I teach English Lit and Lang at IGCSE and IB Level. Resources here are mainly for these courses but I often upload KS3 resources too. Currently I am working on the new Songs of Ourselves for 2026. Drop me a line on: underthevolcanoagain@gmail.com for one-to-one tuition.
I teach English Lit and Lang at IGCSE and IB Level. Resources here are mainly for these courses but I often upload KS3 resources too. Currently I am working on the new Songs of Ourselves for 2026. Drop me a line on: underthevolcanoagain@gmail.com for one-to-one tuition.
This is for anyone teaching the new IB course (2020-2026). It offers students some questions to ask themselves when revising for their Paper 1 Lang/Lit exam. It could be used as a classroom activity when examining a text, or as revision.
This is an analysis of an extract of the Kamala Harris VP Nomination Speech (follow the link to the full video below). It provides students with an annotated copy of the original text transcript, and an intro and thesis, something they often have trouble formulating. Also included are some past papers, model paragraphing, and essay plans. I hope these resources are useful in preparing for this year’s IB Paper 1 - they could be used either in class, online, or for revision.
This is an exam I made based on an analysis of a website promoting a VR headset made by Facebook in February 2021. I have included an example intro, thesis and opening analytical paragraph to show students how to use clusters of quotes and connect style, language and meaning. I am sure it will be useful for the upcoming exam as many students find it difficult to construct in depth paragraphs.
This resource has students at IB level for the English A: Lang and Lit course, analyse a series of print adverts and film. The campaign is a recent British Army Recruitment campaign. The main task students should complete after analysing the sources is to create a 5 minute spoken presentation about the purpose, audience and techniques used. There is a glossary of vocabulary which should come in useful. It is not meant as a mock for the IO, but a similar task that will let students have a go at preparing a short 5 minute speech , analysing the campaign. It should last about 2 weeks.
UPDATED VERSION - PLEASE REDOWNLOAD Jeff Wayne intro! In this 15 slide PowerPoint, you will find a fun starter with images connected to the novel, a gap-fill about the life of HG Wells (with answers), a matching activity about Victorian England, Industrial Revolution, Imperialism, Science, and Political Change (also with answers), and some documentary viewing questions that could either be done during class or for homework (answers also provided). This is all you need to help your students get started with the background to the novel; it works well as a set of pre-reading activities. The full SoW can be bought as part of a bundle. I have made the SoW with the IGCSE first exams 2024 in mind, but it can be used generically too. I hope it is useful for your students. Please check out my other resources!
In this PowerPoint presentation you will find an overview of the radio broadcast that was presented by Orson Welles in 1938, with a range of activities included about fake news and entertainment. This is the second introductory lesson to the SoW for the IGCSE first exams 2024, but can be used for other curricula too. It could also be used as a standalone lesson on fake news to help students navigate the web more safely. The starter is an inference task based on the headlines that shocked the US after the first airing of War of the Worlds. The next task is a listening activity where students listen to a 10-minute extract of the radio broadcast (script handout and link included), highlighting lines/features that make it so believable. This is followed by a true or false quiz about fake news in today’s era. The main task is a creative one. Students, in groups/pairs have to create their own piece of “fake news” and then swap it with another group/pair. Finally, using the provided guide to spotting fake news, students have to break down one another’s piece of “fake news”. It should be a fun and informative lesson that is simple to teach and easy to follow for the students. Please check out the full SoW and my other resources. All feedback is enormously appreciated.
23-slide PowerPoint. Lots of activities which lead up to the first assessment of the SoW. These lessons include a gap-fill activity about the purpose of the curate, a brief drama activity, reading comprehension, four model paragraphs analysing a range of techniques, lots of ‘think, pair, share’ questions, handouts of the chapter for assessment prep, the assessment insert handout, links to the four AOs, a simple essay plan for students to organise their ideas, summaries of every chapter, and lots of lovely visuals. I hope it is useful for your classes. It should take about 3 or 4 hours to complete this PowerPoint.
In this 18-slide PowerPoint, you will find an initial vocabulary activity based on some of the tricky words in Book 2, Chapter 1, then some straightforward discussion questions to facilitate active reading, followed by a fun activity where students design their own technological alien and write a 200-word profile for it. Included is a gap fill activity to check understanding of Book 2, Chapter 2, followed by a “discussion” with HG Wells regarding the themes of reason/belief. This final activity should really get to the heart of the book and with the right teacher guidance there will hopefully be a rich discussion. All three chapters are also concisely summarised.
