An A4 landscape poster all about similes - perfect for your classroom or corridor display. Useful for helping students remember key linguistic vocabulary.

This word search is a fun and stimulating activity for those studying ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to help consolidate knowledge of characters, key themes, and their spelling.

This word search is a fun and stimulating activity for those studying ‘An Inspector Calls’ to help consolidate knowledge of characters, key themes, and their spelling.

A series of mock questions on Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ designed to emulate AQA’s exam style in the Political and Social Protest Paper (Section B). Sixteen questions in total. Perfect for revision and practice assessments.

This is a thorough and comprehensive introduction to the context of Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’. The 21-slide lesson details Caesar’s life and role in the Roman Republic, outlining key terminology, politics, and history that will help explain his downfall. Shakespeare’s own life is also explored alongside the plot and focus of the play itself, and Elizabethan parallels with the play’s themes are explained. Questions and tasks are included for pupils, including a research (potential homework) task at the end of the lesson. The lesson is ideal for GCSE pupils, but could easily be adapted for other Key Stages. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 26-slide lesson explores the major themes of violence and crime in Stevenson’s novella, ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. The lesson documents key examples of violence and crime in the story, analysing Stevenson’s language, symbolism, setting, and intentions, and making links to the Gothic genre as well as the Victorian fascination with criminality and criminology. Questions and discussion points are included throughout, and the lesson ends with a mock exam question on the theme of violence and crime. This lesson is ideal for those studying the text at GCSE (particularly those with AQA), but could also be used for KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This lesson is focused on helping students to analyse literary ‘structure’ using an extract from Suzanne Collins’ ‘The Hunger Games’. The lesson is focused on Question 3 (‘How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?’) from AQA’s GCSE English Language Paper 1. Students are presented with methods of tackling this notoriously challenging question. Exemplar paragraphs on ‘The Hunger Games’ are also included. The resource includes a lesson PowerPoint and the extract from the novel. This lesson is aimed at GCSE pupils but could be used for KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 32-slide lesson explores Vernon Scannell’s poem ‘Nettles’. The lesson provides detailed study of the poem and includes: biographical information on Scannell, analysis of the poem’s use of language and linguistic/poetic techniques (including extended metaphor), analysis of the poem’s structure, form & rhyme, as well as questions, discussion points, and tasks for students to complete. The final task at the end of the lesson is a piece of creative writing in which students write their own poem. This lesson could be used for KS3 or GCSE pupils. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Here are 22 mock essay questions on Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ for students to practise their exam technique and sharpen their analysis of the text. These questions are particularly aimed at those studying the play within the comedic genre with AQA at A level, but they are easily applicable to any course offering detailed analysis of the play.

