This folder contains everything that you need to understand Maya Angelou’s brilliantly uplifting poem. A 48 slide Powerpoint introduces the poem and then goes through the significant features verse by verse. A separate Word timeline of facts from the advent of slavery in America to the Civil Rights Movement contextualises the poem. Follow-up activities include visualising the positive images used in the poem. A copy of the poem is also included.

This forty-four slide powerpoint on “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson contains four lessons covering the four sections of the poem and a final writing assessment task. The folder includes: Powerpoint with four lessons, using paintings by Sir John Waterhouse and others to inspire and engage students. A storyboard of the setting in Part 1. Comprehension questions on Part 2. Image of Sir Lancelot to analyse his presentation in Part 3. Opportunities to explore the themes and symbolic meaning of the poem. Two worksheets to support the task of writing about the lady and the events in the poem from the point of view of Sir Lancelot. These resources will help your students to fully engage with Lord Tennyson’s beautiful, magical and mysterious poem.

Many students write stories in which they jump between the present and the past tenses. This Powerpoint explains the difference between the simple past and the simple present tenses and contains a variety of exercises to encourage tense consistency and to help them to feel more confident. The zipped file also contains two informative and practical follow-up worksheets which ask students to put a passage about William the Conqueror into the past tense. The other worksheet asks them to put information about the Titanic into the past tense also.

Teach your students how to write a ballad poem using the life of ex-slave and slave rescuer, Harriet Tubman. Celebrating the heroic life of Harriet Tubman, this twenty slide powerpoint shows how her life story was made into a ballad by Eloise Crosby Culver. Students then study the key features of ballads and are invited to add an extra verse of their own to the ballad, with historical information about the great lady. Students are then tasked with writing their own ballads about either a fictional or real person. Links in well with writing a ballad about Kissin' Kate Barlow from "Holes".

Two lessons using the opening of 1984 to introduce students to the features of dystopian fiction with a particular emphasis on Orwell’s use of pathetic fallacy in the introduction. The lesson sequence is as follows: Lesson 1 Starter on what students think makes a perfect world. Explanation of origin of term dystopia. Examples of dystopian fiction for children. Overview of 1984 without spoilers. Analysis of techniques used in opening to establish the dystopian atmosphere of the novel. Zoom in on Orwell’s use of pathetic fallacy. Students identify examples. Answers on slide. Discussion regarding living in this kind of world. Lesson 2 Students return to their original thoughts on what makes a perfect world. Narrative writing in preparation for AQA GCSE English Paper One Narrative Writing. Choice of writing a story about a perfect world or writing a story inspired by a picture of the Earth. Both with focus on using pathetic fallacy and sensory description. Folder includes 24 slide powerpoint and copy of extract of opening. Students are quite rightly fascinated by this amazing novel.

A fun quiz with twenty logos that students have to guess before designing a logo to represent themselves. Could be done as a one-off lesson or as part of a Media Studies scheme.

Full scheme of work comprising of lessons on each of the twenty-three chapters of the book. This powerpoint contains approximately two hundred slides. Each lesson features a starter, main and plenary and is designed to encourage students to create their own autobiographical writing, inspired by Roald Dahl’s experiences.

Full scheme of work with one lesson per chapter, totalling twenty-one chapters on Benjamin Zephaniah’s teen classic “Face”. Also included are narrative writing tasks; a literature essay on Martin’s character and a letter to Mr Zephaniah after reading the text. This full scheme of work would suit year 8 students and has lots of literacy activities on prefixes, suffixes, abbreviations, puns, complex sentences etc, all linked to the novel. There are also opportunities to explore in depth the key themes of friendship and bravery. Every class I have ever taught this novel to have absolutely loved it. Hook your students in with some of Mr Benjamin Zephaniah’s magic.

In 2016 over three hundred scientists wrote an open letter to argue that the United States should not leave the Paris climate change agreement, which was under threat by Donald Trump. This folder contains a Word copy of the letter; a Word copy of the letter annotated with the language techniques used and a Powerpoint (30 slides)that introduces the letter; includes the letter; reviews the techniques and then suggests ideas for students to write their own open letters on a topic of interest to them. Step-by-step help to learn how to write to persuade and to argue a case.

