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Teach Me Lit

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I create resources for all year groups at secondary level English. I also create study vlogs available on my YouTube channel if you search for Sophie Toovey. My podcast, Teach me Lit, is aimed at helping students revise for GCSE and A Level literature exams. You can find it on Spotify, Google podcasts and Podbean.

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I create resources for all year groups at secondary level English. I also create study vlogs available on my YouTube channel if you search for Sophie Toovey. My podcast, Teach me Lit, is aimed at helping students revise for GCSE and A Level literature exams. You can find it on Spotify, Google podcasts and Podbean.
3 extracts of Gothic fiction
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3 extracts of Gothic fiction

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This handout gives three extracts from Gothic fiction: ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Dracula’ and ‘Great Expectations’. I used this with a Year 9 group who did a mini-essay on how Dickens creates mood in the final extract, and I am also planning to ask them to use two of the extracts, alongside a non-fiction extract, to synthesise ‘What is Gothic fiction’?
7 PPTs for teaching Pride and Prejudice including context and essay writing
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7 PPTs for teaching Pride and Prejudice including context and essay writing

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This is a set of resources for teaching Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ for English Literature GCSE. I teach WJEC specification. The students are preparing for an exam with an extract task and an essay which has to refer to context. This bundle includes a starter PPT for introducing the novel and basic context (What’s a girl to do?), looking at what life was like for girls in Austen’s day, and outlining the main characters and starting Chapter 1. See https://sophietoovey.podbean.com/e/what-was-life-like-for-girls-in-jane-austen-s-time/ for an accompanying podcast. There is a PPT for introducing Collins and Wickham in Chapter 15, and then another PPT to introduce essay writing, with a model essay on the theme of marriage and an essay plan for a question about how the novel shows ‘the plight of women’. See https://sophietoovey.podbean.com/e/the-plight-of-women-in-austens-pride-prejudice/ for an accompanying podcast. There are PPTs for looking at Elizabeth’s visit to Hunsford, including an extract task on Darcy’s proposal in Chapter 34, and her visit to Pemberley. There is a PPT about Lydia’s elopement to help students understand what Lydia has done wrong. See https://sophietoovey.podbean.com/e/what-s-wrong-with-lydia-and-wickham-in-pride-and-prejudice/ for an accompanying podcast. Finally, I’ve also included a PPT with DIRT tasks for after a mock exam, although you could use them in any context eg. turning an A grade paragraph into an A*.
GCSE reading question practice: theme of sport
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GCSE reading question practice: theme of sport

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This is a bundle of resources created for a GCSE English Language class. The topic is sport and has a particular focus on women in sport. There are two articles to use for synthesis practice (Jasmin Paris and the Montane spine race and Female sports stars should earn the same) with an accompanying PPT. There is a writing stimulus with an article about JD sports sexism row, with a writing task of a ‘lively article’. There are GCSE style questions and two contrasting texts which discuss the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo 2020, for comparison work. And there is a mock-style paper about women in sport with two texts, some practise questions, and an accompanying mark scheme.
Reading inspiration display - book covers
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Reading inspiration display - book covers

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This is a simple idea for a classroom/corridor display to inspire secondary school reading. I’ve collected images of book covers onto a Word document to be printed in colour then cut down to size, mounted and laminated for display, in a layered effect. I’ve included children’s classics, adult classics, YA fiction, Middle-grade fiction, and tried to reflect a wide range of genres.
Pride & Prejudice extract unit of work
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Pride & Prejudice extract unit of work

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The Powerpoint identifies six key features of Austen’s style for pupils to look for in an extract question. The whole of Chapter 1 is included on a handout. Then there is an extract booklet which can be used in class or set as homework with extracts from the first eight chapters of the novel, with practice extract questions.
Plastic pollution summary & persuasive writing
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Plastic pollution summary & persuasive writing

