This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising U.A. Fanthorpe’s poem 'First Flight.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: -Context; -Line-by-Line Analysis; -Poetic Devices/ Language Devices; -Themes; -Form/Structure; -Poems for Comparison; -Wider Reading. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3 or A4, 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 thought-provoking lesson aids students in developing a secure understanding of Chapter 1 of Ted Hughes’ 'The Iron Man.’ The chapter is entitled ‘The Coming of the Iron Man.’ The resources guide the children along a learning journey in which they understand the text through: -Making predictions; -Retrieving information; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings; -Summarising the key events of the chapter. Children are guided through the lesson via a colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation, which includes a range of thought-provoking activities and model examples/ answers. The tasks are comprised of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, summarising, explaining and deeper thinking activities. Children also get the opportunity to partake in a creative activity at the end of the lesson. There’s a lot in the session (17 slides in total) so you may wish to either select the content that is pertinent to you/ your class or spread the lesson resource over two sessions. The resource is ideally pitched for children in lower KS2, but could feasibly be used with slightly older or younger children, depending upon the individual context of the school and students.

This engaging and thought-provoking double-lesson resource aids students in developing a secure understanding of the chapters 1 to 2 of Roald Dahl’s 'Matilda.’ The chapters covered in these lessons are ‘The Reader of Books’ and ‘Mr Wormwood, The Great Car Dealer.’ The lessons are guided by a comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation, and enables students to understand the text through: -Making predictions; -Retrieving information; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings. 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. There’s a lot in the session (18 slides in total) so I would recommend breaking into two lessons. The lessons are most suitable for children in key stage 2, (they were originally used for those in years 4 and 5).

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising John Keats’ poem 'To Autumn.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Line-by-Line Analysis; Poetic Devices/ Language Devices; Themes; Form/Structure; Poems for Comparison; Wider Reading. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3 or A4, 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.

In this engaging and informative lesson, students are enabled to make clear and insightful interpretations of Elizabeth Bennet – the chief protagonist in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. In particular, students learn about her key characteristics- such as her strong ideas, wit, intelligence, grace, and good humour – and relate these to ideas of societal expectations of the time. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which students learn through: - Playing a fun and interactive quiz to determine the key events and family life of Elizabeth Bennet; - Establishing her characteristics and traits, utilising textual evidence; - Analysing Elizabeth’s character in relation to the expectations of society in the Regency Era; - Creating clear and creative diary entries, using an in-depth understanding of Elizabeth’s character; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - ‘Character Traits of Elizabeth’ task resources - with teacher answer sheet; - ‘Elizabeth in Context’ task resources - with teacher answer sheet; - 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. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This interesting and highly-stimulating lesson enables students to demonstrate a developed, sustained understanding of the dramatic devices utilised in the ‘lifting of the chair’ scene in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. In particular, students engage analytically with Miller’s use of atmosphere, dramatic tension, dramatic irony, and stage directions throughout the scene. 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 key term ‘masculinity’ and how it affects the behaviour of different characters; - Read and understand the chair-lifting scene at the end of Act One, making key interpretations and inferences; - Define and understand the dramatic devices: dramatic devices, dramatic irony, atmosphere, and stage directions. - Critically engage with Miller’s use of dramatic devices at the end of the Act One, including the events leading up to the chair lifting section. -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 extract needed for the lesson (end section of Act One); - Dramatic Devices Cards; - Dramatic Devices worksheet (including answer sheet for teachers); - 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 engaging and informative lesson enables students to make sustained and developed links between Dickens’ Great Expectations and its social and historical context. In particular, students learn about the contrasts between the lives of the rich and poor in Victorian society, crime and the justice system, and the implications of an underdeveloped healthcare system. They then link this understanding to what they read in the opening of the novel. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Understanding key information about Charles Dickens, his life, and influences; - Researching and sharing key contextual understanding about the rich, poor, healthcare, crime and the justice system in the 19th Century; - Reading extracts from the opening of ‘Great Expectations’ and identifying evidence of contextual influences; - Analysing how Dickens presents his views about the cruelty of 19th Century life through the opening of the text; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Extract - Opening of Great Expectations; - Template for researching 19th Century life (and completed answer sheet for teachers); - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. All documents are attached as Word and PDF in case formatting differs on your computer. 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 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 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Grace Nichols’ poem 'Hurricane Hits England.’ They are perfect for aiding the progress of students learning poetry either in KS4 (or for higher attaining KS3 students) in preparation for poetry at GCSE, as the tasks draw on English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies - it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. The booklet 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.’ All images are licensed for commercial use.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel 'Northern Lights.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Setting and Main Characters; Themes; Pullman’s Language Devices; Structure of Fantasy Novels. Sections are colour-coded 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 is an exciting and engaging lesson/set of tasks aiming to build students’ skills at using similes and metaphors in their writing . It was taught during an observation lesson where the teacher received an Outstanding judgement. Students learn to: - Define and give examples of what similes and metaphors are; - Identify similes and metaphors on funny posters and captions; - Analyse what makes similes and metaphors effective; - Create their own simile and metaphor filled writing piece; - Peer assess and learn through fun interactive tasks. It comes complete with: - Engaging and visual PowerPoint to guide students (and teacher!) through the lesson; - Colourful and thought-provoking worksheet for the main analysis task; - Lesson plan/ teacher guidance sheet, which goes through the lesson step-by-step; - Resources to enable the teacher to make ‘flags’ for the introductory task. All pictures are licensed for commercial use, and image authors cited on the final slide. This lesson can also be bought as part of the Descriptive Devices bundle for just £5. The bundle leads students through each language device needed in order to write to describe confidently. 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 £6.

