This activity uses Ambrose Bierce’s caustic poem in which Bierce is fiercely critical of government and monarchy. There are 24 multiple-choice questions (answers provided). This could be used as a homework activity after a study of the poem. Alternatively, it could be set as pre-reading to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching of the poem can be more precisely focused. Could also be used to structure a guided reading session.

This is a multiple-choice quiz (answers provided) on Christina Rossetti’s love poem, “A Birthday”. The quiz could be set for homework to consolidate students’ understanding of the poem after it’s been taught. Alternatively, it could be used as a pre-reading activity to identify any confusion or misconception so that subsequent teaching can be more precisely focused. The quiz could be used to structure a guided reading session or to open up the poem for a wider discussion.

This multiple choice quiz has answers provided and there are 21 questions on Robert Graves’ poem, “The Leveller”. This could be used for flipped learning or pre-reading so that gaps in knowledge and understanding can be identified and then made the focus of subsequent teaching. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session. Useful for homework or home learning.

This is a comprehension activity using a deleted segment from H.G.Wells’ “The Time Machine”, (cut from the novella but later published on its own as a short story). There are ten questions, focused on the reading skills that will be tested in the GCSE English Language exam: inference, analysis and evaluation (as well as a couple of questions on vocabulary). Could be used in class to support the development of these key skills or used as a homework or a cover activity.

This is a very straightforward activity using a short fragment from George Orwell’s “The Road to Wigan Pier” which describes a coal mine. Could be used for homework or as a starter activity. There are 10 multiple-choice questions that could be used to open up a discussion about the effect of the writer’s methods in a guided reading session.

This powerpoint was used very early in my teaching of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ to year 7. The overall aim is to establish whether Puck is a typical or an atypical fairy. The lesson begins with a focus on the meaning of ‘typical’, after which the pupils are asked to work together to create an acrostic poem using ideas about typical fairies. After that, the pupils are asked to work independently to write a cinquain about a typical fairy. The lesson then shifts to focus on a prose description of the fairy wood (from a re-telling of the play’s story) and the pupils are asked to identify aspects that are typical of fairies and aspects that are atypical, explaining their choices. This skill is then developed with a focus on Puck’s conversation with the fairy in which he outlines his role as Oberon’s jester. First of all, the extract is read and there is a quiz to aid understanding. Once any misconceptions have been identified and addressed through peer marking of the quiz, the pupils are asked to complete a grid explaining which aspects of Puck’s character are typical of a fairy and which aspects are atypical. Also provided is a multiple-choice quiz for homework, the intention of which is to embed and consolidate some of the learning from the lesson.

This is a very basic powerpoint display - one ppt is a list of language methods; one is a list of structural methods. Useful on the classroom wall for students to remind themselves which is which so they don’t analyse language when asked to explore structure - or vice versa. Could be made more detailed with examples of each method or could be jazzed up with colour or images.

This resource uses a poem called “The Walkers” by Robert William Service. The poem uses strong contrast to explore ideas about wealth and poverty - and gender. As a consequence, this poem would sit neatly alongside the teaching of “An Inspector Calls”. The resource features a multiple-choice quiz with 14 questions (answers provided) which is intended to furnish students with some ideas that they can then use in a response to the question: How does the writer express the two speakers’ ideas about where and why they walk? Suitable for use in class, for homework or as a task for home learning. *Please be aware that the female speaker has been driven to prostitution through poverty and there are references to this in the poem. *

This is a 28 slide powerpoint planned for stretch and challenge in y7 exploring Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses”. There is lots of questioning to support the reading of the poem and there are two writing tasks (Ulysses’ imagined farewell letter and Penelope/Telemachus’s persuasive speech to encourage Ulysses not to leave). The two writing tasks require the pupils to use Tennysons’ methods in their own writing.

