This resource contains an extract from Alice Sebold’s novel ‘The Lovely Bones’ as well as 4 questions based on AQA’s GCSE English Language Paper 1. This is an ideal practice or revision resource for those studying the AQA GCSE. Also included is a PowerPoint with some step-by-step questions for students to consider before answering the mock questions.

This 25-slide lesson is a thorough and comprehensive study of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, ‘Before You Were Mine’, included in AQA’s GCSE English Literature ‘Love and Relationships’ poetry anthology. The lesson unpicks key themes of parent-child relationships, admiration, guilt, memory, and sacrifice. A brief introductory biography of Carol Ann Duffy is also provided. Also included are small questions and tasks for students and a ‘mock’ essay question in which students must compare ‘Before You Were Mine’ to another poem, just like in the real AQA exam. PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

This resource includes an extract from E.M. Forster’s 1909 short story, ‘The Machine Stops’, as well as an accompanying PowerPoint with four questions on the source based on AQA’s English Language GCSE Paper 1.

This 25-slide lesson explores Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘Sonnet 43’. The lesson introduces and discusses the sonnet form, noting its history and formal influence by both Petrarch and Shakespeare. This then leads to a discussion of contemporary love songs and their common features, considering the recurring ideas that love poems or songs seek to express. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s life and work is introduced, including the significance of Christian doctrine to her life. We then read the poem and analyse its language, form, structure, and rhyme. Imagery, symbols, and methods are deconstructed, and the poem’s ‘big questions’ are debated. Ambitious vocabulary is provided to enable students to produce sophisticated and precise analysis of the poem. Questions and discussion points are included throughout the lesson. An exam-style essay question is featured at the end. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 24-slide lesson explores Boey Kim Cheng’s poem, ‘The Planners’. The lesson introduces the life and work of Boey Kim Cheng before interrogating the philosophical relationship between construction and destruction. We consider the purpose of history and discuss the concept of cultural amnesia. Students are taught about the growth of Singapore since its independence from the British Empire. Students then read the poem and delve into its language and imagery. Analysis of extended metaphor leads to exploration of form, structure, and rhyme. We think about the tone and key themes of the poem, and Boey Kim Cheng’s message in view of ever-expanding urban environments and global industrialisation. Students are given ambitious vocabulary to help them to produce sophisticated and precise analysis of the poem. Questions and discussion points are included throughout for students. An exam-style question is also featured at the end of the lesson. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 26-slide lesson analyses and revises the characters of Ignorance and Want in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. The lesson considers the characters’ appearance and symbolism, linked closely to the context of Victorian society and the thematic explorations of the novella, as well as Dickens’ Biblical parallels and the characters’ structural significance within the story. Tasks and discussion points are featured throughout, and the lesson ends with an extended writing task on the characters. Though they only appear briefly, this lesson demonstrates the significance of Ignorance and Want as symbols for urgent social issues observed and highlighted by Dickens in Victorian society. This is an ideal lesson for GCSE students, but could easily be adapted for KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 43-page workbook is a thorough and comprehensive unit of work analysing poems about animals. The workbook contains various tasks and questions for a variety of animals, prompting students to consider how the poems interact with cultural stereotypes and how poets have used language and form to great effect. There are 12 poems included in this workbook. Poets featured include Ted Hughes, Chinua Achebe, Elizabeth Bishop, Carol Ann Duffy and Marianne Moore. At the end of the booklet is a project for students to complete. This workbook is easily adaptable and teachers can study each poem at their own discretion and in their own manner. Some poems are more complex than others and so teachers may wish to differentiate accordingly. Pupils could work on this unit in class or independently at home. The workbook is designed for use at KS3 but could be easily adapted to specific needs and preferences.

