This is a single powerpoint slide that could be printed off or displayed. The task asks the children to read two extracts from Kenneth Grahame’s “The Reluctant Dragon” (public domain). There are then two activities - one to test basic comprehension and the second requiring more evaluative thinking. Planned for a mixed-ability year 7 group but would also work for KS2. Useful as part of a unit on myths and legends.

This worksheet has 10 questions (suggested answers provided). The extract used is from “The Reluctant Dragon” by Kenneth Grahame which is in the public domain. The focus is on comprehension and reading fluency. Created for a mixed-ability year 7 class as a cover activity but is very accessible for KS2. Could be set for homework; alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading activity.

A simple powerpoint that can be used for first teaching of the poem but which would also work as cover or as a homework activity. Easily adaptable to set more or fewer tasks from the grid. Could also be extended to explore what aspects of Dunbar’s life and experience could have inspired the poem.

This powerpoint was created for year 9 who were embarking on some GCSE poetry at the end of the academic year. The key question asks what Blake is saying about life in industrial cities and the focus is on several of the key images in the poem. The lesson introduces the key question at the outset and returns to it at the end.

Planned for a less able KS4 class, this powerpoint recaps some of the key ideas from Stave 1 of “A Christmas Carol”. The focus is on Scrooge and the lesson aims to embed the idea that Scrooge is in very real danger of going to hell and that time is running out. The lesson also touches on how Dickens uses setting for the characterisation of Scrooge.

Created as a cover activity for a KS4 class, this uses an image and a GCSE-style task. There are prompts for sentence starters, verb and adjective use and proof-reading. Could be used as a homework activity or for revision. It could also be used to structure and lead a guided writing activity.

Planned for a less able class at GCSE, this powerpoint is focused on the presentation of Scrooge at the end of the novella. There are a couple of recall activities; key knowledge is flagged up and public domain illustrations are used to support comprehension.

This lesson was planned as part of a unit on gothic horror for y8 but could work for any class at KS3. The powerpoint includes both reading and writing activities. The lesson forms part of a SOW focusing on writing in the gothic genre. The initial focus is on the characterisation of Dracula and the creation of a foil. The focus then moves to the idea of characterisation through setting and introduces the idea of “Frankenstein”.

This worksheet was created as a cover activity for a year 7 group who were studying a unit on poetry. It could be assigned to any class at KS3. The focus is on the use of extended metaphor and two poems are used, one by Shakespeare and the other by Langston Hughes. Useful for improving reading fluency and practising comprehension. Could be set for cover or for homework or alternatively the questions could be used to structure a reading intervention or guided reading session.

This ppt is a single slide with a copy of the poem (public domain) and with questions alongside intended to prompt thinking and annotation. This could be used prior to an unseen poetry response or to support independent approaches to reading and considering an unseen poem.

This powerpoint was created to help students revise the poetry anthology. It deals with four of the poems: “Remains”, “Storm on the Island”, “Exposure” and “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. The focus is on reassuring the students that they don’t have to memorise entire poems but that they must have secure knowledge of what the writer is communicating and be able to refer to the poem to support that knowledge.

This powerpoint was planned to help a KS4 class hone their skills of reading fluency when it comes to pinpointing a writer’s viewpoint and explaining how it’s communicated. The powerpoint uses an extract from Charles Dickens in which Dickens describes people who have been unable to acccess the workhouse and then uses an extract from Albert Smith in which he describes the play of impoverished children in the 1800s. Useful preparation for reading pre-1914 non-fiction at GCSE. Also useful in conjunction with “A Christmas Carol”.

This is a straightforward reading starter activity created for a lower ability class in year 11 (targets of 2 and 3). It uses an extract from “Dracula” in which Mina Harker’s diary records details of weather and setting. There are questions focusing on the effect of the writer’s use of repetition and on the effect of the connotations of death. There is a further challenge question on the repetition of an idea. Suggested responses are provided and these could be used for self or peer assessment or as models.

This is a simple close reading and response activity using Walter de la Mare’s festive poem, “Mistletoe”. There are four questions and the second slide offers suggested responses although the questions are sufficiently open to enable a range of responses.

These are the slides that I used to take my class through a first reading of “A Taste of Honey”, their set text for AQA GCSE English Literature. There are 67 slides in total. We read the play before beginning our close study.

Here are three poems by Emily Dickinson (public domain) with simple questions to guide an analytical reading of each one. Suggested answers and ideas are provided. These could be used as a teaching resource to build students’ confidence when approaching unseen poetry. Alternatively, they can structure a guided reading session or be set for homework, revision or cover.

This lesson was planned for a group with target grades of 2, 3 and 4. It uses a recount from a Titanic survivor alongside the Ben Fogle text that was used by AQA in the 2019 series (slightly shortened for less resilient readers). The powerpoint guides the reading of both sources, one at a time, and then gives an opportunity for modelling a paragraph before the students have a go independently. At the end of the powerpoint is another very short extract - a recount by a Titanic survivor - with some questions for discussion and an exam style language question (paper 1, question 2 and paper 2, question 3).

This is a short and simple activity using an excerpt from Dickens’s recount of a train journey to France (“The Flight”). There are some questions to prompt analytical thinking about Dickens’s use of language and then an exam-style question at the end. This was created for a KS4 class as a revision activity in preparation for GCSE English Language but could also work at KS3.

This activity uses a short excerpt from Dickens’s non-fiction writing and guides the students up to and through the writing of a model paragraph, after which the expectation would be that they would then apply the model to the writing of their own paragraph. The focus is on recognising the writer’s viewpoint and then explaining how that viewpoint is communicated through the language choices made.

This is a simple and straightforward revision powerpoint using William Howard Russell’s recount of a hurricane during the Crimean War (public domain) and taking the students through three steps in order to write an answer to the exam-style question: how does the writer use language to describe the storm. A model answer is provided for use after the students have had an attempt at their own response. Planned for a lower ability class of students with targets of 3. Could be useful for re-sit groups.