a revision activity whereby students make their own knowledge organiser about one of the characters in the text.
The knowledge organiser includes the following sections:
Key vocabulary
How Curley’s wife links to the theme of dreams
How she links to the theme of loneliness
Historical context about treatment of women
Overview
Explanation of key quotes
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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).
A detailed and engaging one hour lesson to support students in their analysis of Judy in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1… This lesson supports students to annotate and analyse the flashback scene to understand who Judy is.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher and printing instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A detailed and engaging one hour lesson to support students in their analysis of Judy in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1. This lesson supports students in considering how Judy changes throughout the play and how this affects her relationship with Christopher.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher and printing instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A detailed 10 page revision guide focusing on how loneliness is presented in Of Mice and Men: this includes a step-by-step guide to writing a grade 9 essay on loneliness for students studying IGCSE English Literature.
This contents of this revision guide are:
What does the mark scheme say?
Context: loneliness in 1930s America
George and Lennie
Candy
Crooks
Curly’s Wife
Other symbols of loneliness
Revision tips and tricks
I have an Of Mice and Men resources bundle available here. . 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).
Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.
Fully resourced and differentiated 1 hour lesson in which students compare and contrast the features of poetry and prose. They then move on to considering the effect of poetry by looking at three examples.
This lesson is aimed at KS3 and would be suitable for the beginning of an introduction to poetry unit - but it could easily be adapted to younger or older students.
This lesson includes:
Full explanantion of poetry and prose
Differentiated learning outcomes
Worksheet available as word (for easy editing) and as a pdf (for easy printing)
All teaching and printing instructions.
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A detailed and engaging one hour lesson to support students in their analysis of Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1. This lesson supports students to analyse the scene in the train station with many competing voices with the focus of considering how the writer creates a feeling of empathy for him.
This resources contains a slide which has the text from this scene moving and zooming around to create an immersive effect of how it would feel to be Christopher.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
A detailed and engaging one hour lesson to support students in their analysis of the theme of truth and lies in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play by Simon Stephens) for Edexcel English Literature IGCSE 4ET1. This lesson is best used towards the start of the teaching unit and then referred back to as you work through the play.
This resource contains a ready-to-teach Powerpoint with all teacher and printing instructions included.
If you find this resource helpful, please leave a review and have a look at other resources available in my shop.
Fully resourced and ready-to-teach 1 hour lesson which introduces students to assonance and encourages them to question why writers use it and what its effect is. Students then write a poem using assonance.
This lesson is aimed at KS3 and would be suitable for an introduction to poetry unit - but it could easily be adapted to younger or older students.
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This fully-resourced, one-hour lesson guides students through independent analysis of Macbeth’s soliloquy (“Is this a dagger…”) in Act 2 Scene 1 of Macbeth. Perfect for fostering critical thinking, this lesson allows students to paraphrase Macbeth’s speech and collaborate in groups to examine Shakespeare’s use of lexical fields, rhetorical questions, and repetition.
This resource includes:
A ready-to-teach PowerPoint with full teacher instructions.
A printable extract of the soliloquy with a detailed glossary for student reference.
Printable group task instructions, also embedded in the PowerPoint.
Learning Objective: Analyse Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 1.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will read and understand act 2 scene 1 and independently paraphrase it and answer questions on it.
Students will work in groups to closely analyse the language in Macbeth’s soliloquy.
Students will compare two different portrayals of this soliloquy.
Lesson Breakdown:
Do it now: ’There’s husbandry in heaven, their candles are all out’ – students explore this quote.
Starter: Read act 2 scene 1 and discuss questions.
Activity 1: Paraphrase the soliloquy in groups whilst watching a performance.
Activity 2: Scaffolded independent analysis task
Plenary: Students watch another performance of the soliloquy. How does this other portrayal of Macbeth compare to the earlier one?
Why Choose This Resource?
Designed for Confidence-Building: Helps students feel secure in their analysis of complex texts.
Ready to Use: Download and start teaching immediately with no prep required.
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An engaging and detailed quiz Powerpoint containing 30 questions and answers to question students on their general knowledge about books - both classic and modern! There are four rounds in total over 41 PowerPoint slides: three question rounds and one round in which students make up their own riddles. This is ideal for World Book Day.
This is aimed at secondary age students both in key stage 3 and key stage 4. There is a range of difficulty of questions covering books from Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter to Sophie’s World and Animal Farm. The Powerpoint and is editable so that you can remove and alter questions to suit your students.
The Rounds
Round One: Book titles (these questions have various levels of scaffolding so that there is a range of difficulty).
Round Two: Characters and Settings
Round Three: Book Covers
This lesson works well for Book Day or for an end of term English or form time lesson.
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Fully resourced and ready-to-teach 1 hour lesson which leads students towards writing a poem about an everyday object using personification.
This lesson is aimed at KS3 and would be suitable for an introduction to poetry unit - but it could easily be adapted to younger or older students. It is best suited to students who already know what personification is but need to practise using it effectively.
This lesson includes:
Explanation of personification
Differentiated learning outcomes
An extract from ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman with questions for students to consider the effect of the personification.
Structured peer assessment.
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This Valentine’s Day English Lesson is aimed at key stage 3 and key stage 4. In the lesson, students will learn about the history of Valentine’s Day, consider Shakespeare’s sonnets and iambic pentameter, and then write their own Shakespearean sonnet.
Learning Questions:
What are the origins of Valentine’s Day?
How did Shakespeare write about love using the sonnet form?
How can I write my own sonnet (love poem)?
This works really well as a one-off English lesson to celebrate Valentine’s Day, whilst also keeping students focused on English-specific skills and knowledge.
Lesson Overview:
Do It Now: What would be the worst ever Valentine’s day gift someone could get?
Starter: Brief history of Valentine’s Day followed by think-pair-share and discussion.
Main task 1: Explanation of Shakespearean sonnet followed by students reading out lines of iambic pentameter.
Main task 2: Students look at an example sonnet and then write their own sonnet.
Share and celebrate student sonnets.
Plenary: Students choose five words to summarise what they’ve learned about the origins of Valentine’s Day.
I really hope you and your students enjoy this! Leave a review and choose any other resource, of up to the same value, for free from the LikeAnExpert shop.