A 14 lesson scheme of work to study Nikolai Leskov’s novella “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” for the IBDP Language and Literature A course, This is a 19th century prose text written originally in Russian and appears of the prescribed list. It fits into the Time and Space unit. The scheme covers the whole text, introducing students to Harold Bloom’s anxiety of influence as a way to explore the relationship between Leskov and Shakespeare, as well as between Leskov and Oldroyd, who adapted the novella into a film starring Florence Pugh. The film is considered here as a non-literary text, alongside reviews and films posters. There are example responses included, as well as guidance for producing Individual Orals on the text and practice questions for both Paper 1 and 2. Feedback and planning templates are also included. Happy teaching! All feedback gratefully received.

This is a full scheme of work (22 lessons) for the IBDP Language and Literature English A Intertextuality Unit. The Literary texts are British-Nigerian poet Patience Agbabi’s 2008 collection “Bloodshot Monochrome” and US songwriter Tracy Chapman’s eponymous 1988 debut. Thus, it covers two centuries, two genres and two continents. Non-literary texts include: -Magazine covers -John Berger’s 1974 documentary “Ways of Seeing” -Portraiture by Charles White and Abbie Trayler-Smith -Kathleen Hanna’s Riot Grrrl manifesto -The Pride Train Takeover -Marriage Equality campaign posters -Stand up comedy routines by Gina Yashere and Sindhu Vee The unit also guides students through introductions to Paper 1, Paper 2 and the Individual Oral with example respones and mark schemes. All lessons come with a Google Slides presentation plus hand outs where required. Critical reading on Agbabi is also provided. An overview document gives a lesson by lesson description, allowing teachers to see how they connect. I’m making this available for free, partly because it is so niche, but it does represent HOURS of work. Therefore, please leave a review if you end up using it. Happy teaching!

Excite and engage your classes with one (or both!) of these great plays. This scheme of work gets students thinking critically about the strategies playwrights use, while also getting them out of their chairs to perform, either using the scripts or improvisation prompts. Scripts not included. An overview document gives you a run down of the scheme of work, with instructions for each lesson plus ideas for differentiation. There are 8 lessons with entrance tasks and powerpoint presentations: all of these are set up for both plays, so just delete the slides that aren’t relevant to the one you are teaching. The whole scheme will probably take longer (maybe 12 lessons) and one of the powerpoint presentations can just be recycled as you act/read the play through. Assessments are an essay on the presentation of the protagonist, and speech on the value of watching drama. Resources include example paragraphs, writing frames for low ability students and marking templates. Year 8 have great fun with this every year, and I hope you do too! Happy teaching!

25 fully resourced lessons for KE Salisbury’s brand-new, gripping, YA page-turner the face that pins you, ideal for sprucing up your KS3/MYP curriculum. Students have loved reading this, laughing out loud at the jokes, gasping at the twists and getting thoroughly sucked in by the lifelike characters. I taught it with Year 8, but it would work equally well further up the age range. Key themes include: social media, mental health, friendship, parenting and identity. It’s also got several incredible twists: you’ll need to swear the keen ones (who WILL read on) to silence! The scheme of work includes 4 assessments (two writing and two reading), with mark schemes and time-saving feedback templates. All lessons come with a powerpoint/Google slides and handouts (where necessary), and the scheme includes: embedded drama activities a debate lesson feedback and reflection lessons guided research on mental health issues videos by the author giving insight into various aspects of the novel glossaries links to Blookets on the text extension tasks writing frames for LA students (You’ll also need Jenga for a couple of lessons!) An overview document will give you a breakdown of each lesson, plus ideas for differentiation. Lessons tend to follow the entrance task-starter-development-mini-plenary-consolidation-plenary pattern. Learning objectives and success criteria are clearly displayed, and differentiation is built in. Normally, I charge for my schemes of work (over 900 sales) as they do represent many, many hours of work. However, this one I’m making free as it’s such a joy to teach (and read) that I want everyone to have the opportunity to share this gripping story with their students. Have fun!

