These resources enable students to understand and analyse the Old Major’s dream and the events of the animal revolution, in the opening two chapters of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. More precisely, students learn to make clear and accurate interpretations about events and characters, with appropriate links to the Orwell’s allegory and relationship to context. Students learn through the following tasks: - Gauging and collaborating previous knowledge through a discussion-based starter task; - Reading the first two chapters and demonstrating their understanding through a related activity sheet; - Developing their understanding of characters and context through a a making links activity; - Analysing the allegorical nature of the opening chapters by further exploring the connections between characters and contexts; - Peer assessing their partners' learning attempts. The following resources are provided: - Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint (includes links for video) - Teacher lesson guidance/plan; - Chapters 1 and 2 worksheet; - Making Links Activity Sheet (1x more difficult, 1 x easier); - Copies of Chapters 1 and 2. All images and videos are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint. Note - internet connection is needed if you plan to use the video.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men.' Teachers have found them particularly useful in exam revision, comprehension tasks, or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the KS4 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework - this makes the tasks suitable for all examining bodies. Students 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 students gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: - 'Context: The Great Depression' - to aid students with 'Drawing on knowledge of the purpose, audience and context of the writing, including its social, historical and cultural context and the literary tradition to which it belongs, to inform evaluation;' - 'Steinbeck's Description' - to aid students with 'Analysing a writer’s choice of vocabulary, form, grammatical and structural features, and evaluating their effectiveness and impact;' - 'Curley's Wife' - to aid students with 'Seeking evidence in the text to support a point of view, including justifying inferences with evidence;' - 'Editing the Text' - to aid students with 'Making an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.' Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 30 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).

These resources enable students to understand the context of the Russian Revolution, the predominant subject of Orwell’s allegory within Animal Farm. More precisely, students learn about the key historical events and figures throughout this point in time in Russian history, and begin to comprehend Orwell’s intentions in writing the novella. These resources give students a strong foundation of knowledge which they can then utilise to begin confidently relating the text to its context. There are easily enough resources for at least two lessons within this resource pack. Students learn through the following tasks: - Gauging and collaborating previous knowledge through a discussion-based starter task; - Watching, listening, and demonstrating their understanding of an engaging and informative context video and related activity sheet; - Developing their understanding through in-depth investigative research into the main leaders of the Russian Revolution; - Writing a letter from the viewpoint of a member of the Russian working class, who has lived through the various regimes and revolutions. - Peer assessing their partners’ learning attempts. The following resources are provided: - Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint (includes links for video) - Teacher lesson guidance/plan; - Context worksheet; - Five investigative research templates: Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky, Marx, and The Secret Police. All images and videos are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint. Note - internet connection is needed for the video activity.

This interesting and highly-stimulating lesson enables students to gain a clear understanding of the key meanings in the Greek Myth ‘Pandora's Box.’ Through engagement with the story, students learn to interpret and infer the key elements of plot in texts, comment upon the writer’s purposes and messages in texts, challenging and building upon their ideas, and apply the key messages to other contexts. 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: - Understand the phrase 'opening Pandora's Box' and apply it to modern contexts; - Read the story 'Pandora's Box' and interpret the key meanings; - Summarise the key events of the story through a storyboard; - Identify, explain, and analyse the writer's key messages in 'Pandora's Box;' - Engage deeply with the text by challenging and building upon the ideas/messages raised by the writer;' - Test their understanding of the story by creating their own recreations; - Peer assess each other's learning attempts. This resource pack includes: - A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Paper copies and online links to a copy of Pandora's Box; - Pandora's Box Storyboard; - The Writer's Message Worksheet; - 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 clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning about Ancient Greek Clay Pottery as a part of their art and design study. This was originally used alongside a history study of the Ancient Greeks. It contains comprehensive sections on: -Overview; -Styles and Techniques; -Significant Places/ Artists; -Creative Ideas and Examples; -Key Vocabulary; -Timeline of Ancient Greek Clay Pottery. This resource can be adapted for all ages, but was originally designed for KS2 children. 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 clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about William Shakespeare, particularly those completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; William Shakespeare Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. 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.

