Three articles, article-based questions and tasks on the topic of gun crime. Suitable for KS3 or 4. Might engage boys.

Seven lessons (the first three of which look at the context for the story) covering up to the end of Stave 1. Aimed at MA but contains tasks for all abilities. Easily differentiated.

Use some images to create ideas for descriptive sentences. Look at two examples and analyse them. See how Charles Dickens does it and then have a go!

This is a booklet that can be used to analyse the characters of Beatrice and Benedick in the following key scenes of Much Ado About Nothing: Act 1 Scene 1 Act 2 Scene 1 & 3 Act 3 Scene 1 Act 4 Scene 1 Act 5 Scene 2 & 4 Each Act’s tasks should take approximately two lessons, giving around 10 hours of tasks to complete. Thorough investigation into their characters through extracts from key scenes and related tasks. Possible assessment question provided, taken from an AQA’s English Literature Paper 2.

Two female poems looking at the use of Nature in poetry of WW1 to contrast perspective. Falling Leaves looks at the futility of war and A Girl’s Song looks at how difficult it can be to accept a loved one has died. Both poets deliver these ideas by personifying nature. Starter is a fill in the blanks activity then looking at Cole’s actual language choices. Then, look at A Girl’s Song using a table to infer how natural imagery shows the poets ideas. Plenary is a paragraph comparing their use of nature to show attitudes towards death in war.

This booklet uses a variety of extracts (easily available on the internet) which, in some cases have been simplified e.g. the Dickens Great Expectations extract, and short structured comprehension and written tasks that are linked to the extracts. Each extract and set of tasks aim to focus on a particular technique including vocabulary choices, considering connotations, simile, pathetic fallacy, personification. There is also some focus on sentence variety including using lists and varying sentence openers. The final task asks pupils to try to use all the skills covered in the activities. Would suggest aimed at low ability for KS4 students. Easily adaptable.

Two lessons: Q2: ‘How does the writer use language here to descibe Nature?’ Focus on Du Maurier’s choices of personification, adjectives and simile for this question. Plus a focus on subordinate clauses followed by students identifying these in the extract with a view to including an idea in their practise response. Q3: ‘How does the writer structure the text to interest the reader?’ Reminder of structural features, useable examiner tips on what to include / not to include in a Q3 response. Slides provide points of note-taking and discussion, leading up to students having a go responding to the question themselves.

Part Two of the introductory unit: Literature Through the Ages A further 8 lessons with pupil anthology (two separate ones for just core texts and then all texts), CPD booklet and knowledge organiser. Pupils will build on their knowledge from Part One of the unit to cover the following extracts: Daphne & Phoebus - Hesiod The Seven Pomegranate Seeds - Horowitz The Ramayana - retold by Donald A Mackenzie The Odyssey - translated from Homer Adventures of Sir Lancelet - Malory The intention of this unit is to provide students with some knowledge of how stories originated, came to be written down and how some of those same stories have been retold and developed over time, such as Horowitz’s re-telling of a popular Greek myth, in our unit. Students should understand that there does not have to be one single version of a ‘story.’ Some may have originally been made up to explain mysteries about the world and to enable humans to understand their place within it. Stories are constantly evolving and shaped by their social and historical influences. We can see, for example, that the concept of the Underworld has been around for centuries. Students will study the Underworld described in the Renaissance period by Dante, as a way of teaching his readers to live purer lives on Earth, but we can also enjoy its imaginative appearance in Rick Riordan’s modern ‘Percy Jackson’ tales. We can introduce the concept that, historically, the female figure has been presented as temptress and the cause of human suffering, an idea developed in ‘the Serpent’s Deception’ and Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, or later subverted in Le Morte d’Arthur, where the female is weak and in need of a chivalrous male to save her. We can see stories as a reaction to the beliefs and fears of society at the time. Shelley’s Frankenstein can be interpreted as a reaction to society’s distrust of the advancement of scientific experimentation. Running through all these stories is a series of symbols that capture a society’s values, beliefs and fears. Through the identification of symbolism in these stories, such as the snake in Serpent’s Deception, Daphne & Phoebus and Le Morte d’Arthur, it is hoped that our Y7s can learn to become confident in spotting symbols in future stories they read and have the confidence to critically evaluate the significance of them, in relation to their own contextual experience and a knowledge of literature throughout the ages.

Ten slides containing carefully selected evidence from the play that students can learn and apply to a variety of potential exam questions. Each slide puts the quotation into context and contains a brief analysis with relevant methods and terminology in bold. Easily editable to remove explanations for just the quotation and image for display. The same resource is available for An Inspector Calls, Blood Brothers and A Christmas Carol in my shop.

Wondering which quotations your students should learn for the exam? This display resource contains 10 key quotes that track the play, carefully chosen to provide students with potential evidence to use in a range of essay questions. Each key quotation is accompanied by an explanation, a colourful image to aid recall and a list of suggested essay themes to go with it. I have also made the same resource for A Christmas Carol, Macbeth and Blood Brothers, all available in my shop.

AIMED AT MIDDLE ABILITY KS3, THIS POEM EXAMINES THE POET'S USE OF RHYME, PERSONIFICATION AND ALLITERATION. POEM INCLUDED WITH PPT.

AIMED AT MIDDLE TO LOW ABILITY KS3, THIS COMPLETE LESSON USES EMOJIS TO LOOK AT HOW THE POET CREATES MOOD. THE LESSON ALSO LOOKS AT THE POET'S USE OF TECHNIQUES AND CONSTRUCTING A SHORT RESPONSE USING PETAL.

AIMED AT MIDDLE TO LOW ABILITY, THIS COMPLETE LESSON LOOKS AT THE POET'S USE OF PERSONIFICATION AND METAPHOR. INCLUDES WORKSHEET WITH QUESTIONS AS AN EXTENSION TASK.

AIMED AT MIDDLE ABILITY KS3, THIS COMPLETE LESSON EXAMINES THE POET'S USE OF ONOMATOPOEIA. INCLUDES SOME CREATIVE ACTIVITIES AND COPY OF THE POEM.

STEP BY STEP THROUGH AN EXAM QUESTION ON SCROOGE'S CHANGING CHARACTER. KEY QUOTES ARE PROVIDED FOR EACH STAGE OF THE STORY, FOR USE IN ANSWERING THE QUESTION. ENABLES STUDENTS TO WRITE A COMPLETE ANSWER WITH MINIMAL HELP FROM THE TEACHER.

Aimed at higher ability KS3 or 4, this is a couple of lessons looking at how Othello's language changes from the beginning to the end of the play. It also makes comparison between Iago and Othello's language. The lesson also looks at identifying the writer's methods, through extracts from the play, which focus on the language used by both these key characters. There is a focus on Othello's words to Desdemona before he kills her and then how he returns to his former control in his final speech.

With step by step instructions, students will create a job role and character for themselves within a Victorian town of the class's own creation. This aims to further understanding of the working Victorians of the time and to be clear about the differences between the rich and poor. This can be taken further to develop characters and roles, and also used to facilitate descriptive or narrative writing.