This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to define and identify collective and plural nouns, to be able to use collective and plural nouns accurately, and to demonstrate knowledge of spelling and grammar rules and patterns related to collective and plural nouns. This knowledge is of particular importance when working through the new National Curriculum. 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 what collective and plural nouns are; - Research and identify different collective and plural nouns; - Understand patterns and rules in the use of collective and plural nouns; - Understand how verb form can alter dependent upon whether a noun is collective or plural; - Write accurately using collective and plural nouns, including the use of the correct noun-verb agreement. - Peer assess each other's learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Clear and interesting worksheets to record student responses; - Answer sheets to check student understanding; - 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/ the bottom of worksheets.

This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to build their knowledge of the content, language, and structure of Simon Armitage’s contemporary relationships poem ‘Mother, Any Distance...’ In particular, students learn how the poet’s use of figurative language portrays the key messages in the poem, for example the maternal relationship between the speaker and his mother. Students learn through a logical and step-by-step learning journey, including: -Discussing and applying the key messages and meanings in the poem; -Understanding key contextual information about the poet and his life; -Reading and interpreting the poem; -Understanding the poem, with a particular emphasis upon the content, language, and structural features; - Identifying and analysing the poet's use of figurative language; -Writing an extended analysis piece based upon how Simon Armitage presents the strength of the maternal bond in Mother, Any Distance; -Peer assessing their partners' analysis attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful, engaging and substantial; (including hyperlink to a reading of the poem) - Copy of poem; - Figurative Language in 'Mother, Any Distance' worksheet; - Figurative Language in 'Mother, Any Distance' answer-sheet; - Analysis template with in-built success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 9/10 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 interesting and engaging lesson enables students to build their knowledge of the content, language, and structure of Carol Ann Duffy’s contemporary relationships poem ‘Before You Were Mine.’ In particular, students learn how the poet’s use of vocabulary, devices, and poetic structure portray the contrasts in the mother’s life between past and present. Students learn through a logical and step-by-step learning journey, including: -Discussing and applying the key messages and meanings in the poem; -Understanding key contextual information about the poet and her life; -Reading and interpreting the poem; -Understanding the poem, with a particular emphasis upon the content, language, and structural features; -Writing an extended analysis piece based upon how Duffy reflects on her mother’s past and the changes that she has made to her life since becoming a mother; -Peer assessing their partners' analysis attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful, engaging and substantial; (including hyperlink to a reading of the poem) - Copy of poem; - 'How has Ma Changed?' comparison worksheet; - Analysis template with in-built success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 9/10 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 lesson enables students to build their knowledge of the content, language, and structure of Lord Byron’s classic love/relationships poem ‘When We Two Parted.’ In particular, students learn how the poet’s use of vocabulary, rhyme, and repetition influence the mood and tone of the poem. Students learn through a logical and step-by-step learning journey, including: -Understanding key contextual information about the poet and his life; -Defining key terms and vocabulary from the poem; -Reading and interpreting the poem; -Understanding the poem, with a particular emphasis upon the content, language, and structural features; -Writing an extended analysis piece based upon how Byron gets across the themes of sadness and forbidden love in the poem, through the use of language and structure; -Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including hyperlink to a reading of the poem) - Copy of poem; - Key questions worksheet, with model answers; - Analysis template with in-built success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 9/10 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 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 double lesson enables students to build their understanding of Sybil and Eric Birling, two of the main characters in ‘An Inspector Calls.’ In particular, students learn about how both characters contribute to the downfall of Eva Smith, and note the variation in their sense of responsibility. This is linked to Priestley’s overall message regarding community and responsibility in Edwardian Britain. 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 Sybil and Eric's character profiles; - Link Sybil and Eric to the historical context of the play; - Read and understand the sections of the play in which Sybil and Eric are interviewed by the inspector; - Analyse each of the characters in response to key questions; - Compare the two characters, in terms of: their attitudes to the working classes; their attitudes towards the inspector, and their sense of responsibility for Eva Smith's death; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet on interpreting Mrs. Birling's character (with answer sheet); - Extracts from Act 2 and Act 3 of the play for students to read and interpret; - A scaffolded template for students to complete the comparison 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 build their understanding of the relationship between Gerald and Sheila, two of the main characters in ‘An Inspector Calls.’ In particular, students learn about about how both characters contribute to the downfall of Eva Smith, and how their relationship is affected as details of their actions emerge. 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 Gerald and Sheila's character profiles; - Link Gerald and Sheila to the historical context of the play; - Read and understand the section of the play in which Gerald is interviewed by the inspector; - Analyse the effect of Gerald's revelations on the relationship of Gerald and Sheila; - Create a diary-entry piece in which they consider Gerald's character and relationships with both Sheila and Daisy Renton; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet for the development task (with answer sheet); - An extract from Act 2 of the play for students to read and interpret; - Guidance for completing diary entries; - 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 build their understanding of the dramatic devices employed by J.B. Priestley throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls.’ In particular, students learn how to make sustained, clear interpretations about the impact of the dramatic devices upon tone, plot, and meaning. They also contemplate how Priestley utilises dramatic devices to communicate his underlying messages about responsibility and social duty to his audience. 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 and understand key dramatic devices; - Identify and discuss the dramatic devices that Priestley uses towards the end of Act One.; - Read and interpret the end section of Act One in the play; - Analyse how Priestley's use of dramatic devices is used effectively for impact; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging, comprehensive whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - The end of Act 1 extract of the text for students to read and interpret (with a pre-highlighted example for the identification task); - Dramatic Devices information cards for the card-sorting game; - A scaffolded template for the main analytical task, with a further completed 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 interesting and engaging lesson enables students to build their understanding Arthur Birling, one of the chief protagonists in J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls.’ In particular, students learn about his characteristics, his attitudes and opinions towards the world around him and other people, and also his relevance to Priestley’s social and historical context. 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 Birling's character profile; - Link Birling to the social and historical context of the play; - Understand how Birling's character is significant in terms of Priestley's key message; - Read and understand the section of the play in which Birling is interviewed by the inspector; - Analyse key quotations by and about Birling in the text; - Read and understand the opening of the play; - Create a diary-entry piece in which they consider Birling's morals and sense of responsibility for the death of Eva Smith; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Images of Birling to be annotated for the starter task; - A clear and interesting worksheet for the introductory task; - An extract from Act 1 of the play for students to read and interpret; - P.E.E template for students to complete their character analysis; - 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 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.)