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make clear and precise interpretations regarding Shakespeare’s use of dramatic devices in The Merchant of Venice. In particular, students read and understand several extracts from the play, before identifying and then analysing the effect of the dramatic devices that Shakespeare employs throughout. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Defining and exemplifying a variety of dramatic techniques; Reading and comprehending a number of key events from the play, identifying the dramatic devices utilised; Analysing Shakespeare’s use of dramatic devices through considering context and the effect on the audience; Creating their own dramatic device-filled playscripts, and evaluating their partner’s attempts; Self assessing their learning through the lesson; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Dramatic devices cards for the card-sorting activity; Analysis worksheets - different degrees of difficulty (asides, dramatic irony, dramatic tension & soliloquy); A model example of a completed analysis worksheet; Comprehensive lesson plan. Resources are provided in PDF (to maintain formatting), Word (so that they are easily editable) and also in zipfiles. The lesson contains 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 engaging and informative lesson enables students to make clear and precise interpretations regarding the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. In particular, students read and understand Act one scene one of the play, interpreting how Antonio and Bassanio’s relationship is introduced, before tracking how their friendship develops over the course of the play. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Considering the key components of strong friendships; Reading Act One Scene One and comprehending how Antonio and Bassanio’s friendship is introduced; Tracking how their friendship develops over the play, using apt textual evidence; Considering multiple interpretations of Antonio and Bassanio’s relationship; Applying their understanding of Antonio and Bassanio’s relationship to create an original composition; Self assessing their learning attempts; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Antonio and Bassanio development worksheet; Extract - Act One Scene One Character profile template Comprehensive lesson plan. Resources are provided in PDF (to maintain formatting), Word (so that they are easily editable) and also in zipfiles. The lesson contains 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 engaging and informative lesson enables students to make clear, detailed and well-informed interpretations of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice. In particular, students develop their contextual understanding of how Jews were perceived in Shakespeare’s time, make precise interpretations about his character using evidence from the play and link their findings to their understanding of social and historical context. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Knowledge harvesting their understanding of the Judaism and the treatment of Jews throughout history; Researching and sharing how Jews were perceived in Shakespeare’s era; Reading selected quotations from the play and interpreting what these reveal about Shylock’s character; Plotting Shylock’s development over the course of the play; Linking their knowledge of Shylock’s character to their understanding of historical context; Understanding Shakespeare’s intentions/messages in presenting Shylock in the manner that he did; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Shylock character development graph; Jigsaw pieces for the group jigsaw activity; 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 of Portia in Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ In particular, students develop their contextual understanding of the role of women in Shakespeare’s time, make precise interpretations about her character using evidence from the play, and link their understanding to their knowledge of social and historical context. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Knowledge harvesting their understanding of the role of women in Shakespeare’s era; Researching and sharing multiple aspects of life for women in Shakespeare’s era; Reading selected quotations from the play and interpreting what these reveal about Portia’s character; Linking their knowledge of Portia’s character to their understanding of historical context; Peer assessing each others learning attempts; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Researching context worksheet; Essay template Comprehensive lesson plan. Resources are provided in PDF (to maintain formatting), Word (so that they are easily editable) and also in zipfiles. The lesson contains 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 engaging and informative lesson enables students to make precise interpretations regarding the ending in Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom.’ In particular, children identify the features of successful endings, analyse these features in Chapter 10 of the story, and create their own logical, imaginative story endings. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Storyboarding the key events of the text leading up to the ending; Reading the ending of the story and answering comprehension questions to demonstrate their understanding; Defining and identifying the key features of effective endings; Analysing the effectiveness of the features that Morpurgo uses in his own ending; Creating their own alternate ending, utilising the features that they have learnt over the course of the lesson; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Storyboard Template; Story Detectives Worksheet; 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 4 and 5 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 3 and 8 with some adaptations. The word documents are within the zip file. 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 Robert Browning’s power and conflict poem 'My Last Duchess.’ 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 engaging and informative lesson helps students to infer and deduce the hidden meanings in the introduction section of Darren Shan’s ‘Cirque Du Freak.’ Students act as ‘Text Detectives’ reading between the lines to find out deeper meanings in the introduction, using this information to make predictions about what may happen in the text. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Understanding why individual subject content was chosen for the introduction (e.g. the fear that spiders can arouse in many people); - Reading the introduction, and answering comprehension questions to demonstrate their understanding; - Functioning as ‘Text Detectives’, inferring and deducing the hidden meanings about narrator and plot that are provided within the introduction; - Using inferences from textual evidence to make insightful and evidence-based predictions about the story; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts; Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Newspaper Article - ‘The shape of fear - why spiders scare us so much;’ - Extract from ‘Cirque Du Freak’ - The Introduction; - Text Detectives worksheet (and teacher model answer sheet); - 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 7 and 8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 4 and 9 with minimal 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 Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden.’ 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 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: ‘Burnett’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.’ ‘Mary Lennox Profile’ and ‘Colin Craven Profile’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.’ ‘Context: Edwardian Era’ - 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.’ ‘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.

