This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.' 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 Dumbledore' - 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;' - 'Rowling'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;' - 'Severus Snape!' and 'Ron Weasley!' - 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 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' - 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 stimulating and thought-provoking lesson enables students to create travel writing texts containing varied and imaginative structures, utilising strategies at both sentence level and whole-text level in order to add creativity and depth to their extended travel writing attempts. In particular, students learn how the subtle variation of sentence and paragraph order, in addition to a range of appropriate connectives, can help to create truly authentic and descriptive travel writing pieces. 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 identify the words that make up sentences; - Knowingly alter the structure and order of sentences, for effect; - Apply this knowledge to travel writing contexts; - Analyse model examples of travel paragraph/ whole text structures in travel writing; - Write their own travel writing pieces, with varied and imaginative structures; - Self/Peer assess travel writing attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - An logical, piece-by-piece writing plan, that enables students to build interesting whole-text and sentence level structures; - 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 Roald Dahl's 'George's Marvellous Medicine.' 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 Grandma' - 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;' - 'George's Idea' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Say what might happen next in a story based on what has happened so far;' - 'Grandma' - 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).

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Chinua Achebe’s poem 'Vultures.’ They are perfect for aiding the progress of students learning poetry either in KS3 and KS4 in preparation for poetry/unseen 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.’

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising R.J. Palacio’s ‘Wonder.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Section by Section Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Palacio’s Literary Devices; The Narrative Point of View. All key words and ideas are compartmentalised 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). It is suitable for all students, but was originally made for those between years 5-8.

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to understand the role that Via Pullman plays in R.J. Palacio’s ‘Wonder.’ In particular, students consider how Via fits the role of the ‘Helper’ in the novel, whilst also managing to traverse her own issues and difficulties. After reading and analysing how Via meets each of the features of the ‘Helper’ role, students consider Palacio’s intentions for including a character like Via, before designing their own appropriate and imaginative Helpers for the novel. There is easily enough content for at least 2 lessons here, following a step-by-step learning journey. Children learn through: -Comprehending how each of the characters in ‘Wonder’ corresponds to Vladimir Propp’s character types, including Via as ‘The Helper’; -Comprehending further details about Via’s character, through close reading and understanding of identified extracts in Wonder; -Analysing how Via meets the role of the Helper in the text, whilst also considering J.P Palacio’s intentions in her characterisation of Via; -Creating their own additional ‘Helper’ characters for the text, using their imaginations, and the understanding of character type that they have gathered over the course of the lesson; -Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Via as the Helper worksheet Character profile template; Comprehensive lesson plan. All resources are provided in Word (for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure formatting remains fixed between different computers). Word documents are in the zip file. There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with a year 6 class, however colleagues have used them for between years 5 and 8 with only minor adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

In this engaging and informative lesson, students make clear and insightful interpretations of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson – the chief protagonists in Arthur Conan Doyle’s 'The Sign of Four.' In particular, students learn about their key characteristics, mannerisms, appearance, and interactions of others – 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: - Inferring and deducing what the novel may be about, from clues in the title; - Reading and understanding chapters 1 and 2, and demonstrating understanding through answers to comprehension questions; - Establishing the key character traits of Holmes and Watson, including their appearance, mannerisms and personality, using precise and relevant textual evidence; - Analysing how each character is presented in the opening two chapters; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole Lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Paper Copies of Chapters 1 and 2; - Holmes Character Profile (and PDF); - Watson Character Profile (and PDF); - Essay Template; - Detailed 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 clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about Roald Dahl, particularly those completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; Roald Dahl Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Ciaran Carson’s power and conflict poem 'Belfast Confetti.’ 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 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Liz Lochhead’s poem ‘I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine.’ 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 engaging and informative lesson enables students to to make precise interpretations regarding the characters of Charlie and Tommo in Private Peaceful. In particular, students analyse how the relationship between the two characters is introduced and then developed throughout the novel. They also make key inferences about the similarities and differences between the brothers. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Comparing and contrasting the characteristics of the two brothers; - Comprehending how the brothers’ relationship is introduced by Morpugo in the opening chapters; - Tracking and analysing how their relationship develops over the course of the novel; - Creating character profiles for both brothers, using a (provided) template and the information that they have gathered over the course of the lesson; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Character Profile Templates (Word and PDF); - Relationship Development Graph Template (Word and PDF); - Extracts from Private Peaceful; - 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 3 and 9 with minimal adaptations. Please note that students will need internet or library access to complete the research introduction task. 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 understand the key features of the historical context of World War I, in order to gain a clearer of understanding of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse. In particular, students learn about the key features of World War I (including the role of horses) before linking their understanding of historical context to different extracts from the text. Finally, they analyse Morpurgo’s key intentions/messages in including such ideas within his novel. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Researching and understanding key information about World War I, including how it was initiated, the role of horses, life in the trenches, and going ‘over the top;’ Linking the key features of context to sections of the text; Reading selected extracts from the text, in order to link ideas regarding context and text together; Analysing Morpurgo’s key messages and ideas in through his depiction of the historical context; Creating their own anti-war propaganda posters, detailing what war was really like for young soldiers; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Research Template; Selected extracts (from chapters 2, 4, 7 and 8); 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 7 and 8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between year 4 (advanced) and year 9 with minimal adaptations. Please note that students will need internet access for the research introduction task. 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 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 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 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, 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 detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Michael Morpugo’s ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Morpurgo’s Language Devices; Influences on the Writer. 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 Darren Shan’s ‘Cirque Du Freak.’ 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: Freak Shows’ - 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.’ - ‘Shan’s Description of Truska’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ - ‘Mr Crepsley’ and ‘Rhamus Twobellies’ - 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).