This 23-slide lesson provides an introduction to John Boyne’s ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’. The lesson introduces students to the novel’s key ideas of friendship and childhood, as well as the historical context of World War II and anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students throughout, and the lesson ends with a creative writing task that could be used in class or as a homework activity. This lesson is designed for KS3 pupils. Given the novel’s subject matter, some historical context deals with mature content. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 35-slide lesson explores the character of King Duncan in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. Analysing the role of Duncan alongside the Divine Right of Kings and Great Chain of Being, as well as James I’s personal ideas of Kingship, this lesson deconstructs how Shakespeare uses Duncan to represent an idealised and legitimate image of the monarchy in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot. Students are encouraged to consider Duncan’s characterisation as Macbeth’s foil, how Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to heighten the tragedy of Duncan’s death, and how Duncan links to the play’s key themes. High-grade vocabulary is featured too. Questions, discussion points and tasks are included for students, and the lesson ends with an essay question based on an extract from the play. This lesson is ideal for those studying ‘Macbeth’ for GCSE. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 32-slide lesson on Wilfred Owen’s harrowing portrait of the First World War, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, contains a detailed and comprehensive exploration of the poem. The lesson includes context on the war, propaganda, and Owen himself, as well as analysis and questions on each stanza of the poem, including structure and form. Questions and tasks are included, with a final essay question for students (and two exemplar paragraphs) at the end. A copy of the poem is included too. This lesson is ideal for KS3 (particularly HA) and GCSE students, but could be easily adapted. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 15-slide lesson explores Chapter 7 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider how Napoleon begins to consolidate his totalitarian rule through establishing a reign of terror. As animals begin to show signs of dissent and mild revolt, the pigs’ increasing use of violence shatters any illusion of a utopian society. As ever, Squealer’s propagandistic rhetoric is analysed. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about the Great Purge and the Peasants’ Revolt in the Soviet Union. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 15-slide lesson explores Chapter 9 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider the tragic fate of Boxer as his stupendous strength finally fails. We analyse how the pigs exploit Boxer’s death with cold calculation, and debate whether Benjamin’s refusal to utilise his literacy is responsible for his friend’s fate. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about who/what Boxer and Moses represent. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson explores Stave Five of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. Students are encouraged to consider how Dickens presents Scrooge’s metamorphosis from a miserly misanthrope to a charitable and responsible citizen in the final chapter of the novella. We think about how Dickens evidences Scrooge’s change, exploring what leads Scrooge to reconsider his relationship with charity, Church, his local community, Fred, and the Cratchits. As we finish the novella, we consider the allegorical function of the story and whether Dickens’ messages are still relevant to our own society. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This is ideal for those studying the novella at GCSE or at KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 21-slide lesson explores Alfred Noyes’ poem, ‘The Highwayman’. Students explore the meaning of heroism and consider the use of ‘anti-heroes’ in film and literature. They are then taught about the history of highwaymen (including how they have been romanticised in popular culture over the years), and learn about the notorious career of Dick Turpin. Students then read Alfred Noyes’ famous poem and unpick its language, imagery, and structure. We think about the romantic and tragic elements of the poem, and discuss whether or not the titular highwayman deserves our sympathy at the end of the narrative. In the next task, the poem’s language and Noyes’ use of various linguistic techniques (including similes, metaphor, and repetition) are identified and analysed. The poem’s atmosphere and epilogue are also explored. The lesson ends with two creative responses to the poem (which could be set as homework tasks or be covered in the next lesson). This lesson is ideal for upper KS2 and lower KS3 students. A copy of the poem is included in this resource. PowerPoint and Word doc are saved as PDF.

This 28-slide lesson explores the themes of duality and double-lives in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. The lesson encourages students to think about the numerous binaries and dualities throughout Wilde’s play, and how these relate to the idea of ‘earnestness’ that the play satirises. Sophisticated vocabulary is provided to help students with their analysis. Students are presented with important literary and historical context, including Wilde’s own ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ and Stevenson’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, plus examples of real-life late-Victorian scandals which fed into and fuelled fin de siecle interests in the duality of man. We also explore dualities in Wilde’s own life. The lesson considers how deception plays into the play’s key themes, and explores Wilde’s literary preoccupation with ‘masks’. Key quotations from the play (linked to duality or double-lives) are considered throughout the lesson, and each of the key characters are dissected. Discussion points and questions are featured throughout. This lesson is ideal for A-level (age 16+) study of the text. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

PowerPoints on all 10 chapters of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. These can be used in conjunction with reading the text as a class or for revision purposes. Each PowerPoint contains key quotes, themes, ideas, and questions/activities for students. These PowerPoints will produce at least 10 lessons. Perfect for studying the novella at GCSE.

This 47-slide lesson explores Charlotte Mew’s poem, ‘The Farmer’s Bride’. The poem is studied as part of AQA’s ‘Love & Relationships’ anthology. This lesson explains Mew’s life and context against the backdrop of the Suffragette movement, before exploring the poem’s language, themes, imagery, structure, and form in comprehensive detail. Questions, discussion points and tasks for students are included throughout. Extended essay questions are set at the end of the lesson, and an exemplar essay introduction is provided for one of the questions. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 23-slide lesson explores the character function of Jacob Marley in ‘A Christmas Carol’. Paying close attention to Dickens’s language, imagery, themes and context, this thorough presentation considers how Marley’s Ghost is used to convey the author’s message and how the character functions as a catalyst for Scrooge’s metaphorphosis. Questions, tasks, and discussion points are included for pupils. An extended essay question is included at the end. This lesson is ideal for those studying the text for GCSE, but could be easily adapted to suit KS3 pupils. PowerPoint saved as PDF.