This is a 30 slide powerpoint (intended to go across more than an hour!) planned for a year 11 group who are lacking in confidence. The texts used are excerpts from “Frankenstein” and “Dracula” (older texts than would be used in the exam, but not infringing copyright!) and the focus on reading is interspersed with some recall questions focusing on writing as well as a short writing task based on an image. Modelling is used prior to asking students to tackle questions independently. There are two examples of question 1 (information retrieval). Easily editable so that you can remove/add slides to increase the level of challenge for your own class. My intention was to ask students to glue into their books the shorter extracts which is why they appear at the end of the ppt for ease of printing. The longer extract from “Frankenstein” is a separate Word document.

This is a straightforward comprehension activity using a recount by George Finch and describing extreme weather during an expedition to climb Mount Everest. There are ten questions requiring a focus on analysis of the writer’s methods as well as some inference. The questions could be used as a starting point for a guided reading session and are useful for revision of key reading skills.

This is a straightforward comprehension activity, useful for home learning, for homework, for cover or to structure a guided reading activity (perhaps to assess and support the key reading skills of inference and anaysis). There are ten questions.

This is a short and simple activity that could be used as a homework, as a starter activity or for cover. It focuses on some of the reading skills that will be tested on AQA English Language Paper 2 and could be used to build students’ knowledge of the context of “A Christmas Carol”.

This is a multiple-choice quiz with 14 questions used to support the teaching of “A Christmas Carol” by giving students a bit of context in terms of Victorian poverty. Answers are provided. This could be used as a starter activity, as (originally planned) as homework or to structure a guided reading activity with less confident learners - some questions lend themselves to further discussion of ‘how’ and ‘why’ the writer’s methods work as they do.

This is a straightforward quiz on Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (answers provided). There are 20 questions, all multiple-choice. This could be used as a starter, homework or revision activity. Alternatively, it could be used prior to teaching to identify gaps in students’ knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching can be more sharply focused.

This is a simple and straightforward activity that uses Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Kiss”. There are 22 multiple-choice questions. This could be used as homework or a plenary after studying the poem in class. Alternatively, it could be used as a starter or as a pre-reading activity so that subsequent teaching can be more precisely focused. Answers are provided.

This is an editable powerpoint which focuses on some of the skills needed for AQA English Language. It was planned to go alongside “A Christmas Carol” to help with contextual knowledge and understanding. I refer to it as a lesson here - it was planned to go across a double lesson but depending on how you want to run the writing, it could be extended longer. The lesson begins with a focus on Victorian Christmas cards and a reminder to the students to vary their sentence openers - with an opportunity to practise this. The focus then changes to some pre-twentieth century non fiction describing children and women at work. There is an opportunity to polish and embed the reading skills of analysis and comparison. The powerpoint ends with an analysis task - a model is provided.

This could be used as a walking/talking mock exam. It’s a very straightforward powerpoint with example questions 1, 2, 3 and 4 from paper 1 of the AQA English Language exam. The powerpoint presents the questions and little more - there is some guidance to remind students how to approach question 2 and the Word document containing the extract has space on the right for students to make notes to help them answer question 3. The text used is pre-1914 so no worries about copyright infringement.

This is a simple and straightforward powerpoint using questioning to elicit ideas that the students can then use to annotate their texts or copies of the sonnet that is Romeo and Juliet’s first conversation. The lesson begins with a quick quiz (answers provided on the subsequent slide so pupils can mark their own). A couple of the questions could elicit deeper questioning. Thereafter, the questions focus on the language and structure of the sonnet.

Created for students to build confidence in reading texts written prior to 1914, this is an account from Henry Mayhew’s “London Labour and the London Poor” of an interview with a child working as a mudlark. Useful alongside the study of “A Christmas Carol” as another insight into poverty in the 19th century. There are 11 multiple-choice questions here (answers provided). The questions are intended to be straightforward but the Word document is easily editable for you to add or remove questions or change the level of difficulty to suit your own class. This could be used as a homework or a pre-reading activity so that students are already familiar with the text before you use it in class. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading activity. Some questions lend themselves to being developed in order to deepen understanding.