Template for you to create your own Pointless games - whatever subject or topic you are teaching! Based on the popular game show 'Pointless', this resource is perfect for use as a starter activity, plenary, or revision tool. Editable, so that you can change to any other topic or change the questions/answers. Containing almost 30 slides of sound clips, engaging visuals, and suitably challenging questions, this resource is effective at both promoting engagement and enhancing learning. There are several built-in rounds of questions to build students' understanding in your topics, including: - Identifying terms from definitions - Anagrams of key terms round - Recalling the highest level knowledge. The nature of the game ensures that this resource can challenge students of all levels. NOTE: You can buy this resource alone, or in a bundle of 8 Pointless games, for only £1 more!

This engaging and detailed lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of the social and historical context of Mary Shelley’s gothic horror novel: Frankenstein. The lesson places a particular focus upon the developments in health, science, and technology at the time the text was written and set, the locations visited by the author, and the life of Mary Shelley. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate their ability to link their understanding of context to specific sections of the text. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Considering how life has changed between the end of the 18th Century and the present day; - Researching key information about health, scientific understanding, and major events in the late 1700s; - Understanding the features of locations in the novel, and interpreting what they may symbolise; - Developing their understanding of the author: Mary Shelley, and considering the key events in her life that influenced her writing of Frankenstein; - Linking knowledge of time, place, and author, and relating these to specific areas of the text; - 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, and links to helpful websites); - Comparison between 1700s and the present day worksheet (and a teacher answer sheet); - Card sorting activity based on locations in the novel; - Mary Shelley worksheet (and a teacher answer sheet); - 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. NOTE: One of the tasks requires access to researching materials, e.g. internet or library access.

Within this varied, interesting, and engaging lesson, students aim to build their knowledge of two of history’s most famous explorers: Christopher Columbus and Ibn Battuta. Students utilise their independent learning skills to research the two travelers, utilise map-reading and geographical skills to improve their knowledge of their journeys, and draw comparisons and contrasts between the two. The lesson follows a clear and logical learning journey, which requires students to: - Consider the skills and characteristics required to be a learner, and apply them to real life contexts; - Share what they already know about the two explorers, and use their curiosity to devise new questions about them; - Employ their independent learning skills to find out the key events and journeys in the lives of the two explorers; - Plot the locations of their expeditions on a world map, and consider questions about their journeys based upon what they see; - Compare and contrast the key features of each explorer, using connectives and key facts; - Peer assess each others' learning using the simple but appropriate success criteria. Included in this lesson are: - Comprehensive, informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Helpful recording template for the research task; - World map for tracking their expeditions, with questions as an extension task; - Helpful and thorough teacher guidance/ lesson plan document, to assist implementation; - Cut-out copies of the learning objectives, to save time in the lesson. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising knowledge relating to the Vikings. It contains comprehensive sections on: Viking routes map (annotated); Viking Leaders and Explorers; Viking timeline; Viking places and events; Viking daily life. 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). It is most suitable for children in KS2 and KS3.

In this engaging lesson, children develop an understanding of Anglo-Saxons daily life, in particular: farming, jobs and village life, settlements and buildings and food. The learning is guided by a clear and colourful PowerPoint presentation, which guides students through the following step-by-step journey: -Knowledge recall - gauging what children already know about the Anglo-Saxon era (answers are provided); -Understanding that the scale of time between the Anglo-Saxon period and the modern day, helping to contextualise the how comparatively simple and harsh life was in the time of the Anglo-Saxons; -Interpreting and analysing four sources (provided) in order to gain a deeper understanding of each of the key areas of Anglo-Saxon daily life; -Completing their own extended research to find out more about one of the key areas of daily life; -Composing a creative piece in which they put themselves in the shoes of an Anglo-Saxon villager; -Comparing Anglo-Saxon daily life with other eras; -Self-reflecting on the extent to which they feel they have met the learning objective. Included is the comprehensive PowerPoint presentation (20 slides), the four sources for the source analysis activity, and the template upon which to record their findings. In the past, I have used this lesson with children in upper KS2 (years 5 and 6) - the key learning is aligned with curriculum expectations for history. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about Malala Yousafzai. It is particularly useful for those learning about activism in PSHE, significant people in History, or as part of a ‘Heroes’ topic. It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in Her Life; Important Vocabulary; Malala Yousafzai Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. 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.