A lesson and resources to revise the key imagery and context of the poem ‘Storm on the Island’ by Seamus Heaney, in preparation for AQA Lit Paper 2, Section B - Power and Conflict anthology. Ppt is designed for LA and post-study of the poem.

War Photographer Storyboard HWK task. Copy of poem. pupils need to summarise each stanza and then draw an image that represents it.

Booklet to accompany study of Of Mice and Men (OMAM), considering the differences between dialect, accent and standard English. Can be used as part of a SOW on the text, but has also been successfully set as cover work too.

Structured tasks on showing not telling method of creative writing. Variety of tasks, leading towards final task of writing from a visual prompt.

I have created DIRT tasks on the AQA Lang P1 2019 paper Q2 & 3, which my class used as a mock/inidicative assessment. The slides include typed up copies of the indicative content, which pupils then used to ‘magpie’ ideas, to improve their own responses. This also enables pupils to be engaged with the markscheme and develop their understanding of have their responses are graded against 4 levels: simple, some, clear, perceptive - and what that may actually look like on paper.

A literacy work booklet focussing on Comparatives and Superlatives. Could be used for general English lesson use but also for cover lessons or homework.

Whole lesson on ‘Caged Bird’ by Maya Angelou with resources, exploring the imagery and extended metaphor. There’s also an element of looking beyond the initial ‘top layer’ meaning, and pupils are guided towards the extended metaphor. Can also be used with the focus of the role of context informing our responses, whereby pupils consider how understanding context of the poet enables pupils to identify the deeper meanings and the extended metaphor.

A whole lesson exploring the imagery used in the poem Nettles by Vernon Scannell. Initially, the tasks relate to the theme of ‘Growing Up’ and making an initial reading/understanding of the poem. Then it links to imagery of war, before returning to theme of ‘Growing Up’ and the ‘battles’ faced by children and parents. Have used this lesson with year 7 and 8 classes. Quite a good lesson to develop pupil’s to consider deeper/secondary meanings of poems.

Powerpoint resource on the assessment: ‘How does the writer use language in the text to present the character of Hyde?’ from an extract taken from CH. 1 of the novel. (Can easily be adapted to ask pupils to compare to the rest of the text too.) Included in the resource is: the assessment question with scaffold to remind pupils how to respond to the Q. a DIRT lesson that includes a model answer, a model annotation of a single quotation, and then a selected quotation for pupils to then annotate themselves (with the focus on, ‘a lot from a little’ ). Pupils can then rewrite new, improved PEA paragraphs based on the quotations selected for them, and the annotations made. A peer assessment task.

A lesson on the prologue in Blood Brothers, including the role of a prologue (generally), the specific role of this prologue (with reference to the play’s cyclical structure) and what we learn. Suitable for first time study of the play.

This KS3 lesson looks at they key differences between plays and other text types, including exploring format and layout differences, in addition to the terminology needed when analysing a play i.e. audience, dialogue, stage directions etc.

A lesson introducing the device of ‘pathos’, with suitable tasks scaffolded for pupils to go from ‘understand’ -> ‘identify’ -> ‘apply’. This lesson has been personally used for KS3, and lower ability KS4.

A 5 lesson walkthrough of AQA Language Paper 2, section A on the topic of ‘Hunting’ (the Q paper itself is not my resource, and can be found for free, but the lessons are my own). Can be used for first time teaching of the paper as the lessons indicate how pupils should approach the paper, highlighting how each question builds onto the next, and ‘photos’ of teacher’s copy to model how to annotate their own extracts and prepare to answer. All questions come with model answers for pupils to mark against skill descriptors, with lessons culminating in pupils given the opportunity to ‘magpie’ ideas and improve their own responses. If you like these resources, please do leave a review, so other teachers can find my resources too - much appreciated :)

A task to get pupils to explore the time period that the play was written and set, to clearly understand where the play ‘fits’ in relation to key historial, social and technological moments. Pupils should be given the ‘blank’ timeline, with only the years on, and have to work in pairs to write where they think each ‘event’ occurred. The answers have also been provided for self/peer assessment and to aid further discussion.

A powerpoint which encompasses revision of key events of the whole play, mapping a timeline with key quotes, which all lend themselves to the theme of power, which leads on to a practice exam question which students began in lesson and completed for homework. Originally used as a 2 hour revision lesson prior to their mock exam (where they sat the June 2023 Macbeth Q).

A series of 7 lessons that revise expectations and how to approach the AQA Lang P2 Q5 / Section B writing Q. Lesson cover: Purpose, Audience and Form Letters Articles Speeches Practice exam Qs Scaffolded tasks and planning sheets Great for a block of lessons for year 11 prior to exams.

A series of lessons looking at a practice Language Paper 2 on the topic of hunting. I cannot take credit for the paper itself, but the accompanying lessons, ppts and model answers are my own.

A powerpoint introducing the Christmas Truce of WW1, exploring how the soldiers would have been feeling. This culminates in pupils writing a letter home, as a soldier, explaining what has happened and how they feel about it. Used in conjunction with studying WW1 poetry.

A lesson introducing the context for Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’, one of the poems in the AQA Power and Conflict poetry anthology. This has been planned for use in a Yr 9 bottom set, but could be easily adapted. It includes a link to a 5 min video that explains ‘The Troubles’ as well as clear presentation slides that explains a (brief!) history of Ireland. The lesson was planned to be taught after the class had had an initial lesson or two, unpicking the key themes, ideas and imagery within the poem, with this lesson highlighting the importance and significance of context in shaping our understanding. In a nutshell, the lesson follows the lines of: what is context; here’s some context; apply the context to the poem; what’s our understanding now.