This is a 12 to 14 lesson complete scheme of work on Media Analysis and Text Creation. Students will learn the vocabulary necessary for the analysis of a range of multi-media texts (advertisements, comic strips, posters and so on) and then apply these in written and spoken assessments. Texts used include Thor posters, extracts from Heartstopper and stills from Bohemian Rhapsody. Students then create and reflect upon their own multi-media texts. There is lots of differentiation built in and students have lots of agency, able to select their own texts and tasks. Intended for KS3 classes (I do it with Year 8), this does have an eye on preparing students for the IB Diploma Programme (the success criteria for the oral assessment comes straight from the Language A Individual Oral assessment). It was a pretty enjoyable unit, both for teachers and students, and it was amazing how some normally quite weaker students really shone once they were working with multi-media texts rather than just pages of print. I’ve made this available for free, but it does represent HOURS of work. Therefore, if you do use it, please leave a review. Thanks. Happy teaching!

Two schemes of work (11 double lessons in total) for the Edexcel IAL in English Literature. These are for Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. Students should read The Handmaid’s Tale independently first (or at least watch the 1990 film) before studying Never Let Me Go, and then studying The Handmaid’s Tale. Both schemes of work are available separately from my shop.

An 11 (double) lesson scheme of work for The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. This was taught as part of the Edexcel International A Level in English Literature, paired with Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. This has always been taught as the second text, so that students are already able to make quite detailed connections between texts. Flip learning and peer marking are used regularly. There is a presentation for each lesson. I’ve had very mixed ability groups, so there is a lot of scaffolding for weaker students and stretching questions for the higher ability ones. If you would like to buy both schemes of work at a discount you can; please check my shop.

An 11 (double) lesson scheme of work for Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is for Edexcel’s International A Level, paired texts, paired with The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, though many if not all of the lessons would work for teaching Ishiguro’s novel in isolation. If you are teaching this paired with Atwood, this scheme of work is based on the premise that students have read The Handmaid’s Tale independently (or at the very least watched the 1990 film) in advance. This allows them to make superficial comparisons of plot and character as you teach Never Let Me Go. I 've had very mixed ability groups, so there is a lot of differentiation, with scaffolding for weaker students and stretching questions for the more able. If you want to buy schemes of work for both texts, at a discount, you can. Just search my shop.

Two trackers for the International A2 and AS Level English Language, CIE specification 9093. What these tracker do is give you the range of a students’ marks. By adding in classwork and mock marks on the relevant sheets, the overview then tells you the best and worst combined marks, giving you a picture of the range of grades that they are capable of securing. (Numerical marks are automatically converted to grades, using the June 2022 grade boundaries, which in future years can be updated on the look up tables sheet.) Furthermore, by adding d (developing) s (secure) or e (extending) under the assessment objectives on each classwork sheet, you can build up a picture of the needs of individual students and the class as a whole in order to plan and differentiate more effectively. I hope it’s helpful!

A complete scheme of work for A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Edexcel A Level English Literature). 12 fully resourced lessons covering the full play, which you will want to intersperse with essay-writing lessons, plus example essays, and useful materials on context and criticism. Happy teaching!

A complete scheme of work for Twelfth Night. 23 fully resourced lessons (presentations plus handouts, including critical perspectives). There are also quizzes, an overview document, opportunities for flip-learning and a revision workbook that students can collaborate on. There are also resources for teaching students how to write essays, as well as the content. This is intended for the Edexcel International A Level syllabus (Year 12). The goal is very much to engage students in the learning as active participants, with presentations, peer marking and student-led learning. Both classes I have taught with this have really enjoyed it.

A complete scheme of work (16 fully resourced lessons) for Simon Stephens’ adaptation of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime”. I currently use this to prepare students for the Edexcel iGCSE in English Literature, but many of the resources date from when I taught the same text for AQA’s English Literature GCSE, and they could easily be tweaked to suit that purpose. This is a very active unit, which involves getting students to do lots of acting, but at the same time seeks to develop them into reflective learners through continuous self, peer and teacher assessment. It is a lot of fun to teach and the students always enjoy it. There is an overview document giving a lesson-by-lesson breakdown, and all lessons come fully resourced with power points and handouts (though you may occasionally need to produce literacy starters that meet the needs of your students). There is also an all-action launch lesson that will require you to source some assistants and props, but it really enthuses the students about the text if you can pull it off. Happy teaching!

