I provide resources mainly for English (IGCSE and GCSE content), but also post useful Drama resources. There are also brand new English-with-Media resources to choose from, and many materials such as assemblies and certificates that could prove useful to Head of Years. All resources are differentiated appropriately and labelled with key year groups.
I provide resources mainly for English (IGCSE and GCSE content), but also post useful Drama resources. There are also brand new English-with-Media resources to choose from, and many materials such as assemblies and certificates that could prove useful to Head of Years. All resources are differentiated appropriately and labelled with key year groups.
This lesson focuses on the key concepts in 1984: The War, Doublethink/speak, and Hate Week. By the end the students will be writing their own polemical pamphlet using doublespeak, promoting hate towards the new enemy (Eastasia) and promoting Eurasia as an ally.
This is the first lesson on ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ in a dystopian SOW. This lesson introduces the students to the concept of objectification, and the key themes and techniques present in the opening chapter (surveillance, biblical allusion, threat).
This lesson explores the concept of totalitarianism, and has the students analyse the opening scene of 1984 in order to detect evidence of totalitarianism in the environment.
This lesson includes a word of the week (emancipation), an exploration of the key context behind Blake’s poem ‘London’, and an exploration of key concepts related to the poem. By the end of the lesson, students will have conducted a first reading of the poem, and been able to connect key concepts and context to particular stanzas.
This lesson continues from the creative writing: narrative hook lesson that I have posted previously. Please find a bundle deal for both lessons for a reduced price.
However, this lesson can easily also work as a stand alone lesson on sentence types and evaluating their effectiveness in a written piece.
Links to other cultures are also present in the excerpt of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid’s memoir.
5 lesson scheme of work focusing on analysing non-fiction texts (mostly autobiography extracts, one letter). Includes a word of the week (adversity) and a 12 question end of week quiz and extra recap/filler lesson.
Many key concepts are covered including tragedy, trauma, phobia, desensitisation, etc.
Lesson One (1984 Lesson): This lesson explores the concept of totalitarianism, and has the students analyze the opening scene of 1984 in order to detect evidence of totalitarianism in the environment.
Lesson Two (O’Brien and the rats): This lesson focuses on the idea of false consciousness, and the character of O’Brien. The students will explore how O’Brien uses torture and fear to brainwash and control Winston, and in the end, students will write a paragraph analyzing O’Brien’s character.
Lesson Three (Key Concepts): This lesson focuses on understanding the key concepts in 1984: The War, Doublethink/speak, and Hate Week. By the end the students will be writing their own polemical pamphlet using doublespeak, promoting hate towards the new enemy (Eastasia) and promoting Eurasia as an ally.
Lesson 1: Intro to Dystopian Environments
Lesson 2: Dystopian Character Archetypes
Lesson 3: The Context Behind Dystopia
Lesson 4: Analysing the Setting of 1984
Lesson 5: Analysing the Character of O’Brien in 1984
Lesson 6: The Key Dystopian Concepts of 1984
Homework Sheet 1: Creating a Dystopia Worksheet
Homework Sheet 2: Dystopian Verbs
Lesson 1: This lesson is essentially a context lesson. To prepare Year 10 students for a mock paper (past paper 12, IGCSE 2020 June), this lesson will introduce students to the background of the play, the key events and characters, and give them the opportunity to predict and analyze some themes of the play.
Lesson 2: In this lesson, students will perform the whole of Act 1 (timed at around 33 minutes if the reading is slow), and have some time left for a starter, and a main character analysis task.
Lesson 3: This lesson gives students the chance to act out Act 2 of Dara, and answer some component 1, section A style questions in preparation for their mock exam (the June 2020 Paper 12).
Lesson 4: In this lesson, students will act out Act 3 of ‘Dara’, and answer IGCSE Section A style questions at the end. They will contemplate the staging of certain scenes, and the changing relationships between characters - in particular, the relationship between Dara and Aurangzeb.
Lesson 5: This lesson focuses on the events and key themes in Act 4 of the play Dara. After reading the act in its entirety, students will have the chance to answer some comprehension questions, and reflect on the way they would stage the execution scene.