These interesting and engaging resources enable students to build their understanding of the context of J.B. Priestley’s play ‘An Inspector Calls.’ In particular, students learn how to make clear and appropriate links between the social and historical context and the play itself. This gives students a really stable knowledge-base from which to make inferences and interpretations about other parts of the play. 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 the main events that occurred between 1912 and 1945, through an interactive group activity; - Remember some key information about J.B Priestley and his beliefs; - Read and understand the opening of the play; - Make links between the opening of the play and the historical context - both in term of when the play was set, and when it was written; - Analyse how Priestley links historical context to his characters, in order to get his messages across to the audience; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet for the development task; - The opening of the text for students to read and interpret; - Context information cards for the card-sorting game; - 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 detailed resource pack has been designed to make the understanding and use of apostrophes and inverted commas (heaviy emphasised in the new curriculum) easily accessible, engaging and interesting for all children. These resources enable students to develop their skill in using two of the more difficult to master punctuation marks: apostrophes and inverted commas. Students learn through clarifying what the punctuation marks represent, understanding how they add meaning to sentences, and evaluating their use in the writing of others. 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 what apostrophes and inverted commas are; - Learn rules for when they should be used, and how to use them in more complex grammatical situations; - Identify apostrophes and inverted commas being used correctly and incorrectly in writing; - Analyse and evaluate what it is that makes the use of apostrophes and inverted commas more logical and effective in some situations than others; - Write an advice leaflet for other students about how to use these punctuation forms, modelling correct use themselves; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - One clear and interesting worksheet about apostrophes, with answer-sheet; - One clear and interesting worksheet about inverted commas, with answer-sheet; - A template for students to use for the main leaflet 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.

I used these comprehension resources recently to engage a group of girls who were reluctant readers. The pack enables students to fulfil the requirements of the Key Stages 2 and 3 comprehension expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. It does so in a new and student-friendly way, by engaging students in texts related to someone whom they share an interest in. Whilst focussing on Justin Bieber, these resources provide a wide-range of differentiated and interesting resources for students to build their reading and comprehension skills. The pack includes resources such as a short Justin Bieber biography, a newspaper story about the positive aspects of his personality, and lyrics to the song 'Baby.' Each of these are differentiated for lower KS2, higher KS2, and KS3. Students understanding of these texts are gauged through comprehension questions aligned with the expectations of the new National Curriculum (again, these are differentiated by age.) The curriculum expectations are included in the pack, and are referenced in brackets after each question. This allows you to easily plot students' progress against individual strands. Some images are used, which are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide.

This engaging and detailed resource pack has been designed to make the learning of fronted adverbials (particularly prominent in the new curriculum) easily accessible, engaging and interesting for all children. Throughout the lesson, students learn to improve their skill at using appropriate, concise, and precise fronted adverbials within their own writing compositions. In addition to the comprehensive lesson, resources, and plan, it also includes a fronted adverbials writing mat to assist students in building their extended writing skills. 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 what fronted adverbials are; - Identify fronted adverbials in sentences; - Analyse and evaluate what it is that makes some fronted adverbials more effective than others; - Write an extended piece with the employment of fronted adverbials; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet for the development task; - An interesting short story for students to analyse; - A hyperlink to an engaging and heart-warming video through a hyperlink in the presentation; - 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/ the bottom of worksheets.

These resources enable students to build their knowledge of the content, language, and structure of Denise Levertov’s Vietnam War poem ‘What Were They Like?’ In particular, students learn about the historical context of the Vietnam War. They also learn how features of language and structure aid the impact of the poem. Students learn through a logical and step-by-step learning journey, including: -Exploring the historical concept of the Vietnam War; -Understanding key information about Denise Levertov and her life; -Reading and interpreting the poem; -Understanding the poem, with a particular emphasis upon the content, language, and structural features; -Writing an extended analysis piece based upon how Levertov gets across her feelings about war in the poem, through the use of language and structure; -Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including hyperlink to a reading of the poem) - Copy of poem; - Structural devices worksheet - Analysis template with in-built success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 9/10 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.