This 10-slide lesson activity allows students to explore how the Birling family (and Gerald) each wronged Eva Smith. Looking at the play through the lens of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ according to Catholic doctrine, we can see which sins each character commits, which may help us to determine which character - if any - is the most responsible for the death of Eva Smith. The lesson includes a table-based activity and questions for students to consider. These activities always lead to fascinating discussions and intellectual debates about the play. This is a particularly useful reflective activity or introduction to a deeper discussion of the play. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 27-slide lesson serves as the perfect introduction to J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’, establishing the key context and background to the play. The lesson features information about Priestley’s life and views, capitalism, socialism, important historical dates, and pre-war and post-war context. The play’s key themes and ideas are explored, and tasks and discussion points are included throughout. At the end of the lesson is an extended writing task that could serve either as a class-based activity or homework task. This lesson is aimed primarily at GCSE students but could be used for KS3 too. PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

This 21-slide lesson offers a fantastic introduction to George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, including everything that students need to know about the novella’s historical context. Included is information on the Russian Revolution, Orwell, anthropomorphism, satire, and much more. This resource is ideal for GCSE students or KS3 classes. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson provides a comprehensive contextual introduction to Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Posing questions to students about young love, marriage, passion, and stereotypes, the lesson introduces key themes and ideas related to Shakespeare’s iconic tale of doomed romance. The genre of tragedy is considered, as are typical elements of romance. We look at Shakespeare’s life and work, and examine a series of posters for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to see how the play is commonly presented in the cultural imagination. Important historical and theatrical context is explained, and key terminology is introduced to allow students to produce sophisticated analysis. Questions and discussion points are featured throughout, and there is a research task at the end of the lesson. Also included is a series of films inspired by ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to facilitate conversations around the play’s cultural impact. PowerPoint saved as PDF. Also included is a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ word-search.

This series of four lessons on Roald Dahl’s ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ breaks the story into four extracts and four distinct but interconnected lessons. Lesson 1: 16 slides Lesson 2: 16 slides Lesson 3: 14 slides Lesson 4: 16 slides Each lesson contains key questions and tasks relating to the story. Students are encouraged to think about Dahl’s suspense, characterisation, and use black humour. Key vocabulary is introduced and Dahl’s structure is dissected, with students making predictions and debating what might happen next as the story progresses. The nature of Mary Maloney’s marriage is discussed, as is the significance of her pregnancy, and the symbolic use of the leg of lamb in her infamous crime. At the end of the fourth lesson, we think about how Dahl uses the story symbolically and allegorically to comment on attitudes to gender in the 1950s. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. There are multiple tasks to strengthen analytical writing (with clearly structured model paragraphs included), and more creative tasks are featured, too, including diary entries and newspaper writing. Copies of all four extracts are included in this resource. There are at least 4 lessons here, but - depending on the pace of your classes - this could be stretched into more. This series of lessons is ideal for KS3. PowerPoints and extracts are saved as PDFs.

This 30-slide lesson explores the context of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. The lesson considers how European colonialism and the Age of Discovery influenced and impacted Shakespeare’s writing. Students are provided with an in-depth discussion of European colonial expansion in the Renaissance, including information on the Jamestown settlement and common artistic depictions of Indigenous Americans in Shakespeare’s lifetime. We think about how ‘The Tempest’ can be read as a product of the search for the ‘New World’. Shakespeare’s potential sources for this tragi-comic play are explored. Key words and themes are also presented, and the plot is outlined. We think about some of Shakespeare’s dramatic structure and stagecraft in the play, leading some critics to align Prospero with the playwright himself. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This lesson could be used as a comprehensive introduction for pupils studying the play anywhere from high-attaining KS3 to A level. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 21-slide lesson explores Maya Angelou’s classic poem, ‘Caged Bird’. The lesson introduces students to the key themes, ideas, and context behind the poem. Angelou’s life and work is discussed and the poem’s use of extended metaphor is deconstructed. Close analysis is conducted of language, form, structure, and rhyme, and students are encouraged to reflect on multiple readings of the poem. Key vocabulary is introduced to help students produce precise and sophisticated analysis when discussing racism, misogyny, and other forms of prejudice and marginalisation. Discussion points and questions are included throughout. An essay-style question is featured at the end of the lesson. This lesson is ideal for students approaching the poem either as part of a learned anthology or to develop their abilities analysing ‘unseen’ or isolated poetry. Owing to the universal nature of the poem, the lesson is suitable for a wide range of secondary-aged students, particularly those aged between 13-16. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 18-slide lesson offers an introduction to Stevenson’s use of setting in ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. We consider how Stevenson’s use of setting facilitates Hyde’s dark deeds and the Gothic atmosphere of the novella. How the author’s childhood in Edinburgh influenced his depiction of Victorian London is also explored. Stevenson’s language and techniques are analysed, linked closely to the text’s overarching themes of duality and deception. Questions are included for students, too. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

These two lessons are perfect for analysing William Blake’s two ‘Chimney Sweeper’ poems from the 'Songs of Innocence and ‘Experience’. Both lessons contain detailed explorations of language, context, themes and ideas, especially in relation to Blake as a protest writer. Each stanza is deconstructed individually, and questions/tasks are included for students, including comparative and extended essay questions. These lessons are ideal for those A level students who are analysing Blake’s poetry as part of the AQA Political and Social Protest Paper, but easily adaptable for other exam boards too. The lesson on the ‘Chimney Sweeper’ of ‘Innocence’ is 36 slides in length. The lesson on the ‘Chimney Sweeper’ of ‘Experience’ is 26 slides in length. Two PowerPoints (saved as PDF) included.

