Ten multiple choice questions on famous authors and their work. Answers included. Lesson concludes with students considering their own favourite authors and creating a poster to promote them. Great activity to celebrate World Book Day.

Teach your students how to collate information from two sources into a structured report with recommendations. This fourteen slide Powerpoint introduces the purpose of reports and then guides students through how to write a report for their headteacher on the suitability of two applicants for the position of English teacher at their school. The Word worksheet with the teacher applications is included.

A 350 word ghost story callled “The Lighthouse” is animated on Powerpoint. The teacher reads the ghost story to the class to create a spooky atmosphere. Then students discuss how the writer creates irony and the supernatural atmophere. Finally, in pairs or groups, students write their own ghost story of no more than 350 words. A slide gives ideas for five different ghost stories. Teach your students the power of stories this Halloween or at any time with this perfectly structure, succinct story. A Word copy of the story is also included in the folder.

Twenty multiple choice quiz questions on the origin of the word “coronation” and the various meanings of the roots of the word. Four fun activities to do after the quiz is complete.

This powerpoint and word document present the Eduqas GSCE English Language and Literature content and assessment objectives in student-friendly language. Show the students the presentation and then give them a copy of the objectives in student speak so that they are confident going forward in these exams.

Calling all Harry Potter fans, this fifty question quiz with answers will test your knowledge of JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel - “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. A fun way to encourage reading.

Simple literacy activities on spelling and sentence structure are contained in this twenty page booklet on the theme of animals. Short poems by Benjamin Zephaniah and Gyles Brandreth and information about electric eels keep students interested with scope for their own research and writing about an animal of their choice. Aimed at students who need to catch up at secondary school or primary school students.

Although Old English was spoken many centuries ago, some words have survived into modern English. This powerpoint contains clues to ten words which originated in Old English. It is then followed by examples of place names which are derived from Old English. Students are given many opportunities to brainstorm more place names and investigate the language. This could be used as part of the English or History curriculum.

This folder includes a powerpoint which guides students through the poem. The first activity helps them to work out what the Latin sentence “Dulce et Decorum est…” means. This is followed by looking at the poem in terms of Owen’s use of similes, metaphors and imagery. Two example paragraphs of analysis of the first lines of the poem serve as a model to encourage students to write some analysis of their own. A storyboard worksheet is also included which students could complete for homework.This lesson could be used in conjunction with the background lesson on Wilfred Owen, also found here.

Do you ever feel frustrated that your students have simply stopped using capital letters? This twenty-seven slide powerpoint reviews the rules in a fun and interactive way, then explains the difference between use of capital letters for common nouns and proper nouns. There are copious amounts of exercises to correct, which can be done on the board as a class or can be printed off for homework. If you want to embed the use of capital letters, this is the lesson for you. To complete all activities would take over one hour.

Have fun exploring ideas about animal cruelty with Benjamin Zephaniah’s hilarious poem “Talking Turkeys”. This folder contains a cloze exercise on the poem to engage students directly with the text with follow-up comprehension questions. There are then three more powerpoint options for further exploration. Students can either create a leaflet to persuade people to give up turkey and eat something else at Christmas. Or if you are looking for a Christmas themed activity, students can use the poem as inspiration for their own Christmas poem. And don’t forget to watch Mr Zephaniah in action on Youtube, performing said poem in a bright pink shell suit. Not to be missed!

This Powerpoint introduces the historical context of witches in Macbeth with a true or false game where students have to identify the correct or incorrect statements about witches. Students are then given some information about James V1th’s role in witchcraft persecution. Before studying Act One Scene One they are presented with a modern translation so that they understand what is going on. They then read Shakespeare’s Act One Scene One and consider what was lost in the translation and why Shakespeare’s scene is much more powerful. Students enjoy reading and acting out the scene in groups. They are then asked to design three costumes for a modern version of the play, focusing on representing the witches as powerful, evil and frightening. At the end of the lesson, you can show them Roman Polanski’s opening scene and compare and contrast their costumes with Polanski’s choices. Could be used as a precursor to my lesson on the witches’ spell; as part of an introduction to Shakespeare or as part of a scheme on Macbeth.

Using Shakespeare’s famous spell from the witches in Macbeth, this Powerpoint allows students to explore Shakespeare’s language in a fun and interactive way. After considering why people might cast spells, students are given a cloze exercise and fit the missing ingredients into the spell. They then complete a matching exercise focusing on the meaning of the ingredients. Thirdly students categorise the ingredients and then finally they come up with appropriate ingredients for a sleeping spell. This could be a stand alone lesson introducing students to Shakespeare’s language; part of a scheme on Macbeth or a precursor to my follow-up lesson when students write their own spell. Powerpoint with answers and worksheet included.

This Powerpoint uses Bernard Levin’s fantastic poem “On Quoting Shakespeare” to illustrate to students the huge influence that Shakespeare had on the English language. The slideshow introduces how many words Shakespeare was responsible for creating; a brief biography of Levin and then the poem split up over 30 slides so that it can be read/performed to the class in a fun way. Students are then asked to explore what some of the idioms that he created mean. The zipped folder includes a worksheet with the idioms split up to be cut up and given to students and a copy of the poem itself.

Designed to last thirty minutes, this editable Powerpoint explains the rule of subject verb singular and plural agreement and contains three sets of exercises to clarify this rule. Firstly students are asked to choose the correct form of the verb “to be” in the present tense; next they have to choose the correct form of the verb “to have” in the present tense and finally the correct form between “was/were”. Students are also reminded about irregular foreign plurals. Help your students to become masters of standard English with this fun activity.

This twenty-two slide powerpoint introduces the poet and her relationship with her husband; focuses on key language features; scaffolds students to write two PEE paragraphs on language and allows them to investigate the sonnet form. It concludes with them considering how love is presented in the poem in preparation for an exam-style question.

This folder contains two powerpoints. One powerpoint covers how Shakespeare tried to please King James 1st by including ideas about witchcraft, and the divine right of kings in the play Macbeth to reassure James 1 after the Gunpowder Plot. There are lots of images of contemporary documents and portraits and the final task is for students to imagine that they are Shakespeare and to write a letter to his wife back home in Stratford-Upon-Avon, explaining his thought processes on why he chose to write Macbeth. The second powerpoint has ten multiple choice questions about witchcraft with answers, which can be used to spark discussion, followed by historical facts explaining the reasons for belief in witchcraft.

This introductory lesson to the greatest World War One poet includes sixteen slides about his life. The folder also contains a very moving letter that he wrote to his mother about a disastrous sentry duty that he had to undertake. The powerpoint concludes with a choice of activities inspired by this letter, such as highlighting all the powerful language and writing your own poem; responding to the letter as Owen’s mother; interviewing Owen and then writing up the interview as a newspaper report (planning sheets included). A great resource to celebrate the centenary of the end of World War One and can be used in both English lessons and history lessons. This can also be used as an introduction to the two other lessons on Dulce et Decorum Est and Exposure, both available here.

Two Lessons on AQA Power and Conflict cluster poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The first lesson gives detailed historical background with activities to understand the archaic vocabulary. Students then explore the poet’s use of language. Students are guided to discover why Tennyson adopted his point of view towards the soldiers and the charge. The second lesson explores the language further by explolding quotations showing the fear of the soldiers. Students are then supported to imagine that they were a survivor of the charge and to write a creative account of the battle using actual testimony from survivors and footage of a cavalry charge from “War Horse”.

Students explore John Agard’s use of irony in this clever poem. They are then supported to write a parody of the poem, rejecting any stereotypes of themselves. A multiple choice quiz worksheet is used as a starter to get students interested in the themes and ideas.