This is a straightforward quiz on Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (answers provided). There are 20 questions, all multiple-choice. This could be used as a starter, homework or revision activity. Alternatively, it could be used prior to teaching to identify gaps in students’ knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching can be more sharply focused.

This is a simple and straightforward activity that uses Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Kiss”. There are 22 multiple-choice questions. This could be used as homework or a plenary after studying the poem in class. Alternatively, it could be used as a starter or as a pre-reading activity so that subsequent teaching can be more precisely focused. Answers are provided.

This could be used as a walking/talking mock exam. It’s a very straightforward powerpoint with example questions 1, 2, 3 and 4 from paper 1 of the AQA English Language exam. The powerpoint presents the questions and little more - there is some guidance to remind students how to approach question 2 and the Word document containing the extract has space on the right for students to make notes to help them answer question 3. The text used is pre-1914 so no worries about copyright infringement.

This is a simple and straightforward powerpoint using questioning to elicit ideas that the students can then use to annotate their texts or copies of the sonnet that is Romeo and Juliet’s first conversation. The lesson begins with a quick quiz (answers provided on the subsequent slide so pupils can mark their own). A couple of the questions could elicit deeper questioning. Thereafter, the questions focus on the language and structure of the sonnet.

This is a straightforward but lengthy quiz so suitable for homework. The text used is James Shirley’s “Death the Leveller”. There are 21 questions. Answers are provided. If used in class, this could be used as a pre-reading activity prior to a lesson on tackling unseen poetry. The quiz could identify gaps in knowledge and understanding enabling subsequent teaching to be more precisely focused. Alternatively, answers to the quiz could be used as a scaffold for students in answering a question about how the poet presents ideas about power - for example. The questions could be used to structure a guided reading activity, some providing a springboard for further questioning to deepen understanding. It’s a Word document so questions can be added, removed or edited to suit the focus of your teaching.

This is a simple and straightforward activity based on a letter of 4th February 1917 written by Wilfred Owen to his mother, Susan. The letter has been slightly abridged. There are 12 multiple-choice questions (answers provided). The first question is basic information retrieval. Subsequent questions ask pupils to identify methods and draw inferences. Some questions can act as springboards for deeper questioning. This could be set for a homework or used as a pre-teaching activity to identify gaps in pupil knowledge and understanding.

This is a straightforward comprehension activity that could be used for homework or cover. Alternatively, it could be used as a pre-reading activity to identify any gaps in knowledge or understanding before the characters of Oliver or Mrs Sowerberry are explored in greater detail. There’s a vocabulary task and then seven comprehension questions. The Word document is editable so if you wish to add challenge you can remove the glossary at the end of the passage.

16 questions on the Queen Mab speech. Could be used as a pre-reading activity to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching can be more sharply focused. Could be set as homework to embed learning. Word document so editable. Answers provided.

Planned for KS3 (11-14) as part of a project on stretch and challenge, this lesson uses Edith Nesbit’s “The Grey Folk”. The aim of the lesson is to use close reading to support an evaluation of the poem. There are 10 slides, which include questioning. The settler activity encourages a close look at the poem’s title, asking pupils to think about the connotations of the colour, how the colour establishes mood - and why, the impact of the definite article and the effect of the plural. There is then a close focus on the setting and the use of personification in the first verse. Thereafter the focus changes to the writer’s use of the metaphor with ‘the green fields of yesterday’ and pupils are asked to consider the effect of the contrast of grey and green. The final zoom in is on the repetition of the modal verb in the final verse - “they will not”. After this, pupils are asked to draw their learning together, recording at least five ideas that support the idea that this poem is about ghosts. They are then asked to think, pair and share to come up with an answer to the question - if this poem is not about ghosts, what might it be about? Finally, pupils are asked to explain to what extent they agree with the statement that this is NOT a poem about ghosts. If the writing is to be undertaken in class, this will go across more than an hour’s teaching time. Alternatively, the questioning and note taking can be done in class and the written response set for homework

This activity uses “The Ghost” by Walter de la Mare and there are 21 multiple choice questions, some of which can be used to support further discussion about the effect of the writer’s methods. Answers are provided. This quiz could be used as a pre-teaching activity to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding so that subsequent teaching can be more precisely focused. The questions could be used to structure a guided reading session and exploration of the poem. Alternatively, it could be used as a starter activity before writing a more formal, exam-style response to an unseen poem. Useful for cover and homework.

