This cover sheet has been developed to ensure that pupils maintain a consistent quality of writing when comparing and contrasting two poems in an essay. Pupils are to use this checklist to tick off all of the essential elements of a successful answer, paragraph by paragraph, as they write it and present it when they submit their essay. This ensures that pupils remain focused in presenting consistently analytical paragraphs. I have used this successfully with both GCSE and A Level pupils.

This document has been designed to help students gain a meaningful understanding of Heaney’s “An Advancement of Learning”. This document features detailed questions that prompts critical engagement with the poem, while focusing on the effects of poetic devices. There is also a brief bit of background information on the poem to assist with understanding. I have used this worksheet for homework and classwork, and it has worked well with students using it individually, in pairs and as a group task.

This worksheet offers effective guidance for pupils struggling to identify and analyse linguistic devices in both literary and non-fiction texts.

This handout provides a vast variety of poetic techniques, with questions to assist pupils in providing a detailed and analytical response to poetry.

This document has been designed to help students gain a meaningful understanding of Heaney’s “At a Potato Digging”. This document features detailed questions that prompts critical engagement with the poem, while focusing on the effects of poetic devices. There is also a brief bit of background information on the poem to assist with understanding. I have used this worksheet for homework and classwork, and it has worked well with students using it individually, in pairs and as a group task.

This interview worksheet prompts junior pupils to interview their parents/guardians and discover what school was like for them. They then present their findings to the class and discuss the differences in schools between then and now.

This document has been designed to help students gain a meaningful understanding of Hardy’s “A Sheep Fair”. This document features detailed questions that prompt critical engagement with the poem, while focusing on the effects of poetic devices. There is also a brief bit of background information on the poem to assist with understanding. I have used this worksheet for homework and classwork, and it has worked well with students using it individually, in pairs and as a group task.

This Assembly has been used to promote reading among pupils. The PowerPoint uses engaging images as prompts to guide pupils through the benefits and importance of reading, the lessons to be learned from famous novels, while also offering pupils the opportunity to discuss their favourite books. The script for the assembly is easy to follow, with corresponding slides for the PowerPoint labelled for ease. Alternatively, a version of the powerpoint that combines the presentation and script is also included. It is also interactive, allowing for audience participation. This has been used as part of a wider initiative to promote reading throughout the school.

These documents are designed to assist students in exploring the thematic connections (AO4) between the Frost and Heaney poems in the CCEA A Level Anthology. In the document, pupils are prompted to use the detailed arguments and connections between pomes (AO1, AO3) to locate textual references and poetic methods (AO2) to further their analysis and understanding of the poems. These sheets would then be used as a basis for an essay on the poems and provided topic. The paired poems and themes include: The Road Not Taken and The Peninsula (Journeys), Mowing and The Forge (The Creative Process), Mending Wall and Bogland (The Past). There is also a blank template for both teachers and students to use for other poems/themes and a list of thematic connections between the poems. My A Level students have found this approach immensely beneficial in finding the connections between poems and structuring written responses.

A fun filled quiz that can be used for World Book Day, International Reading Week or anything literature related. It has 5 rounds with 10 questions in each, including the following: Opening lines, General questions, Fantasy Fiction, Book Covers and Book or Movie- which came first? This is a quiz that many of my students have enjoyed, and it can take between 30-60 minutes depending on how you approach the marking of the quiz and the speed of the questions.

This engaging activity prompts pupils to engage with the imagery used in Wilfred Owen's war poem "Dulce et Decorum est". Pupils are required to read the poem, while locating examples of imagery that correspond to provided images. Pupils must then document the quote from the poem and analyse the effect of the imagery, with the PowerPoint presentation providing the answer and prompting further analysis. They are also encouraged to discuss what they believe to be the most impactful use of imagery in the poem. This activity can be used successfully in a study of War Poetry, imagery or as a supplementary activity in a KS3 History class.

These detailed resources have been developed to help enhance the quality of pupils' personal writing essays. They include a checklist for a successful personal writing response, guidance on how to plan and structure responses and many sample topics to write about. Also provided are worksheets and presentations to assist pupils in using linguistic devices, effective punctuation and varied sentence starters to enhance the quality of their writing. I have used these resources with both KS3 and GCSE students.

This workbook acts as an engaging and accessible entry for KS3 pupils into a study of poetry. It includes the following sections: 1. Introduction to Poetry- exploring what poetry is, what others have said about poetry and a study of "An Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins. 2. Researching the definition and examples of poetic devices. 3. Understanding and using personification. 4. Introduction to War Poetry- understanding the context of WWI, understanding and analysing imagery in 'Dulce et Decorum est" and "Who's for the Game?". 5. Poetic Form: the Haiku: examples of Haiku, Haiku guessing game and crafting Haiku. 6. Poems and Songs- understanding the similarities and differences between poems and songs, analysing songs as poems.

This lesson focuses on giving pupils an insight into the conditions of World War 1 and how propaganda was used to persuade young men to join the army. Pupils are provided a worksheet and, in groups, they conduct a multi-modal analysis of the propaganda posters, focusing on purpose, audience, layout and language. This activity has been used successfully in both KS3 English and History classes.

These resources have been developed to assist pupils in their analysis of Non-Fiction texts. It provides a series of questions to help guide pupils through the important aspect of Non-Fiction texts, with several short examples for pupils to practice on. Also included is a detailed revision sheet to assist pupils in analysing linguistic devices, especially those pupils who find it difficult to discuss the effect of language. These have been used successfully with GCSE pupils in preparation for their English Language exam, but they can also be used for KS3 English classes.

A fun quiz for pupils to enjoy after reading the novel.

This fun activity allows KS3 students to practice fractions of a quantity in a real-world example of a bargain hunt. Students are presented with 5 shops that have 5 discounted items in each. The students must work in groups to work the discounted price and the saving, while determining the best overall deal in each shop (the highest saving). This enjoyable activity has been used successfully at the end of a study of fractions at KS3 level.

This fun quiz tests pupils on their knowledge of famous literary characters. One pupil sits facing the class, with their back to the screen. They then ask the remainder of the class a maximum of 20 questions in an attempt to determine the identity of the character on the screen. This can be used for events such as World Book Day, International Reading Week, Book Week or for a fun introduction or conclusion for a unit on fiction.

Pupils were initially asked to research the book. This presentation was used in the following class to determine their knowledge and provide crucial background information. Pupils then used their knowledge to create a diary entry of a migrant worker.

This resource prompts students to consider the criteria for a successful analytical paragraph on Of Mice and Men. It also provides a sample paragraph and guidance on using the PEE / PEE(D) structure. Also included is a checklist for all pupils to follow when they are writing their paragraphs.