This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Benjamin Zephaniah’s ‘Refugee Boy.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS3 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that children gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: ‘Context: Eritrean-Ethiopian War’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know the purpose, audience and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension.’ ‘Zephaniah’s Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ ‘Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald Character Profile’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.’ ‘Vocabulary Inspector’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Learn new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 23 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

This engaging and stimulating lesson enables students to create travel brochure texts containing appropriate and imaginative language choices, utilising a range of different language techniques with subtlety in order to craft writing that serves the dual purpose of being descriptive and persuasive. In particular, students learn how descriptive language such as of similes, metaphors, and personification, in addition to persuasive devices such as statistics, rhetorical questions, and personal pronouns, can help to create truly authentic and effective travel brochure pieces. The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to: - Define what travel brochures are and understand their purposes; - Identify the persuasive and descriptive language devices that travel brochure writers employ - Analyse the effects of the language in a model travel brochure text; - Utilise a clear and challenging success criteria document in order to construct their own travel brochure pieces; - Self/Peer assess travel writing attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - An interesting and ambitious travel writing extract (with a highlighted version for teachers): -A logical and challenging worksheet, encouraging students to analyse key features; - A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This informative and engaging double lesson aims to improve students’ ability to compare and contrast two different texts based on a similar subject. They will focus particularly on the purpose, audience, language, and structure of texts, and will learn to use comparing and contrasting connectives to highlight any similarities and differences. This has always been a crucial skill in English, but has an increased importance in the new GCSE for English Language, as there is a greater requirement for students to be able to make links and comparisons between texts. The lesson follows a clear and logical learning journey, with students learning to: - Understand the key terms 'compare' and 'contrast', and the importance of these skills in English; - Categorise the different features that they can compare, under the headings 'Purpose', 'Audience', 'Language' and 'Structure;' - Read (and identify the key features within) two morally and ethically intriguing texts, offering diverse views of young people in the media; -Compare the two texts, using a clear and concise template, and newly-acquired knowledge of different types of connectives; - Peer-assess each other's comparative essay attempts. Included in this resource pack are: - Whole double lesson, colourful and engaging PowerPoint presentation (Including assessment for learning referral slides) - Cards for card-sorting activity; - Two interesting and thought-provoking non-fiction media extracts (one a newspaper extract from The Evening Standard, and another a persuasive leaflet, both focused on the issue of how young people are perceived.) - Template for main comparative analysis task; - Full teacher guidance plan. All images are licensed for commercial use and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint presentation

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.' It contains comprehensive sections on: - Context; - Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); - Main Characters; - Themes; - Stevenson's Language Devices; - Gothic Features. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘The Butterfly Lion.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in Years 3 to 5, but it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This engaging and detailed resource pack has been designed to make the learning of fronted adverbials (particularly prominent in the new curriculum) easily accessible, engaging and interesting for all children. Throughout the lesson, students learn to improve their skill at using appropriate, concise, and precise fronted adverbials within their own writing compositions. In addition to the comprehensive lesson, resources, and plan, it also includes a fronted adverbials writing mat to assist students in building their extended writing skills. The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to: - Define what fronted adverbials are; - Identify fronted adverbials in sentences; - Analyse and evaluate what it is that makes some fronted adverbials more effective than others; - Write an extended piece with the employment of fronted adverbials; -Peer/self-assess learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - A clear and interesting worksheet for the development task; - An interesting short story for students to analyse; - A hyperlink to an engaging and heart-warming video through a hyperlink in the presentation; - A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint/ the bottom of worksheets.