A 12 lesson scheme of work to help students develop their Creative Writing skills. I currently use it to guide students through Assignment 2 of the CIE iGCSE in English Language: however, many of the resources date from when I was preparing students for the AQA English Language GCSE Creative Writing task, so could easily be adapted back for this purpose. There is an overview document giving detailed instructions for the lessons. Each lesson then comes with a powerpoint and various printable resources. There’s lots of differentiation plus scope for group/pair work. Some lessons make take a double period and I strongly recommend doing the pre-teaching lessons on sentence types as well. There are also marking short-cuts and extra grammar resources included (particularly useful if you have lots of EAL students). Outcomes are always excellent and the students tend to get a kick out of the classes, especially if you are up for doing a Freddie Mercury impression in lesson 2! Happy teaching!

A 16 lesson complete scheme of work for Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. Powerpoint presentations and other resources for all lessons are included, as well as an overview document giving ideas for differentiation and homework. The lessons include two debates, opportunities for performance, group work, and lots of peer marking - students will be very familiar with the Assessment Objectives by the end. Originally, this was planned for a Year 11 class taking the CIE iGCSE English Literature exam (100% pass rate with 75% at A*/A… just saying!), while simultaneously being used with a Year 10 class writing coursework for the Edexcel iGCSE English Literature (again, 100% pass rate with 75% 7 to 9). That Year group’s coursework essay was “How crucial is Alfieri’s role in A View from the Bridge?”; my current Year 11s’ coursework title - which they did in Year 10 - was “How does Miller present conflict?” (a slightly weaker group). Happy teaching!

26 lessons, covering ALL poems in the Edexcel iGCSE Literature Poetry Anthology. As well as individual lessons for each poem, this unit includes: lessons on specific poetic techniques (metre; alliteration, assonance and sibilance); an introductory lesson to the whole anthology; a student-friendly printable version of the anthology, complete with glossaries, explanations and relevant context; six lessons on how to compare poems; marking slip template; peer feedback template; homework and extension tasks. Lessons tend to follow the entrance task - starter - development - consolidation - plenary format. A couple are carousel lessons: others are quite teacher-led. There is lots of peer marking involved - students really get to grips with the assessment objectives by the end. Happy teaching! Note: I have made some - but not all - individual resources available for free.

A selection of revision tasks for the Edexcel iGCSE English Literature qualification. Unseen poetry, Poetry Anthology and Of Mice and Men. To give to students, or to allow them to choose from them, for work in class or homework.

A single carousel-style lesson that gets students to explore Carol Ann Duffy’s poem War Photographer independently (though I’d also suggest showing them a few videos about developing photographic film beforehand). To go with either the AQA or Edexcel anthologies.

A student led carousel lesson on Rossetti’s remember - worked extremely well with my almost entirely EAL Year 11s - they effectively taught themselves. There are 4 stations which examine the meaning, sound, imagery and mood of the poem. No prior knowledge of the poem is needed, though students will need to be familiar with key poetic terminology. Intended for the Edexcel iGCSE in English Literature, but would be suitable for any syllabus (it could be used as an unseen poem, for example). See the notes sections of the power-point slides for ideas on differentiation and AFL.

A fun flash fiction writing lesson with a horror theme. Gets students thinking about the horror genre, the use of the uncanny and twists in their writing, and how performance affects our response to texts. I used in with KS4 and KS5 classes, but I imagine KS3 would be fine with this too.

A printable Poetry Anthology for students studying the Edexcel IGCSE in English Literature (4ET1). It includes all the poems, plus glossaries, explanations of key features and contexts, and brief biographies (where relevant). There are also three pages of explanations of key terms for poetry analysis, with examples from the anthology.