This engaging, comprehensive lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Wilfred Owen’s WWI power and conflict poem ‘Exposure’ with particular focus upon the language, structure, and subject matter used within the poem. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate their knowledge of the text analytically, through assured, appropriate, and sustained interpretations. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Considering the meanings of the word ‘exposure’ and inferring what this may suggest about the meaning of the poem; Securing contextual understanding of the conditions and weather faced by WWI soldiers; Reading and interpreting the poem, using a provided line-by-line analysis, and interactive group activities; Developing their understanding through inferring and analysing key language and structural choices; Analysing how the themes of suffering and misery are conveyed through Owen’s language and structure choices; Self/ Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including hyperlinks to informative and videos) Copy of poem (freely available online); Deeper thinking worksheet; Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; Comprehensive lesson plan. All resources are provided as word documents (for easy editing) and PDF documents (to ensure consistency of formatting between computers). There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 10 and 11 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 engaging and thought-provoking double-lesson resource aids students in developing a secure understanding of the fifth and final chapter (‘July’) of Stephen Kelman’s 'Pigeon English.’ This section of the text tracks the events leading up to Harri being stabbed on the final day of the school year. The comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation enables students to understand the text through: -Retrieving and inferring information; -Analysing the writer’s use of language; -Linking to context; -Summarising key plot events. The sessions include a range of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, explanation and deeper thinking activities. A clear, colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides students through the learning. Also included is a storyboard template for the summarising activity. There’s a lot of content in the resource (22 slides in total) and in the past I have utilised this material over two or even three lessons. The lessons are best suited to students in KS4, and develop students’ knowledge and skills in relation to a number of GCSE assessment objectives.

This engaging and detailed lesson enables students to gain a deep understanding of the Greek Myth ‘Theseus and The Minotaur.’ In doing so, students learn to interpret and infer the key meanings in a myth, analyse the descriptive language in a myth, and use descriptive language to describe their own ancient Greek monster. The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to: - Define the key terms ‘adjective’ and ‘synonym’ and use these appropriately and imaginatively to describe an image of the Minotaur; - Read the story ‘Theseus and The Minotaur’ and interpret the key meanings; - Identify, understand, and analyse the descriptive language in ‘Theseus and The Minotaur;’ - Apply their understanding of descriptive techniques by creating and describing their own mythical beast, using a model example, a success criteria, and a scaffold; - Peer assess each other’s descriptive attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Paper copies and online links to the extract needed for the lesson; - Understanding Descriptive Language worksheet; - Creating a Beast Template, and model example; - A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This engaging and interesting lesson enables students to make clear and developed interpretations of the characters of Mickey and Edward in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers. In particular, students infer and interpret key information about the characters from their introductions into the play, before tracking how their characters develop through close analysis of their key actions and quotations. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be both independent and collaborative learners. It follows this learning journey: Considering the idea of money ‘buying happiness’ and applying this concept to characters in the play; Engaging with the opening to the play and interpreting how Mickey and Edward are presented; Tracking how the characters are developed throughout the play, through engagement with their key actions and quotations; Creating character profiles which demonstrate their understanding of Mickey and Edward’s introduction and development throughout the play; Self-evaluating their learning in the lesson. Included in this resource pack are: A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; Appropriate extracts from the play; A template morale graph to enable students to track the development of characters; Character profile templates to help scaffold the main task, complete with quotes from the text; A comprehensive teacher guidance form/lesson plan to assist delivery. Resources are provided in both Word (for easy editing)and PDF (to prevent formatting issues between computers). All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

Based on the popular game show ‘Pointless,’ this resource is perfect for use as a whole lesson resource, enrichment option, or revision tool. Editable, so that you can change to any other topic or change questions. (I’ve also added a blank template so that you can make your own games from scratch). 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 full rounds of questions to build or revisit knowledge of characters, plot, and themes in ‘Blood Brothers.’ Round 1. The characters in Blood Brothers Round 2. Quotations from the text Round 3. Settings and Objects Round 4. Themes in Blood Brothers The nature of this game ensures that the resource can challenge students of all levels. A blank template has also been added, so that you can create your own games!

This highly engaging and informative double lesson (around 1.5 to 2 hours of teaching materials) helps students to build skills in demonstrating appropriate, sophisticated, and original structures in their writing, and provides them with theories and techniques to help them to organise their writing adequately. I wrote this lesson because I noticed that there are an extremely high volume of students that approach extended writing tasks (even in their GCSEs) with practically no sense of organisation. Even though they have clearly learnt a number of writing techniques from their teachers, their writing can be extremely short, repetitive, and in some cases the topic is confused. This lesson aims to address each of those issues. Students learn: - What structure and organisation mean; - Narrative structure theory and 'plot mountain;' - How time order can effect a creative text; - How to expand using the five key senses; - How and when to use paragraphing; - Plan for their own extended piece of writing; Included are all worksheets, and detailed and visual PowerPoint presentation, which explains each concept clearly, and a lesson plan for teacher guidance. Alternatively, you can buy the Descriptive Writing Big Bundle (All descriptive devices lessons, structuring and organising writing lesson, capturing the readers attention lesson, and the literacy writing mat) for £5. All images are licensed for commercial use, and authors are cited on the final slide.

