A quiz to check students can identify significant characters from Romeo and Juliet. Includes answers.

A wordsearch made up of the players in Shakespeare’s theatre. Includes the answers!

A free PowerPoint and script for a school (secondary) assembly about the history of libraries starting with Qarawiyyan Library in Tunisia. The resource also contains clips of famous films/tv programmes involving libraries from Agatha Christie to Ghostbusters. Originally written for a World Book Day and presented by a group of students, the script can be split up for several readers.

This is a sheet I made for students, clearly outlining the skills for each English Language paper as well as the different levels of response, e.g. Level 4 Perceptive, detailed, Level 3 Clear, relevant, Level 2 Some, attempts, Level 1 Simple, limited. It was very useful as an overview of what is expected by the two exam papers.

This resource was made for an English faculty assembly about famous women writers starting with Aphra Behn and ending with J. K. Rowling. There is a PowerPoint with quotations from each writer, and a script which tells the stories from the writers’ points of view.

Simple step-by-step exercises for lower-ability students taking them through writing a description of a character. Covers simple metaphors and similes too. Culminates in a three paragraph description.

This is the script and PowerPoint for an assembly I made about courageous women. I tried to include some women who weren’t familiar at all to students as well as ones like Greta Thunberg. There are some YouTube clips included as well. Courageous women: The Night Witches, Nancy Wake, Edith Cavell, Charlotte Marsh, Rosa Parks, Ei Thinzar Maung , Maslala Yousafai, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Greta Thunberg.

A lesson resource for GCSE English Literature, An Inspector Calls focussing on Gerald. It has a list of quotations by or about Gerald in Act Two which students should sort into categories matching a list of statements. This is followed by a set of discussion points for students to work on in pairs. They are then asked to plan and write the essay: In Act Two of An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents Gerald as a dislikeable character. Discuss this statement with close reference to the play Pages 3 and 4 have the quotations which should be cut up for students to organise into groups. I found this a really useful way to consider Gerald’s role in the play in the context of patriarchy and capitalism. It also asks students to consider the subtleties of his character which make him more believable.

I made this PowerPoint as part of the Language Change unit for A level English Language, paper 2. It briefly introduces some of the main influences on English spelling from Caxton, to the Great Vowel Shift to standardisation and finishes with a video called “Why is English spelling so weird?”

A level English Language resource for paper 1 section B, child language development. It is a worksheet exploring language acquisition and the brain, with information about Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area etc. I use it to encourage discussion about which of the main theories - Innateness, Behaviourist and Social Interactionist - are supported by the physical aspects of the brain.

A group activity worksheet focussing on key concepts in Romeo and Juliet - e.g. fate, youth/age, love, honour - for AO1, level 6 of the markscheme. Students should work in groups to find appropriate extracts, make a list of key points and then write an opening paragraph to an analysis. Their finished copies can be printed out so that they have a revision resource about concepts in Romeo and Juliet. Full guidance for teachers given.

This is a PowerPoint thoroughly presenting contextual factors in Romeo and Juliet including: religion + sin, patriarchy, setting and Artistotle. This resource is extremely useful for introducing AO3 factors (exploration of ideas/perspectives/contextual factors ) present in the play with references and some suggestions for discussion.

An AQA A level English Language resource for Paper 1 Section B: Challenging Innateness Theory in Child Language Development. In 1986, Chomsky added to his theory of language innateness by putting forward the idea that the Language Acquisition Device contained a Universal Grammar, a set of basic rules of grammar that characterise all languages. Read through the following theories and decide whether they or PRO Innateness theory or CON. This is an extremely useful document for discussing the main theories of Language Acquisition with Innateness as a starting point. Students should spend five minutes reading through and deciding whether the statements agree with Chomsky’s theories or with Behaviourist/Interactionist theories. I have found that it generates a lot of discussion and improves students’ understanding of AO2, concepts and theories.

Two PowerPoints introducing lexical development in children for paper 1 section B of the A level English Language paper (AQA). Powerpoint one outlines difficulties that children might have with synonyms, homonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms. The next PP introduces different kinds of over/under extension referring to Jean Aitchison and Leslie Rescorla so should follow on from the first.

This is a collection of ten practice essays I made for The Sign of the Four (GCSE English Literature paper 1) covering most of the novel. They touch on themes such as: representation of women; representation of foreigners; the Gothic; drama and suspense; duality; friendship and more.

These are knowledge organisers for 11 of the poems from the Love and Relationships collection. They are very useful for revision because they focus on the language, ideas/themes, context and story of the poems in a concise, easy-to-revise manner. Poems covered: Porphyria’s Lover The Farmer’s Bride Before You Were Mine Follower Love’s Philosophy Mother any distance Neutral Tones Sonnet XXIX Winter Swans When We Two Parted Letters from Yorkshire

This PowerPoint was devised to help students understand that there are strategies for helping with difficult spellings rather than simply learning spelling lists. It covers techniques like words-within-words, mnemonics, letter strings and more, and includes activities for each one as well as a paired task at the end. It is very useful as a way to examining what makes certain words tricky and how they are often widely misspelt.

Students must put the jumbled events of the play in the correct order. This includes a help sheet for teachers.

This is a booklet I made to revise children’s literacy theories for A level English Language paper 1, section B. It begins by dividing the theorists along ‘caught’ and ‘taught’ lines and then outlines theories from Kroll, Perera, Rothery, Britton and others. There are two past exam questions to work on too. Very useful for revision

This is a booklet I devised for preparing students for the writing to argue/persuade task in paper 2 (question 5) It takes students step-by-step through the process of planning the task and the sort of techniques necessary for communicating clearly, and structuring a coherent argument. There is a section on punctuation along with suggestions for writing tasks. It was a very effective introduction to paper 2 question 5.