This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of J.R.R Tolkien's 'The Hobbit.' 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 Gandalf!' - 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;' - 'Tolkien'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;' - 'Hobbits!' - 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 Hobbit' - 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 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 engaging lesson enables students to know what agony aunt/uncle advice pages are and why people read them, understand the features that make effective agony aunt/uncle pages, before writing their own interesting and appropriate agony pages. In particular, students learn how to write to advise, including using facts and opinions for authority, rhetorical questions to make the reader think, and personal pronouns to keep the reader feeling involved. Over the course of their learning journey, students: - Define and exemplify what agony aunt/uncle advice pages are; - Understand why people read them; - Understand and categorise the different techniques used by columnists; - Identify the features of agony aunt/uncle pages in model examples; - Analyse the effect of techniques in these pages upon the reader; - Use a wide-range of techniques in writing their own problem pages; - Peer and self assess each other's attempts. The resources include: -Visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint; -A colourful and clear success criteria; -Blank problem page template; -A model example (Dear Debbie); -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 engaging and informative lesson enables students to make insightful and developed interpretations regarding the ending of Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol.’ In particular, they explore how the ending is in keeping with the traditional features of resolutions stage in the narrative structure model. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Clarifying the events leading up to the end of the novel; - Reading and comprehending the events of Stave 5 - the end of the novel; - Understanding the key stages of Narrative Structure and applying 'A Christmas Carol' to this model; - Analysing Dickens' ending in relation to the key features of traditional resolutions; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Extract - Stave 5 - Narrative Structure Template; - Analysis template with 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 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 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.

This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to understand what determiners are, categorise different types of determiners accurately, and use a wide range of appropriate determiners in their writing. In particular, students become familiar with the importance of determiners in a wide range of writing types, whilst learning through fun and interactive tasks: Over the course of the lesson, they learn to: - Define and exemplify determiners; - Understand and categorise the different types of determiners; - Analyse the effect of different types of determiners; - Use a wide-range of accurate determiners in writing about interesting topics; - Peer and self assess the use of determiners in writing. The resources include: -Visually engaging whole-lesson/s PowerPoint (around 26 slides) -A colourful and helpful 'Delightful Determiners' Writing Mat; -'The Effect of Determiners' worksheet and teacher's answer sheet; -Noun cards to assist with the main task -A model example; -Step-by-step lesson plan. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final page of the slide.

This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to be able to define and categorise different types of nouns, to be able to use different types of nouns accurately, and to show an understanding about how different types of noun can affect writing. 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 concrete, abstract, and compound nouns are; - Identify and categorise different concrete, abstract, and compound nouns; - Write accurately using a range of concrete, abstract, and compound nouns, to increase the depth and variety of their writing; - Peer assess each other's learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Word cards for sorting; - Venn diagram mat for card-sorting activity - Clear and interesting worksheets to record student responses; - 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 understand what ellipses, question marks, and exclamation marks indicate, and determine where they should be used. They also learn to understand the effect of these punctuation forms in writing, and develop the skills to use these punctuation forms accurately in my own writing. Over the course of their learning journey, students: - Define and exemplify what ellipses, question marks, and exclamation marks are; - Identify where these punctuation marks should be placed in writing; - Correctly place ellipses, question marks, and exclamation marks into unpunctuated sentences; - Analyse the effect of these punctuation marks upon sentences and wider texts; - Use ellipses, question marks, and exclamation marks accurately and with subtlety in their own writing; - Peer and self assess each other's writing attempts. The resources include: -Visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint; -Placing Punctuation worksheet (and teacher answer sheet); -A model example of an ellipsis, question mark, and exclamation mark-filled piece of writing for analysis; -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 clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for teachers, parents and Year 5 children covering the National Curriculum expectations for vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation. It contains comprehensive sections on: -Overview of Year 5 Expectations; -Punctuation: parenthesis, commas for clarifying meaning/ avoiding ambiguity; -Grammar & Vocabulary: Word Level: converting nouns/adjectives into verbs and using verb prefixes; -Sentence Level: relative clauses and degrees of possibility; -Text Level: building cohesion within paragraphs and adverbials of time, place and number; -Key Terminology. 