I provide high quality, tried and tested materials, developed over 17 years of teaching KS3-5. There is material to support G3/4 students as well as material to push for G8 and G9s.
I provide high quality, tried and tested materials, developed over 17 years of teaching KS3-5. There is material to support G3/4 students as well as material to push for G8 and G9s.
This Literacy Support scheme of work has been created to support students who need extra support at KS3 with Romeo and Juliet. It gives an overview of the skills and themes needed to access Shakespeare. Each unit of work is specialised to target a specific area of the KS3 curriculum such as Shakespearean language and context. Each unit of work comes with 8 lessons and an easy to follow workbook. This unit works well with small support groups.
Lesson 1: Accessing Shakespeare’s language
Lesson 2: Costume design
Lesson 3: Plot and key quotes
Lesson 4: Exploring parent and child relationships
Lesson 5: Writing a magazine article on the Capulet Ball
Lesson 6: Evaluating who is to blame
Lesson 7: Plot quiz
Lesson 8: Grammar
This unit is a great way to teach summary, language and perspective skills at KS4. It is focused on AQA English Language GCSE Paper 2. It prepares students for Q2 summarise the differences, Q3 writer’s use of language and Q4 perspective and point of view. It includes 24 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, exemplar answers, online research and historical articles . Page numbers refer to the Arrow Books edition.
Lesson 1: Context research online
Lesson 2: C1 Maycomb County
Lesson 3: C2 Education
Lesson 4: C2 Analysing Miss Caroline
Lesson 5: C3 Comparing Atticus’ and Scout’s point of view
Lesson 6: The Case of Ruby Bridges
Lesson 7: C4 Analysing Atticus Finch
Lesson 8: C5 Analysing Miss Maudie Atkinson
Lesson 9: C6 Building tension
Lesson 10: C7 Scout’s understanding of the world
Lesson 11: C8 The Fire
Lesson 12 C10 The Rabid Dog
Lesson 13: Analysing Miss Dubose
Lesson 14: C12 Race relations
Lesson 15: C13 Comparing Aunt Alex with Ms Dubose
Lesson 16: C15 The Lynch Mob
Lesson 17: C16-21 Summarising the trial
Lesson 18: C21 The Verdict
Lesson 19: C23 Comparing Bob and Atticus
Lesson 20: C24 Analysing the Missionary Ladies
Lesson 21: C25 Racism and Prejudice
Lesson 22: C28 The Attack on Jem and Scout
Lesson 23: C29 The Aftermath and Boo Radley
Lesson 24: C31 The Ending
Do you want to teach a play that will demystify the language of love and relationships?
This unit of work is fantastic for stretching high ability KS3 students. 18 lessons covering the whole of the play, focusing on playwright’s use of language, how the playwright uses structure, creative writing and the effect of staging. It comes fully resourced with PowerPoints, contextual information to illuminate understanding of the text, chapter extracts and IWB activities. Page numbers refer to the Cambridge School Shakespeare Edition.
Lesson 1: Elizabethan context quizzes
Lesson 2: Shakespearean language
Lesson 3: the theatre
Lesson 4: act out the play
Lesson 5: the soldiers return in A1S1
Lesson 6: the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick in A1S1
Lesson 7: Don John in A1S3
Lesson 8: the masked ball in A2S1
Lesson 9: deception in A2S1
Lesson 10: focus on the villain in A2S2
Lesson 11: focus on Benedick in A2S3
Lesson 12: appearance and reality in A2S3
Lesson 13: review of Acts 1-2
Lesson 14: Beatrice is tricked in A3S1
Lesson 15: Claudio is tricked in A3S2
Lesson 16: the marriage in A4S1
Lesson 17: Beatrice and Benedick in A4S1
Lesson 18: Leanato and Antonio in A5S1
Lesson 19: the ending
Private Peaceful is a fantastic way to teach students about the realties of war, at a time when politicians seek to glorify it.
This unit is ideally for Year 7 or mid ability Year 8. 18 lessons covering the whole of the text, focusing on writer’s use of language, how the writer uses structure, character analysis and creative writing opportunities. The unit of work is fully resourced with ppts, contextual information to illuminate understanding of the text, chapter extracts and more. This is perfect for early exam preparation as well as fostering English Literature skills. Page numbers refer to the Harper Collins Edition.