In this 20-slide PowerPoint covering chapters 11 and 12, you will find some vocabulary work, active reading strategies, guidance on descriptive and narrative writing, a reminder of using the senses to describe, activities on the themes of the novel, labelling activities, and a short debate. Students have plenty of time to discuss, write creatively, and analytically. Summaries of chapters 11 and 12 have been included as well as a clear plenary. I hope you find it useful.
In this bundle you will find a wide variety of resources to help you teach War of the Worlds. This is a new text for the iGCSE syllabus starting in September 2022 ready for first exams in 2024. It is also a useful resource if you just want to teach the text as part of KS3/5, or for a different spec. It is ready to be shared with students so that they can keep up with the work from home and access the PowerPoints for revision.
The activities are broad and varied, ranging from traditional teacher-led tasks, to paired/group work, and individual assignments. There are some more creative activities included throughout, like designing aliens and drama. I have also included some model paragraphs of analysis, technique analysis, quite a few vocabulary tasks, discussion topics, and I have included a selection of tailor-made assessments. Every chapter has also been summarised. Lessons have objectives, and are aesthetically striking.
Each of the 12 PowerPoints vary in length of delivery. Some will take between 1 and 2 lessons, others may take between 3 and 4, but you can pick and choose the activities to skip as you go along. I have tried my best to pitch a range of different tasks for a range of abilities, including regular extension work. Instructions and tasks are very clear for students and teachers to follow.
This should be all you need to teach the text, and if you need a copy of it, there are many freely available online. If you buy the whole bundle, you will save £18 compared to if you had bought each PowerPoint separately.
12-slide PP covering three chapters. A range of activities for these chapters and some model responses analysing the language and themes. Matching tasks and summaries galore. Please see shop for full bundle.
18 questions for students to show their understanding of the plot. This could also be used as an intro to the text and students could work on computers to find the answers. I have also included an answer sheet for quick marking.
In this 26-slide PowerPoint you will find a thought-provoking starter, matching poetry technique task, in-depth discussion task, creative writing exercise (using the key vocabulary from the poem), an artwork imagery task, homework questions, line by line questions, deep line by line annotations/analysis, essay question and plan, and a model paragraph (colour-coded). This could take anything between one and three hours of teaching, depending on the cohort.
Activities on every chapter of the book, organised on one linear PowerPoint (45 slides). Students read the book answering comprehension questions, completing a media project where they explore and create:
Social Media Posts
Messages and Blogs
Formal and Informal Emails
Bias Comparison Essays
Oral and Written News Reports
Photojournalism and Propaganda
Satirical Comic Strips
Assessment:
You could use any of the above, but the main two assessments are: designing a propaganda poster to promote compassion; and comparing two newspaper articles with different biases - one is from the BBC and the other is taken from the Daily Mail.
In this 19-slide PowerPoint you will find a starter activity that helps students understand the concept of lamentation, and a vocabulary task to help with breaking down keywords, key context of Kuwait and a link to an online analysis video, reading comprehension questions, homework challenge questions, line by line questions, line by line analysis, essay plan with topic sentence ideas and quotes for each paragraph, and an essay question for students to tackle the assessment.
In this 14-slide PowerPoint, you will find a theme exploration starter, line by line annotations, essay plan, twelve homework questions (students could do this in lesson but I like them to come to class having studied the poem a little), theme and quote matching task, and finally I have included an optional “fun” activity where students use the vocabulary of the poem to create a short playscript, which you could choose to develop into a performance. This PowerPoint will probably take about three hours to complete if you choose to do all the activities. It could also work as revision. Please let me know if you have any feedback.
In this 23-slide PowerPoint, you will find: starter, thought-provoking h/w questions (with answers as annotations), research the author task, vocabulary challenges (with answers), line-by-line analysis, structural questions (with answers), drama task, essay question and essay plan. A thoroughly detailed series of lessons that will most likely take 2 to 3 hours if you complete all activities. This PowerPoint can be used in class, for homework, or for revision.
In this 20-slide PowerPoint, you will find: sorting starter, re-organising the poem activity, line-by-line questions, line-by-line analysis, deep mind-map analysis of one stanza, essay question, essay plan, and a full 750-word model essay. The homework PDF is also included. It is a thorough series of two or three lessons that will take several hours to do everything.
In this 27-slide PowerPoint, you will find: thought-provoking starter, quick thematic overview, each stanza accompanied by relevant picture, line-by-line questions (with answers), PDF to complete the questions at home as flipped learning if required, clear essay plan with activities, a fun storytelling activity that has students research a folktale (optional extra if you have time), line-by-line technique annotations. Plenty of activities to really explore the poem in detail.
A selection of activities over 80 slides containing contextual details, comprehension questions, mini exams, quotation analysis, and character profiles.
