I am an English specialist and I am passionate about supporting all students to access the English curriculum, to achieve at the highest possible levels in their exams and to love the subject. I currently teach AQA and have created lots of full schemes of work which develop exam skills and independence. All my resources have been tried and refined in the classroom; I hope that you will find them useful.
I am an English specialist and I am passionate about supporting all students to access the English curriculum, to achieve at the highest possible levels in their exams and to love the subject. I currently teach AQA and have created lots of full schemes of work which develop exam skills and independence. All my resources have been tried and refined in the classroom; I hope that you will find them useful.
A display of sentence stems to help students verbalise their ideas using academic language. 65 slides in total - two 'title' slides which works well at the centre of the display and 63 different sentence stems. The sentence stems range from straightforward (e.g. 'This quotation suggests...') to complex (e.g. 'The dichotomy between [civilisation and savagery] underpins the novel'.) Lots of examples from a range of literary texts including Lord of the Flies, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, Romeo and Juliet. Ellipses and square brackets show students where they can insert their own relevant text/character/theme. There are also definitions of key words on many of the slides, e.g. 'quotation', 'inference', implies' etc. I have had this display in every classroom I've taught in and use it every day in discussions and writing with students, to help them verbalise complex ideas and use more formal language. This translates really well into essay writing and my students also use the display as a reference point when writing.
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Detailed teacher notes resources for the following Edexcel IGCSE English Language Anthology texts:
- Touching the Void
- A Passage to Africa
- Your Guide to Beach Safety
I created these as a teaching guide for myself but also gave them to students for revision purposes. They achieved very highly in their exam so these notes were effective. Please see individual resources for further details.
A detailed, 22-page e-Book on the background, key themes and characters of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad focusing on historical context, power, sexuality and weaving. Also provided in a powerpoint in case of any compatibility issues.
Created to give A-Level students the necessary background on The Odyssey and the roles of Penelope and Odysseus in Homer’s text, it looks at themes of power and sexuality in the original text, throughout history and the ways in which Atwood explores, challenges and expands on these.
The e-Book is divided into the following sections:
- Aristotle’s philosophical conceptions of power.
- Male power in The Odyssey, focusing on Odysseus, Telemachus and The Suitors, followed by a detailed analysis of how male power is represented in Homer’s text, looking in particular at storytelling as a male prerogative.
- Female power in The Odyssey, focusing on Penelope, the Maids, Circe and Calypso, and the threat of female power and sexuality.
- Context on the Virgin-Whore Dichotomy and the Femme Fatale in 20th Century Culture. This is developed into a discussion on the cultural conception of two Penelopes; the virgin and the whore.
- Detailed section on the Maids in both texts and their connection to Artemis and her 12 Moon Maidens.
- Does Penelope sleep with the suitors? An exploration of this question in Homer and Atwood’s texts.
- What other forms does female power take?: A look at inaction and weaving as key forms of female power.
- Penelope throughout History - An overview looking at Penelope in Ovid’s Heroides, 16th and 17th Century poetry and 21st Century film and theatre.
- How far does Atwood reject and rewrite the limiting portrayal of Penelope? - An exploration of what Atwood’s Penelopiad achieves. Contains critical quotations from Cixous, Stein and Gregersdottir.
Please note, the file will need to be opened and read in iBooks, which can be done on any iPad or iPhone, so works well for student revision on the go.
A 32-page character revision resource for Romeo and Juliet covering twenty characters in depth. This booklet is designed to give students the thorough and highly detailed knowledge required by the new GCSE. The character profiles for major characters contain:
- Key Facts
- Character Function & Development (focusing in detail on how each character functions at a symbolic level and how they develop over the course of the play)
- Characteristics
- Key plot points in the play
- Key Quotations
- Summary of themes linked with the character
Key summaries are also provided for minor characters, e.g. Peter, Potpan, Abram and Balthasar, the Chorus. Although the focus is on character, the resource also provides much detail on key events and themes, motifs and context. In addition, at the end of the resource, there is a summary section of character development over the course of the play - half of these are completed as examples and students can complete the second half themselves.
I have used this resource to:
- Provide staggered revision homework and followed up with tests on each character
- As a support resource for essay-writing
- As a way to introduce characters or explore them in more depth as a class.
- As a research resource for jigsaw learning activities, dividing the class into groups and assigning a major character to each group.
- To help students understand how to think about character function and development.
Differentiation can be done in a number of ways - through the character assigned to a student, the sections they are asked to work on, and the number and length of quotations they are expected to revise. This is a particularly useful resource for a high-ability group with high target grades. It gives them the level of detail and breadth of knowledge that will allow their essays to stand out, and is designed to get them thinking at a functional and symbolic level considering the whole of the play.
