This lesson was planned for year 9 as they work on the skills that they’re going to need for GCSE. The lesson uses “Drought” by William Henry Ogilvie and takes the pupils through what we mean by a writer’s methods with a specific focus on personification. The lesson leads the pupils towards this question: In “Drought”, how does the poet present ideas about the speaker, Drought?" This lesson would also work at KS4, particularly in the early stages of teaching the response to the unseen poetry question.

Created for a year 8 class but suitable at the top of KS2 as well as KS3, this lesson uses the poem “Leisure” by William Henry Davies and asks the pupils to update the poem for their own context. Prior to that, however, the pupils are asked to explore and comment on the effect of the long vowel sounds and the simile used in the poem, being able to explain what is Davies’ message in the poem. My own class worked in pairs to create their own poems and I was genuinely impressed by many of the outcomes! They seemed to find that matching their ideas to Davies’ structure worked as a scaffold.

A 14-slide powerpoint, taking the students through the Inspector’s final speech with a focus on the features of language and structure used in the speech and an analysis of their effects. Planned for my mixed-ability year ten class, this lesson does emphasise that the Inspector is a vehicle for Priestley’s ideas and messages in the play.

Planned for a year 10 group all of whom have targets of a grade 5, this ppt leads the students through the presentation of Gerald Croft, up to the exploration of his affair with Daisy Renton. Students are encouraged to think about the method Priestley uses to link Gerald to Mr Birling, one way in which the theme of hypocrisy is explored and the way in which Gerald is used to explore the idea of different attitudes and values across generations.

The aim of this lesson is to explore the methods Shakespeare uses to present the character of Egeus. The lesson begins with a brief prose overview of the start of of the play and then the lesson moves to focus on Egeus’s speech to Theseus. The lesson uses questioning and asks the pupils to annotate their copy of the speech as well as zooming right in on a specific quotation and exploding it (again, through prompt questioning). There is a homework - a 10-question multiple-choice quiz intended to consolidate some of the learning from the lesson.

This is a comprehension activity based on the description of Fagin scuttling through the darkness to Bill Sikes. The Word document is editable so you can tailor the questions to suit the ability level of your class, if necessary. There are ten questions, some of which require extended answers, so this would be a useful activity for a cover lesson. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading activity.

This is a lesson focusing on the skills needed to tackle the unseen poetry question in paper 2 of the English Literature exam. The two poems used are “The Thunderstorm” by Emily Dickinson and “The Thunder Mutters” by John Clare (both public domain). Printable copies of the poems, for annotation, and the exam-style questions are on the final slide.

This is a revision (practice) powerpoint covering many of the skills required for English Language Paper 2. There is also an unseen poem which links thematically, so there’s a bit of Paper 2 Lit interleaved. There are three non-fiction texts, rather than two, so that there’s a greater breadth of reading during the revision period. The powerpoint ends with an exam-style paper 2 writing task.

14 tasks here that could be used for pick and mix homework or alternatively set for cover so that pupils can select their own task.

This is a straightforward comprehension activity using an excerpt from Conan Doyle’s gothic horror story, “Lot 249”. At this point in the story, Smith is being pursued by a re-animated mummy! There are ten questions. These could be set for homework or as cover as part of a unit on gothic horror. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session.

This powerpoint guides students through the AQA GCSE English Language paper question by question (in that there are example questions and some guidance). There’s too much here for an hour’s lesson - could be extended over two or even three lessons. The text is a heavily abridged segment from “Casino Royale” by Ian Fleming in which Bond faces his enemy, Le Chiffre at the casino.

This is a multiple choice quiz with 25 questions (answers provided) that could be used as a homework, as a revision activity or as a flipped learning activity, to support students working from home as they work through the poem independently - and then for the teacher to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding prior to teaching the poem. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a small-group revision or catch-up session. Some questions lend themselves to further exploration of the poem; others assess whether basic knowledge is in place.

Planned for a year 8 class, this explores Holmes’ and Watson’s vigil towards the end of “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”. Pupils are guided through an understanding of the meaning of tension. There is a text marking activity after which a grid is used to clarify their thinking. The lesson concludes with a piece of evaluative/comparative writing in which pupils are asked which of their identified methods is most successful in creating tension; which is least successful. Depending on the amount of modelling/scaffolding needed and the length at which you want your pupils to write, this lesson could be extended over two hours - although it was planned to occupy one hour.

Planned as part of a SOW for year 8 - a unit on Charles Dickens with a focus on characterisation - this lesson looks at Pip’s first visit to Satis House (chapter 8 of ‘Great Expectations’) and the first description of Miss Havisham. The aim of the lesson is to infer and deduce from description. Pupils are asked to explore the symbolism of colour, looking at the connotations of the colour used in the description of Miss Havisham. Their attention is drawn to the noun ‘lustre’ - this is used later to model a paragraph of analysis. Teaching strategies used are questioning, paired discussion and modelling.

Planned for year 8 but useful at any point in KS3, I think, this lesson focuses on using understanding of connotation to broaden and deepen understanding of Doyle’s characterisation of Dr Roylott as he appears in Sherlock Holmes’s rooms. Pupils are asked to look at the comparison of Dr Roylott to a bird of prey and think of the connotations of this noun, using the connotations in an explanation of what they understand about the character. Thereafter, their attention is turned to Doyle’s use of verbs. They are asked to choose the most effective verb - the one with the strongest connotations - and to use their work on the “bird of prey” comparison as a model to work more independently on their chosen verb.

In which Jonathan Harker attempts to leave Dracula’s castle but cannot… This worksheet has the excerpt from chapter 4 of Stoker’s novel together with ten questions which are intended to elicit close reading and thinking. The questions focus on inference, the writer’s methods and their effect and on vocabulary. Useful for homework or to set as cover. The questions could also be used to structure a guided reading session. Handy as part of a unit on gothic horror.

This uses the description from “Dracula” of Dracula’s ship arriving at Whitby in the midst of a terrible storm, steered only by a dead man… There are ten questions, focused mainly on the writer’s methods and their effect. This would be useful as a cover activity or for homework as part of a unit on gothic horror. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session.

Created for a year 9 class, this is a lesson on Wordsworth’s “Upon Westminster Bridge” which asks the students to identify the viewpoint expressed in the poem and then explore features of language and structure that help to convey that viewpoint. Also attached here is a multiple-choice quiz that I originally created as a homework to be used after the lesson in order to consolidate the learning.

Planned for my year 9 class as part of a unit of work on Journeys, introducing the skills and tasks of English GCSE, I have also used this with a year 10 group as we begin to tackle the unseen poetry question for English Literature. It uses Shakespeare’s sonnet 50 and is an opportunity to explore the sonnet form as well as the poet’s use of language and structural features.

Created for a more able year 8 class, this is a lesson on the description of Gradgrind from the start of “Hard Times”. The aim is to link Dickens’s use of language and structural features to his viewpoint. The lesson is scaffolded so that there is a grid for the pupils to complete explaining what they can infer about Gradgrind from the language used to describe him (there’s also a little bit on the Victorians’ belief that character could be gauged from facial features). After having completed the grid, the pupils then look at the longer excerpt and work more independently on an extended answer - though they can use the structure of their response in the grid to plan and guide that answer.