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, comprehensive lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of John Keats’ ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, with particular focus upon the language, structure, and subject matter used within the poem. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate their knowledge of the text analytically, through assured, appropriate, and sustained interpretations. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Comprehending the meaning of the poem’s title, and considering how both the life of John Keats and the Medieval Romance genre influence the poem; Reading and interpreting the poem, using a provided line-by-line analysis, and interactive group activities; Developing their understanding through inferring and analysing key language and structural choices; Analysing how the destructive nature of love is conveyed through Keats’ language and structure choices; Self/ Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including a hyperlink to a reading of the video) Research template; Copy of poem; Deeper thinking worksheet; Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; Comprehensive lesson plan. All resources are provided as word documents (for easy editing) and PDF documents (to ensure consistency of formatting between computers). There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 10 and 11 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 Edgar Allan Poe’s dark-romantic poem ‘The Raven.’ 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 engaging and interesting lesson enables students to develop the knowledge and skills needed to establish the content (e.g. the subject matter, poet’s key messages, and surface/ deeper meanings) of previously unseen poems. In particular, they define and understand each of the key features of content, practice identifying them in poems and analyse their effectiveness upon the reader. 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 content through a group card-sorting activity; -Discussing , understanding, and practicing some of the skills and techniques needed to initially explore a poem for content; -Considering the ideas of interpretation, inference, surface/deeper meaning, and textual evidence as important mechanisms for exploration; -Applying their understanding of the features of content and the skills needed to find them through a jigsaw activity; -Self-evaluating their own learning in the lesson. Included in this resource pack are: -A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; -Content features cards for the card-sorting activity; -‘Establishing Content’ worksheet for the development task; -Copies of the poems ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck…’ by Laurence Ferlinghetti, ‘Nothing’s Changed’ by Tatamkhulu Afrika, ‘Hitcher’ by Simon Armitage and 'Island Man’ by Grace Nichols for annotation (both freely available online); -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 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Grace Nichol’s poem 'Island Man.’ 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 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s poem 'Limbo.’ 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 Percy Bysshe Shelley’s love and relationships poem 'Love’s Philosophy.’ 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 detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Carol Rumens’ power and conflict poem 'The Emigree.’ 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 Sujata Bhatt’s poem 'Search for My Tongue.’ 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 Thomas Hardy’s love/relationships poem 'Neutral Tones.’ 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 full double lesson (the resources are enough for at least 2-3 hours of teaching time) provides an engaging and highly-informative study of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s conflict poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade.’ Students learn to interpret and analyse the poem in terms of content, language, and structure, learn more about the context of the Crimean War and the Battle of Balaclava, and gain crucial skills in structuring analytical responses to texts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including hyperlinks to informative and engaging videos) Context of the Light Brigade - worksheet (teacher’s answer-sheet also provided); Copy of poem; Content, language and structure mind map; Analysis template with 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 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 engaging and informative lesson enables students to understand how the main character –Auggie – is introduced and developed in R.J. Palacio’s ‘Wonder.’ In particular, students consider Auggie’s character traits in the opening section of the text, and how these alter as the novel progresses. They also consider R.J. Palacio’s intentions in her characterisation of Auggie. There is easily enough content for at least 2 lessons here, following a step-by-step learning journey. Children learn through: -Playing an interactive group quiz in order secure a base-level understanding of Auggie; -Comprehending further details about how Auggie is introduced to the reader, through close re-reading and understanding of identified extracts in Wonder; -Trackign Auggie’s personal development throughout the novel, whilst also considering J.P Palacio’s intentions in her characterisation; -Creating their own additional chapter, describing the next stage of Auggie’s life, using information about his character gained over the lesson; -Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Character tracking template; Writing to describe helpsheet; Comprehensive lesson plan. Due to the nature of the lesson, it works best when it is utilised post-reading of the text. 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.