Lesson 1: Introduction to WW1
Lesson 2: First day at school
Lesson 3: Older brothers
Lesson 4: Creating characters
Lesson 5: Grandma Wolf
Lesson 6: Siblings
Lesson 7: Describing a plane crash
Lesson 8: Parent-child relationships
Lesson 9: Diary Writing
Lesson 10: Life in the army
Lesson 11: Analysing character motivation
Lesson 12: War propaganda
Lesson 13: Use of setting
Lesson 14: Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen
Lesson 15: Describing a gas attack
Lesson 16: Letter writing
Lesson 17: Assessment
Lesson 18: Assessment feedback
This scheme of work contains everything you need to teach Narrative Writing at KS4 and will save you hours of preparation! It is focused on AQA Paper 1 for English language but can easily be adapted for other purposes. It includes 23 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson ppts, short stories and extracts, IWB interactive resources, quizzes and activities to exploit drama. Each lesson targets a different area of the mark scheme for the students to master.
Lesson 1: An introduction into narrative writing with ‘On the Road’
Lesson 2: How to structure a story using a story mountain
Lesson 3: How to write an effective opening
Lesson 4: Using connectives
Lesson 5: Creating characters with depth
Lesson 6: Writing about a party
Lesson 7: Focus on punctuation in ‘The Hero’
Lesson 8: Avoiding cliche in “The 100% perfect girl”
Lesson 9: Using dialogue
Lesson 10: Multiple narrative voices in “Not My Best Side”
Lesson 11: Writing a story using a unique voice
Lesson 12: Structure in ‘The Fugitive’
Lesson 13: A Day in the Life of a Nobody
Lesson 14: Writing a personal response
Lesson 15: Creating titles
Lesson 16: Expanding and planning
Lesson 17: Topic sentences
Lesson 18: Openings and endings
Lesson 19: Endings
Lesson 20: Narratives and dialogue
Lesson 21: Opening lines
Lesson 22: Creating a sense of place
Lesson 23: Show don’t tell
This unit contains 20 lessons covering the film ‘Let Him Have It’, focusing on opinion writing, speeches and newspaper articles that discuss capital punishment. It is fully resourced with worksheets, speeches, crime scene sketches and contextual information to illuminate understanding of capital punishment in the 1950s and the Derek Bentley case. This unit of work is an engaging way to prepare for non-fiction writing . It works well in conjunction with the film ‘Let Him Have It’ (1991) .
Lesson 1: Attitudes to capital punishment
Lesson 2: Crime
Lesson 3: A timeline of the warehouse robbery
Lesson 4: Witness evidence
Lesson 5: Prosecution and defence
Lesson 6: Using camera angles
Lesson 7: Creating a storyboard
Lesson 8: Filming your storyboard
Lesson 9: Writing a police report
Lesson 10: The Court Case
Lesson 11: Bentley’s execution
Lesson 12: 1950s culture
Lesson 13: Protest songs
Lesson 14: Persuasive techniques in a letter
Lesson 15: Persuasive techniques in a speech
Lesson 16: Creating a protest poster
Lesson 17: Writing a defence speech for Craig
Lesson 18: Writing a defence speech for Bentley
Lesson 19: Planning your assessment speech
Lesson 20: Writing your speech
Bring Titanic to life with this introduction to non-fiction texts at middle school. 16 lessons focusing on evaluating non-fiction texts, opinion writing, evaluating a statement and writing a summary. Fully resourced with ppts, contextual information to illuminate understanding and Interactive White Board activities.
Lesson 1: an introduction to Titanic
Lesson 2: online research
Lesson 3: a timeline of the sinking
Lesson 4: newspaper articles
Lesson 5: a survivor’s account
Lesson 6: radio broadcasts
Lesson 7: creating Titanic characters
Lesson 8: character profiles
Lesson 9: grammar
Lesson 10: writing a speech
Lesson 11: performing a speech
Lesson 12: report writing
Lesson 13: evaluating blame
Lesson 14: the Titanic quiz
Lesson 15: poster lesson
Lesson 16: descriptive writing
Ideally for Year 8 or low ability Year 9, this unit of work contains 25 lessons covering the whole of the text. It focuses on writer’s use of language, how the writer uses structure, evaluating a statement and creative writing. It comes fully resourced with contextual information, Auschwitz survivor stories, chapter extracts, freeze frame cards and IWB activities. This is perfect to embed the skills needed for GCSE Literature Paper 1 preparation at KS3.
