Regardless of how many times I’ve taught Macbeth at GCSE, students still seem to struggle to make meaningful connections between text and context, and thus hit their A03 target. Here are four lessons I designed to tackle this problem, going in depth to explore: Lesson 1: Who was King James? How did his paranoia, marriage to Anne of Denmark, taking of the English throne, and self-appointment as witch-hunter influence the shaping of Macbeth? Lesson 2: Protestantism & Catholicism. What are the key differences between the two? How did Luther’s teachings divert from Catholic tradition and lay the groundwork for Henry VIII? Lesson 3: The Chain of Being. How did this reinforce the feudal system? Lesson 4: The Supernatural. How does the setting of Scotland lend itself to supernatural elements? How does the supernatural in Macbeth reinforce the colonial narrative? My set 1 year 10s really engaged with these four lessons. Have also included “required readings” with key terms and questions for discussion that you might choose to set as homework before the lessons (flipped-model style).

A really straightforward and clear introduction to poetic meter. This lesson can be taught as a one off, or extended based on ability of your class. The lesson clearly demonstrates what meter is, and how to identify iambs through sound and rhythm. Students learn how to mark for iambs on lines of poetry/Shakespeare, building to the main activity of marking iambic pentameter in Orsino’s “Food of Love” monologue from Twelfth Night. A stretch and challenge activity at the end prompts thinking about other metrical forms (useful for if you’re teaching Macbeth, and looking at the witches’ patterns of speech). Enjoy!

As described- enjoy!

You can adapt this for other years if need be- an easy and fun termly HW project, geared at years 7/8 studying an introduction to Shakespeare.

A great lesson for introducing these English terms or revising them. The lesson looks at the poem “I Carry Your Heart” by EE Cummings; an excellent poem for examining language, structure and form. Lots of structured activities included: paragraph writing, revision of language techniques, peer marking, and an extension creative writing task.

A one off lesson that you can teach either as a part of creative writing or just a filler lesson. Looks at how to structure a creative response based on different stimulus; plenty of model examples included.

A single lesson that can be taught as part of any unit. Vocabulary building skills, particularly helpful for lower ability students.

Quick and fun activity- enjoy.

Useful for any topic on plays :)

Worksheet for Sheila, Act 1.

Revision quiz questions for all four papers for topics: Macbeth Inspector Calls Jekyll and Hyde Language paper 1 and 2 Will take you several lessons- language analysis, quotes, themes and context are all covered- enjoy!

Using two unseen poems (one by Louise Gluck) this booklet allows students to work in pairs or individually to complete a mini-project that covers all the skills for the unseen poetry section of Language Paper 1, AQA GSCE specimen. This took my class about 2-3 lessons to complete. Self-directed learning is great for this time of year!

Using an extract from “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy, this booklet allows students to work in pairs or individually to complete a mini-project that covers all the skills for the Language Paper 1, AQA GSCE specimen. This took my class about 2-3 lessons to complete. Self-directed learning is great for this time of year!

My year 7s are studying non-fiction at the moment, which I personally find very boring! To spice things up, we’ve been looking at non-fiction textual forms through the theme of comic books (see my other lessons for examples). This lesson/2 lessons examines the features of speeches, with examples being the grand speeches comic villains perform. Included: Two clips of Ego and Bane- why are their speeches convincing? Analysis activities for the Joker’s speech from The Dark Knight Model critical paragraph Creative: students write their own villain speech Extension: Students create a comic page featuring their villain and given speech. My class loved it. Enjoy!

My year 7s are continuing their non-fiction unit this term and after seeing (and loving!) Black Panther these holidays, I saw an opportunity for some enlightenment. 1-2 lessons examine a film review of Black Panther, with a series of questions and activities analysing its language features and meaning. Can be taught as a one off. A particularly important lesson for young students who, like mine, come from primary white backgrounds.

I set this for my low-ability year 7 class just before the half-term break (holiday homework!), but you can use this lesson at any point throughout the term. A lesson that introduces book reviews and provides students with a checklist for writing their own. The worksheet helps students understand how to structure their review. Enjoy!

At our school, year 7, 8 and 9 all do formative and summative assessments that mimic the GCSE style Language Paper 1. Students are given a literary extract and then complete the following: One comprehension question One language analysis quesiton One creative writing question in response to a prompt. These are some exam papers that I created for my class to practise, and can be used either at the beginning of term as a broad diagnostic of skills, part way through the term to assess progress, or as a end of year paper. The three extracts for these papers are from The Hobbit, The Eye of the World, and The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.

A lesson that's ideal at completion of the GCSE "Power and Conflict" poetry cluster. Activities for retaining quotes, comparing themes and critical writing (through a differentiation focused "draw of the hat" exercise) are included.

Part of the Power & Conflict cluster for GCSE poetry, these 2-3 lessons firstly cover contextual factors (Agard's subjective experience and the broader issues/aftermath of colonialism), in depth annotations of the poem, themes and ideas. An guided annotation sheet can be done in class or as homework.

A single lesson that builds students' comparison skills for the GCSE Power & Conflict poetry unit. Activities include comparison and contrast for AO1-2, and critical writing.