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.

Planned for year 9 with a focus on building and polishing skills in the run up to GCSE, this lesson uses Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “An Obstacle”. Pupils are led through questions with a tiny bit of relevant context (Gilman’s gender and the year of the poem). There’s a slide focused on the use of the indefinite article in the title and what might be inferred from this. The first two verses of the poem are explored via questioning which asks the pupils to focus on a couple of features in each verse. In the run-up to the pupils’ written response, there is an ‘I do’ slide providing a model and a ‘We do’ slide providing sentence openers for discussion and completion. After this, the intention is that the pupils should work independently to write their response. This could also be used with year 10 to build their confidence and skills in responding to unseen poetry.

This is a straightforward multiple-choice quiz (answers provided) on Sara Teasdale's "There Will Come Soft Rains". There are 14 straightforward questions. Could be set for homework either after having studied the poem or as a pre-reading activity to identify any gaps that need particular focus in the lesson. Could also be used to structure a guided reading activity, in which case you will find that several of the questions invite follow-up questioning.

This uses Emily Dickinson’s beautiful poem about resilience. I created this as a revision task for year 11 but it could be used at KS3. There are 11 questions that could work for cover, for homework or to structure a discussion or guided reading session. Suggested responses are provided but these are not definitive!

This is a straightforward comprehension activity using an abridged text from Dickens’ story “The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain”. There are 8 questions. This could be set for homework or used as cover. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session.

A simple and straightforward revision activity. 20 questions (suggested answers provided on a separate sheet). Could be used in class as a springboard for more developed answers through discussion. Useful for homework or cover. Created as a revision activity to enable students to identify gaps in their knowledge so that they can focus their next steps.

This is a short and straightforward activity giving students an opportunity to practise and develop the skills of writing an analytical essay about an unseen poem. The poem is “A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti so no issues with copyright. The first slide of the ppt has a copy of the poem and the essay question. The second slide gives students a suggested pattern for tackling the task, the idea being that they should go through each of the steps in every paragraph of their response. The third slide can be used for self/peer assessment and developing the response further.

This is Betjeman’s simple but powerful “Harvest Hymn” with six questions focusing on the presentation of the speakers in the poem, summing up by asking the students to express the poet’s viewpoint in their own words. Created for a KS3 class but could be used for stretch and challenge at KS2 or for less confident students who need a gentle way into the unseen poetry task at GCSE English Lit.

This is a worksheet using Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Fame is a Bee” (in the public domain). There are ten questions and then a task for the pupils. This could be used to structure a guided reading or literacy lesson. Alternatively, it could be set for cover or used as a homework to support a unit on poetry or metaphor.

A straightfoward worksheet with a copy of Sassoon’s poem (which is in the public domain) and 12 questions which could be used to structure a guided reading session, or for assessment. Alternatively, this work could be set as cover or as a homework to support a unit of work on poetry, particularly the poetry of the first World War.

Sassoon’s “The Dug Out” (in the public domain) and 10 questions which could be used for cover or homework, or to structure a guided reading activity.

This is an extract from Stoker’s “Dracula” with 18 quiz questions (answers provided). This could be used for revision, as a starter activity, for homework, cover or to structure a guided reading activity.

This is a simple and straightforward activity using the opening of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest”. There are four, short tasks dealing with vocabulary, information retrieval, inference and analysis. Useful for homework or as home learning. Could be used to structure a guided reading activity. Could be used for flipped learning prior to analysing the next (more gothic) segment of the story in class. Useful for students at KS3 or to embed key sklls and build confidence at KS4.

This straightforward task uses an excerpt from Oscar Wilde’s story “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime” and the questions are divided into sections echoing many of the reading skills that will be tested at GCSE: information retrieval, inference, analysis of language, analysis of structure and evaluation. Useful as a homework or cover activity. Created as part of a unit of home-learning during lockdown.

Planned for a year 8 class, this lesson takes as its central idea Holmes’s comment at the end of “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” that, ‘I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my conscience.’ After a recap of what’s meant by a noun phrase, pupils are directed to choose adjectives to develop nouns from the story into emotive noun phrases, thereby building a word bank. They then use their word bank in developing Holmes’s sentence into a speech to Watson in which he expands and develops his viewpoint.

This lesson was planned for a year 8 group but could be used elsewhere at KS3. It uses Conan Doyle’s story and this lesson focuses on how Conan Doyle creates a sense of urgency as Holmes uncovers the motive for murder and heads to Stoke Moran to try to protect Helen Stoner. The lesson asks the pupils to explore three of the writer’s methods for creating a sense of urgency: the plot itself, the setting and the dialogue. Focused questioning is used throughout. Differentiation is possible in the approach to this questioning - pupils could be asked to think and pair, then share; for greater challenge, responses could be written without any discussion.