This fifty slide powerpoint on Sherlock Holmes could be used as background to the study of a Conan Doyle text; as part of a crime writing scheme of learning; or as a one off lesson to get students to create their own detective character. The folder includes: A powerpoint with brainstorming activity on different fictional detectives; a ten question quiz on the character traits of Sherlock Holmes; historical background information about how Conan Doyle created Holmes and his popularity. A worksheet to support students to create their own detective. Follow-up comprehension questions to consolidated the learning for homework.

Three lessons and two worksheets on John Agard’s brilliant poem “Checking Out Me History”. The first lesson uses a worksheet to enable students to discover the eight historical figures referred to in the poem and to discuss their own experience of history education. The second lesson covers the theme of the poem, focusing on how Agard presents identity. Using a worksheet and activity, students then explore their own identity. Finally, the third lesson looks at how Agard uses imagery of seeing in his work and students are then supported to create original and interesting imagery of their own.

Help your students to recognize and identify bias in newspaper reports. Students are presented with two newspaper reports which they have to make more biased using the techniques that they have identified throughout the lesson. Help your students to become more savvy readers of the media.

Nineteen lessons on this classic novel, which students love. Lessons explore the key theme of friendship, as well as lots of opportunities for literacy work. Assessment material included on writing a character analysis of Stanley.

Have fun learning about the influence of the Viking language of Old Norse on the English Language. The powerpoing lesson begins with students having to guess the Old Norse words from clues; then they use spelling patterns introduced by the Vikings to guess more words introduced to the language. Finally students are given lots of examples of the Vikings’ poetic form of kennings and have to come up with five of their own to describe modern objects. They then make a poster to celebrate their success.

Inspire an interest in reading by telling your students about the fascinating life and work of Michael Morpurgo. This thirty slide Powerpoint covers his early life, his career, marriage and work. Find out the amazing story about how he discovered the identity of his biological father and how the author’s note at the beginning of War Horse was a little white lie until 2011. Finally there are four choices of activities for students to complete ranging from researching one of his books to writing an article about him. Students find real lives interesting, so this is a good way to hook them into reading.

Five lessons on Alfred Noyes’ romantic and ghostly poem “The Highwayman”. The lesson sequence is as follows; Lesson 1: Background information on highwaymen. Class questions on plot to clarify understanding and worksheet cloze exercise to consolidate understanding. Lesson 2: Similes in poem with worksheet and then opportunity for students to create their own similes. Lesson 3: Metaphors in poem with worksheet and then opportunity for students to create their own metaphors. Lesson 4: Sound effects: Worksheet on alliteration, onomatopoeia,rhythm and rhyme. Activities for students to create alliteration poem and brainstorm more onomatopoeic words. Lesson 5: Discussion of key themes - loyalty, betrayal, death and love. Students plan a story on one of these themes as final assessment. Links to AQA GCSE English Paper One Section B: Write a story. 56 slide powerpoint and six worksheets in folder with copy of poem.

This thirty-eight slide powerpoint contains information about the life and career of the renowned author Philip Pullman. Learn about his early work before becoming famous for ‘His Dark Materials’. There are five ideas for creative writing inspired by Pullman’s work, such as writing a story in which the character goes through a portal to making a pact with a supernatural force. Students will be intrigued by Pullman’s imaginative world.

A set of twelve comprehension questions on the opening to Ray Bradbury’s novel helps students to subsequently tackle the English Literature exam-style question ‘How does the writer present Montag in the opening of the novel’. The folder includes a Powerpoint with starter activity and an exemplary introduction to the exam question, as well as a Word copy of the opening and a Word set of comprehension questions.

Diglington is a fictional seaside resort on the east coast of England, which is jam-packed with fun activities for the family. After studying the eleven page brochure with seven different sections full of language techniques and inspiration, students follow the eleven slide powerpoint to create a holiday brochure for a holiday destination of their choice. This is an ideal opportunity to research a real destination, or simply turn your home town into a holiday destination, using the language techniques that you have learnt. The folder contains two brochure, both word documents, one of which is marked up with comments. This activity will provide hours of fun as students become absorbed in their destination.

This lesson begins with a quiz to see if the students can guess which animal is being described by the poet. They are given a second chance to guess the animal with a series of images to represent each line of the poem. After a short analysis of the writer’s message, students are then given help to write their own six-line poem on an animal of their choice. Students are then guided through the re-drafting and presentation process. A fun couple of lessons that can link into work on animal rights. Alternatively, it could be used to set up a school poetry competition.