This is a straightforward quiz (answers provided) based on Siegfried Sassoon’s poem, “Autumn”. There are 15 questions which could be used as a starter activity leading into an analysis of the poem. Alternatively, the quiz could be used for homework or to structure a guided reading activity. Some questions test basic comprehension of the poem; others lead into an exploration of the poet’s methods. This is a Word document so editable to suit the needs of your class. If you want to use this as a starting point for an unseen poetry question, there is a suggested question on the sheet, alongside the poem. It uses the same kind of wording as is used in the AQA English Literature Paper 2.

This is a multiple-choice quiz with 15 questions. Answers are provided. Useful for revision or embedding of technical vocabulary. Could be used as a starter prior to more detailed analysis of the poem.

This is a simple multiple-choice quiz using Walter de la Mare’s lovely, simple poem, “Someone”. It makes a great companion piece to “The Listeners”. There are 11 questions (answers provided) focusing on the writer’s methods with some basic comprehension. This could be used as a starter prior to looking at the poem in greater depth. It works as a homework task. Alternatively, it could be used to structure a guided reading activity.

Planned for year 11 to embed the skills needed for English Language Paper 2, question 4, this powerpoint uses two short texts (shorter than would be used in the real thing), both about pigs. One is from “The Guardian”, the other from Dickens’s “American Notes”.

This 21 slide powerpoint is a walkthrough of paper 2, question 4. It uses two shortened texts, one pre-1914 and one contemporary and the lesson focuses on clear comparison and explaining how the writers’ words, phrases and patterns convey their feelings about zoos.

This is an editable powerpoint which I created for my KS4 classes to use as settlers/starters and to build the skills they will need for the writing task on paper 2. The slides can be used for the first 5-15 minutes of the lesson (depending on whether you want your students to work independently or generate ideas through discussion). Of course, you may then wish to extend the ideas into a longer piece of writing - there’s scope for flexibility depending on the needs of your class. The first four slides are simply about the generation of ideas to support a viewpoint. The next three are focused more on varying the expression of ideas and the final four are slightly more developed again, using examples from existing media.

This is a 30 slide powerpoint (intended to go across more than an hour!) planned for a year 11 group who are lacking in confidence. The texts used are excerpts from “Frankenstein” and “Dracula” (older texts than would be used in the exam, but not infringing copyright!) and the focus on reading is interspersed with some recall questions focusing on writing as well as a short writing task based on an image. Modelling is used prior to asking students to tackle questions independently. There are two examples of question 1 (information retrieval). Easily editable so that you can remove/add slides to increase the level of challenge for your own class. My intention was to ask students to glue into their books the shorter extracts which is why they appear at the end of the ppt for ease of printing. The longer extract from “Frankenstein” is a separate Word document.

This is an editable powerpoint which focuses on some of the skills needed for AQA English Language. It was planned to go alongside “A Christmas Carol” to help with contextual knowledge and understanding. I refer to it as a lesson here - it was planned to go across a double lesson but depending on how you want to run the writing, it could be extended longer. The lesson begins with a focus on Victorian Christmas cards and a reminder to the students to vary their sentence openers - with an opportunity to practise this. The focus then changes to some pre-twentieth century non fiction describing children and women at work. There is an opportunity to polish and embed the reading skills of analysis and comparison. The powerpoint ends with an analysis task - a model is provided.

This powerpoint is initended to be used alongside a first reading (cold reading) of “Beowulf A New Telling” by Robert Nye. There are 17 slides, one for each chapter (apart from chapter 7 which falls neatly into two sections). On each slide there is a choice of three activities. The intention is that the children work through these activities as they read through the novel. You may wish the children to work through each activity; you might give them the opportunity to select their own activity or you might wish to assign the activity based on ability or learning target. Some activities are suitable for homework even if the children don’t have a copy of the novel.

This is a 28 slide powerpoint planned for stretch and challenge in y7 exploring Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses”. There is lots of questioning to support the reading of the poem and there are two writing tasks (Ulysses’ imagined farewell letter and Penelope/Telemachus’s persuasive speech to encourage Ulysses not to leave). The two writing tasks require the pupils to use Tennysons’ methods in their own writing.