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 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 20-slide lesson explores how props and stagecraft are used in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Important theatrical context is discussed in order to analyse how Wilde’s play relates to ideas of farce, melodrama, and Naturalism in the late 19th century. Students are encouraged to reflect upon the various props used in the play and their symbolic significance. Costumes, entrances, exits, asides, off-stage characters, and dramatic irony are also considered. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

A lesson designed to revise the character of Eva Smith in J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’. Lesson includes a thorough study of what life would have been like for someone of Eva Smith’s class in the Edwardian era. At the end of the lesson is an essay prompt for analysing ‘class’ within the play. Perfect for those studying AQA English Literature GCSE, especially high-attaining students. Lesson is PowerPoint pdf.

How does Shakespeare explore deception and performance in ‘Macbeth’? This 27-slide lesson explores this pivotal question. Things are never what they seem in ‘Macbeth’: fair is foul and foul is fair when it comes to the much-contested fate of the crown. Explore how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth commit regicide through endless deception and performance, but also how they ultimately become trapped in their own web of lies. Questions, discussion points and tasks are included. An essay question (based on an extract from the play) is featured at the end of the lesson. This lesson is perfect for those studying the play at GCSE, but could be used for other year groups too. 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 24-slide lesson is the perfect analytical summary of Boxer’s character function in Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. Students are encouraged to consider Boxer’s purpose within the novella and how he links contextually to the allegory of corrupted Communism. Emphasis is placed on his stupendous strength, tragic naivety, and exploitation. There are discussion points and questions posed for students to answer either individually or collaboratively. At the end of the PowerPoint is an extended essay question for students to answer (either in class or as a homework activity). This lesson (which could easily be split into multiple lessons) is ideal for GCSE students but could also be used to challenge high-attaining KS3 pupils. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

Explore how Dickens uses Fezziwig in ‘A Christmas Carol’ to convey his message of charity, togetherness and humanity in the 19th century. This PowerPoint considers Dickens’ characterisation of Scrooge’s former employer, how he functions as the symbolic antithesis of Scrooge, and why the Spirit takes Scrooge back to the convivial Christmas party of his youth. Includes extract from the novella in which Fezziwig is introduced for students to highlight and annotate.

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.

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

This 35-slide lesson explores how George Orwell presents the theme of education in ‘Animal Farm’. This detailed and thorough exploration of education within the novella provides an excellent framework for analysis and revision. It includes various discussion points, questions, and tasks for students, features key quotations, sophisticated terminology, and a final essay question for exam practice. Students are encouraged to think about how the pigs blur the lines between education and propaganda on the farm, and how this relates to Orwell’s message and the novella’s historical (and allegorical) context. This lesson is perfect for GCSE groups or high-attaining KS3 classes. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 20-slide lesson uses Ernest Hemingway’s classic short story, ‘Cat in the Rain’, to teach students about the ‘Iceberg Theory’ and analytical inference. Using Hemingway’s story as the model, students are encouraged to think about how the story functions on a symbolic level in spite of its apparent simplicity and minimalism. Marking the difference between comprehension/fact and inference, students use the story to think about ‘reading between the lines’ in this text and in so many others. Using the cat as a symbol, Hemingway’s story is deliciously ambiguous, and students are prompted to think not only about how writers hide details beneath the surface (like an iceberg), but also how they too can create powerful meanings and effects in their own creative writing. This lesson works well for KS3 and GCSE students. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. A copy of Hemingway’s story is also included in this resource. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 23-slide lesson is the perfect analytical summary of Old Major’s character function in Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. Students are encouraged to consider Old Major’s purpose within the novella and how he links contextually to the allegory of corrupted Communism. Emphasis is placed on his rhetorical skill, foreshadowing, and structural significance. There are many questions posed for students to answer either individually or collaboratively. At the end of the lesson is an extended essay question for students to answer (either in class or as a homework activity). This lesson (which could easily be split into multiple lessons) is ideal for high-attaining GCSE students but could also be used to challenge KS3 pupils. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

A lesson (or two) designed to introduce pupils to Section B of AQA English Language Paper 1, where they are required to produce a piece of creative writing worth 40 marks. This PowerPoint (and accompanying worksheet) aims to break down the demands of the question into manageable chunks for pupils who may find extended writing challenging. By the end of the lesson/s, pupils will write their own short piece of writing based on an image, as per the exam question. This may be particularly useful for SEN groups and support classes.

A lesson designed to revise Louisa Gradgrind’s character function in Dickens’ ‘Hard Times’. Ideal for students reading the text for AQA’s Political and Social Protest Writing A level course.

A revision lesson designed to deconstruct Dr. Rank’s significance in ‘A Doll’s House’. This is a detailed analytical summary of Dr. Rank, including his key quotations, function in the play, and an essay question for students to consider. Perfect for those studying the play with AQA for A level (Political and Social Protest Writing).

This 29-slide lesson analyses Simon Armitage’s poem ‘Remains’, deconstructing its language, structure, imagery, context, message and more. Critical-thinking questions and tasks are included, as well as the option of two exam-style essay questions at the end of the lesson. The lesson is ideal for those studying AQA’s ‘Power and Conflict’ poetry cluster in the Literature GCSE (especially high-attaining groups), where the poem is featured. It could also be taught to GCSE groups as an ‘unseen’ poem or even KS5 groups as a poem of political and social protest. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This is a thorough and comprehensive 30-slide lesson on Owen Sheers’ poem ‘Winter Swans’, which is studied as part of AQA’s GCSE Literature anthology on ‘Love & Relationships’. This PowerPoint unpicks key themes of romantic love, separation and reconciliation with close analysis of language, form and structure. Also included are questions/tasks for students and a ‘mock’ essay question in which students must compare ‘Winter Swans’ to another poem, just like in the real AQA exam. Also included is a table for students to complete on the poem to help compartmentalise their notes. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 22-slide lesson explores Sujata Bhatt’s poem, ‘Muliebrity’. The lesson begins by considering western cultural conditioning regarding images of dung and excrement, before delving into Hindu beliefs regarding cows and how this should affect our reading of the poem. Sujata Bhatt’s life and work is introduced, and statements from Bhatt relating to her own childhood are explored in light of the poem. Close attention is paid to the poem’s language, particularly the use of extended metaphor and olfactory imagery. The poem’s form, structure, and rhyme are explored, and key vocabulary is presented to allow students to write about the poem with precision and sophistication. The poem’s key themes are discussed, and its tone and message are debated in light of multiple readings. Questions and discussion points are featured throughout the lesson. At the end of the lesson is an exam-style question. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 21-slide explores Rosemary Dobson’s poem, ‘The Three Fates’. The lesson encourages students to consider ideas of fate, discussing the role of the Three Fates in Greek mythology. Dobson’s life and work is also introduced. The poem is read and students give their first impressions, before delving into close linguistic analysis. Dobson’s use of imagery, form, structure, and rhyme is then deconstruction. Students are taught the key themes of the poem, and equipped with ambitious vocabulary to allow for sophisticated analysis. We then debate how we might describe the tone 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.