This is a lesson on the poem ‘Hurricane Hits England’ by Grace Nichols The lesson starts by asking students to think about the impact of hurricanes and there’s a link to a video recital of the poem. Students are then introduced to the ‘WPSLOMP’ method of analysing poetry which they can then apply in pairs before colour coding any imagery and key poetic devices. The ideas they pull together for this can then be explored as a class and there are slides which reveal the devices for them to then write about. The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with a generic success criteria. There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills. As with all my lessons, there are ‘Talk for Writing’ activities and Challenge tasks for more able students. Attached is; A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined A copy of the poem with a word box.

In this lesson students are asked to explore how a writer can write in vivid detail and create tension. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit on autobiography. The lesson starts by asking students to read the information on the first slide about who Dame Ellen is and what she achieved. They are to list feelings words associated with her feat. There is a slide with illustrates her route and there’s a link to an online video about her journey. After students read the extract from her autobiography (which is attached), they are to consider in pairs how she starts in an interesting way. This first paragraph is on a slide which you can annotate with the class. After this stage they can consider two chosen quotes on the next slide where Ellen uses imagery in order to create an effect. This task is linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. The whole extract has been pasted onto these slides and there is some space around the text if you want to annotate it when going over it with the class. The plenary asks students to consider what questions they would ask Ellen after reading this. There is a suggestion of a written activity where they can exercise some of skills discussed today. This lesson, as my other lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how a writer can write in vivid detail and create tension. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit on autobiography. The lesson starts by asking students to write down what they know about Jessica Ennis. Other suggested starter tasks include listing synonyms for the word ‘victorious’. There is a slide with explains who Ennis is and why she is famous as well as a link to an online video narrated by her. There’s also a list of synonyms that they may wish to use later in the lesson. There is a group task for students to do after reading the extract from her autobiography where they are given 4 questions on the board and a challenge task. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. Students are then asked to colour code where in the article Jessica uses particular devices in order to create tension (emotive words, feelings, senses, metaphors). The extract has been pasted on some slides with the devices already shaded in for you so it’s quick and easy to go through with the class. There is some space around the text if you want to annotate it. The plenary asks students to write a paragraph describing their own victorious sporting achievement in an interesting way, using the key descriptive skills. There is a slide to set up a peer assessment. This lesson, as my other lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how authors promote their autobiographies by writing engaging blurbs. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit on autobiography. The lesson starts by asking students to think about the difference between autobiographies and biographies as well as the meaning of root words - auto, bio, graphy. There is a slide to reveal the answers. There is a group task for students to do after reading a selection of blurbs where they are given 4 questions on the board. Thes extracts are from the autobiographies of Colleen Rooney, Michelle Obama and A Street Cat Named Bob. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. There are slides with the text on for teachers to annotate on a smart board. The plenary asks students to write a mini blurb introduce themselves and their lives using the key descriptive skills to engage a reader. There is a slide suggesting a peer assessment, referring to a success criteria. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how the narrator introduces her home and family. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit on autobiography. The lesson starts by asking students to ‘think, pair, share’ about what a narrative voice is and how stories may be told. There is a slide with explains the different points of view. There is a group task for students to do after reading the extract where they are given 4 questions on the board and a challenge task. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. There are slides with the text on for teachers to annotate on a smart board. The plenary asks students to write a paragraph describing their home and family in an interesting way using the key descriptive skills. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how Roald Dahl describes his childhood in chapter 12 of his autobiography, Boy. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit. The lesson starts by asking students to ‘think, pair, share’ about what it would be like to go to boarding school. They are then to read chapter 12. There is an extract attached which students can stick into their book. There is a group task for students to do after reading the chapter where they are given 4 questions on the board and a challenge task. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. There are slides with the text on for teachers to annotate on a smart board. There is a slide which demonstrates to students how they can structure an essay. The plenary asks students to write an essay paragraph using the SQUID structure provided. There is a slide which demonstrates how students can peer assess each others’ essay writing skills. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how Roald Dahl describes his childhood in chapter 5 and 6 of his autobiography, Boy. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit. The lesson starts by asking students to discuss how tension can be created in fiction within a pair. There is a challenge task which asks students to think about how pace can also contribute. There are some slides which reveal some ideas that they could have thought about in terms of language and structure (a useful introduction to GCSE skills). Students are then to read chapter 5 and 6 which describe the fall-out Dahl and his friends suffered after the ‘Great Mouse Plot’ involving Mrs Pratchett! Students are then to stick the attached sheet into their books which has quotes from this anecdote which demonstrate the tension that Dahl creates. Students are to annotate these in pairs and consider how he uses language and structural devices to do so. These tasks are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3. The plenary asks students to plot the moments of tension onto a line style graph. There is a template for this attached. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of quotes/extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how Roald Dahl describes his childhood in chapter 4 of his autobiography, Boy. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit. The lesson starts by asking students to ‘think, pair, share’ about when they may have been surreptitious. They are then to read chapter 4. There is a group task for students to do after reading the chapter where they are given 4 questions on the board and a challenge task. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. There are slides with the text on for teachers to annotate on a smart board. The plenary asks students to write an essay paragraph using the SQUID structure provided. There is a slide which demonstrates how students can self assess their essay writing skills. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how Roald Dahl describes his childhood in chapter 3 of his autobiography, Boy. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit. The lesson starts by asking students to discuss Dahl’s villains and what they have in common. There is a challenge task which asks students to think about the complexities of what a villain is. Students are then to read the last couple of pages of chapter 3 (extract attached here) about Mrs Pratchett who owned a sweet shop. Students are then asked to discuss a list of questions on the board within a group about the extract. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. The plenary asks students to write an essay paragraph about Mrs Pratchett, using the SQUID structure provided. There is a slide which demonstrates how students can peer assess each other’s writing. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks (a separate document is attached with GCSE style Language paper 1 style questions) Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how Roald Dahl describes his childhood in chapter 3 of his autobiography, Boy. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit. The lesson starts by asking students to discuss their favourite sweets with a partner and they are then to read the chapter. There is a handout attached which is a template of a sweet jar which they can stick in their books and label with the quotes they find about Dahl’s favourite sweets mentioned in the text. The plenary asks students to write a descriptive paragraph about their favourite sweets using key skills, using Dahl’s writing as inspiration. The key skills which are mention fit into the ‘MASSIVEOP’ acrostic. There is a handout for this also attached. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Differentiated tasks (challenge tasks in red) Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how Roald Dahl describes his childhood in chapter 2 of his autobiography, Boy. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit. The lesson starts by asking students to discuss their memories of being 6/7 years old as Dahl was in this chapter. There is a challenge task relating to the meaning of ‘kindergarten’. There is a group task for students to do after reading the chapter where they are given questions on the board and a challenge task. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. The plenary asks students to write a descriptive paragraph about their first day at school using key skills, using Dahl’s writing as inspiration. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

