This 30-slide lesson offers a contextual introduction to Mildred D. Taylor’s novel, ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’. This lesson explores the historical background to the novel, covering the American Civil War, the Reconstruction era, the Great Depression, and Jim Crow Laws. The tragically widespread power of racism is noted, including the prevalence of the Ku Klux Klan and how segregation was legally enforced. Students also consider Mildred D. Taylor’s own upbringing and how this came to influence her writing. Quotations from Taylor herself can be analysed with students. We also explain the American Dream and its significance to the novel’s setting. The novel’s title, key themes, and narrative are also deconstructed, including reference to African American ‘spirituals’ and the importance of the novel being narrated by a child. Students consider the novel as a coming-of-age story. Key vocabulary linked to the novel is also presented for students to define and understand. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included throughout. Students reflect on whether we have a duty to challenge injustice in our communities and debate how influential adult influence can be on children. This comprehensive lesson is ideal for students ages 11+. The themes of racism do of course mean that some content is fairly mature. PowerPoint 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 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.

Top band essay analysing how Priestley explores the ‘generation gap’ in ‘An Inspector Calls’. Perfect for high-attaining students studying the play at GCSE. Includes a key for reading and highlighting the essay with your class.

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.

PowerPoints for teaching all 15 of AQA’s GCSE Love and Relationships Poetry cluster. Presentations include key themes, ideas and questions for students. Designed to supplement your teaching of the poems. 15 PowerPoints included. All designed by Mr_Gradgrind.

This resource includes a top-band exemplar piece of creative writing about the touching relationship between an old man and a dog. As per Section B of AQA’s English Language Paper 1 (worth 40 marks), this creative writing is a response to an image, which is also included here in a PowerPoint. Students could read, annotate, and discuss this response either before or after trying to produce a story of their own from the image. The creative writing exemplar could equally be used as a model to other GCSE pupils not studying the AQA syllabus.

This is a top-band exemplar essay on how Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider in ‘A Christmas Carol’. Based on a genuine AQA Literature past paper, this essay is perfect for HA pupils to see how to structure a sophisticated and perceptive essay. The extract and exam question are included on the first page.

A booklet featuring 25 poems for students to practise analysing ‘unseen poetry’ for the AQA GCSE Literature exam. Each poem is accompanied by a question emulating the style of AQA’s exam questions. Some poems are coupled together to allow comparative essays, as per the final question of the exam. Poets include Armitage, Blake, Heaney, Larkin, Plath, Sassoon and Whitman.

This is a top-band exemplar essay analysing how marriage is presented in ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ by Charlotte Mew and ‘Singh Song!’ by Daljit Nagra. These poems are studied as part of AQA’s ‘Love & Relationships’ cluster at GCSE and this question and answer reflects the question style of the exam. Exam question paper is also included.

This top-band descriptive writing exemplar is a perfect model for those studying AQA GCSE English Language. Based on Question 1B, where students must complete a 40-mark piece of creative writing, this exemplar on a dark forest and a mysterious man is ideal for teaching structure, narrative, language, vocabulary, punctuation, and much more.

Help students to score high marks in the hugely significant 40-mark persuasive writing question of AQA’s English Language Paper 2 (Section B). This top-band exemplar response (responding to the statement: ‘Superheroes are bad role models for children.’) always engages students with its relevance, reasoning and relatability. Layered with an abundance of lingustic techniques, sophisticated vocabulary, advanced punctuation, and coherent structure, this exemplar response is perfect for showing students how to impress examiners in this challenging part of the exam.

11 specially designed posters on linguistic techniques designed to aid students’ learning of key vocabulary. Each poster uses an example to explain each technique. Perfect for your classroom or corridor displays! Features: Simile Metaphor Personification Alliteration Rule of Three Hyperbole Repetition Onomatopoeia Rhetorical Question Imperative Oxymoron

This top-band essay analyses how Shakespeare presents Macbeth and Banquo’s attitudes to the supernatural, based on the (infamous) AQA exam question from 2018. Many students found this question challenging when it appeared in the summer of 2018. This essay is perfect (for HA pupils, in particular) to see how to structure a sophisticated and perceptive essay. The extract and exam question are included on the first page.

This top-band essay on Priestley’s presentation of Sheila in ‘An Inspector Calls’ is an excellent exemplar for students. At the end of the essay is a highlighting key for students to unpick the essay’s techniques and structure, allowing for detailed discussion of the exemplar in class. This resource is particularly useful for challenging HA pupils to reach the top bands.

This lesson includes three resources designed to teach Tatamkhulu Afrika’s harrowing apartheid poem ‘Nothing’s Changed’. Included is a PowerPoint with some background on Afrika’s life and Apartheid, and questions on the poem; a copy of the poem with contextual notes (as per Section A of the AQA exam); and a top-band exemplar response to a Section A question. This final resource is a detailed and sophisticated essay analysing Afrika’s poem. These resources are perfect for those studying POLITICAL AND SOCIAL PROTEST WRITING at A level with AQA, but could be adapted to teach the poem in a broader context.