The Laboratory by Robert Browning - Annotated Poem on PowerPoint

Students are to work in pairs. Issue one line from the poem to each pair. Students are to analyse the language closely to try to learn about the speaker’s feelings. Motivate students by asking them to imagine their police detectives, with only one sentence of the criminal’s confession to analyse. They are to read the line deeply to consider the multiple layers of meaning. Model activity. Whole-class feedback. Students should write down what their peers say.

This short activity tests students' ability to follow instructions. It is a fun starter and shows students the importance of reading ALL the instructions before starting a task.

Do ‘Starter Activity for Descriptive Writing’; this should put students in the right mind-set for descriptive writing. This activity should encourage students to tune into their senses, which is an essential skill for writing descriptively. Ideally, students should use mini whiteboards, but if these are not available, then exercise books are satisfactory. Hand-out ‘An Example of Writing to Describe’ sheet. Ask students, in pairs, to read it through and highlight – in different colours – the words and sentences that relate to the five senses. Recap the five senses – sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Feedback. Ask students why description is important. Hand-out ‘Planning Sheet for Descriptive Writing’. Explain that, as it is a planning sheet, it does not matter if they alter or change their ideas throughout. They are to write about a place or event, perhaps building on the ideas they established in the starter activity. Students could write up their piece of descriptive writing as a writing assessment.

This resource takes students through the process of reading and understanding an exam question. It encourages students to look closely at the wording and dissect the question before they even consider answering it. All too often students glance at the question and make a start on the answer. This resource helps students see why it's so important to really engage with the question. You can swap the questions on the PPT and activity with exam questions that are relevant to what your class is studying.

This resource contains a PPT and a selection of poems for students to practise approaching unseen poetry. The PPT guides students through the following: 1. Title 2. Shape/form 3. Personal response 4. Voice 5. Vocabulary 6. Imagery 7. Structure 8. Interpretation Encouraging students to look at these aspects of a poem will enable them to engage and understand the unseen poem.

Language devices to use when writing to argue and persuade, put helpfully into the mneumonic 'A RED FOREST'. When I was teaching students to write to argue, I display the language devices around the room to encourage students to look for them and use them.

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'.

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.

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.

This PPT takes students through five stages of writing their own ballad. It uses the ballad 'Frankie & Johnny' to model the different features of a ballad. This is a creative writing task that could be used as a writing assessment.

A 30-minute activity for students to understand what makes a great story opening. Students analyse some of the world's most renown story openings, they identify what's effective about them and then they use their new-found knowledge to craft their own enticing story opening. There are 13 story openings including The Lovely Bones, Orwell's 1984, Jane Eyre and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - a real mix for students to get their teeth into. I dare say this activity may encourage some students to read the books after being drawn in by some of the openings.

Poetic devices glossary to assist with students' study of poetry.

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 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.

Grid for students to use to analyse and record their own day of talking, considering the participants, the purpose, the content etc. A grid is also included for students to analyse their parents' day of talking.