This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Michael Morpugo’s ‘War Horse.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS3 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that children gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: ‘Context: World War I’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know the purpose, audience and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension.’ ‘Morpugo’s Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ ‘Captain Nicholls Character Profile’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.’ ‘Vocabulary Inspector’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Learn new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 23 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘The Butterfly Lion.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in Years 3 to 5, but it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This interesting and engaging enables students to know what newspaper articles are and why people read them, understand the features that make effective newspaper articles, and write their own interesting and appropriate newspaper articles. In particular, students learn to use a range of appropriate features in writing their own newspaper articles, including facts and opinions, jargon, testimonies, and puns. There are easily enough resources here for 2 lessons on this topic. Over the course of their learning journey, students: - Define and exemplify what newspapers are; - Understand why people read newspapers; - Understand and categorise the different techniques used by newspapers; - Identify the features of newspapers in model examples; - Analyse the effect of techniques in newspapers upon the reader; - Use a wide-range of techniques in writing their own newspaper articles; - Peer and self assess each other's newspaper article attempts. The resources include: -Visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint; -A colourful and helpful 'Writing Newspaper Articles' Help-Sheet; -Techniques cards for defining the key key features of newspaper articles; -Analysing newspaper articles worksheet; -Blank newspaper article template; -A model example of a newspaper article; -Helpful and comprehensive step-by-step lesson plan. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final page of the slide.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Mark Haddon's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.' Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS3 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that children gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: - 'Context: Asperger's Syndrome' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Know the purpose, audience and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension.' - 'Haddon's Description - The Police Station' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.' - 'Ed Boone' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.' - 'Vocabulary Inspector' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Learn new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries.' Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 21 pages in length!) I've also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

Template for you to create your own Pointless games - whatever subject or topic you are teaching! Based on the popular game show 'Pointless', this resource is perfect for use as a starter activity, plenary, or revision tool. Editable, so that you can change to any other topic or change the questions/answers. Containing almost 30 slides of sound clips, engaging visuals, and suitably challenging questions, this resource is effective at both promoting engagement and enhancing learning. There are several built-in rounds of questions to build students' understanding in your topics, including: - Identifying terms from definitions - Anagrams of key terms round - Recalling the highest level knowledge. The nature of the game ensures that this resource can challenge students of all levels. NOTE: You can buy this resource alone, or in a bundle of 8 Pointless games, for only £1 more!

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to understand how the lead protagonist of Suzanne Collins’ ‘The Hunger Games’ – Katniss Everdeen - develops as a character throughout the novel. In doing so, students learn how she develops and acquires the key skills, characteristics, beliefs, and values to become the complete dystopian heroine. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Comprehending how Katniss is initially introduced to the reader; Reading extracts from Chapters 3, 7 and 14 of The Hunger Games, identifying how Katniss’ character develops; Analysing how her character fits the role of the ‘Dystopian Hero/Heroine’, and matching her traits to the different features of this character form; Applying their understanding by creating their own Dystopian Hero/Heroine; Self assessing their learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive;’ Extracts from The Hunger Games (from Chapters 3, 7, and 14); Character Profile for Katniss Everdeen; Blank Template for Creating a Dystopian Hero/Heroine; A comprehensive lesson plan; All resources are provided in Word (for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure formatting remains fixed between different computers). There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 5 and 10 with some adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Austen’s Language Devices; Features of Romantic Novels. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

A Russian billionaire, Asman Veryrich, has approached you about setting up a new football club! This exciting, engaging investigation activity allows students to control the direction of their own learning, through speaking, listening, discussing, and reasoning. I initially created these resources to provide something interesting for the students to engage with for their English Speaking and Listening discussions, but it has since been used across Maths, Art and Design, and PSHE departments, as well as by form groups and holiday activity groups, to build teamwork and collaboration skills. Students get involved in all of the fun aspects of designing and setting up a new football club, including selecting a team of players, a manager, a stadium, and a training ground. They also design the team's club badge and football kits. They also need to use their skills of literacy to read and understand key evidence, and skills of numeracy to ensure that they keep their expenses within budget! What is more, groups can compete against one another to create the most successful team in the league, as all of the resources that they choose can help them to acquire valuable league table points! Included in this resource pack are: - Full PowerPoint lesson talking students through the process; - An 8 page team booklet, used to create their designs and calculate their budgets; - A pack of 96 player cards and 12 manager cards to select from (a combination of new and classic footballers are included, to ensure that this will never be outdated); - Budget and recording sheets to track their progress; - An A3 football pitch to strategise and select their team. Considering the time and effort that it took to create these resources, I think that they offer exceptional value. Whenever I have used this activity before, it has taken at least 3-4 lessons, including the introduction, design process, presentations, and evaluation. I originally have used this with mixed ability Year 9 and 10 groups, but colleagues have adapted it easily for students of all key stages. All images have been cited at the end of the PowerPoint presentation and are licensed for commercial use.

