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Helliams's Shop

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(based on 109 reviews)

I have been teaching English for the last 12 years and worked in three very different schools all facing their own challenges. My aim is to want my students to love coming to their English lessons and involve them in the learning process as much as possible, encouraging them to be independent and resilient. Three years ago I completed an 'Outstanding Teachers Programme' which gave me lots of ideas to enhance my teaching skills. Many of these ideas have been built into my uploaded resources.

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I have been teaching English for the last 12 years and worked in three very different schools all facing their own challenges. My aim is to want my students to love coming to their English lessons and involve them in the learning process as much as possible, encouraging them to be independent and resilient. Three years ago I completed an 'Outstanding Teachers Programme' which gave me lots of ideas to enhance my teaching skills. Many of these ideas have been built into my uploaded resources.
'London' by William Blake - annotated poem and revision quiz
helliamshelliams

'London' by William Blake - annotated poem and revision quiz

(0)
An annotated version of the poem in detail - would be useful for higher end GCSE students studying the AQA Power and Conflict cluster or teachers who are unfamiliar with the poem. Also contains notes on context/form/structure as well as some discussion questions. Revision quiz also attached which could be used as a homework activity/consolidation task.
Introduction to Sonnet 130 for KS3
helliamshelliams

Introduction to Sonnet 130 for KS3

(0)
A lesson created for Year 7s to introduce them to the Shakespearean sonnet. The lesson mainly focuses on the meaning of the poem and deciphering/interpreting language as a starting point. I have included some activities on iambic pentameter at the end of the PowerPoint and also a homework to further knowledge and understanding of the structure of a sonnet.
Hitcher by Simon Armitage - Grammar focus
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Hitcher by Simon Armitage - Grammar focus

(0)
A resource I produced to help students look at the use of grammar and punctuation in the poem. It challenges them to think about why particular techniques/devices have been used as opposed to just understanding the subject of the poem. This idea could easily be adapted to suit other poems.
Analysing Poetry - 'Two Scavengers in a truck...'
helliamshelliams

Analysing Poetry - 'Two Scavengers in a truck...'

(0)
A lesson I used for a middle - high ability class who have just finished reading 'Of Mice and Men'. In order to challenge them further I got them to analyse the 'Two Scavengers poem' - they used a 6x6 grid to help them (you will need dice for this). They then used a venn to compare themes/ideas/characters from the poem to the novella. This was a really successful lesson and the students cam up with some amazing links. I was observed teaching this and received excellent feedback. I have also attached my lesson plan.
Zooming in and structuring a piece of descriptive writing
helliamshelliams

Zooming in and structuring a piece of descriptive writing

(0)
A fun way of getting students to zoom in on details of an image used as stimulus for descriptive writing. Students work in groups and are each given a section of the image to write about. They are then shown the whole image at the end and asked to write their final paragraph together. They are then encouraged to experiment with the structure of their paragraphs by deciding on an effective order, ending with feeding back to the class and explaining their choices.
Descriptive Writing with a twist! Suitable for KS3 or 4
helliamshelliams

Descriptive Writing with a twist! Suitable for KS3 or 4

(0)
This is a lesson I taught in order to get students thinking about how to write more descriptively and in a fun way. It involves them writing a 'pirate' story by using a 6x6 grid which gives them images as a stimulus for each sentence. They will need dice for this activity. After they have done this, they then think about techniques to improve their writing further (extract from 'Treasure Island' provided for students to get some ideas). They then create an up-levelled and improved version of the grid and challenge each other to improve their descriptions. Any feedback welcome!
Exciting Sentences
helliamshelliams

Exciting Sentences

(10)
Powerpoint based on some of Alan Peat's sentence types. Have found this really useful to help KS3 students vary sentence types. Could also be used with KS4.
Writing a formal letter of complaint
helliamshelliams

Writing a formal letter of complaint

(0)
A resource that I used with my Year 8 class. It involves watching a clip of 'Holidays from Hell' and then improving an informal letter of complaint. They are encouraged to create their own success criteria but are then given a more challenging one with a focus on use of grammar and punctuation for effect. They really enjoyed it! Feedback welcome!
War Photographer
helliamshelliams

War Photographer

(0)
A lesson with resources to help students independently analyse/annotate/explore the poem. The starter activity involves getting students to look at a wordle with jumbled words from the poem. I would ask students to pick out some words of interest in order to annotate, thinking about connotations/literal meaning etc. Based on this they can make their own predictions about the poem before reading it. The main body of the lesson involves them using a 6x6 grid (they will need dice for this). They should use the square they land on as the stimulus for them to annotate a particular part of the poem/spot or comment on a particular technique used. Students can also write their own questions using the Blooms Taxonomy question stems in order to create higher order questions. They can also swap questions throughout the lesson. (Please note the question stems are uploaded in my free resources.) Any feedback appreciated.
The Laboratory by Robert Browning
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The Laboratory by Robert Browning

(0)
A lesson suitable for either KS3 or 4 in order to encourage students to independently explore the poem by using a 6x6 grid. Dice are needed for the activities. Feedback welcome!
The Flying Nun by Tom Slemen - PEE activity in preparation for extended writing piece
helliamshelliams

The Flying Nun by Tom Slemen - PEE activity in preparation for extended writing piece

(0)
A lesson I taught to a lower ability KS3 group which gets them thinking about using PEE to write about a text. This will take a few lessons to teach. It also gives them some useful phrases in order to link their paragraphs together. A copy of the story is provided as well as a success criteria so students can self/peer assess after they have completed their final response to the question.
Is Curley's wife a victim or villain?
helliamshelliams

Is Curley's wife a victim or villain?

(0)
S&L lesson asking students to consider our initial impressions of Curley's wife. As discussion developed, I gave students some extra info from later in the novella to see if it influenced their ideas.
Recapping basic word classes: nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs
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Recapping basic word classes: nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs

(0)
This is a lesson I created for a very low ability Year 7 class as they were struggling with identifying the basic word classes. It involves them thinking of definitions and writing their own (guided by teacher). There are then some pictures as stimulus to get them identifying their own examples (I used mini whiteboards for this task). The students are finally given a picture for them to put into practice what they have learnt/recapped. There is an extension activity using some of the Alan Peat sentence types for further challenge. I ended the lesson by playing a silly sentence game where students are put into groups of 4 and come up with their own silly sentences by including the word classes they have learnt/recapped in the lesson. My students really enjoyed this (especially as I included pictures of my son!)
DIRT lesson - Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5
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DIRT lesson - Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5

(0)
This is a DIRT lesson which aims to get students to improve on a previous response. (Therefore you might want to get students to have a go at the task independently before using this lesson). The starter is a refutational text through which students are asked to spot the mistakes. This is also differentiated for different abilities. The students are then directed to look at a model answer and then fill in the venn diagram comparing their response to the model one.
Charge of the Light Brigade
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Charge of the Light Brigade

(0)
An annotated version of the poem useful for a lower ability group with the aim to get an understanding of the meaning of the poem. There are also some differentiated questions and a writing activity looking at different emotions experienced by the soldiers.