Explore the quotations and themes of the character Mr Birling, from JB Priestley’s play An Inspector Calls. The line art image of Mr Birling is peppered with quotations, acting as a graphic organiser as well as a fun visual activity. Choose a colour for each theme on the checklist at the bottom of the sheet, and shade the sections to link the quotations and the themes. Not only does this help understanding and revision, but you get a piece of art at the end! This resource is provided in both US letter and UK A4 size documents. Follow me to be updated as each character sheet is added for this play!

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.

Kickstart or end your lessons with some creative thinking. Use as bellringers or brain breaks - reveal comparative images for the picture in the center of the slide, and ask your students to use the comparisons to write or share interesting similes. Google Slides version included!

This Silent Discussion pre-reading activity for Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men prompts students to collaborate on vintage book covers and movie posters with their thoughts, opinions, interpretations and predictions. Resources include two lesson formats with instructive slideshows. Includes: 10 pages of cover and poster prompts for a seated silent discussion 10 pages of cover and poster prompts for a gallery walk silent discussion Duplicate of the gallery version in A3 size for ease of writing Slideshow with instructions for seated silent discussion Slideshow with instructions for gallery walk silent discussion

Aimed at KS2 and KS3, use this figurative language worksheet as a starter, main, fast finisher or homework task in October! Use the Halloween theme to build your students’ understanding of alliteration, similes, personification, and onomatopoeia. This resource comes in US letter and UK A4 size, with a link to a Google Apps editable version. Black and white and colour versions provided. If you found this helpful, you might also like: Oracy Mats | Speaking and Listening | Prompts and Sentence Starters Oracy | Free Choice Talk | Individual Presentation | Planning Accuracy Passport | Improve Punctuation and Grammar | Literacy Secondary Grammar Mat | Supporting Writing | Literacy Secondary Punctuation Mat | Supporting Writing | Literacy Ambitious Sentence Structures Mat | Literacy Stretch | Challenge MAT Ambitious Punctuation Mat | Literacy Stretch | Challenge MAT Student Newsbites | Introduction Activity | Back to School Secondary Persuasive Writing Bingo | Any Topic | Differentiated Layouts Primary Persuasive Writing Bingo | Any Topic | Differentiated Layouts Primary Grammar Mat | Supporting Writing | Literacy Primary Punctuation Mat | Supporting Writing | Literacy Guided Practice | Literature Essay Frame

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.

Using simple countdown prompts to guide students, this resource allows your class to get on with research responsibly with clear starting and finishing points. Supplement your unit on homelessness or social issues as either a classroom or a homework task. There are three differentiated versions of this worksheet - one with suggested search terms and foci for pupils needing support, one without prompts but including writing lines, and one without prompts for more independent students. This resource includes: 3 differentiated versions of the task PDF versions for quick, no-prep printing US and UK document sizes

Students can get a feel for the setting of their story or description with this set of ten graphic organizer planning sheets - select different sheets to differentiate for the needs of individual students. Either use nine prompts to determine as many ideas or aspects of language as possible, or give more specific sheets like the five senses, one specific sense, or location building to aid development of detail. Students can quickly and easily jot down notes, phrases, ideas and vocabulary; laminate the sheets and use with dry-wipe pens for lower printing costs! Suitable for a range of ages - flexible mats in both US and UK document sizes. Great for NaNoWriMo, but please note that this resource is not associated with or endorsed by the National Novel Writing Month team.

Use WW1 poetry to bring November 11th into your lessons. Includes both UK and US terminology - Remembrance Day or Veteran’s Day - and document sizes. Analyse the structure and literary devices in the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon through graphic organizers, summary tables and a one-pager template. Includes: Poem handout Context handout Structural comprehension Differentiated literary device comprehension One-pager template Answer keys

This Bloom’s Ball template for close character study features two sides for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy - remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create. Each side has a prompt for character study: Remember the character’s first appearance Remember the character’s key details Understand the character’s choices Understand the character’s conflict Apply one of the character’s beliefs to the real world Apply one of the character’s quotes to an impression you get of them Analyze the meaning of the character’s name Analyze the impact of the character on the story Evaluate how good or bad the character is Evaluate the character’s future Create a picture of the character Create a meal for this character

No-Prep Group Work - a set of desk placemats to encourage groups to discuss and share information about quotations, themes and context linked to individual characters from JB Priestley’s 1940s play. This can either be an oracy task alone, or discussion alongside the creation of a revision map on A4 or A3 paper. Includes a double-sided ‘ThoughtPad’ sheet for students to log ideas along the way, plus a Seven Deadly Sins bonus task for those who finish early. Includes 8 characters, multiple tasks per sheet, and works well with 4-8 groups of students. Laminate for multiple use!

UPDATED! Low prep and high engagement! Boost interest before you even introduce the text of Romeo and Juliet by presenting students with a crime scene and asking them to solve the crime. Students take on the following roles, each taking turns to lead the investigation: CSI Team Leader Coroner Toxicologist Detective (witness statements) Detective (evidence locker) Investigator (suspects) Students work through crime scene maps, toxicology reports, coroner’s reports, witness and suspect information, and cross-reference it all before feeding their conclusions back to the class. Can be completed with groups of six or four students, and as many groups in a class as you need. Works with lessons as short as 50 minutes and as long as 100. This resource is provided in both US letter and UK A4 document size.