Any questions, please ask.
Two English Language exams suitable for Year 7 and Year 8/9 respectively. Each exam has a reading section (Section A) and a writing section (Section B). There are two versions of the Year 8/9 exam, one of which has extra scaffolding to help students structure their essay response. The reading sections are both based on responding to the articles named below, which I cannot include here due to copyright issues but can easily be found on Google.
Year 7 exam:
Section A Reading - 8 comprehension and analysis questions based on the article ‘Remember When: Memories of Childhood Holidays in Mombasa’ by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. There is a glossary of challenging vocabulary in the article. The first four questions are based on comprehension and information retrieval and the last four focus on language analysis. Questions 6, 7 and 8 require longer responses and offer students the opportunity to demonstrate extended analytical responses without requiring a full essay response which students at this stage might not yet be ready for. (Google the title of the article to find it on The Independent website).
Section B Writing - Students have a choice of three writing questions. They should respond to one of these. The options are a descriptive piece based on a choice of two images, a creative piece and writing to inform the reader about a personal experience.
Year 8/9 exam:
Section A Reading - An extended essay question based on the extract from ‘Taking on the World’ by Ellen MacArthur. (Google the title of the extract to find it in the Edexcel IGCSE 2012 Anthology). There are two versions of this question, one of which has extra scaffolding to help students to structure their essay response. This is useful for students who are not yet confident in formulating independent essays.
Section B Writing - Students have a choice of three personal reflective writing questions. They should respond to one of these. The options are a descriptive piece based on a choice of two images, a creative piece and writing to inform or explain.
Any questions, please ask!
A 24-page detailed and interactive character revision resource for Macbeth covering key characters in depth and twenty-two characters in total. This booklet is designed to give students the thorough and complex knowledge required by the new GCSE. The character profiles for major characters contain:
Key Facts, covering their role and relationships in the play
Character Function & Development, focusing in detail on how each character functions at a symbolic level, linking to relevant context, and how they develop over the course of the play
Characteristics
Key Quotations section, including space for students to do their own analysis of each quotation
Summary of themes linked with the character
Key summaries are also provided for minor characters, e.g. Lennox, Angus and Ross . Although the focus is on character, the resource also provides much detail on key events, themes and context.
At the end of each section there is a space for students to make their own revision notes.
At the end of the resource, there is a character development activity focused on how key characters evolve over the course of the play - the first of these is completed as an example and students should complete the others themselves when they have completed their character revision from the booklet.
I have used this resource to:
Provide staggered revision homework and followed up with tests on each character
As a support resource for essay-writing
As a way to introduce characters or explore them in more depth as a class.
As a research resource for jigsaw learning activities, dividing the class into groups and assigning a major character to each group.
To help students understand how to think about character function and development.
Differentiation can be done in a number of ways - through the character assigned to a student, the sections they are asked to work on, and the number and length of quotations they are expected to revise. This is a particularly useful resource for a high-ability group with high target grades. It gives them the level of detail and breadth of knowledge that will allow their essays to stand out, and is designed to get them thinking at a functional and symbolic level considering the whole of the play.
Any questions, please ask.
A detailed knowledge organiser for AQA Power & Conflict Poetry Anthology, with chunked up knowledge designed to be easily digested and learnt while challenging students at the highest level. Images are used as cues to support memory.
Each poem has sections on:
Key ideas on power and/conflict
Key quotations
Key ‘soundbites’ of language analysis that can be easily digested and learnt
Form, structure and perspective
Context
Suitable poems for comparison, with a brief summary comparative points
At the end, there is space for students to practice:
Retrieval of key quotations from memory
Retrieval of key points of comparison for each recommended pair of poems.
An in-depth, 30-page knowledge organiser for the New Windmill Book of Nineteenth Century Short Stories on the Edexcel IGCSE English Literature Course. For each story, there is:
1. An overview, covering key points on characterisation, plot and themes. Links are made between the stories where relevant.
2. Key quotations
3. A list of key themes.
My GCSE students found this a really useful resource once we had finished first-teaching of the collection, to help them gain a thorough knowledge of the collection as a whole and a more secure understanding of the connections between the stories. I used this for phased revision - students would revise the information for one story, complete an in-class test on it and then move on to the next. Equally, it could be used as a resource to support essay-writing.