This comprehensive analysis enables students to understand the key content, language and structural features of Alfred Noyes’ poem ‘The Highwayman.’ The resources is comprised of a 24-slide PowerPoint presentation, which includes: -Contextual Information: The Poet/ Writing the Poem/ Highwaymen -Detailed Stanza-by-Stanza Analysis of the Poem -Noyes Key Messages -Questions for Further Consideration Annnotations are colour-coded for ease of reference. The resource is tried and tested, and helps to ensure that students develop a well-rounded understanding of the poem and its meanings. A PDF version of the resource is also included, to protect formatting in case of differences in software. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of the descriptive language used to depict the monster in Chapter 5 of Mary Shelley’s horror novel 'Frankenstein.' The lesson places a particular focus upon the descriptive language devices employed by Shelley, in order to create a clear image of the monster’s appearance in the reader's mind, and also to describe Victor’s strong reaction to his creation. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate an ability to make sustained and original interpretations of the language used by the author. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Considering how their preconceptions about the monster have been influenced by modern media and representations; - Read and understand a key extract from the beginning of chapter 5 - the point at which the monster comes to life; - Infer and interpret the key developments of the extract, including Frankenstein's changing feelings and the monster's ambiguous actions; - Identifying and analysing some of the key descriptive devices used by Shelley to create an image of the monster; - Analysing the effect of the descriptive devices upon the reader; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including an animated Frankenstein's monster to guide them through the lesson); - Descriptive devices worksheet (and a teacher answer sheet); - Extract from the beginning of Chapter 5; - Inferring and Interpreting worksheet; - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 9/10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

ENVIRONMENT WHOLE CLASS ASSEMBLY Included in this pack: A short play An original poem (PPT slides and a written version) I’m An Eco-Warrior, Get Me Into There! This is a play for a class of 30 children and is about four environmental issues: forests, rivers, ice caps and oceans. Each issue is represented in a game show by an Eco-Warrior. Each issue has a rap to perform and a group of Fact Finders. The Fact Finders each have a short paragraph of facts to say. Every child has the chance to speak, either with scripted dialogue or through the rap. There are scripted dialogue lines for 22 children and the other children are involved in the raps. You could also add more presenters and share the dialogue out between them. I have included the script as a word document so changes can be made to accommodate more or less speaking parts. Fact Finders can be added to by sharing the dialogue out more, or cut down by giving each Fact Finder more to say. Rappers can also be added to or cut down. One rapper from each environmental issue also has a single line of dialogue. As well as the whole play I have included the Fact Finder scripts and raps separately for ease of chopping them up, so you don’t have to give everyone the full script. Once Upon a Time There Was a Planet… is a 12 stanza non-rhyming poem about the affects we’re having on the environment. It’s presented as a 13 slide power point presentation, with powerful images. There is a written version included too. The poem is ideal for individual, paired, group or whole class work and would make an excellent addition to your class assembly. The first half illustrates how wonderful our planet is and the second half illustrates the devastating affect humans are having on the planet.

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make detailed and precise interpretations of the language used by Charles Dickens in describing Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. In particular, students analyse the interesting vocabulary choices, similes, metaphors, and other language devices employed to depict Miss Havisham’s decayed appearance and surroundings, before utilising the techniques in a similar manner through their own vivid descriptions. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Defining and exemplifying each of the descriptive language devices; - Reading extracts from 'Great Expectations' in which Miss Havisham is described, identifying the descriptive devices used; - Precisely and in detail, analysing how Dickens uses each of the descriptive language devices for effect; - Creating their own imaginative and appropriate descriptions of mysterious characters, using a wide range of descriptive language devices; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Extracts from Great Expectations; - Cards for card-sorting activity; - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Blank character profile template; - Model example character profile template; - Writing to describe helpsheet; - Comprehensive lesson plan. All documents are attached as Word and PDF in case formatting differs on your computer. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to mixed ability year 10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising George Orwell's 'Animal Farm.' It contains comprehensive sections on: - Context; - Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); - Main Characters; - Themes; - Features of Allegory; - 'The Power of Persuasion (in the speeches of Old Major and Squealer). Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

Quiz - Christmas Quiz: A fun and accessible English Christmas Quiz with over 20 questions and hidden YouTube surprises. Works on PowerPoint. Questions focus on lessons students have been using to prepare for GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature.

This resource is suitable to teach different type of traditional stories, compare them.

This is designed for EAL learners, but is useful as a prompt for debate in the mainstream classroom. The arguments and counter arguments are presented as exercises: match-up, replace the words and re-arrange the words. There is also a powerful image to describe - my thanks to Rich the vegansidekick for permission to use it. A full key is included.