This lesson enables students to gain a detailed understanding of the characters of Friar Laurence and The Nurse in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Students learn to demonstrate a developed understanding of their character traits, relationships with the title characters, and impact upon plot developments. Students also learn to empathise with the two characters, inferring and interpreting the motives behind their actions. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be attentive and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey: - Remembering and understanding the impact of Friar Laurence and The Nurse up to Act IV; - Reading and interpreting Act IV, particularly interpreting and inferring the key involvement of Friar Laurence and The Nurse; - Identifying and analysing the key features of their characters; - Empathising with the two characters through a fun and interactive drama activity, in order to understand their motives a little better; - Anlaysing their impact upon the plot in Act IV, including their influence upon the two title characters; - Peer/self-evaluating the learning in the lesson. Included in this resource pack are: - A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Resources for the reading and interpreting activity - including a teacher answer guide; - Full Act IV transcript with space for notes; - 'In Your Shoes' cut-out soles for the development task; - A template to help scaffold the main task, complete with P.E.E instructions; All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through reading and interpreting the opening section of Katherine Rundell’s ‘The Wolf Wilder.’ The resource pack includes the extract needed and a clear and well presented PowerPoint, guiding the teacher and learners through the various activities. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, sequencing and summarising skills. A vocabulary check helps to secure children’s understanding of any new or unfamiliar language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 5-6, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

These informative and engaging resources enable students to build the skills needed to interpret and analyse 19th Century non-fiction texts. This will aid students through the new Paper 2 Section A of GCSE English Language - for which they need to become confident readers of 19th, 20th, and 21st Century non-fiction texts. These resources give students a strong foundation of knowledge of features of non-fiction texts in the 19th Century, using newspaper stories from the time based on 'Jack the Ripper' as the predominant examples. There are easily enough resources for at least two lessons within this resource pack. Students learn through the following tasks: - Inferring and deducing contextual knowledge through an interactive starter task; - Understanding the features of London in 1888 through a video introduction; - Building close reading skills through a study of a non-fiction extract about Jack the Ripper; - Answering exam-style questions interpreting and inferring the key meanings in the text; - Using models and templates to write extended analysis responses about the language used in the non-fiction extract; - Peer assessing their partners' learning attempts. The following resources are provided: - Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint; - Jack the Ripper newspaper extract; - Teacher lesson guidance; - Interpretation worksheet; - Analysis worksheet; - Writing to analyse. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising William Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Scene by Scene Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Dramatic Devices; Features of Comedy. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This engaging and interesting lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of one of the key characters in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Lady Macbeth. In particular, they learn to make insightful interpretations about the character, and are enabled to draw links between Lady Macbeth and their knowledge of women in Shakespearean times. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be visual and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey: - Inferring key information about the character of Lady Macbeth from picture clues; - Identifying and ordering the key events in the text in which Lady Macbeth is involved; - Understanding her role in the rise and downfall of Macbeth; - Comparing and contrasting between her character and the expected role of women at the time the play was written; - Analysing Shakespeare's development of Lady Macbeth as a key character throughout the text; - Evaluating the learning in the lesson. Included in this resource pack are: - A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Resources for the sequencing activity, detailing Lady Macbeth's numerous actions throughout the play; - A template to help scaffold the main task, complete with P.E.E instructions; - A comprehensive teacher guidance form/lesson plan to assist delivery. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to show a detailed and sustained understanding of the conventions of effective ghost stories, through analysis of extracts from Susan Hill's 'The Woman in Black.' They study how individual features of subject matter (such as the setting and the hero) and language (e.g descriptive features) are used to create suspense and tension in the mind of the reader. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Defining the key elements of ghost stories; - Planning a ghost story using the key features; - Identifying the elements of ghost stories within key extracts of The Woman in Black; - Analysing the effectiveness of Hill's features of ghost stories in The Woman in Black; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Extracts from the blurb and Chapter 1 of The Woman in Black; - Template for creating their own ghost stories; - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This detailed and engaging lesson enables students to define and exemplify parenthesis, to understand how parenthesis is used grammatically correctly, and to use parenthesis for clarity and effect in their own writing. Students learn through a number of fun and interactive tasks, which enable them to: - Define and exemplify parenthesis; - Understand which punctuation marks are used to signal parenthesis; - Identify the parenthesis in a range of different sentences; - Understand and analyse how parenthesis can be used accurately, and for clarity and effect; - Create a written piece using parenthesis to add detail and clarity to their own writing. The resources include: -Visually engaging and comprehensive whole-lesson presentation; -A model example and analysis worksheet; -A challenging worksheet (and answer sheet) -Step-by-step lesson plan. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final page of the slide.

This comprehensive analysis enables students to understand the key content, language and structural features of Alfred Noyes’ poem ‘The Highwayman.’ The resources is comprised of a 24-slide PowerPoint presentation, which includes: -Contextual Information: The Poet/ Writing the Poem/ Highwaymen -Detailed Stanza-by-Stanza Analysis of the Poem -Noyes Key Messages -Questions for Further Consideration Annnotations are colour-coded for ease of reference. The resource is tried and tested, and helps to ensure that students develop a well-rounded understanding of the poem and its meanings. A PDF version of the resource is also included, to protect formatting in case of differences in software. All images are licensed for commercial use.