In this lesson students are asked to explore how Roald Dahl describes his childhood in chapter 1 of his autobiography, Boy. It would ideal to use as part of a KS3 unit. The lesson starts by asking students to read the preface and respond to it in pairs. There is a group task for students to do after reading the chapter where they are given 4 questions on the board and a challenge task. All questions are linked to the GCSE reading skills AO1, 2, 3 where they have to think about language, structure and the readers’ reactions. There are slides with the text on for teachers to annotate on a smart board as well as a map to show the area in Wales in which Dahl grew up. The plenary asks students to discuss anecdotes about members of their own family which links to the text. This lesson, as my other Literature lessons do, includes: Starter tasks which introduce the main idea of the lesson Handouts of extracts/text Differentiated tasks Opportunities for pair and group talk within activities (‘Talk for Writing’)

This lesson asks students to analyse what Sheila Birling’s dialogue shows about her as a character and consider how the audience is meant to react. The lesson starts by asking students to list the moment important moments in the play involving her. There is a ‘challenge task’ also provided which asks them to think about what she may symbolise to a modern audience. There is a list of quotes from across the play attached as a handout which students can think about in pairs and they can then be annotated on the board by students/the teacher. Students are then asked to list the positive and negative aspects of her character and what she does across the play. The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with the AQA English Literature GCSE success criteria which can be adapted for your course. There are 3 options on how to approach essay writing: ‘layers of meaning’, PEA, or the ‘reading ladder’ which follow the same idea. There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills.

This is a lesson inspired by the idea published by the National Poetry Society. It invites students to plan and write a piece of creative writing based on a physical object - here a button from an item of clothing. All you need is a jar of assorted buttons to inspire your students! This works really well with students of all year groups and abilities. The resources attached take students through the various stages of planning, writing and reflection time. As with all my lessons, there are ‘Talk for Writing’ activities and Challenge tasks for more able students. Attached is; A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined (it could of course be broken down into different lessons) A Word document planning grid which you can edit if needed.

‘Free Writing’ is where students write ‘stream of consciousness’ style passages under timed pressure without a chance to pause or worry about planning first. It’s asking them to be creative, impulsive and to take risks. I have designed this to be a series of 8 tasks done in ‘rounds’ which are clearly marked, however you may want to use them as starters across a few lessons. There is a template for each round if you’d like to use it. Blowing it up to A3 will obviously mean that students would have more space in which to write. There is an opportunity to peer assess at the end of each round so that students can see what others have done. All images are copyright free. Of course they can be adapted to suit your students’ needs.

This is a popular speaking and listening game which can also be used in other subjects other than English. How to play: One student stands in front of the board whilst each slide is projected (these show images and the ‘taboo’ words). They cannot turn around and look at what’s behind them. The rest of the class have to raise their hands and describe what’s behind them WITHOUT using any of the words listed. Their aim is to get the standing student to say the word at the top of the board. This game is based on the novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. It’s a great way to revise the novel once you’ve finished it - many of the slides refer to key themes and moments in the story. There are 38 slides which can be adapted to suit your class’s ability. All images are taken from Open Clip Art.

