A lesson to aid annotation and analysis of Ilya Kaminsky’s “We Lived Happily during the War.” Includes starter activity, guided questioning, a full copy of the poem, analytical paragraph question with step-by-step guide, and review task. Aimed at mid-ability Y10 group. Easily adapted for other abilities.

Lesson teaching new poem from OCR Conflict Anthology - Songs for the People by E.W.Harper aimed at a mid ability Y10 group. Easily adapted for different abilities. Includes starter task, key words, notes on the author and the poem, YouTube video of the poem being read along with visual images, group annotation task, written task with model example. Model example set out using Point, Evidence, Technique, Explain, Refer structure, but can easily be changed to What/How/Why if you prefer. Homework questions to review learning included at the end. Matches up with OCR Teacher Guide for the new poems in the Anthology.

Created for a mixed Y7 group as part of a module focusing on extracts from different Shakespeare plays. This lesson introduces them to The Tempest, considering the characters, the plot, and the genre of comedy. It moves on to focus on Caliban’s soliloquy, including a guided annotation and a task drawing images to match key quotations from the text. Includes a gap fill, video with questions, copy of Caliban’s soliloquy with guided questions, and review tasks. This can easily be spread out over two lessons depending on the speed of the group.

Lesson aimed at mid-ability KS4 class. Includes key words and starter activity, background of the poet, guided annotation/questions to help annotate stanza by stanza, and a model What/How/Why paragraph with sentence starters for students to complete their own. Teacher can choose to lead annotations/questions or students can work in small groups on a stanza each before feeding back to the group. Easily adapted for higher/lower ability groups.

Lesson for KS4 students - aimed at mid ability group. Includes an overview of what to expect in the poetry component of the OCR English Literature exam. Lesson includes: exam overview/assessment objectives, starter activity (keyword bingo), stanza by stanza analysis questions, and a review task. Slides may need to be tweaked for ability/personalisation.