This is a short excerpt from Elbert Hubbard’s recount of the sinking of Titanic with 12 multiple choice questions (answers provided). This could be used as a starter activity or for homework. It could be used to structure a guided reading activity with the questions providing a starting point for a more in-depth discussion of the writer’s use of language. Alternatively, it could be used prior to teaching to identify gaps in knowledge so that the subsequent lesson can be more precisely focused.

This is a simple and straightforward multiple-choice quiz using a charming poem (public domain) with a focus on onomatopoeia as well as some questions to test inference, comprehension and recognition of personification. Answers are provided. Useful as a homework or as a starter.

A powerpoint lesson on the opening of “The Speckled Band”, planned for a middle-ability year 8 class but suitable at any point in KS3. The lesson begins with a settler activity looking at the word ‘axiom’ and drawing an inference about Sherlock Holmes from his maxim. Pupils are then guided through Watson’s opening narration, making inferences from selected evidence. The focus then turns to Helen Stoner whereupon the inference is developed into deduction and pupils’ attention is turned to what can be inferred and deduced from the simile - and how that simile can be linked to other aspects of the description. Finally, pupils are asked to draw an inference from the way in which two paragraphs of the story have been structured.

The extract used is the description of Jonathan Harker’s journey towards Dracula’s castle. There are 12 questions focusing mainly on the writer’s methods and their effect. Useful for homework or as a cover activity. Could also be used to structure a guided reading session.

This lesson uses questioning to elicit students’ knowledge of methods used by the writers and understanding of some of their effects. Students are asked to annotate their copies of the poems in the questioning phase of the lesson so that they can then use their notes to spend 40 minutes working independently on both sections of an exam-style question. The two poems used are by John Clare and Walter de la Mare, both called “Winter” (and both in the public domain so no issues with copyright).

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 14-question multiple-choice quiz (answers provided) on John Clare’s lovely sonnet about the spring. Could be used as a starter activity prior to a deeper analysis of the poem. Could work as a homework activity. The questions could be used to stucture a guided reading activity.

Created as a homework task as part of a unit on gothic horror, this would also work as a cover activity. It uses a short extract from “The Mysteries of Udolpho” by Ann Radcliffe and there are 8 questions, most requiring a more extended answer, focusing on analysis. Useful for honing the reading skills that will be tested at GCSE and for exploring a less common text from the genre of gothic horror.

Created for a year 7 class as part of a unit of work on “Treasure Island”, this lesson invites the children to explore Masefield’s poem, “Sea Fever”, identifying the speaker’s attitude towards the sea and focusing on the use of personification and other language features. The lesson uses hinge questions at key points, requiring all children to feed back with one from a choice of answers. In my classroom we use our arms to make letter shapes; you could use mini-whiteboards. At the end of the lesson, the children are asked to produce a written response focusing on Masefield’s use of personification and two other language features of their choice, explaining what’s revealed about the speaker’s attitude towards the sea (and here you could introduce or embed the idea of viewpoint). There is a separate homework available for this lesson which is a series of multiple-choice questions about the poem.

Created for my year nine group as part of a non-fiction SOW on journeys, this uses Scott’s diary and focuses on the pupils using their skills of inference to link Scott’s feelings to his use of language. The lesson culminates with the writing of a P.E.E response.

Useful for a homework task or for cover, this uses the description from “Dracula” where Jonathan Harker is being driven through the Transylvanian darkness to Dracula’s castle. The questions are divided into four sections: vocabulary, information retrieval, inference and the effect of the writer’s methods. This worksheet could be used to structure a guided reading session.

This 9-slide powerpoint has the aim: link ideas about the moon to characters in the play. Pupils are invited to think about how the moon is used to deepen the characters of the fairies. The lesson invites discussion and the sharing of ideas, to be recorded in a Venn diagram which is then used as the basis of a more formal written response.

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 straightforward worksheet, suitable for cover, revision or homework, asking students to identify some of Sherriff’s motifs in “Journey’s End”, to find evidence of where they’re used in the text and to comment on their effect.

This uses John Clare’s “First Love”. There are 7 comprehension questions, the ideas from which can be used to annotate the poem in preparation for tackling the exam-style question at the bottom of the page. The questions could structure a class/small group discussion before the students work independently on the exam-style question. Useful for cover, for homework or for revision.

This is a straightforward quiz on Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 29. Answers are provided. This could be used for revision or homework. Alternatively, it could be used to structure a reading of the poem.

Planned for a year 8 class as part of a unit of work on Charles Dickens, this lesson focuses on Dickens’s use of setting for characterisation. The extract used (a short one; printable is on slide 11); prior to that, the pupils are asked to look at the description of the Chocolate Room from ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, explaining how Dahl’s use of colour suggests the character of Willy Wonka. There is then a focus on concrete nouns and pupils are asked what these suggest about Willy Wonka - what aspect of his personality they might reflect. Having built confidence in this skill, the focus then shifts to the more challenging text - from ‘Great Expectations’. Having gone through some text marking, pupils are then asked to share what they think the setting suggests about Miss Havisham - then pick one aspect of that setting and write up an analytical paragraph. For homework, pupils are asked to describe a room that gives the reader clues as to their own character - describing the room’s colour, temperature, listing at least 3 concrete nouns and mentioning the view from the window.

Created for a less confident year 11 group in the run-up to their first mock exam, this powerpoint makes it clear and explicit which skills are tested and required to answer question 4 on paper 1. The lesson walks the students through those skills and culminates in a model (if one is needed). The text used is from “Frankenstein”.