This resource contains an extract from Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ as well as 4 exam-style questions based on the AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1. Questions examine students on reading comprehension, language analysis, structural analysis, and constructing an argument in relation to the extract. This is an ideal mock for students to sit or a lesson resource for teachers to use with classes to practise and tackle the demands of each question.

This lesson provides an introduction to the sonnet form. The lesson explains the key features of the sonnet form, its stereotypes and conventions, and outlines the differences between Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets. Questions and discussion points are included throughout, and students are shown an example of a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, which they are then invited to discuss. At the end of the lesson is a research task which could be set either in class or as a homework activity. This is an ideal introduction for any KS3 unit on poetry or specifically the sonnet form. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 17-slide lesson explores Seamus Heaney’s famous poem, ‘Mid-Term Break’. The lesson begins by deconstructing the poem’s title, before thinking sensitively about funereal procedure and atmosphere. Heaney’s life and work is introduced to prepare students for the autobiographical nature of the poem. Key vocabulary is presented for students to produce precise and sophisticated analysis of the poem. The poem’s key themes, imagery, and symbols are deconstructed, and students are encouraged to think critically about the poem’s language, form, structure, and rhyme. The tone of the poem is considered, and multiple readings of the poem are introduced. Discussion points and questions are included throughout. A visual task invites students to identify key images associated with the poem, which works nicely as an individual or group activity. An exam-style question is included at the end of the lesson. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Perfect for stretch and challenge, this 24-slide lesson considers how Priestley was influenced by various theories of time when writing ‘An Inspector Calls’. The ideas of P.D. Ouspensky and J.W. Dunne are explored here, as well as questions about the nature of the Inspector’s curious relationship with time and how the significance of time is emphasised throughout the play. Stephen Daldry’s 1992 production of the play is considered in view of time theories, and the play’s key characters and stagecraft are analysed in terms of their relationship with time. Frequent questions and discussion points are included for students, and the lesson ends with an extended essay question on Priestley’s use of time. The resource is included in two versions here: as a PDF with saved fonts and formatting, and the original PowerPoint file so that the resource can be edited.

This 27-slide PowerPoint is a great lesson on the beloved poem that we now know as ‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth. The lesson guides students through the poem, thinking about its language, structure, rhyme, and central ideas. A basic biography of Wordsworth is also provided, and a glossary of challenging vocabulary. Questions are included in the lesson (including short comprehension-based tasks), as well as a larger final task in which students write their own poem, inspired by Wordsworth’s. It is an ideal lesson for KS3 students, particularly Year 7 students who are still learning about poetic craft. The lesson functions either as a stand-alone study or could easily fit into a larger scheme of work on nature poetry or Romanticism, for example. A copy of the poem is also included in this resource. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 14-slide lesson explores Chapter 5 of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students are encouraged to think about the tragedy of Curley’s wife: her dual role as a both a femme fatale and a victim. The key themes of dreams and hope are considered alongside the fatal turning point in George and Lennie’s dream. A non-fiction creative task is included for students at the end of the lesson. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. Ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This resource contains four well-known recent speeches by famous women (Angelina Jolie, Emma Watson, Michelle Obama and Theresa May) which are excellent for linguistic and rhetorical analysis. This is a useful exercise for pupils studying persuasive writing and effective rhetoric. Not only do these speeches allow students to analyse how famous orators have used language, but they also inspire and teach how pupils can use language in their own persuasive writing too. Each speech is transcribed here and some contain designated space for analysis and answers to questions based on common GCSE exam tasks. This resource bundle is ideal for those studying English Language at GCSE, but is equally useful for KS3 language analysis or any other unit on rhetorical or persuasive writing.

This 28-slide lesson explores James Reeves’ poem, ‘The Sea’. This poem is a brilliant example of extended metaphor and poetic craft; it is a beloved staple of many Key Stage 3 poetry lessons. The lesson deconstructs Reeves’ use of metaphor and other linguistic techniques, paying attention to the poem’s rhyme and rhythm too. Biographical information about Reeves is provided, as well as a series of questions, discussion points, and tasks for students. Students are asked to write a short analytical response to the poem, and an exemplar response is included in the PowerPoint. The lesson ends with a creative writing (poetry) task that could be used either as a homework activity or class-based task. This lesson is ideal for KS3 pupils, but could be used for GCSE pupils - especially those who find poetry challenging. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 35-slide lesson is designed to explore and revise the ‘generation gap’ in J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’. The lesson considers the gulf between the younger and older characters in the play with reference to key quotations and character development. We think about how the elder characters blame and criticise the younger characters in the play, and how the younger characters judge their disappointing elders in turn. Priestley’s authorial intentions are also explored, thinking about how each character is used symbolically. Each character is dissected in detail, including the ambiguities of Gerald’s place in terms of generational divisions. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. An essay question is featured at the end of the lesson. This resource is perfect for GCSE analysis of the play. PowerPoint saved as pdf.

Enjoy this stylish poster for ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens to enhance your learning environment. Designed by MrGradgrind.

Enjoy this stylish poster for ‘Pride & Prejudice’ by Jane Austen to enhance your learning environment. Designed by MrGradgrind.