Lesson 1: Context
Lesson 2: Boyne’s narrative style
Lesson 3: Exploring sibling relationships
Lesson 4: Descriptive writing
Lesson 5: The importance of Bruno’s father
Lesson 6: Good and evil
Lesson 7: Pavel as a symbol of Jewish struggles
Lesson 8: Uniforms
Lesson 9: Exploring
Lesson 10: Friendships
Lesson 11: Bruno and Shmuel
Lesson 12: Shmuel’s background
Lesson 13: Using inference
Lesson 14: Writing a TV script
Lesson 15: Lieutenant Kotler
Lesson 16: Radicalization and the Hitler Youth
Lesson 17: Bruno’s mother
Lesson 18: Bruno’s world
Lesson 19: Writing the ending
Lesson 20: Poetic justice
Lesson 21: The end
Lesson 22: Interview with John Boyne
Lesson 23: Planning your assessment
Lesson 24: Writing your assessment
Lesson 25: Feedback and improve
Featherboy is a fantastic text to teach KS3 students about bullying, and the unseen struggles others may be going through.
This unit is ideally for Year 7 or a lower ability Year 8, and will save you hours of preparation time! It contains 20 lessons covering the whole of the text, focusing on Robert’s journey from zero to hero. It is fully resourced with PowerPoints, bullying articles, newspaper templates and opportunities for drama role play. It also has an assessment essay on Robert’s changes with essay frames and quote quests. This is perfect for early English Literature preparation as well as building English writing skills. Each lesson focuses on a different aspect and chapter of the text.
Lesson 1: Use of the fairy tale genre in Featherboy
Lesson 2: Characterisation
Lesson 3: Finding your own narrative voice
Lesson 4: Singer’s use of Robert’s imagination
Lesson 5: Use of sound
Lesson 6: How to build tension
Lesson 7: Drama and the hot seat challenge
Lesson 8: Community debates
Lesson 9: Precepts and life wisdoms
Lesson 10: Writing a dramatic monologue
Lesson 11: Bullying
Lesson 12: Symbolism of The Firebird
Lesson 13: Writing a film script
Lesson 14: Using the passive voice in reports
Lesson 15: Writing a letter
Lesson 16: Writing a newspaper article
Lesson 17: Analysing Robert
Lesson 18: Singer’s narrative style and voice
Lesson 19: The Trial of Jonathan Niker
Lesson 20: Assessment
This scheme of work is designed as a pathway through the play and an introduction to drama at KS3. It includes 16 lessons that are easy to follow and focus on aspects like staging, character development, creative writing, autism research and more. Page numbers refer to the Metheun Drama edition.
Lesson 1: Autism research
Lesson 2: Creating Chris’ voice
Lesson 3: Metaphorical and literal
Lesson 4: Siobhan as the narrator
Lesson 5: The detective genre
Lesson 6: Perceptions of Chris’ mother
Lesson 7: Perceptions of Chris’ father
Lesson 8: Stephen’s use of staging
Lesson 9: Research on why children run away from home
Lesson 10: Eidetic memories
Lesson 11: Staging Chris’ journey to London
Lesson 12: Judy and Roger
Lesson 13: Creating coping strategies
Lesson 14: The crime genre
Lesson 15: Assessment on Siobhan
This unit is ideal as an introduction to how the writer creates setting at KS3 and will save you hours of preparation time! It has 13 lessons focusing on how a writer creates a setting, characters, mood and atmosphere. This unit extends into creative writing so the students can create their own settings and characters. It is fully resourced with PowerPoints, dramatic activities and quizzes. This is perfect for early GCSE preparation on writing to describe.
Lesson 1: describing workhouse in Oliver Twist
Lesson 2: analysing the workhouse
Lesson 3-5: Monkey’s Paw by WW Jacobs
Lesson 6: act out Monkey’s Paw and write your own story
Lesson 7: describing Dracula’s castle
Lesson 8: describing Frankenstein’s laboratory
Lesson 9: writing a London ghost tour
Lesson 10: the legend of Jack the Ripper
Lesson 11: analysing and evaluating the suspects
Lesson 12: Dracula assessment
Lesson 13: assessment feedback
Do you find it difficult to engage teenagers, especially boys, with creative writing and story telling?
This unit includes everything you need to teach Fantasy Writing at KS3 . It includes 10 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, exemplar paragraphs, IWB resources and extracts. This unit works well with boy heavy groups who are interested in fantasy worlds and science fiction such as Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones.
Lesson 1: Verb-Noun collocations in Lord of the Rings
Lesson 2: How fantasy writers create characters
Lesson 3: Describing a market in Game of Thrones
Lesson 4: Structuring a story in an enchanted forest
Lesson 5: How George RR Martin uses language
Lesson 6: How George RR Martin uses structure
Lesson 7: Designing a presentation
Lesson 8: Describing an alien planet in Star Wars
Lesson 9: How to describe a castle
Lesson 10: The Weird Sisters in Macbeth
This unit of work is focused on short stories with original endings. The students analyze these stories, then have an opportunity to analyse an original ending in their final assessment. The unit of work contains 14 lessons and is mainly focused on how a story is structured and uses foreshadowing to lead the reader towards the ending.