A fun, imaginative task for secondary level. Students use or find quotations about Boo Radley from the early chapters of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, building a picture through the eyes of Maycombe residents. Students draw an image of the character, using the quotations, then annotate their drawings to show close attention to detail. This product includes… Sheet with 16 quotations provided Sheet with 16 quotations and space for additional ideas Sheet with empty spaces for students to find their own quotations …and each of the three sheets above come with three different centres: blank, gingerbread man outline and realistic outline. That’s nine formats for the same task! If you found this helpful, you might also like: Guided Practice | Literature Essay Frame To Kill a Mockingbird | Atticus Finch Character Sketch To Kill a Mockingbird | Calpurnia Character Sketch To Kill a Mockingbird | Miss Maudie Character Sketch To Kill a Mockingbird | Atticus Finch’s Closing Speech | Analysis of Persuasive Devices Literature Analysis | Sentence Starters | PEEL Structure Marking and Feedback Stickers | Punctuation and Grammar | 23 Common Errors

A thoughtful ‘would you rather’ worksheet and PowerPoint for older students with a summer theme. For example, would your students rather spend every day at the beach, or every day in the woods, and why? Encourage discussion around eight prompt pairs, all focused on summer activities, then students use the ‘why’ section to explain their choice. Check out the video preview for a closer look! This resource comes in two styles (one color and one black and white), and in both US letter and UK A4 document formats for easy printing, plus accompanying PowerPoint to make it easy for you to use these tasks as individual bell-ringers or exit tickets. I have also ensured that US and UK spellings are included on the appropriate documents. If you found this helpful, you might also like: Exposition Bingo | School Breaks and Holidays | Persuasion | KS3 and KS4 Summer Writing | Developing Ideas | Sentence Building | KS2 and KS3 Family Activities | Would You Rather | Discussion and Reasoning Wonder | Ordinary | Literature Extract Question and Essay Response Plan Accuracy Passport | Improve Punctuation and Grammar | Literacy Ambitious Sentence Structures Mat | Literacy Stretch | Challenge MAT Ambitious Punctuation Mat | Literacy Stretch | Challenge MAT

These printable bookmarks for secondary school students add a touch of literary humour to your awards. This pack includes 59 different awards with space for you to add the year, student name and your signature, and one blank one for you to create your own award by adding text boxes. Use them year on year! These are provided as PNG files so that you can organise them as required and to your preferred size. Character Awards: Most likely to be the action hero Most likely to be a famous activist Most likely to be an anime or manga character Most likely to be the comedy relief Most likely to be the mayor of a dystopia Most likely to know too much Most likely to be the lead character in a romance Most likely to be the terrifying leader Most likely to be the mad scientist Most likely to be the terrifying matriarch Most likely to be the terrifying patriarch Most likely to be the President Most likely to be the Prime Minister Most likely to be a private detective Most likely to save lives Most likely to be a spy Most likely to survive a horror novel Most likely to be the sheriff in a Western Most likely to quietly take over the world Plot Point Awards: Most likely to be abducted by aliens Most likely to go on the road with their band Most likely to accidentally open a black hole Most likely to run away with the circus Most likely to reintroduce dinosaurs to the earth Most likely to undergo a dramatic transformation Most likely to lead a life straight out of a Film Noir Most likely to invent life-changing technology Most likely to discover that mythical creatures are real Most likely to have a Number 1 Hit Most likely to be in a paranormal mystery Most likely to have their diaries published Most likely to be bitten by a radioactive spider Most likely to reject civilisation Most likely to accidentally release a demon Most likely to fight against a robot uprising Most likely to feature in a romcom Most likely to go into space Most likely to time travel Most likely to travel the world Most likely to discover the truth Most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse Device Awards: Most likely to be an allegory Most likely to be an example of dramatic irony Most likely to foreshadow Most likely to become a hyperbole Most likely to become a juxtaposition of their school personality Most likely to be a literary symbol Most likely to be a metaphor Most likely to be a paradox Misc Awards: Most likely to work with animals Most likely to write an autobiography Most likely to work with kids Most likely to make national news Most likely to work with plants Most likely to be a pro streamer Most likely to create a new slang word Most likely to be a stand up comedian Most likely to write a novel Most likely to write a screenplay …plus a blank version!

Kickstart or end your lessons with some creative thinking. Use as bellringers or brain breaks - reveal comparative images for the picture in the center of the slide, and ask your students to use the comparisons to write or share interesting similes. Google Slides version included!

Learn about your students by asking them to complete seven quick English Language tasks. The activities are included of a single sided sheet, and students demonstrate the use of adjectives, verbs, similes, and onomatopoeia in their self-introductions as well as sharing their strengths and weaknesses or likes and dislikes in English, their favourite slang and their favourite senses. This pack includes… US and UK document sizes US and UK spellings PDF versions

A single page writing frame or scaffold to guide KS3 or KS4 pupils through writing a five-paragraph narrative piece of writing. The page features five sections for planning five paragraphs, and there are three columns for each paragraph: what to include, useful sentence starters, and space to plan or make notes for the written content. Matching writing paper included for those who like a theme! There are prompts for appropriate punctuation at the bottom of the page, and this can be used as a worksheet, handout or poster. This resource comes in both UK A4 and US letter document sizes.

A single page writing frame or scaffold to guide KS3 or KS4 pupils through writing a five-paragraph exposition piece of writing. The page features five sections for planning five paragraphs, and there are three columns for each paragraph: what to include, useful sentence starters, and space to plan or make notes for the written content. Matching writing paper included for those who like a theme! There are prompts for appropriate punctuation at the bottom of the page, and this can be used as a worksheet, handout or poster. This resource comes in both UK A4 and US letter document sizes.

Encourage students to target punctuation and grammar skills in their work with the Accuracy Passport. These can be printed as A4 or A5 booklets and glued inside folders, exercise books, or kept in a file with the teacher. When you grade work, simply sign off when the skills have been demonstrated and stamp the skill once your student shows consistency in each area. Tiny ‘growing plant’ graphics encourage your students to move along to the next stage and indicate progress.