This engaging, comprehensive lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Thomas Hardy’s poem ‘The Man He Killed’ with particular focus upon the language, structure, and subject matter employed within the poem. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate their knowledge of the text analytically, through assured, appropriate, and sustained interpretations. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Considering the emotional impact of war on the individuas involvedl; Securing contextual understanding of The Boer Wars and Thomas Hardy’s life and beliefs; Reading and interpreting the poem, using a provided line-by-line analysis, and interactive group activities; Developing their understanding through inferring and analysing key language and structural choices; Analysing how the futility of war is conveyed through Hardy’s language and structure choices; Self/ Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including hyperlinks to informative and videos) Copy of poem (freely available online); Deeper thinking worksheet; Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; Research worksheet; Comprehensive lesson plan. All resources are provided as word documents (for easy editing) and PDF documents (to ensure consistency of formatting between computers). There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 10 and 11 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Anne Frank's 'Diary of a Young Girl.' 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: The Holocaust' - 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.' - 'Anne's Description - The Annex' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.' - 'Otto Frank and 'Peter van Daan' - 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).

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about William Shakespeare, particularly those completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; William Shakespeare Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. 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.

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make precise and perceptive interpretations of the character of Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre. Through close analysis of specific extracts from the text, students develop an understanding of how Bertha fits the conventions of a quintessential ‘gothic monster’, and also explore her position as a prime example of the ‘Other’ in Victorian society. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which students learn through: Defining the key term ‘gothic novel’ and understanding the key conventions of gothic literature; Reading selected extracts from the text and answering comprehension questions considering Bertha Mason as fulfilling the role of the gothic monster; Considering ideas of the Victorian ‘Other’ and establishing how Bertha Mason recycles these ideas; Analysing how ideas of Bertha link to predominant 19th Century ideas about mental health and ethnicity; Using the knowledge they have gathered over the lesson to design and describe their own gothic monsters; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Bertha Mason worksheet; Selected extracts (from chapters 11, 20, and 26); Character profile template; Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. These resources were originally taught to GCSE students, but with subtle adaptations they have also been used with both younger and older (up to A Level) students. Worksheets are provided as word docs (so that you can edit) and PDFs (to protect formatting). All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This lesson aims to improve students’ skills in comparing and contrasting poems. Students learn how to understand the different ways that poetry can be compared, plan a well-structured comparative essay, and complete a detailed, organised, and sustained comparison. This lesson is most suitable for children preparing to sit GCSEs/ A Levels. Please note, the lesson should be used subsequent to students being taught poems, as I have left the poems to be compared up to the teacher, as opposed to specifying particular poems. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Understanding what features of poems can be compared (a comprehensive list is provided and utilised in the lesson); - Comprehending how to structure comparative essays as a whole (using a specific formula, which has always formed a successful model for my previous students); - Reading and analysing a model example of a comparative paragraph, in order to understand the key features within each paragraph of a comparative essay; - Writing their own poetry comparison, using planning and success criteria that are formed over the lesson; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; - Worksheets and resources for all activities; - A model example; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to mixed-ability year 10 groups, but can 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Robert Swindells' 'Stone Cold.' 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 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: Homelessness in London' - 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.' - 'Swindell'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.' - 'Ginger' - 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).

This engaging and informative enables students to make precise and detailed interpretations of H.G. Wells’ language choices in describing the Martians in ‘The War of the Worlds.’ Students identify and analyse the effect of Wells’ writing, using their understanding of various language devices, before applying these concepts to their own descriptive writing attempts. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Defining and exemplifying the descriptive writing techniques, through a fun and interactive activity; Identifying the language techniques that Wells uses in his description of the Martians;’ Analysing the effectiveness of Wells’ descriptive writing; Creating their own descriptions of imagined aliens, using Wells’ model example and the techniques that they have gathered over the course of the lesson; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts, using a clear success criteria; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Card sorting cards Selected extracts printed onto one sheet (from Book 1, Chapter 4 and Book 2, Chapter 2). There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 10 and 11 classes, however colleagues have used them for between year 9 and year 13 with some adaptations. This lesson is suitable for home/ remote learning. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This interesting and highly-stimulating lesson enables students to gain a clear understanding of the key meanings in the Greek Myth ‘Pandora’s Box.’ Through engagement with the story, students learn to interpret and infer the key elements of plot in texts, comment upon the writer’s purposes and messages in texts, challenging and building upon their ideas, and apply the key messages to other contexts. The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to: - Understand the phrase ‘opening Pandora’s Box’ and apply it to modern contexts; - Read the story ‘Pandora’s Box’ and interpret the key meanings; - Summarise the key events of the story through a storyboard; - Identify, explain, and analyse the writer’s key messages in ‘Pandora’s Box;’ - Engage deeply with the text by challenging and building upon the ideas/messages raised by the writer;’ - Test their understanding of the story by creating their own recreations; - Peer assess each other’s learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Paper copies and online links to a copy of Pandora’s Box; - Pandora’s Box Storyboard; - The Writer’s Message Worksheet; - A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in exam revision, comprehension tasks, or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the KS4 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework - this makes the tasks suitable for all examining bodies. Students 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 students gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: - ‘Context: 18th Century Europe’ - to aid students with ‘Drawing on knowledge of the purpose, audience and context of the writing, including its social, historical and cultural context and the literary tradition to which it belongs, to inform evaluation;’ - ‘Shelley’s Description’ - to aid students with ‘Analysing a writer’s choice of vocabulary, form, grammatical and structural features, and evaluating their effectiveness and impact;’ - ‘Elizabeth’ - to aid students with ‘Seeking evidence in the text to support a point of view, including justifying inferences with evidence;’ - ‘Editing the Text’ - to aid students with ‘Making an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 30 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).