Lesson 1-3: The Landlady by Roald Dahl
Lesson 4: The Raven by Edgar Alan Poe
Lesson 5: Analysing structure in The Raven
Lesson 6: An introduction to Sherlock Holmes
Lesson 7-9: The Case of the Engineer’s Thumb by Arthur Conan Doyle
Lesson 10: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Lesson 11-13: The Cone by HG Wells
Lesson 14: Structure in The Cone
There is also an opportunity for a KS3 SATS style exam to analyse structure in
‘Pick Your Poison’.
This unit contains everything you need to teach Jekyll and Hyde at KS4 and will save your hours of preparation! It is focused on AQA Paper 1 for English Literature. It includes 21 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extracts and opportunities for online research.
Lesson 1: The importance of context
Lesson 2: An introduction to Jekyll and Hyde
Lesson 3: Victorian Britain
Lesson 4: Acting out the plot
Lesson 5: The importance of the opening
Lesson 6: Impressions of Mr Hyde
Lesson 7: Exploring Mr Utterson
Lesson 8: How the writer creates mood and atmosphere
Lesson 9: Mr Utterson’s Dream
Lesson 10: Analyzing Jekyll’s state of mind
Lesson 11: Comparing Hyde and Jack the Ripper
Lesson 12: The murder of Danvers Carew
Lesson 13: Good and Evil
Lesson 14: Symbolism
Lesson 15: The two sides of Mr Utterson
Lesson 16: Repression
Lesson 17: Society
Lesson 18: Narrative viewpoint
Lesson 19: The ending
Lesson 20: The structure of the novel
Lesson 21: Comic strip revision
This unit is a great way to teach AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 . This unit of work is focused on Heroes by Robert Cormier. The students are given repeated practice of questions 1-4 through a literature text. The main focus is Q2 writer’s use of language, Q3 writer’s use of structure and Q4 evaluation of a statement. It includes 23 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, exemplar answers, quizzes, extracts and opportunities to exploit online research. This would suit a lower group who are aiming for G4 G5 or G6. Page numbers refer to the Puffin Books Edition.
Lesson 1: WW2 context and Frenchtown
Lesson 2: Writer’s use of language with Francis Cassavant
Lesson 3: Using flashbacks
Lesson 4: Evaluating how the writer uses flashbacks
Lesson 5: Structure in Francis’ memories
Lesson 6: Language to describe WW2 veterans
Lesson 7: Describing the Rec Centre
Lesson 8: Language to describe Larry LaSalle
Lesson 9: Mood and atmosphere
Lesson 10: Language to describe a sports story
Lesson 11: Flashbacks and memories
Lesson 12: The effect of Pearl Harbour
Lesson 13: Creating expectation
Lesson 14: Writer’s use of contrast
Lesson 15: Evaluating Larry LaSalle
Lesson 16: Creating sympathy for Francis
Lesson 17: Writer’s use of grammar
Lesson 18: Planning a story
Lesson 19: Structure in chapter 14
Lesson 20: Language in chapter 14
Lesson 21: Creative Writing
Lesson 22: The Ending
Lesson 23: Evaluating the ending
Are you looking for a fresh and creative way to teach Macbeth? To enlighten students on the human condition, power and corruption? I recently studied for my Certificate for Teaching Shakespeare at the RSC in Stratford and it has revolutionized the way I teach the bard.
This unit contains everything you need to teach Macbeth at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills, analyzing extracts for English Literature and bringing the play to life. It includes 30 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar essays, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extract analysis and opportunities for online research. Page numbers refer to the Cambridge Shakespeare edition.
Lesson 1: Context
Lesson 2: Shakespearean language
Lesson 3: The plot
Lesson 4: The characters
Lesson 5: A1S1 The witches
Lesson 6: Is Macbeth a hero in A1S2?
