A close-reading, creative character task for GCSE study. Students use quotations about Crooks from the early chapters of the novel Of Mice and Men, building a picture of the character with these references. This product includes… ‘Blank canvas’ sheet with 16 quotations provided ‘Gingerbread man’ sheet with 16 quotations provided Realistic man outline sheet with 16 quotations provided That’s three formats for the same task!

A close-reading, creative character task for GCSE study. Students use quotations about Curley’s wife from the chapters of the novel Of Mice and Men, building a picture of the character with these references. This product includes… ‘Blank canvas’ sheet with 16 quotations provided ‘Gingerbread man’ sheet with 16 quotations provided Realistic man outline sheet with 16 quotations provided That’s three formats for the same task!

Four workshop tasks in worksheet format to explore the context of Of Mice and Men from a slightly more unusual angle. Set the worksheets up at stations around the room, or print them as packs and move students on at their own tables. The tasks are: Inference and Deep thinking Themes and connections Experience and Empathy Food and Diet All sheets come in both UK and US document sizes and with respective spelling and terminology. You might like… Character Revision Placemats | Of Mice & Men Theme Revision Placemats | Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men | Character Sketch Bundle | GCSE Study Of Mice and Men | Light Symbolism | Post-Reading | GCSE Close Study

A simple cut ‘n’ paste Earth Day activity that allows a student to plan a narrative from the point of view of a raindrop, ray of light, seed or grain of sand. Students plan their story across five paragraphs with attention to plot and devices through the ‘pick and mix’ prompts, whilst still using their own ideas. The activity worksheets feature: Writing titles and prompts Five-paragraph planning grid Structural features for planning the plot and narrative style Writing device labels for adding spice Punctuation checklist for drafting This resource comes in US letter and UK A4 size, and in color and BW versions.

This no-prep resource includes a choice of bingo grid or shopping list of 25 prompts to encourage students to research and develop their opinion about school breaks and holidays, drafting a persuasive exposition about whether breaks should be spread out more evening or not. Great for competitive classes, and can be used with students with any school year structure. Colour and black and white options provided! The resource also includes a graphic organiser for students to prepare their information, and all sheets come in both US and UK document sizes with appropriate spellings.

This resource includes a bingo grid of 25 prompts to encourage students to research and develop their opinion on school uniforms, ready for a debate on whether they should be worn or not. Great for competitive classes, and can be used with students who do or don’t already wear a school uniform. The resource also includes a graphic organizer for students to prepare their information, and all sheets come in both UK and US document sizes.

Encourage your students to write persuasively with this Earth Day themed task. The writing task asks students to consider whether schools should have an ‘environmental hour’ every day or not, and to express their viewpoint in the form of a speech, letter or essay. The bingo grids feature 25 prompts; from details to consider to techniques to include. Prep some rewards for full rows and columns, and let your students aim for a Full House! The shopping lists feature the same 25 prompts reformatted, with space for your class to check them off as they use them. I have also included a printable themed sheet of writing paper for extra festivity. Both the bingo grid and the shopping list come in US and UK sizes, and with dyslexia-friendly font versions.

Enjoy using these differentiated figurative language worksheets as a starter, main, fast finisher or homework task. Use the Earth Day theme to build your students’ understanding of alliteration, similes, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole and sensory language. Some sheets provide prompts at every level, whilst others are more open for inspiration or challenge. The three sheets at each level can be used together or separately. I have also provided simple colour-free versions of every sheet: that’s 8 activities altogether!

This differentiated informal letter task requires students to finish or redraft Stanley’s letter from chapter 9 of Louis Sachar’s novel Holes. If Stanley is twisting the truth so that his mom won’t worry, what else might he write? There are three styles of worksheet for the writing activity included, plus a printable sheet of checklist slips (four per sheet) to give out as necessary. Introduction and planning activity also included… All versions come in both US letter and UK A4 document size.

Blackout Poetry is a great creative pre-reading activity, and this activity focuses on the three different versions of the lullaby in Louis Sachar’s Holes. Different worksheets allow you to explore single stanzas, pairs of stanzas, or all three versions. You also have the option to use worksheets with fully redacted words, or redacted words with grammatical prompts (noun, adjective, verb, etc). Editable Google Apps version included, and all worksheets are provided in US letter size and UK A4 size.

