A capture sheet for students to complete as they are watching A Christmas Carol. A great revision resource or end of term activity, with a cloze summary included.

A lesson to enable students to create emotion and atmosphere through language using the skill pathetic fallacy. The lesson uses visual stimuli (clips from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings) to facilitate students’ understanding of pathetic fallacy and how the weather/landscape reflects characters’ emotions and affects the audience. This resource contains video links and resources to print for students. It also includes a written example of pathetic fallacy, a writing task for students to demonstrate their understanding of pathetic fallacy, and sentence stems and words banks for differentiation.

A descriptive writing lesson which focuses on using a variety of sentence types for clarity, purpose and effect. This resource uses the Horror/Gothic genre as stimulus to encourage students to think about the intentional effects of different sentences, including sentence fragments. Lesson was designed for Year 7, but perhaps suitable for L/A Year 8.

TBQ: After exploring the role of artificial intelligence in society, can I create a persuasive poster or newspaper article? Designed for a higher ability Y9 group and encourages a debate/discussion on whether AI is a positive contribution to society. There is the option of a creative task (poster) or a written task (newspaper article).

TBQ: Can I explore and analyse Dickens’ presentation of the poor in an extract from A Christmas Carol? Designed for top set Y10. Lesson includes quotation analysis task and an exemplar response. Students prepare to write their own response to an exemplar exam question.

’With my partner, can I begin to write a short script from an extra scene to prepare for my Speaking and Listening Assessment?' This was delivered over two lessons to a mixed ability Y8 class, the first part focusing on preparing students for their speaking and listening assessment, and the second part where they practice and deliver their scripts. Includes help sheet resources to prompt and aid students if needed, a script check list, and also my ‘What Went Well’ and ‘Even Better If’ feedback sheets. The lesson also includes some drama techniques which students absolutely loved (vocal warm ups, show me don’t tell me tasks, facial expressions etc.).

TBQ: When exploring power and conflict poetry, can we analyse the meanings and poetic devices in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’? Designed for a weaker ability Year 10 class. The lesson (taught over a 2 hour period) introduces the poem gradually with images and an analysis/exploration of the title. The lesson then explores the context, using a Youtube video to aid understanding. Students work in pairs to unpick a specified stanza on the worksheet they are giving before feeding back to the class. There is an activity in which student match images to lines in the poem and a task that encourages students to explore how the poem links to ‘power’ and ‘conflict’.

TBQ: Am I able to identify power and conflict in Jane Weir’s ‘Poppies’, and analyse the methods used to convey it? Mix and Match key terms to their definitions Introduces the poem using images Explores Jane Weir’s motivations for writing the poem Students are assigned a stanza and given guidance on what to pick out before sharing their ideas with the class (visualiser used to annotate the poem with the class) Plenary activities

Designed for a two-hour Year 12 lesson, this resource introduces the characteristics of ecocriticism using Dr Seuss’ ‘The Lorax’ to demonstrate how to analyse a text from an ecocritical perspective. In the second half of the lesson, students will then apply their ecocritical knowledge to an extract from Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’. This resource includes: a structured and comprehensive Powerpoint presentation a lesson plan a mix and match activity Video clips numerous discussion points ‘The Road’ extract and an exploration grid an example analytical paragraph with success criteria I thoroughly enjoyed planning and teaching this lesson, and the students seemed to enjoy it too! I hope your class benefits from it too. If they do, please leave a review!

TBQ: Can I compare how the poets present ideas about war and conflict in ‘Bayonet Charge’ and ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’? Designed for weaker ability Y10 and delivered over 2 lessons. Includes: Step by step approach to comparing poems and responding to an exam style question Revision venn diagram to compare the poems Quote explosions Comparative phrases task Exemplar paragraph Paragraph task Peer assessment

’After reading an extract from Act 1 Scene 2, can I analyse the character of Caliban and consider whether he is a victim or a villain?' Delivered to a mixed ability Y8 class, focusing on the analysis of Caliban as a victim or villain, where students prepare to write an exam style response to the question - How does Shakespeare present Caliban as a victim?

’Using creative writing skills, can I write a recipe for a magic spell to summon a storm?' This lesson was created for a mixed ability Y8 class who were studying The Tempest. I used this for the last lesson of term, so it was a nice and creative lesson to end on and the students had lots of fun creating their own spells. The lesson includes an activity where students identify poetic devices in the spell chanted by the witches in Macbeth, and then goes on to support them writing their own spell to conjure a storm (like the Tempest).

A lesson exploring ideas about appearance, reality and the presentation of women in Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 130’. Prompts discussion about ‘reality’ and ‘appearence’, weaving in ideas about social media. Students work individually to interpret different given lines in the poem (worksheet including challenge questions), and then class collaboratively discuss, explore and feedback their interpretations. Lesson also includes a creative writing task.

A (2 hour) lesson guiding Y10 students (top set) through an approach to exploring, analysing and responding to an unseen poem - The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. The lesson addresses the question: ‘Can I analyse language and structure in an unseen poem, learning a strategy to respond to an unseen poetry exam question?’ Students are working towards the question: In ‘The Road Not Taken’, how does the poet present the speaker’s feelings about choice? Groups of students are given a particular stanza to focus on independently and then feedback their ideas as the teacher makes notes on the board (I have left some of the answers my students delivered on the slides FYI). The next task focuses on an exemplar response, where students will construct their own paragraph responding to the question and utilising their annotated poem to support them. Resource includes Powerpoint, lesson plan, exemplar paragraph word doc and a word doc displaying the poem and question.

TBQ: Can I draw a map of the island and label it with significant moments to visually represent events in the novel so far? Task 1: Students draw a map of the island, including significant locations (checklist included). Task 2: On their island map, students plot the events that they think are most important to the storyline so far, including a small summary of the event (stretch and challenge task included as well as support for L/A). This was designed as an independent **revision/homework task **for top set Y11. Students got really creative with this and produced some amazing work!

TBQ: Can I reflect on the events in AMSND and create a storyboard to develop and secure my understanding of the plot? Delivered to a top set Y9 class over the course of 2 lessons. Students loved this engaging lesson as it encompasses a wide range of activities to secure their knowledge of the plot. Lesson includes: Plot summary (number the events in order) Storyboard task (with challenge) Plot quiz Closer analysis of Hermia and Helena fight Hermia’s twitter activity Image plenary task

Designed for top set Y10 and was taught over a period of two lessons. Students explore the question: Can I compare the similarities and differences in the poets’ presentation of choice in two unseen poems? The poems used to compare are ‘The Road Not Taken’ and ‘Invictus’ (this lesson builds on my previous resource which solely explores The Road Not Taken). The lesson includes various discussions relating to Invictus surrounding free will and fate, an activity exploring comparative terminology, a worksheet grid where students map ideas for comparison of the two poems, an exemplar paragraph, and peer assessment activity.

A lesson exploring how Sylvia Plath uses language to present ideas about identity in her poem ‘Mirror’. Was designed for a mixed ability Year 9 class, but would be a great stretch and challenge lesson for a higher ability Year 8 class. Various activities including an imagery task, where students match images to a line or phrase in the poem (handout). Stretch and challenge tasks also incorporated.

A Freudian reading of LOTF, suitable for remote learning as well as in the classroom. This lesson explores Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of the Id, Ego and Superego, applying it to Lord of the Flies to develop students’ contextual knowledge and understanding of characterisation. This is a great stretch and challenge lesson, planned for a top set Y11 class, although can easily be differentiated according to ability. Includes a range of tasks and stimuli to engage and facilitate learning such as videos, a Guess Who game, character profiles activity and a quiz (link included to quiz in lesson plan).