This is for display in classrooms. It gives some facts about the benefits of reading. Make sure you set to Portrait when you print.

This is a critical essay using the PEAR structure (easily adapted) to answer on how Felix changes as a character. It includes page suggestions for quotes and takes pupils through each step of writing an essay. I’ve also included a differentiated worksheet for anyone struggling.

This powerpoint includes lots of different ideas for your bookclub. I ran this for several years and although we had the usual bookclub tasks- discussion of favourite books, author visits, staff members visiting to discuss books etc, I also needed a couple of filler ideas for when we didn’t have something going on. We never had the money to purchase groups sets for the club, and if I’m honest, a lot of the children who came voluntarily to the lunchtime club tended to really just want a safe space, so tasks had to be inclusive and non threatening. These are ideas I have used throughout the year - some word games, some imaginative writing, some discussions. Hopefully it’ll help your bookclub get started too!

This powerpoint clearly explains how to complete the 8 marker on Tally’s Blood, giving a model answer and one to try themselves.

This is a critical essay guide for Theme and Character for Robin Jenkins’ short story ‘Flowers’. This takes pupils through a PEAR structure essay (easily adapted to PEER or similar) and gives some example PEAR paragraphs.

This involves researching a historical figure and comparing two websites and how successful each one was. Perfect for a quick AVU for S3/ S4.

This is a guide to writing a critical essay on a memorable poem- “Trio” by Edwin Morgan on. It takes learners through the different stages of writing an essay. It is heavily hand held and includes some example paragraphs. There is an essay outline which can be printed for struggling pupils.

This is a film creation task based on the short story Voodoo (included). It is a one off lesson (more than likely 2-3 periods of work) in which pupils read the story and create a filmed retelling of the story. I suggest several different ways of doing this: Tiktok, Instagram reels, photo montage, Google photos, or even simply just a series of photos on the phone/ ipads. Group tasks will include storyboarding the lesson and planning it out, then filming. Could be English work/ Drama/ Media.

This is a small unit taking you through writing a critical essay on Desiree’s Baby. It has an introduction to the story, some notes and then introduces writing the essay with an example paragraph.

This is a version of my N5 RUAE Ultimate Guide except I have tried to choose easier model example questions. This should be suitable for teaching S3 or lower, the RUAE skills they will need.

This is a media unit for Spiderman 2. It takes your through a couple of techniques, getting the class to analyse the film as they go. There’s a Create your own Superhero task, and a critical essay at the end. Suitable for S1-S3

This was produced for a 6-8 period rotation of English classes. This includes researching facts about Paris, reading an article and starting to pick out good descriptive phrases. The final outcome is a travel brochure. You would need some research time either at home or on computers in school. This also involves an episode of Travel Man on Prime but this is optional.

This is based on Alfred Noyes’ poem ‘The Highwayman’. This can be used for online lessons or in class. This is a 8 lesson unit which has some Close Reading, discussion of techniques used in the poem and some fun tasks of Wanted Posters and Leaflet creation.

This unit introduces the WW1 background and focuses on the poem “Dulce et decourum est”. Tasks include: Basic poetic technique revision Basic war background A propaganda poster tasks Analysis of symbolism used in Kasabian’s music video “Empire” Introduction to the poem (analysis not included) Critical essay on theme of war

This is a complete unit on ‘Jojo Rabbit’, using the Scottish curriculum. It looks at different media techniques such as camera angles and sound and has a variety of individual and group tasks on the film. The final outcome is a critical essay (in the style of a potential National 5 essay) on Interesting Character.

This is a unit on creating a zombie apocalypse story. It looks at some chapters from the book “The Enemy” (chapter printouts included) and considers tension, hook openings, character, plot and setting, as well as an essay plan (for those who need it) and extension tasks. Suitable for BGE- no video clips included are particularly bloody or gory.

This is a guideline for a National 5 essay on the beach shark attack in Jaws. This guides you through 4 main techniques- character, sound (diegetic and non-diegetic) and camera angles. This can be used to produce a very quick National 5 essay. You wouldn’t even need to watch the whole film with a class. I’ve included the analysis of each of these, an essay paragraph plan and activity board. This is very teacher-lead- my class were a repeat N5 and needed a lot of support.

This is a powerpoint with notes on the Janice Galloway short story ‘Mary Moon and the Stars’. It includes a how to guide on critical essays on an Interesting Character, and the Theme of Neglect. There is also a quote guide. I have also included a powerpoint about common mistakes my class were making- summarising the story, no techniques- so use this if your class are similar!

This unit introduces the class to the poem ‘The Death of Marilyn Monroe’ by Edwin Morgan. It introduces Marilyn’s history and the corruption of Hollywood and comments on the structure of the poem. Then it takes the class through the writing of a critical essay on a Memorable Event. There are a couple of tasks and some video clips. **Important: **this does not include the annotation of the poem- there are other powerpoints by others for that available. This is focused on how to write a National 5 essay.

This is a unit of work for the play Frankenstein by Philip Pullman/ Mary Shelley. This includes some guided questions for each Act, group discussion tasks, Understanding questions, a task to design a set, a storyboard and the final outcome is a critical essay on Sympathy. This could be used with S1-S3. I’ve included the SchoolTube link to the play starring Benedict Cumberbatch but I wouldn’t recommend watching the entire play- parts are not appropriate for lower school. I suggest you watch ahead and decide which are suitable.