This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Scene by Scene Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Dramatic Devices; Features of Tragedy. 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).

This engaging and informative lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of Act 5 Scene 5 (the final scene) of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’ The lesson focuses upon the role of Brutus as the ‘tragic hero’ of the play. Through the comprehensive slideshow, learners are guided on the following learning journey: -Identifying and understanding the features of tragedies (aided by a card sorting activity); -Reading and comprehending Act 5 Scene 5, and answering a range of comprehension questions to check their understanding; -Participating in discussions about how the death of Brutus compares to the earlier death of Cassisus; -Identifying and analysing how Brutus meets the role of the tragic hero throughout the play; -Using a template, with embedded structure strip, to answer an essay-style question about the role of Brutus as a tragic hero; -Demonstrating their understanding of the scene through a recall quiz. The lesson includes a colourful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, a research template for introductory task, and a copy of the necessary extract from the play - all provided in both Word (to allow editing) and PDF (to protect formatting) versions. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.' Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the upper KS2 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children love learning from these resources, whilst they are also of great use to teachers, as 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: - 'An Interview with Alice' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;' - 'Carroll's Description' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Explain meanings of words that they know and ask the meaning of new words. Link the meaning of new words to words that they already know;' - 'The Cheshire Cat!' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;' - 'Figurative Language in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, to create an impact on the reader.' Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 22 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 lesson enables students to explore and consider the ideas and perspectives regarding human cloning in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. In particular, students research and understand the key factors in the human cloning debate, interpret and analyse how Ishiguro applies these concepts throughout Never Let Me Go, and then use these influences to argue their own viewpoint on the human cloning debate. . The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Understanding and further researching the key factors in the human cloning debate; Linking their understanding of the human cloning debate to what they read in the novel;’ Answering comprehension questions about human cloning in Never Let Me Go; Analysing Ishiguro’s key intentions in his depiction of life for clones in the novel; Applying their understanding of human cloning to their own writing to argue piece; Debating as a class whether human cloning should be allowed using their research notes and argument points; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Guided research template Selected extracts (from chapters 7, 12, 14 and 22); Writing to Argue Structure Strip; Writing to Argue Helpsheet; Comprehensive Lesson Plan. 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. 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 William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Scene by Scene Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Dramatic Devices; Features of Tragicomedy. 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).

This lesson enables students to gain a detailed understanding of the balcony scene in William Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Students learn to demonstrate a developed understanding of language, supported by precisely-selected textual evidence. Students develop clear interpretations of the key meanings within the scene, as the lesson provides a close analysis of the figurative language, rhyme, and repetition strategies utilised by Shakespeare throughout. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be attentive and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey: - Establishing the events leading up to the scene, and the predicament that Romeo and Juliet are in; - Reading and interpreting Act II Scene II, interpreting and inferring the key meanings; - Understanding the key themes throughout the scene, including Juliet’s comparison with sunlight; - More closely analysing Shakespeare’s use of language in Juliet’s ‘What’s in a name?’ speech; - 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 - full scene transcript with space for notes; - A template to help scaffold the main task, complete with P.E.E instructions; - A challenging and thought-provoking worksheet, and an answer sheet for the teacher. 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 fluency and comprehension skills whilst reading key extracts from an age-appropriate adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (the pages needed for the lesson are provided). The extract is from the ‘Shakespeare Stories: Romeo and Juliet’ adaptation by Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross. The sections of the story that children read are when Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball (Act 1 Scene 5) and the balcony scene (Act 2 Scene 1). The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s VIPERS skills: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, sequencing and summarising. 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 text to read is provided in both PDF and Word format. The session is best suited for children across KS2 - the lesson has been tried and tested with children in years 4 to 6. Hope that you find it useful!

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make clear, detailed and well-informed interpretations of Atticus Finch’s character in To Kill a Mockingbird. In particular, students develop their background understanding of his role in the novel, make precise inferences about his character using evidence from the text, and relate their findings to the social and historical context of the American South in the 1930s. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Taking part in a fun quiz in order to gain/recap knowledge about Atticus Finch’s background information (e.g. family history, occupation, etc.); Reading selected extracts from the text and answering comprehension questions about Atticus’ character; Identifying and analysing Atticus’ character traits in relation to social/historical context; Understanding Lee’s intentions/messages in presenting Atticus in the way that she did; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Interesting Atticus Finch development worksheet; Selected extracts (from chapters 3, 11 and 20); Essay template Comprehensive lesson plan. 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 8 and year 13 with some adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make clear, detailed and well-informed interpretations regarding the purpose of Boo Radley’s character in To Kill a Mockingbird. In particular, students develop their understanding of how the character is introduced, before understanding how perceptions of him change across the novel. Students then consider Lee’s purposes for Boo’s inclusion, considering social and historical context. -The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: -Reading selected extracts from the text and answering comprehension questions about boo’s introduction at the start of the novel; -Tracking how Scout’s perception of Boo changes over the course of the novel; -Understanding how the character of Boo aids Lee in getting across her key messages about society, considering social and historical context; -Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Boo Radley development graph sheet; Selected extract (from chapter 1); Character Profile template; Essay template; Comprehensive lesson plan. 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 8 and year 13 with some adaptations. 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 Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let Me Go.’ 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: Cloning and the Future’ - 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;’ ‘Ishiguro’s Description’ - to aid students with ‘Analysing a writer’s choice of vocabulary, form, grammatical and structural features, and evaluating their effectiveness and impact;’ ‘Madame, Tommy, and Ruth’ - 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).