Lesson 6: This lesson focuses on the final act of the play Dara. The students will read the play, and then answer a series of comprehension questions, and one IGCSE style long answer question. The final slide will have students reflecting on their own feelings about the ending, and the change in Aurangzeb’s character between scenes 1 and 2.
Lesson 7: This assessment prep lesson includes a link to the IGCSE past paper that the assessment will be based on, (only section A) and a preparation lesson explaining to students how to best tackle Section A questions. I’ve chosen to only test my students on Section A, but this preparation lesson could help with Section B as well. This also includes a student assessment reflection sheet for when you give back their marked work.
Lesson 8: Assessment lesson (no lesson for this, but the assessment paper is linked in the assessment prep lesson
Lesson 9: Students will receive back their graded papers, and complete the reflection sheet in purple pen (attached in assessment prep lesson)
Lesson 1: Focuses on England pre-1066, the reign of Cnut, and the difficulties Edward faced in his early life
Lesson 2: Explores the reign of Edward, his relatioship with Godwine, and the failures of his rule.
3 lessons on Commedia Dell’Arte.
Lesson One: Introduction Lesson
Exploring the comedy genre
Introducing Commedia as a whole
Introducing Commedia characters
Lesson Two: Practice Lesson
Focus on center of leading and tension states
Improvising a performance
Focusing on two characters in particular
Lesson Three: Test and Performance Lesson
Recapping the weeks’ knowledge of comedy types and commedia with a low stakes multiple choice quiz
Finalizing with a guided Lazzi performance.
The Hunger Games: Lesson Summaries
Lesson 1: This lesson will give students an understanding of subjugation as a concept, and will allow students to detect evidence of government subjugation in an extract of ‘The Hunger Games’. After they have completed some analysis questions, students will be writing their own ‘choosing ceremony’ scene, and peer-reviewing each others creative efforts at the end.
Lesson 2: This lesson focuses on analyzing the character of President Snow, and the contextual influences behind dystopian antagonists. The students will be introduced to the idea of a ‘facade’ and how dictators use facades of fairness and benevolence to maintain power. The students will read and analyze an extract from Catching Fire.
Lesson 3: This lesson focuses on acts of rebellion in Dystopian Fiction, in particular the ‘berries scene’ in The Hunger Games. The students will detect rebellious/revolutionary language in the extract, and then write their own revolutionary speech against the Capitol and President Snow.
I have used this lesson to prepare A-Level Literature students to read Blake’s Songs of Innocence & Experience, but this could easily be a stand alone lesson for high level Y11 students and above.
This lesson focuses on Blake’s own invented mythology and how it relates to SOI, particularly the poems that could be perceived as more sexual in nature.
This is the third lesson in a 3 lesson mini-scheme on Tragedy in Shakespeare. However, this can easily be a standalone lesson. This lesson can be taught even if the students don’t have a prior knowledge of Romeo and Juliet.
Lesson 1: Plot and Themes
Lesson 2: The pastoral and anti-pastoral
Lesson 3: Fate and Foreshadowing in the early chapters
Lesson 4: Fate and Foreshadowing – self assessed exam response
Lesson 5: Settings as a symbol of Tess’s tragic journey
Lesson 6: How to plan a section B (feedback from lesson 4)
Lesson 7: ‘The Nemesis within’ – to what extent is Tess to blame for her demise? Mapping external and internal influences.
Lesson 8: Critical reception and Victorian morality
Lesson 9: The assault of Tess and critical reviews
Lesson 9 (continued optional extra): The assault of Tess – the laws regarding women in Victorian England
Lesson 10: The Existentialist Lens
Lesson 11: Tess and Existential Crisis
Lesson 12: Comparative Analysis
This lesson, suitable for any KS3 class, contains activities to do with International day, including a questionnaire, a mind-mapping and a creative task.
This is the second lesson in a scheme of work that focuses on protest writing, with a specific focus on the Romantic movement. This lesson focuses on the peasant’s revolt of 1381 and the reasons for the discontent in the country. The students will read poetry from and about the time in preparation for learning about the Romantic movement. The other lessons in this scheme are available in my shop, or in a bundle if you want a deal!