I created this short comprehension activity for my year 7 class to be used alongside their class reader, "Love That Dog". It uses an excerpt from "The Call of the Wild" describing Buck's kidnap. Alongside the extract are ten questions focusing on vocabulary and understanding. This works as a homework but could also be used as a cover activity. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session.

Created for a year 7 class as a homework to go alongside our class reader of 'Love That Dog', this is a comprehension (close reading and response) activity based on the segment from "The Call of the Wild" in which Buck fights Spitz to become top dog. There are 14 questions in total, focusing on vocabulary, inference and the effects of language. This would be a good cover activity or the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session.

Created for a mixed ability year nine class, this powerpoint takes the pupils through the poem, initially with a focus on Owen’s redrafting - what is the effect of ‘doomed youth’ rather than the initial ‘dead youth’. Throughout the lesson the pupils are asked to consider the effect of Owen’s language choices. There is a multiple-choice question focusing on the simile ‘who die as cattle’. In our classroom, we respond by using our arms to make the letters, YMCA-style. The question could as easily be answered using mini whiteboards. The lesson takes the pupils through a model paragraph of response focusing on the effect of the ‘as cattle’ simile; they’re then asked to produce a further three paragraphs working independently. Useful as a reading assessment or as part of a unit of work on war poetry. The intention is that this lesson begins to embed the skills on which the pupils will be tested at GCSE.

Created for a higher-ability year 7 class as part of a unit of work on "Treasure Island" and pirates, this lesson plan takes the pupils through "The Ballad of John Silver" by John Masefield. Using images and drama to embed the idea of writing having a mood, the lesson culminates with the pupils selecting one of the verses from the poem and re-writing it in script form (model given on one of the slides), creating the same mood as the original poem.

This lesson uses the excerpt in which Mrs Joe is introduced. Students are asked to work through 3 of Dickens’s methods for characterisation: contrast, symbolism (specifically, the symbol of Mrs Joe’s apron) and the use of a semantic field. Through a mixture of questioning and discussion, pupils are guided through some ideas about the effect of these methods. Thereafter, they are asked to write a response to this question: Explain how Dickens uses contrast, the symbol of the apron and a semantic field to create the character of Mrs Joe. The final slide of the powerpoint is a self-assessment grid.

This is a straightforward worksheet. It uses the narrative poem, “The Farmer’s Wife” and there are questions alongside each verse. These questions could be given to pupils for independent work or alternatively could be used to structure a guided reading session. Planned for a year 7 class as part of their distance learning - but might be of use for year 6.

A way into unseen poetry. There are questions in boxes for the pupils to work through in pairs and then an exam-style question for independent work using the ideas that have come through the discussion. Created as a cover activity; could also be used in a small group, guided reading session or for revision or homework.

This resource uses the speech that the Fairy delivers in response to Puck’s “How now, spirit! Whither wander you?” There are seven questions and then a longer writing task, to write a letter. The questions should furnish the children with some ideas prior to tackling the letter-writing activity. This could be used as cover, for homework or the questions could be used to structure a guided reading activity. Suggested answers are provided though these are only a guide.

Lesson 2 of a sequence planned for a year 8 class. This lesson focuses on looking closely at evidence to explain characterisation. The lesson is intended to get the pupils to zoom in more closely as the lesson progresses. The focus in the text is the part of the story where Helen Stoner is telling Sherlock Holmes about her family history and introduces information about her stepfather, Dr Roylott. There are prompts (in the form of questions) for the explosion of one quotation; students are then asked to work more independently to explode a second quotation, using the first as a model.

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 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 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.