This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Private Peaceful.’ 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 One’ - 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.’ - ‘Morpurgo’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.’ - ‘Horrible Hanley’ - 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 interesting and highly-stimulating lesson enables students to gain a clear and understanding of the key meanings in the Greek Myth ‘Daedalus and Icarus.’ Through close study of the myth, they learn to interpret and infer the key meanings in a myth, understand the moral viewpoint of a myth, and react to the moral message of a myth with their own thoughts and ideas. 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 term ‘hubris’ and apply the notion to other examples; - Read the story ‘Daedarus and Icarus’ and interpret and infer the key meanings; - Identify, explain, and analyse the moral of the story in ‘Daedarus and Icarus;’ - Engage deeply with the myth by challenging and building upon the ideas raised in the myth; - Test their understanding of the story by answering an exam-style comprehension question. -Peer assess each other’s learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Paper copies and online links to the text; - Interpretation worksheet; - A logically scaffolded essay template; - 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 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).

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Orwell’s Language Devices; Features of Dystopian 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).

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Jill Murphy's 'The Worst Witch.' 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 Mildred' - 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;' - 'Murphy'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;' - 'Mrs Hardbroom!' - 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 The Worst Witch' - 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 interesting lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of the context of the of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Some of the primary topics that are addressed are William Shakespeare himself, James I and superstition, witches and witchcraft, religion, mortality rates, and the theatre. This knowledge should enable students to make convincing links between the play and the events of the time. It is a vital lesson in any Macbeth theme that can be taught before, during, or after reading. The lesson uses a range of tasks, that require students to be visual and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey: - Understanding who William Shakespeare was, and remembering key details about his life; - Identifying words and phrases that he coined that are still in use today; - Taking part in a quiz about the some of the more basic key events and ideas of the time; - Researching the key events of the time (e.g. witch-hunts and the ascension of James I as King) and understanding which ideas were prominent. (e.g. divine right and religion) - Utilising speaking and listening skills in order to communicate gathered knowledge, and obtain knowledge from others. - Evaluating the learning in the lesson. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This engaging and interesting lesson enables students to make clear and developed interpretations regarding the form and structure of Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers. In particular, students learn about the key features of tragedies, identify these in the play, and analyse their effectiveness, considering Russell’s intentions. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be both independent and collaborative learners. It follows this learning journey: Defining and exemplifying each of the features of tragedies; Inspecting the play, identifying and analysing Russell’s use of the features of tragedies throughout; Understanding the writer’s intentions and the anticipated audience reactions through some of the features of tragedies; Creating a mind map demonstrating the effectiveness of the features of tragedy upon the audience; Applying their understanding of the features of tragedy in the play to a storyboarding activity; Self-evaluating their learning in the lesson. Included in this resource pack are: A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; Features of tragedy cards for the card-sorting activity; ‘Text Inspector’ worksheet for the identification task; Template for the storyboarding activity; A comprehensive teacher guidance form/lesson plan to assist delivery. Resources are provided in both Word (for easy editing - find in the zip file)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.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Sue Townsend’s ‘The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4.’ 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: 1980s Britain - 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.’ ‘Townsend’s Language Devices’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ ‘Bert Baxter 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use in guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the Year 1 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. The tasks are also generic enough to ensure that they can be used with all texts. Activities within the booklet include: - Word Treasure - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'explain the meaning of words that they know, and try to talk about the meaning of new words;' - Book Inspectors - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Make some comments about some of the things/ features that you notice in stories;' - Someone Else's Shoes - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Say how a character may feel in a story based on what they have said or done;' - Recipe for a Great Story - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Make some comments about some of the things/ features that you notice in stories;' Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 20 pages in length.) All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included.)

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Mary Lamb’s power and conflict poem 'Envy.’ 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 detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising knowledge of World War II. It is ideal for GCSE or upper KS3 students, and contains comprehensive sections on: Major Events - dates, images, descriptions, and key facts; Key People - Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Anne Frank; Main Participating Countries - Flags, Year joined and death toll; Timeline of Major Events; 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 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Maura Dooley’s love and relationships poem ‘Letters from Yorkshire.’ Teachers have found the activities 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 interesting and engaging lesson enables students to build their understanding of Inspector Goole, one of the chief protagonists in ‘An Inspector Calls.’ In particular, students understand the Inspector’s main characteristics and quotations. They also contemplate whether they feel the Inspector presents the voice and key messages of Priestley himself. 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: - Recall and understand the key features of The Inspector's character profile; - Link The Inspector to Priestley's key messages and the context of the play; - Piece together the Eva Smith case from the viewpoint of The Inspector; - Read and understand the final section of the play; - Analyse the character further in response to key quotations; - Argue the extent to which the Inspector presents the views of Priestley himself; - Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet on interpreting The Inspector's character; - Extract from Act 3 of the play for students to read and interpret; - Inspector's notepad to piece together the Eva Smith case; - A scaffolded template for students to complete the main analysis task; - 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 interesting and engaging lesson enables students to know what reviews are and why people read them, understand the features that make effective reviews, and write their own interesting and appropriate reviews. In particular, students learn to use a range of appropriate features in writing their own reviews, including facts and opinions, jargon, connectives, and statistics. There are easily enough resources here for 2-3 lessons on this topic. Over the course of their learning journey, students: - Define and exemplify what reviews are; - Understand why people read reviews; - Understand and categorise the different techniques used by reviewers; - Identify the features of reviews in model examples; - Analyse the effect of techniques in reviews upon the reader; - Use a wide-range of techniques in writing their own reviews; - Peer and self assess each other's review attempts. The resources include: -Visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint; -A colourful and helpful 'Writing Reviews' Help-Sheet; -Pointless Jargon Game; -Techniques cards for defining the key key features of reviews; -Connectives worksheet; -Blank book review template and film review template; -A model example (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone); -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 Roald Dahl’s ‘The Magic Finger.’ (Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions). They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS1 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: - ‘Feed The Ducks’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘talk about their favourite words and phrases in the story;’ - ‘Dahl’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 Finger’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Say what might happen next in a story based on what has happened so far;’ - ‘The Greggs’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Enjoy reading and discussing the order of events in books and how items of information are related.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 20 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).