This is an English lesson on the poem ‘Prayer Before Birth’ by Louis Macneice.The speaker of the poem is an unborn child asking for assistance in a cruel world which it will soon be born into. It discusses the themes of cruelty, injustice and freedom which can be linked to other poems taught within a unit. The lesson begins by asking students to decide what advice they would give to a younger sibling about life, based on their own life experiences. This can then open an interesting class discussion. Students are then introduced to the ‘WPSLOMP’ method of analysing poetry which they can then apply in pairs before colour coding quotes which are examples of positive and negative imagery as well as some more challenging features such as simile, metaphor and repetition. The ideas they pull together for this can then be explored as a class and the slides can be annotated by the teacher on the board and there are also some quotes colour coded as the answers. Three slides follow this which have pulled individual quotes from the first three stanzas which the class can brainstorm one at a time. The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with an adaptable success criteria but this can be adapted for your course. Here I have used SQUID (Statement, Quote, Infer, Device/Develop which is similar to PEA). There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills. As with all my lessons, there are ‘Talk for Writing’ activities and Challenge tasks for more able students. Attached is: -A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined An alternative word search style starter using images to allow student to guess the meanings of harder words -The poem with a word bank on it (2 can be printed to an A4 page or 1 to a page) -Link to online videos (see ‘Notes’ under slides). -An extension task: write a poem giving advice to another about life, using this poem as inspiration. All images are from Openclipart.org.

This is an English lesson on the poem ‘America’ by the Jamaican born poet Claude Mckay. In it he explores his feelings about becoming an American citizen and lamenting how badly black people were treated by the establishment. It discusses the themes of prejudice and freedom which can be linked to other poems taught within a unit (see my poem on Frederick Douglass in my shop). The lesson begins by asking students to make judgements based on a group of images and consider the lifestyle of black Americans within the 1920s when Claude had moved there. There is then a slide which introduces them to some facts about the social context and another which offers facts about McKay’s life. There is then a slide reminding students of how sonnets are constructed and asks them to identify the clues that suggest that this poem is one and why that would be appropriate considering the content. Students are then introduced to the ‘WPSLOMP’ method of analysing poetry which they can then apply in pairs before colour coding quotes which are examples of personification and imagery well as some more challenging features. The ideas they pull together for this can then be explored as a class and the slides can be annotated by the teacher on the board and there are also some quotes colour coded as the answers. The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with an adaptable success criteria but this can be adapted for your course. Here I have used SQUID (Statement, Quote, Infer, Device/Develop which is similar to PEA). There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills. As with all my lessons, there are ‘Talk for Writing’ activities and Challenge tasks for more able students. Attached is: -A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined -The poem with a word bank on it -Link to online videos (see ‘Notes’ under slides). -An extension task: write a poem about your country (here the UK) using this poem as inspiration. All images are from Openclipart.org or Wiki Commons.

This is an English lesson on the poem ‘Frederick Douglass’ by Robert Hayden which explores the legacy of the escaped slave who became an Abolitionist campaigner. It discusses the themes of prejudice and freedom which can be linked to other poems taught within a unit. The lesson begins by asking students to consider their emotional reaction to images portraying Afro-Americans in the 1830s. There is then a slide which introduces them to Frederick Douglass and offers facts about his life as well as providing a video link. Students are then introduced to the ‘WPSLOMP’ method of analysing poetry which they can then apply in pairs before colour coding quotes which are examples of repetition and positive and negative ideas / imagery, as well as some more challenging features. The ideas they pull together for this can then be explored as a class and the slides can be annotated by the teacher on the board and there are also some quotes colour coded as the answers. Students are then asked to think about structure and there is a slide which asks them to consider why the poet broke the rules of a sonnet in this poem. The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with an adaptable success criteria but this can be adapted for your course. Here I have used SQUID (Statement, Quote, Infer, Device/Develop which is similar to PEA). There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills. As with all my lessons, there are ‘Talk for Writing’ activities and Challenge tasks for more able students. Attached is: A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined The poem with a word bank on it Links to online videos/readings (see ‘Notes’ under slides). An extension task: write a poem about your chosen hero using this poem as inspiration. All images are from Openclipart.org or Wiki Commons.

This is perfect as an end of term treat! This is a powerpoint containing 42 challenging questions about the play as a whole as well as the answers to them which are to be found at the end of the presentation. I have asked the class to get into groups/houses and then asked them to write their answers on a piece of paper. They can swap their answers with another group and at the end, the answers are revealed question by question so you can see which areas they struggled with. This is ideal for a higher set because there are some sneakier questions but this can easily be adapted. It should take up the best part of an hour's lesson.