This 50-slide pack contains activity ideas and prompts for 12 creative writing sessions. I used these for weekly sessions over one full term with an upper KS2 class, although they could be used for lower KS2 or lower KS3 children with minimal adaptations. The goal of the sessions is to give children a stimulus and the basic information that they need to write with as much freedom as possible. They begin each session with one slide, which outlines what they need to do in the first paragraph/ section, and ordinarily contains a picture stimulus, suggested techniques to use and example sentence openers/ lines. After 10-15 minutes (depending on the nature of the task and the class) the teacher introduces the next slide. There are four slides for each session. By the end of the 45-60 minutes, children should have a coherent first draft of a creative composition. Prompts, support and guidance are provided for 12 individual creative writing sessions: -Description: Haunted House -Narrative: Journey Back to the Land of the Dinosaurs -Newspaper Report: An Alien Landing -Persuasive: Competition for a Dream Holiday -Informative: A Police Statement -Poem: My Favourite Place -Diary: Climbing Mount Everest -Persuasive: Letter to the Headteacher -Narrative: Story of a Scar -Explanation: How to Play (My Favourite Sport); -Diary: Journey to Mars -Narrative: Recreating a Fairy Tale I hope that these prove as useful to you as they were to me!

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills through reading the opening to Kenneth Graeme’s ‘The Wind in the Willows.’ 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 extract needed is provided as a PDF and a link to a web-based version is also included on the first slide. 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 age groups.