This resource offers a fun way of researching context. Before the lesson print of the questions and put them into colour-coded piles. You'll need as many questions are you have groups of students. For example, if you have 6 groups, you must of 6 print-outs of the questions. You'll need 6 x yellow questions, 6 x green questions, 6 x blue questions etc. Put students in teams of 3-4 students. Students must have immediate access to a laptop or computer to be able to find the answers to the questions. You need to put the piles of questions on your desk. Issue Q1 to all groups and 1 answer sheet to all groups. Groups must find the answer to Q1, write it down on their answer sheet and then bring their answer sheet to you. If the answer is correct, you issue them with Q2, and so on until groups have found all the answers to all the questions. It is basically a race to the finish, but the answers must be of quality because you have to 'okay' them before they're issued with the next question. Students enjoy the competitive element of this task. You may wish to give the winning group a small prize as an added incentive. Discuss the contextual research once the task is over and discuss its links with the play.

Listen to Iron Maiden’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (8 minutes). This is an edited version of the original track as the original track has a lot of instrumentals! Issue lyrics. Students are to follow in order to gauge an understanding of the story. Issue the pictures on A4 paper to individual students. On a sticky note, they’re to describe what’s in the picture. They’re to then try and work out in what order the pictures go. They can refer to the lyrics to help them. It’s all speculation at the moment; try to work it out. This should help them to understand the narrative structure. Afterwards, students are to discuss what they think happens in the story from beginning to end. They should write their plot summary as a list on a piece of A3 paper as a pair and/or group. This should give them an understanding of the narrative structure.

This PPT looks at new words and where they come from, which includes looking at blended words (jeans + leggings = jeggings), clipped words and new, organic words. They begin to understand how new words are added to the dictionary. If possible, allow students access to computers and let them explore the Oxford Dictionaries website which has lots of information about new words added to the dictionary.

This resource offers students an 8-step guide to approaching poetry, divided into: 1. Title 2. Shape 3. Personal response 4. Voice 5. Vocabulary 6. Imagery 7. Structure 8. Interpretation There are prompt questions under each 'step' to help students. This resource can be applied to any poem to encourage students' independent analysis of poetry.

Print off enough of these sheets to ensure you have one skill per student or group. When students are rehearing for a performance, hand students or groups one skill each. They have to focus on improving that skill in their rehearsals. You may swap the skills to ensure students are focusing on more than one skill.

Print off enough of these sheets to ensure you have one skill per student or group. When students are rehearing for a speaking and listening performance, hand students or groups one skill each. They have to focus on improving that skill in their rehearsals. You may swap the skills to ensure students are focusing on more than one skill.

Print off the slides from the PPT. It is the students' task to match up the 'types' of connectives with the 'examples'. Once students have completed the match-up activity, ask them to come up with three example sentences using three different types of connectives.

Students must look at the definition on each slide and identify which type of 'voice' it is. The answer will appear at the bottom of the screen.

In this lesson students will develop skills in writing to argue, and structuring an argument. This is a fun and engaging approach to writing to argue. This lessons involves debate to get students actively arguing, but it also encourages students to articulate their arguments on paper, not just vocally. Two videos are also included in this lesson to encourage engagement in the central argument of: Is the internet a good thing or a bad thing? Instructions for the lesson are written on the PPT in the 'notes' section at the bottom of each slide.

Looking at both tragic and comic features, students decide whether Act 4, Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing conforms more to a tragedy or a comedy. Students find evidence for each feature before making a decision. This could lead into some effective class discussion and debate. Students are asked to consider the phrase 'tragicomedy'.

On this graph students are to read Candy's key moments in the story, written at the bottom of the graph, and then plot how much sympathy the reader feels towards Candy. Depending on ability, students can write a quotation and/or explanation beside their plots on the graph.

L.O.: To understand the content and context of Elvis’s Twin Sister. Assess: Students’ ability to: listen carefully to factual information about Elvis’s life; understand how humour is used to achieve particular effects. This resource includes a comprehensive lesson plan and PowerPoint to successfully teach students the poem Elvis's Twin Sister.

Students need to be in pairs or groups of three. They need to match the words to the time period. They need to read the cards carefully as the clues are in the text. Everyone should be able to work out the correct answers if they look out for the clues in the text.

'Pass the Buck' Students explore Belfast Confetti in a fun and engaging way by working in small groups and answering questions about the poem. The questions encourage students to analyse the poem from a different angle and consider small details in the poem. Divide students into six groups. Give each group a question on a piece of sugar paper. They will have 2 minutes with each question. They are to jot down as many ideas as possible in response to the question, but they can’t repeat what has already been written. Allow 8 minutes at the end of the task for students to present their sugar paper. Other groups must annotate their poem with the key ideas they hear. Explain that they don’t have to write everything down, but they should write down relevant points that help their own understanding.

Assign different foci to pairs or groups either before reading or as a separate task for them to explore the play. Students are to find quotations relevant to their theme/symbol. After the task, students may teach other pairs/groups about their theme or symbol.

Students are asked the question: Is Macbeth Evil? Based on their simple 'yes' or 'no' response, they are split into two teams: prosecuting team and defence team. You - the teacher - are the judge. Teams are initially given their 'first piece of evidence' (an extract) to analyse and annotate with their agenda/argument in mind. They are then asked to look at the 'play as a whole' to find other pieces of evidence to support their argument. A mock court case is then held with Macbeth on trial. Both teams present their cases and debate whether or not Macbeth is evil. The teacher - playing the role of the judge - then weighs up the arguments and makes a decision. For homework, students are given the same question which has been formalized into an exam question. This is a fun and exciting way of exploring an exam question which allows students to really get their teeth into a question. All lesson guidance is in the 'notes' section on each slide on the PowerPoint. This lesson is about encouraging students to develop a 'critical, exploratory, well-structured argument' which is at the top of level 6.

Students I've taught struggle to remember key quotations. I wracked my brains to try and find a way to help them remember without just learning by rote and repetition. This activity was particularly successful with my students. Print the carefully selected quotations with their short explanation and issue to students. You may wish to print 2-3 times to give students 3 quotations each. Ask each student on a sticky note to illustrate the quotation. Albeit simple, this activity really helps students to recall quotations as they remember the illustration they do. Allow students to use colour as it makes the activity for memorable. An alternative activity may be to give each student one quotation each and an A4 piece of paper. Ask them to illustrate the quotation on a larger scale, using colour, and then make a class display which the whole class can refer to.

This is a fantastic starter, guaranteed to engage the most disaffected students. Students look at images and decipher the message. For example, there is the letter 'X' made of cardboard boxes in one image, the message would be 'X-Box'. The practice image is 'hairspray'. The answers for each 'visual pun' are in the 'notes' box on PPT. This is a quick 5-10 minute starter that gets students thinking about more than what's at surface level. This activity could be a route into a lesson on looking for deeper meanings, inference and deduction.

Blow this worksheet up to A3 size. Students draw lines between the characters and note down how they're connected. They can also jot down notes and quotes for individual characters. This will become a revision aid for students.

Drama Assessment Use this grid to assess students in drama. Simply write the student’s name in the left-hand column and put a tick or ‘T’ in some of the boxes on the right to indicate whether the drama skill is something they do really well, or something they need to work on. You can write additional comments if you wish. The idea is that after the drama assessment you can give students praise, their level and their target in an efficient way. All students then need to do is write down their level and target on the blue sheet at the front of their small yellow exercise books. This grid focuses on nine key skills in drama, including facial expressions, spatial awareness, voice projection etc.