A twenty-two page revision guide on The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Contains a combination of information and activities for students to work through, taking them back to the text and asking them to think deeply and independently about characters, language, themes and context. Once completed, the activities then act as a further revision resource for students. This was written with the new AQA GCSE specification in mind and has information on the AQA assessment objectives, but beyond that would be useful for revising the text for any exam board.
The booklet includes sections on:
The AQA paper and assessment objectives
Author Biography
Plot
Themes & Context
Character function, traits and quotations
Form and Narrative Structure
Language and Structure
Nineteenth Century Art and the unconscious mind
Setting
Practice extract question
I have found this very useful as a homework pack for a half term/term, which can be reflected on and further discussed and developed in lessons.
Differentiation is inbuilt - for example, a range of quotations is provided for the character activities. Students can analyse and learn a selection of these, or all of them, depending on skill level. A straightforward author biography is provided which will contain sufficient context for some students, but context is returned to in much greater depth in the 'themes and context' section of the booklet to provide stretch and challenge. The section on 19th century art could be used as an optional extension for targeted students or be used to challenge a whole class to develop their contextual knowledge even further.
Any questions, please just ask. Thanks.
A selection of Chaucer/Merchant’s Tale resources designed for A Level teaching and revision. Includes: Introductory slides on the Canterbury Tales; a SOLO taxonomy context research activity; a selection of activities on marriage; a handout on the Pluto & Proserpina interlude; a context revision knowledge organiser, drawing together lots of information; and a primary quotations revision resource.
Four Romeo & Juliet resources, suitable for revision or other activities. Bundle includes:
- Detailed character profiles knowledge organiser (32 pages). Focuses on character role, function, development, links to themes, and key quotations. Designed to give students the rigorous knowledge they need for the new GCSE specification.
- Key Motifs quotation resource - a 2-page resource with 27 quotation organised by key motifs including light & darkness, stars and religion. Perfect for focused revision.
- A3 double-sided themes & characters quotation revision resource. Contains over a considerable range of quotations, demonstrating the crucial links between theme and characters and also leaving space for students to add their own additional quotations.
- Treatment of women workbook, giving key contextual knowledge on women’s roles and space for students to complete tables about key female characters plus Lord Capulet and his attitude to women.
Resources for teaching The New Windmill Nineteenth Century Short Stories collection, including:
1. An in-depth, 30 page revision guide for the New Windmill Book of Nineteenth Century Short Stories on the Edexcel IGCSE English Literature Course. For each story, there is:
- An overview, covering key points on characterisation, plot and themes. Links are made between the stories where relevant.
- Key quotations
- A list of key themes.
2. Country Living SOLO Taxonomy Questions - 14 questions on the short story 'Country Living' by Guy De Maupassant based on SOLO Taxonomy principles. The questions are designed to be done after a first reading of the story to check and develop students' understanding of the plot, context and characters in a phased way. They are divided into sections of 'Unistructural', 'Multistructural', 'Relational' and 'Extended Abstract' going from basic, building-block knowledge of the story to abstract connections to contemporary ideas and writing. Students choose a starting point appropriate to their current skill and knowledge level; equally, they could work in differentiated groups, with each group taking a set of questions to answer.
3. 14 questions on the short story 'Napoleon and the Spectre' by Charlotte Bronte based on SOLO Taxonomy principles, designed similarly to those above for Country Living.
4. Nine comprehension and analysis questions on the short story 'The Nightingale and the Rose' by Oscar Wilde requiring in-depth, critical responses. The questions are designed to be done after a first reading of the story to check and develop students' understanding of the plot, characters and themes. This is a useful classwork or homework resource.
5. Three sets of questions on the short stories 'News of the Engagement', 'The Unexpected' and 'Hop Frog' from the New Windmill collection. The questions are designed to be done after a first reading of the story to check and develop students' understanding of the plot, context and characters. There is a combination of comprehension and analysis questions. This would make an effective classwork, homework or flipped learning task if you asked students to read the story independently before completing the questions.
All my Bloody Chamber resources in one bundle. Includes:
-Detailed introductory booklet giving key biographical, contextual, critical and theoretical information.
-Extracts from Edmund Gordon's recent biography 'The Invention of Angela Carter'
-Essentialism lesson, including model thesis for comparative essay writing
-Art in The Bloody Chamber lesson
-Bluebeard & Postmodernism intro lesson
-Questions on 'The Bloody Chamber'
-Questions on 'The Erl King'
-Questions on 'Puss-in-Boots'
-Commedia Dell'arte context lesson for 'Puss-in-Boots'
-Lady of the House of Love Carousel Analysis Lesson
-Revision resource for context and critics
• 8 Week, 24 Lesson Scheme designed for teaching or revision of GCSE-level fiction reading skills. The scheme was created specifically for AQA English Language GCSE Paper 1, but may be useful for schools doing other exam boards. It aims to develop whole-text reading skills from the outset.