Lesson 7: A1S3 The Witches’ prophecies
Lesson 8: A1S5 Lady Macbeth
Lesson 9: A1S7 Macbeth’s soliloquy
Lesson 10: Act 1 Review
Lesson 11: A2S1 Soliloquys
Lesson 12: A2S2 Comparing The Macbeths
Lesson 13: A2S3 Staging Duncan’s murder
Lesson 14: A2S4 Nature and Divine Right to rule
Lesson 15: Act 2 Review
Lesson 16: A3S1 Banquo’s murder
Lesson 17: A3S2 The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Lesson 18: A3S3 Banquo’s death speech
Lesson 19: A3S4 The banquet
Lesson 20: A3S6 Lennox’s suspicions
Lesson 21: Act 3 Review
Lesson 22: A4S1 The Witches
Lesson 23: A4S2 The murder of the MacDuffs
Lesson 24: Comparing Macbeth and MacDuff
Lesson 25: Macduff’s reaction
Lesson 26: A5S1 Lady Macbeth’s madness
Lesson 27: A5S3 Macbeth reclaims his heroism
Lesson 28: A5S5 The death of Lady Macbeth
Lesson 29: A5S8 Good vs Evil
Lesson 30: Act 5 Review
Do you need a way for students to engage with the big questions of today, such as what brings us true happiness in a world obsessed with money and status?
This unit contains everything you need to teach A Christmas Carol at KS4. It is focused on essay writing skills for English Literature, as well as the ability to analyze, evaluate and apply context to your writing. It includes 24 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama, extracts and opportunities to exploit online research. Page numbers refer to the Scholastic Classics Edition.
Lesson 1: Character and plot overview
Lesson 2: A Victorian Christmas
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: Performing the play
Lesson 5: Our first impressions of Scrooge
Lesson 6: Victorian attitudes to the poor
Lesson 7: Marley’s ghost
Lesson 8: Marley and Scrooge
Lesson 9: The Ghost of Christmas Past
Lesson 10: Scrooge’s childhood
Lesson 11: Victorian employers
Lesson 12: Victorian women
Lesson 13: The Ghost of Christmas Present
Lesson 14: The Cratchits
Lesson 15: The struggles of the poor
Lesson 16: The lessons Scrooge learns
Lesson 17: Ignorance and Want
Lesson 18: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Lesson 19: Old Joe’s Shop
Lesson 20: Scrooge’s death
Lesson 21: Pathetic fallacy
Lesson 22: Cyclical structure
Lesson 23: Creating character profiles
Lesson 24: Writing your own quiz
There are also several options for assessment, including how Scrooge changes and the struggles of the poor.
Everything you need to teach Unseen Poetry at KS4. This unit of work is focused on AQA Paper 2 for English Literature. It includes 19 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, activities to exploit drama and performing poems.
Lesson 1: An introduction to unseen poetry
Lesson 2: Poetic techniques
Lesson 3: Rhyme, rhythm and meter
Lesson 4: Reviewing poetic techniques
Lesson 5: Mother any distance by Simon Armitage
Lesson 6: Before You Were Mine by Carol Ann Duffy
Lesson 7: Comparing family relationships
Lesson 8: Anne Hathaway
Lesson 9: Miss Havisham
Lesson 10: Comparing marriage
Lesson 11: Mid point assessment
Lesson 12: On My First Sonne by Ben Jonson
Lesson 13: Mid Term Break by Seamus Heaney
Lesson 14: Autumn by Alan Bold
Lesson 15: Comparing Autumn and Today
Lesson 16: Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker
Lesson 17: Island Man by Grace Nichols
Lesson 18: Comparing Blessing and Island Man
Lesson 19: What is Pink? by Christina Rossetti
Everything you need to teach Murmuring Judges at KS5. This unit of work includes 40 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson powerpoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and articles that explore the relationship between the 3 branches of the criminal justice system. Page numbers refer to the Faber and Faber edition.
This unit contains everything you need to teach Lady Windermere’s Fan at KS5. It includes 22 lessons and is fully resourced with lesson PowerPoints, contextual information, exemplar material, IWB interactive resources, quizzes, extracts and critical articles. The page numbers refer to the New Mermaid’s edition. Each lesson focuses chronologically on a different scene and analyses a different aspect of the play.
Lesson 1: Plot and characters quiz
Lesson 2: Context research
Lesson 3: Context presentations
Lesson 4: The aesthetic movement
Lesson 5: Expectations of Victorian women
Lesson 6: Socialism
Lesson 7: Marriage
Lesson 8: Society and morality
Lesson 9: Fin de siecle
Lesson 10: Comparing the female roles
Lesson 11: The importance of marriage
Lesson 12: The “new” woman
Lesson 13: DVD and plot lesson
Lesson 14: Mrs Erlynne
Lesson 15: The Dandy
Lesson 16: Comparing the male characters
Lesson 17: the moral messages of the play
Lesson 18: A “good” woman
Lesson 19: Secrets and lies
Lesson 20:Reputations
Lesson 21: Character reviews
Lesson 22: Extract practice