An activity focusing on identifying repetition and key points in Mr Birling's opening speech, in 'An Inspector Calls'. Nice introduction to the play, links to the history/culture of 1912 and sets the scene for the events of the play. Useful for getting students to engage with the text at a deeper level, can be followed up by discussion on why those points have been included and repeated by the writer (JB Priestly), speaking to a 1945/46 audience. Ideal for GCSE and IGCSE students.

Top facts about The Tempest's cultural context, including: A summary of the Slave Trade's role in the British Empire - useful for considering the relationships between Prospero/Miranda and Ariel/Caliban Top facts about King James, Shakespeare's patron at the time when the Tempest was written. Shakespeare reflects several of King James' interests in the play, including magic/witchcraft, the Divine Right of Kings, plotting and betrayal (the Guy Fawkes plot) and efforts to make peace with the Spanish. Top facts about Shakespeare and where he was in his life when he wrote The Tempest, which was his final play. Useful for discussions about Prospero and whether or not he represents Shakespeare and his role within the court/society towards the end of his life. All of these themes and interests play key roles within the Tempest and provide interesting discussion points for higher level GCSE and AS/A-Level.

This resource is designed to test pre-existing knowledge of poetic/literary techniques. Students are given the blank copy and asked to fill out EITHER a definition OR an example for each one. Then the answers are reviewed as a class, with an exemplar definition AND example on hand for the teacher to use, in case any turn out to be complete unknowns. Excellent for beginning poetry modules, picking up knowledge with new classes and revising for English Literature GCSE exams.

Fill in the blanks quiz on homophones. Sheet with blank spaces for students to fill out, plus an answer sheet for teachers to use. Ideal for KS2 and KS3. I have also used this with lower ability KS4 and with Functional Skills students.

Sample exam style questions focusing on the characters of Bassanio, Antonio and Portia in The Merchant Of Venice. Can be used as discussion points or practice essay questions. Suitable for GCSE, IGCSE, and A-Level.

During the EU referendum, the electoral commission and the Government sent out booklets to explain the positions of both campaigns. These powerpoints deconstruct both booklets, looking at: * Presentation techniques * Layout and format * Language choices * Use of persuasive techniques * Fact, Opinion and Bias Used with L1 and L2 learners for Functional Skills, and for private tuition students preparing for GCSEs.

These resources are basic handouts that I developed in order to teach a selection of poems by WW1 poets to KS3/KS4 students The poems/poets included are: Siegfried Sassoon - Glory Of Women Wilfred Owen - Dulce Et Decorum Est Lawrence Binyon - For The Fallen There are information sheets on all of the poets and their lives/backgrounds, and one extra on Hedd Wyn, the Welsh Bard who died in WW1. Lawrence Binyon's poem is not included in many anthologies, but it will be familiar to some students as a part of it is read out during memorials at the national and local cenotaphs. "They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn them" There is a comprehension exercise on Wilfred Owen's summary document, which ties into inference and reading between the lines, as well as a copy of Siegfried Sassoon's declaration against the war, which was read out in Parliament and published in many national news papers at the time. There are also some WW1 posters and an information sheet on the poisonous gases used in WW1, to support understanding in the poems by Sassoon and Owen.

Powerpoint resource explaining the difference between Your and You're. Learning Objective - to be able to tell the difference between the two homophones and identify the correct usage for each one Suitable for: KS2 Teaching KS3 Teaching/Revision KS4 Revision Adult Learners - Functional Skills L1 and L2 Can be displayed as a PowerPoint or turned into a printed handout for reference

Powerpoint resource explaining the difference between Where, Were, We're and Wear Learning Objective - to be able to tell the difference between the four homophones and identify the correct usage for each one Suitable for: KS2 Teaching KS3 Teaching/Revision KS4 Revision Adult Learners - Functional Skills L1 and L2 Can be displayed as a PowerPoint or turned into a printed handout for reference

Powerpoint resource explaining the difference between To, Too and Two Learning Objective - to be able to tell the difference between the three homophones and identify the correct usage for each one Suitable for: KS2 Teaching KS3 Teaching/Revision KS4 Revision Adult Learners - Functional Skills L1 and L2 Can be displayed as a PowerPoint or turned into a printed handout for reference

A fact sheet and matching powerpoint which explains the historical and contextual significance of King James I of England and how politics in England in the early 1600s are reflected in the play Macbeth. Great for pointing out cross curricular links between History and English Literature! This resource encourages students to consider the role of the WRITER when writing essays on Macbeth, highlighing pieces of information that Shakespeare likely chose to include deliberately, to reflect current affairs, appeal to his company's new patron (King James) and to reflect the interests and beliefs of King James particularly, and his audience in general.

Powerpoint resource explaining the difference between There, Their and They're. Learning Objective - to be able to tell the difference between the three homophones and identify the correct usage for each one Suitable for: KS2 Teaching KS3 Teaching/Revision KS4 Revision Adult Learners - Functional Skills L1 and L2 Can be displayed as a PowerPoint or turned into a printed handout for reference

This activity set was developed for a micro teach for a job interview (I got the job!) It covers aspects of Functional Skills English and Maths, but could also be adapted as an activity for KS3 lower ability learners, recapping comprehension skills and mathematics skills and knowledge including percentage calculation.

I use this sheet as an introduction to poetry for those who are reluctant to engage with it. I ask students to think about songs that make them laugh, make them cry or make them think. Then ask them about songs which are themed around love, death and life. We make connections between the different purposes and themes and consider how the best songs combine the elements together. We then use this as a starting point for thinking about poetry, and how it uses the same purposes and themes to engage with readers. This can be enlarged and printed as a display, or used as a starting point worksheet for students to annotate with ideas.

Printable handout of hints and tips for writing formal and informal letters Learning Objective - understand the different conventions for informal and formal letter writing Suitable for: KS3 Revision KS4 Revision Adult Learners - Functional Skills L1 and L2

Word Document booklet - revision tool for basic punctuation, including: Capital Letters Full Stops Question Marks Exclamation Marks Commas Paragraphs Apostrophes - Omission, Possessive, Possessive Plural It's/Its and Who's/Whose Learning Objective - to be able to use basic punctuation accurately Suitable for: KS3 Revision KS4 Revision Adult Learners - Functional Skills L1 and L2 This can be used as a complete booklet, or separate sheets on different topics can be extracted for targeted topic revision. The booklet was written for adults, but would be suitable for KS3 and KS4 classes as revision in the run up to end-of-year and external exams. The booklet covers all of the necessary punctuation for L1 and most of the L2 Functional Skills writing exams.

Two worksheets on commas, one at sentence level and one at paragraph level. These two sheets are based on 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' and are aimed at 7-11 year old students.

I use these simple outlines to encourage students to make notes about characters. Quotes go around the outside, facts and key plot points are summarised inside. There is a male outline, a female outline and also a dog, since I have covered several texts where dogs play key roles in the plot (most notably Of Mice And Men).

Ten Facts about William Golding, author of Lord Of The Flies These help to put the story of The Lord Of The Flies into personal and historical context for students before beginning the novel. At least one of my students has been inspired to go and read more widely as a result of these too, which is an extra bonus! Great for GCSE students, 'The Lord Of The Flies' is an extremely popular set text at present (2016)