This 22-slide lesson explores Mervyn Morris’ poem, ‘Little Boy Crying’. The lesson explores Morris’ life and work before asking key questions related to parenthood, children, and perspective. The poem’s language, form, structure, and imagery are deconstructed, with close analysis of Morris’ methods. We consider the poem’s key themes and ideas - including masculinity and violence - and think about how Morris’ choice of narrative tone and style informs the poetic vision. Ambitious vocabulary is included to aid students with sophisticated analysis. We also consider philosophical questions raised by the poem. An exam-style essay question is featured at the end of the lesson. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 23-slide lesson explores Philip Larkin’s poem, ‘The Mower’. The lesson considers how the hedgehog in the poem - as well as the speaker’s reaction to what he has done to it - functions symbolically and metaphorically. Close attention is paid to Larkin’s language, structure, form, and rhythm, while the poem’s message is deconstructed in light of the elegy’s suspiciously neat conclusion. Larkin’s poetic and literary influences are also explored with regard to the poem’s genre and imagery. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included. An essay question is also featured for students. This resource includes a copy of the poem. The lesson is ideal for analysing this poem as an ‘unseen’ text at GCSE, but could also work with KS3 or A level groups. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 27-slide lesson explores Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘F for Fox’. The poem is perfect for KS3 students learning about poetic craft and technique, and is especially useful for teaching alliteration and animal/nature poetry. The lesson unpicks the narrative and key ideas behind Duffy’s poem, peppered with questions and discussion points for students. The poem is included in the PowerPoint. Brief biographical information is given about Duffy, and a glossary is provided to aid students with the poem’s vocabulary. The lesson ends with a creative writing task in which students write their own poem. This lesson could easily work with upper KS2 or even GCSE students, too. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 20-slide lesson offers a comprehensive introduction to print journalism. In this lesson, students reflect on the trustworthiness of the news and their engagement with it. They learn what ‘journalism’ means and explore its different written forms, thinking about how it has adapted and evolved in the modern world. Students learn how to write journalistically, thinking about style, layout, and form. We consider the role of the ‘front page’ and analyse some examples, learning about the specialised vocabulary for describing different aspects of front pages. Students learn about the main printed newspapers of the UK - noting differences between broadsheet and tabloid - and we reflect on the angles, agendas, and demographics to which each newspaper is adhering. Students are also encouraged to reflect on their engagement with international news, and we ask important questions about what makes us ‘interested’ in a journalistic story. We also ask whether there is a place for printed journalism in the modern world, and if we are experiencing the ‘death of print’. The lesson ends with a research task for students to look up and define key journalistic terms. This is an ideal lesson for introducing students aged 10+ to print journalism. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

A superb extract from Patrick Marber’s ‘After Miss Julie’, perfect for analysis as an ‘unseen’ text for Section A of AQA’s Political and Social Protest Writing A level paper. Extract is attached with PowerPoint featuring questions for students to consider/discuss/answer and an exemplar INTRODUCTION to an essay response. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 23-slide lesson explores W.H. Auden’s ‘Funeral Blues’. The lesson begins with questions for students about the poem’s title and information about the poem’s history (including how it’s now so famous from ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’). Students then read the poem (a glossary of key terms is provided) and discuss their first impressions. The poem is summarised and explained generally before the lesson moves into detailed questions about the poem: its speaker, its tone, its language, its imagery, its ending, and its message. Notes are given about the poem’s key tensions, as well as form, structure and rhyme. Key themes are listed, and there is a list of sophisticated vocabulary to allow students to conduct precise and high-level analysis. There is an image-based task for students to match pictures to the poem. There are questions provided throughout, including comprehension and though-provoking questions at the end. An example of an essay question (particularly relevant to the Cambridge IGCSE) is also included. PowerPoint is attached as a PDF and in its original format. The PDF is recommended if you wish to retain the fonts, layout, and design.

This bundle of resources is a comprehensive, detailed, and academic exploration of all scenes from Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ to provide the ideal companion for studying the play. Five presentations are included - one for each of the play’s five acts. Each presentation introduces the setting and context for each of the play’s scenes, before providing step-by-step supportive notes for the scenes. These notes not only explain what is happening as the scene progresses, but key dialogue, images, and stage directions are deconstructed with academic scrutiny. Questions are also posed for students at regular intervals to encourage a thematic and holistic understanding of the play. These resources can be used to support class readings of the texts, or made accessible to students at home to facilitate their understanding of each scene. In addition, students have found them extremely useful as revision resources to review in their own time. Act 1 Notes - 54 slides Act 2 Notes - 42 slides Act 3 Notes - 50 slides Act 4 Notes - 40 slides Act 5 Notes - 38 slides These resources are ideal for GCSE or A level study of ‘Othello’. 224 slides in total. PowerPoints saved as PDFs.

A PowerPoint all about the importance of names in Dickens’ ‘Hard Times’. Ideal for those studying the novel for AQA’s Political and Social Protest Writing A level course.

A worksheet which presents students with visual stimuli to prompt critical thinking about the key themes and imagery in Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’. Students annotate the worksheet with their knowledge of the theme; they may wish to write down key quotes, important ideas, or significant plotpoints/staves of the novella which apply to each image. It’s up to you how you use this versatile resource. This is an ideal starter or revision activity for studying the text.

Poster explaining the concept of pathetic fallacy in a fun visual way. Perfect for your classroom or corridor display!

Three colourful posters designed by Mr_Gradgrind on ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘Holes’ and ‘Watership Down’. Great for your classroom or corridor displays.

The perfect lesson for teaching students how to punctuate speech/dialogue. Aimed at KS3 students, but could easily be used or adapted at KS4.