• The scheme predominantly focuses on responding to reading questions, but there are some linked writing lessons in which students plan/create their own fiction texts.
• Week 1 and 8 are set aside for baseline and final testing using exam-board papers of your choice, hence the resources included start at Week 2 and finish at Week 7.
• The texts are taken from the AQA Anthology ‘Telling Tales’ and the AQA Paper 1 Reading Support Booklet, or are included as individual extracts. I cannot include the AQA Anthology or Reading Support booklet here for copyright reasons, but the anthology is available for order free of charge here for schools doing AQA. The reading support booklet is available online as a PDF here: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-87001-RSB.PDF
• The texts/extracts covered are: 1. My Polish Teacher’s Tie (Helen Dunmore); 2. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Roddy Doyle). 3. Goldfinger (Ian Fleming); 4. Bring Up the Bodies (Hilary Mantel); 5. Remarkable Creatures (Tracy Chevalier). 5. I’m the King of the Castle (Susan Hill). 6. The Thirty-Nine Steps (John Buchan); 7. Chemistry (Graham Swift); 8. Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks). 9. Spies (Michael Frayn). 10. The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga). 11. The Awakening (Kate Chopin – Extra Challenge Reading).
• Assessments: Baseline Paper 1 assessment (your choice); 2 teacher assessments with 2 D.I.R.T lessons; 2 peer/self-assessments; final Paper 1 Exam (your choice)
• The D.I.R.T lesson is planned into the scheme for the lesson after the teacher assessment; however, this is a ‘floating’ lesson and there is flexibility in when it is delivered to accommodate marking. It should be delivered within 4 lessons of the assessment to ensure timely feedback. The D.I.R.T lesson will include both structured and independent tasks.
• There is a focus on mastery of whole-text reading skills and technical writing skills. Interleaved activities are planned to prepare students for the independent reading requirement, the creation of their own non-fiction texts, as well as the SPaG element of the AQA GCSE qualifications. There are a number of fluency activities.
• Homework is inbuilt but is called Independent Study and is designed to be challenging. It is an essential element of the scheme and linked class activities are based upon independent study tasks. The aim is to improve students’ independent study skills, reform their view of ‘homework’ so that they understand its central role in their learning and significantly improve the rate and quality of completion.
• Teaching instructions & differentiation suggestions are contained within the notes of the PowerPoint slides.**
• Fully-resourced 12 Week Animal Farm Scheme.
• 48 lessons including fully-planned and resourced assessments. Includes 8 peer/self-assessments, 4 teacher assessments and 4 structured D.I.R.T lessons.
• The content is deliberately designed to be challenging, in terms of concepts, vocabulary and context. An illustration of activities includes: Mini Lectures, frequent assessment and opportunities for extended writing, research lessons, contextual source material drawn from GCSE History, high level modelling materials and frequent use and repetition of sophisticated vocabulary.
• There is a focus on mastery of key technical writing skills. Writing skills lessons & activities are interleaved to prepare students for the SPaG element of the AQA GCSE qualifications. There are a number of fluency activities.
• A ‘language through literature’ approach is taken, with the inclusion of reading and writing tasks clearly linked to AQA English GCSE Language Papers 1 & 2.
• Homework is inbuilt and is called Independent Study; it is designed to be challenging. It is an essential element of the scheme and linked class activities are based upon independent study tasks. The aim is to improve students’ independent study skills, reform their view of ‘homework’ so that they understand its central role in their learning and significantly improve the rate and quality of completion. The level of challenge increases over the course of the scheme.
• D.I.R.T lessons are planned into the scheme for the lesson after the teacher assessment; however, this is a ‘floating’ lesson and there is flexibility in when it is delivered to accommodate marking. It should ideally be delivered within 4 lessons of the assessment. The D.I.R.T lessons will include both structured and independent tasks.
• All resources are included with the exception of the following, which I cannot include for copyright reasons: 1. The OCR GCSE Russian History Source Pack which is required for some Independent Study and 2. The article required in Week 5, Lesson 1, ‘The Ghosts of Yalta Still Haunt The World’ by Richard Ebbing. Both resources can be found on Google.
• Detailed teaching instructions & differentiation suggestions are contained within the notessection of each PowerPoint slide.
• For referencing and page number purposes, the Penguin Classics 2000 edition of the text has been used.