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 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 ‘The Tempest.’ Round 1. The characters in The Tempest Round 2. Quotations from the text Round 3. Settings and Objects Round 4. Themes in The Tempest 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!

‘Around the World in 32 Sentences’ is a fun and interesting way to enable students to build their descriptive writing skills, whilst also developing their understanding of the world around them. Transporting students on a journey to a multitude of different settings around the world, the resources break down extended writing by providing comprehensive, informative subject matter material and differentiated challenge outcomes. This aids them in constructing a larger, more substantial piece of writing over the course of the task, based on their travels around the world! In each of the world destinations, students are provided with ‘Bronze’, ‘Silver’, and ‘Gold’ challenges, to stretch learners of all abilities. Furthermore, children who require additional support can access the task using the handy writing template and descriptive writing help-sheets, both of which are provided within the resource pack. Assessment for Learning is utilised throughout, with success criterion provided for students to peer assess both before and after the main task. Included in this pack is: Colourful and engaging PowerPoint, providing fantastic stimuli for writing; Supportive step-by-step writing template; Writing to Describe help-sheet; Success Criteria - Peer/Self-Assessment information. All resources are provided in both Word and PDF, in order to ensure consistency of formatting between computers, and also opportunities to edit the resources should you wish! I have used these resources with a number of different age groups (as have many of my other teacher colleagues), however they are best suited to KS2 and lower KS3 students.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening section of Humphrey Carpenter’s ‘Mr Majeika.’ 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 upper KS1/ lower KS2. I originally used this with Year 2-3 children, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Ingrid De Kok’s poem 'My Father Would Not Show Us.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Line-by-Line Analysis; Poetic Devices/ Language Devices; Themes; Form/Structure; Poems for Comparison; Links to Wider Reading. 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).

I have recently taught a descriptive writing unit, and devised this assessment to gauge how students descriptive skills have progressed over the term. It includes the question paper, the mark scheme, and the reading insert. Formal enough to ensure that the students took the assessment seriously, but engaging enough to ensure that all students wanted to complete all of the tasks, (they hate some of the practice exam questions that exam boards provide on the past papers) all of my students seemed to enjoy completing this more than they normally enjoy assessments! The assessment is designed to gauge students' skill in: - Defining and giving examples of descriptive devices; - Identifying descriptive devices in texts; - Analysing the effect of descriptive writing in a vivid description of a 'Nightmare World.' - Creating their own descriptive piece about a their own nightmare world. This lesson can either be bought individually, or as part of the Descriptive Writing Big Bundle (which works out cheaper.)

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Imtiaz Dharker’s conflict poem 'Honour Killing.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful throughout teaching, or for exam revision or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the key English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills through reading an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. The adaptation was created by Neil Richards for BBC Teach, and the whole class reading session focuses explicitly on the first four acts. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop comprehension skills through VIPERS activities: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, and summarising. It also contains a vocabulary check and key context information to clarify any unfamiliar language and subject matter. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The extract needed is provided as PDF, but I’ve also a link to a web-based version of the playscript on the first slide. The session is tried and tested, and was initially delivered to a high-attaining year 6 class, although with only minor adaptations I believe the questions and content would be suitable for those in years 5-8.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Owen Sheers’ love and relationships poem 'Winter Swans.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Line-by-Line Analysis; Poetic Devices/ Language Devices; Themes; Form/Structure; Poems for Comparison; The Poet’s Influences. 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).

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for KS2 students learning or revising knowledge relating to the World War II. It contains comprehensive sections on: Major Events - dates, descriptions, images, and key facts; Key People; Participating Countries; Timeline of Major Events; 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 clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for lower KS2 children when writing persuasively. The organiser is also perfect for teachers, parents and English subject leaders - aiding their planning and supporting of children’s knowledge development for this writing text type. The organiser has a particular focus on the content, language and structural features required to write effective persuasive texts at Year 3/4. It contains distinct sections covering: -An Overview of Persuasive Texts; -Content: Adverts, Appeals, Speeches, Letters and Emails; -Language:Vocabulary Choices, Rhetorical Questions, Imperative/ Bossy Verbs, Personal Pronouns, Conjunctions, Punctuation Checklist and Word Mat; -Structure - Titles, Sub-headings, Images and other tips; -Key Vocabulary The content is fully aligned with the age-related expectations for lower KS2 children in writing. 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).