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These are resources I created for my Year7 class to teach them how to summarise and then give them a scaffolded persuasive ‘real life’ writing task of writing a letter to a soft drink company to persuade them to support the Deposit Return Scheme of plastic bottles. There is an article about companies lobbying the Government to delay the DRS which students summarise in sections.
Pride and Prejudice revision PPT
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Pride and Prejudice revision PPT

(1)
This was created by students as a class revision guide, with slides on characters from the novel, some key themes and contextual information. The slides are colourful and could also be printed for display.
GCSE reading and writing tasks on Dog Ownership
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GCSE reading and writing tasks on Dog Ownership

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I created practice GCSE reading and writing tasks using two contrasting articles: the Coddling of the American Dog and a web page from Dogs Trust. The article is funny and looks at how much money is in the pet industry in America today, and there are retrieval questions, vocabulary development, explain questions and a ‘how’ question. Includes mark scheme with specific answers from the text, but also marking bands from WJEC. There is a compare question and also a writing task to advise a friend who is considering buying a dog.
When Secrets Set Sail lesson powerpoints
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When Secrets Set Sail lesson powerpoints

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This is designed for Year 7 students reading ‘When Secrets Set Sail’ by Sita Brahmachari. There are comprehension questions, homework research tasks, and an extended reading response task looking at the relationship between Usha and Imtiaz. There is also a class discussion on the idea of reparations. This was written for Black History Month and can be used to help improve diversity in the curriculum.
Lord of the Flies literary context - The Coral Island
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Lord of the Flies literary context - The Coral Island

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This PPT gives information on Ballantyne’s novel ‘The Coral Island’ which ‘Lord of the Flies’ was based on. The PPT also uses information from Wikipedia on ‘social Darwinism’ to explore the historical context and influences of Darwin’s ideology and imperialism on both texts, and how both texts respond to these ideas, particularly in Golding’s context post WWII with Nazi eugenics.
'How' question using Heroes extract
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'How' question using Heroes extract

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This resource is a ‘how’ question for GCSE students and I actually used it with a class who were only sitting Language, but reading one of the Literature texts alongside the course. The Powerpoint breaks down how to annotate and then use P.E.E to build an answer, and includes self assessment.
P.E.E. and proofreading using Army Cadets
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P.E.E. and proofreading using Army Cadets

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This is a short unit of work aimed at Year 7 (Level 4-5). There is a bank of proofreading tasks which work as starters, and a Powerpoint which goes through reading and annotating the article before students write about how the text makes cadets attractive to young people using a P.E.E. grid, paragraph scaffold and then independently. There is also a short version of the article for those working at Level 3. I have also included in the Powerpoint some DIRT work, a differentiated spelling list, and a vocabulary extension task.
GCSE practice questions
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GCSE practice questions

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Two articles, one about getting people interested in National Parks, the other a teacher’s blog post about an outdoor pursuits school trip. There are a range of GCSE style questions, including find and locate information, verbal reasoning, explain, how and comparison. Accompanying Powerpoint with one model answer ‘explain’ and a table to help students prepare for the comparison. Peer/self assessment with GCSE style marking criteria.
Pride and Prejudice mock exam unit
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Pride and Prejudice mock exam unit

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I created this mock examination based on WJEC GCSE Literature syllabus for a MAT Year 10 group. The unit includes the mock, and then two PPTs which give an ideal template for giving whole class feedback afterwards, and two student sample paragraphs to ‘close the gap’ on their use of AO2. I have also included an annotated version of the extract for going through with the class after the mock, and a student’s 10/10 extract response.
GCSE Mock Reading Paper: Child Soldiers
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GCSE Mock Reading Paper: Child Soldiers

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Based on WJEC style questions, this mock Language paper uses four texts on the theme of Child Soldiers and gives low-tariff and high-tariff questions such as text purpose, summary and synthesis.
Larkin critical extracts and study notes
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Larkin critical extracts and study notes

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When I was teaching the WJEC Larkin/Duffy AS poetry unit, I bought a number of critical texts on Larkin and these are my typed up notes with extracts from a range of critics. Ideal if you don’t want to purchase critical books which can be expensive and time consuming to work through.