A good way of practising close reading skills.. these resources are: 1. a selection of openings to novels; can be used in a number of ways.. with frameworks to develop close reading skills, dicussion, when beginning a novel with a particular effective opening. 2. powerpoint for reading lesson; memory game starter included and circuit training activity complete with self timer built in- open it to see! 3. extracts to be used in activity explained in powerpoint… works a treat, i promise!

I made this last year when teaching 'Frankenstein&' at AS for the OCR English literature spec (although could be adapted). I kept it to myself for a year but I think it&';s time to share the love. It's very detailed - could give to students as there are loads of activities but also would be useful if you&'re tackling the text for the first time - as a PGCE/NQT in particular, as many bits could be adapted into lesson activities. Fly free, Frankenstein.... into the &';darkness and distance'!

Objectives: 1. To learn how to select relevant details from an extract and present them in a relevant way 2. To understand how texts present an impression or image of their subject Powerpoint should explain all but focuses on conflicting opinions of Bear Grylls- ‘survival’ expert so should be vaguely interesting for those apathetic students!

Identify strategies to compare and contrast two texts and to understand how to evaluate two texts. Easily adaptable activity- I've used two articles about Pamplona bull running - nice and gory.

A fun and engaging lesson to hone descriptive writing skills - I used for year 7 revision but could be adapted to suit other year groups. Works really well and has produced some fab writing.

This resource contains a lesson presentation with the objective: Understand how texts present a viewpoint or attitude about their subject . It is useful for exam prep for an unseen text perhaps or introduction to students writing their own analytical piece. Also contains a fun bingo starter and AA Gill text… enjoy

Encourages students to critically engage with ways of reading 'The Handmaid's Tale' as well as re-familiarising them with general critical positions. It also contains my 'coathanger' method which helps them to use critics' quotes PURPOSEFULLY! Works really well with visual learners who often use the 'coathanger' diagram to plan whole essays. Any questions, please ask.

A lesson plan and resources for a persuasive writing revision lesson - year 10 or 11. Includes fun starter activity and could be developed as to include writing a longer piece. Lots of fun and can be adapted to suit different abilities. The support sheet includes writing prompts. Taught this several times, also with a year 9 high ability. works a treat.

A scheme of work designed for the OCR AS spec- although 'Wuthering Heights' is off as an exam text from sept 2011, the scheme itself could be adapted for other stuff. There are also resources here that could help!

A range of worksheets/activities for some of the texts in the EdExcel English iGCSE anthology for the exam. Texts include Chinese Cinderalla, Climate Change, Explorers or Boys Messing About, and A Passage to Africa. There are also two film articles to discuss compare for unseen non fiction. Fairly straightforward but hopefully useful stuff.

A powerpoint devoted to reading skills and developing personal responses with accompanying resources. Aim is to help students develop inference and empathy skills… good for welsh board candidates sitting an unseen text paper or just to help sharpen up reading skills in general..

Two structured essay plans on 'An Inspector Calls' - could be cut up and offered to the students to organise and/or add quotations to... Then there's a third essay question scaffold for them to fill in themselves. Again, could be adapted and used in lots of creative ways.

I am doing Wilfred Owen's war poetry with my AS English lit group and this is something I am going to use with them as an introduction to the topic in order to get them thinking about war. It contains two sets of extracts, war themed. The class will be split into two groups and each has to present what they have found out from the extracts ALONE. Could also use extracts for lots of other purposes…

Lesson (fully explained in powerpoint) on Anglo Saxon poetry more generally (linked into Beowulf), with a focus on kennings. Homework activity uses modern kennings poem as a model and lets them have a go at writing their own. I used with year 7 but could be extended to year 8. Lots of fun!

As with the others the powerpoint is pretty self-explanatory, but the aim of this lesson is to help students understand how meaning is made and be able to write succesfully about it in exams. Overarching objective is to explore techniques used to analyse the way in which writers create particular effects. The extract used is a James Lee Burke one, so quite exciting :) in an englishy way!

Full lesson plan and activity, leading to an essay

Powerpoint contains some contextual overview and objectives, geared to OCR AS spec, prose for exam... but could be adapted to suit other specs. Explains the pre-reading activity and includes discussion of ways of reading. Extracts for students to apply their knowledge to. Can be done if they've read the novel but would work equally well as a pre-reading activity.

A complete, printable 'Wuthering Heights' revision guide designed for Y12... could be used/adapted for GCSE, although will need to be edited...

For new iGCSE anthology, nothing existed on this poem so I created it. Copy of poem attached.

A detailed revision powerpoint, outlining the AQA modern texts exam (although this could be removed/ changed to fit your board) and lots of slides on context, complete with questions encouraging students to make links to the novel. Final slide suggests they get into groups and come up with essay plans to past exam questions.