Encourage your students to step into the shoes of a character or historical figure by creating a TikTok account for them. Great fun, but requires thought and justification! What would their TikTok handle be? What’s the profile picture? How about the bio? How many followers do they have, and what do their last six videos look like? As well as a profile screen, this set of sheets includes screens for followers, following and suggested follows. It also has screens for paused videos and comment sections. There are three types of sheet provided, and one of them is individual screens each on a single page. US and UK document sizes included. have fun!

This abstract and concrete noun sorting activity is designed to prompt discussion as well as stretch learners and consolidate skills. Attractive flashcards come in three designs, and I have also included PNGs of image-only flashcards for you to add an extra layer of discussion, or to differentiate for your gifted and talented learners. The text on each flashcard is fully editable for you to adapt the font or change the language, making this set of cards a bilingual resource too!

Analyse the figurative language and literary devices from eight Tiktok sound trends and viral songs seen during March 2021! Use either as a full lesson in preparation for a bigger analysis task, as individual recap tasks for skills, or as a series of engaging starters for figurative language and device lessons. Best suited to upper KS3 and KS4. This resource comes in both US and UK document sizes (letter and A4), features eight sets of lyrics (recognisable to many students who use Tiktok), colour-coded answer keys, and an additional PowerPoint version for class collaboration. If you love this resource, follow me for an update when I release the sound trend tasks for April 2021 and beyond!

This differentiated art, sketching or drawing task requires students to create an image of the Yellow Spotted Lizard from Louis Sachar’s novel Holes. There are three styles of lizard outline included, and five levels of differentiation: Outline only Outline with empty quote boxes Outline with empty quote boxes and prompt arrows Outline with pre-populated quote boxes Quotation boxes only (no outline) All versions come in both US letter and UK A4 document size.

A great bellringer, brain break, warm up or ‘getting to know you’ task that can also be used as an extended task. Differentiated in nine different ways, this resource encourages students to select and edit their thoughts to a strict limit… harder than they anticipate! It’s also worth using for fast finishers. Includes: 9 levels of differentiation Quick and extended versions of the task US letter and UK A4 document sizes and terminology Fully editable Google Docs version

A fun, thoughtful ‘would you rather’ slideshow and accompanying worksheets for KS3 and KS4 students with a back to school theme. For example, would your students rather do lessons one day a week without electricity, or one day a week outdoors in any weather, and why? Encourage discussion around fifteen prompt pairs, all focused on the school theme. Great for warm-ups, bell-ringers or brain breaks. Either use the PowerPoint alone for verbal responses, use the full worksheets as a longer activity, hand out individual pairs as slips for a quick task… or a use as a combination! US and UK document sizes included, and Google Apps versions with editable worksheets provided.

Great starter and exit tasks for lessons on Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. This slideshow features summaries for all six chapters; every chapter summary is split across two slides and there are six spelling, punctuation or grammar errors in each. That’s 12 errors per summary. Each summary also comes as a printable worksheet, and answer keys are built into the slideshow. There are also recap extension tasks at the end of each summary for additional stretch!

Coach your students through the close reading and annotation of extracts from the opening chapters of Holes, then instruct them in the use of the differentiated essay frame to challenge and stretch pupils at all levels. The extract and annotation sheet includes focused extracts and chapter references, and the essay frame shows a clear route of progress with a built-in example and extension column to model development of ideas. Easel version included! This resource includes US letter and UK A4 size versions, and editable Google Docs version of the essay frame.

This resource is a great alternative to ‘First Chapter Friday’ or ‘Taster Tuesday’. Blurbsday tasks focus on the blurb on the back of the book, and encourage students to look at vocabulary, genres and editing skills. There are three tasks included, increasing in difficulty and length (half page, full page, and double sided), and all worksheets are provided in US letter and UK A4 size document. Editable Google Apps version also included!

This graphic novel reflection task can be used with any part of any graphic novel! No prep required - just print and go. After reading, give your students either an A3 one-pager or a back-to-back smaller version of the sheet. This resource acts as a graphic organizer to explore and reflect on the pages that have just been read, whether that’s one page or one hundred! There are four A3 version and four letter-size double-sided version, making this resource 12-pages for you to select from as necessary. All sheets prompt your students to think closely about… The characters The way the images and frames are used Personal reactions to the content Questions raised Predictions for the upcoming pages (or post-novel if you finish the text) Evaluation of the final three frames of the day’s reading Drawing of a frame in a different style of the student’s choice