A lesson on the poem 'After the Titanic' by the Northern Irish poet Derek Mahon, in which pupils engage in active, collaborative close reading and language analysis through 'Home Group/Expert Group' activities. Presentation is split into 2 PowerPoints, since the first includes a video and is larger. I have also removed the video and made the presentation into a pdf, if that is an easier format to work with. The handout is for printing, cutting, and distributing to the groups.
An activity where pupils identify types of words in a nonsense poem ('Jabberwocky'), then create their own dictionary of nonsense words in order to write their own poem about school.
Due to the size of the videos, the presentation has been split into two parts. This is a task to practise Personal Writing, giving pupils the opportunity to practise generating ideas, planning, and structuring their planning prior to writing an assessment piece for Personal Writing. Task is based upon 'your worst holiday experience'.
Detailed context of Malala Yousafzai's UN Takeover inspirational/motivational speech, with fully annotated transcript for complete unit of study (I used this speech for GCSE Controlled Assessment in English Language).
An introductory handout for pupils embarking upon study of the Odyssey, covering oral tradition and the background of the Trojan War, accompanied by a book-by-book summary of the text. I have used these resources at both GCSE and A-level.
Comprehensive, relevant and individual contextual detail (AO3) for every one of the 24 poems in the Heaney/Frost anthology for the new CCEA AS1 specification in English Literature.
When asked to teach a quick unit on just short stories, this is what I pulled together: contains lots of videos and excerpts to analyse and apply theories of structure, character description, setting, atmosphere, drafting, and conclusions, to pupils' own work.
Two study maps on the possible AS1 examination question theme of Rural Life or Work, relevant to the new CCEA English Literature Poetry 1900-Present specification (Frost and Heaney anthology).
A study map each on the possible AS1 examination question themes of Poetic Inspiration ('Personal Helicon' by Heaney and 'After Apple-picking' by Frost) and The Creative Process ('The Forge' by Heaney and 'Mowing' by Frost) on the new CCEA English Literature specification. These resources should be annotated by pupils and used to produce analysis of quotations and essay plans/frameworks after studying the poems.
To practise or assess KS3 key Communication skill Reading, a lesson presentation that can be completed in class time, or printed as a handout for homework, with comprehension questions (and mark scheme) on the story of Daedalus and Icarus (taken from The New Windmill Book of Greek Myths, Geraldine McCaughrean, 1997).
A set of pupil exemplars from A - C in AS Media Studies coursework in print-based media (magazine covers, contents, and feature articles), WJEC exam board. Includes a fully annotated and marked final submission.
A lesson where pupils look at exemplar POINT-EVIDENCE-EXPLANATION paragraphs (written by my previous pupils on 'Boy in the Striped Pyjamas', but the success criteria of structuring paragraphs can be applied to any text), then use a table of success criteria to evaluate them in groups. With the understanding of these success criteria, and having seen 'What a Good One Looks Like', pupils then self-evaluate and improve their own work.
Two original essay maps for the novel 'Of Mice and Men' for pupils to complete as they prepare to write essays on the character Candy, and how he is pitiable, as well as the loneliness in the lives of Candy, Crooks and George. Sharing pupils' responses as a whole class discussion works well, as an intermediary stage before using the essay map to write the essay. I created these frameworks for my GCSE class to use as revision for their final exam after studying the whole novel, but colleagues also used them effectively as resources as they taught the text. They also form a good basis for writing a Speaking and Listening presentation on the text. These are based upon past-paper questions and markschemes.
Three Role Play activities based upon curriculum texts (Of Mice and Men, An Inspector Calls, and Macbeth) and an exam-board approved Group Discussion activity, with a comprehensive set of pupils' research notes on the specified topic.
A study map on the possible CCEA AS1 English Literature examination question theme of Nature, which can be used as a presentation on the board to guide discussion, or adapted as a revision resource to be annotated by pupils. The theme is considered in relation to the poems Postscript' by Seamus Heaney, and 'Gathering Leaves' and 'Going for Water' by Robert Frost.
A 31-page resource containing 14 poem comparison (AO4) grids for the Frost & Heaney anthology, including notes on situation of speaker (AO1), tone and poetic methods (AO2), and context (AO3) for the new CCEA English Literature specification. The grid format can be employed as a basis for first lessons on each of the poems, and should be used to gather quotations and write analysis. Alternatively, pupils may use the resource independently in order to plan an essay framework for practice exam questions. These are also extremely useful at the end of the course for revision purposes, where pupils use the class notes that they have made whilst studying AS1 to complete the grids from memory, as effective exam preparation.
A detailed handout on the context of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, for the study of language techniques and spoken language / inspirational speeches.
Also included is a hexagon activity, which my GCSE pupils always love - in groups, pupils must debate and defend their reasoning behind matching up and making shapes with the hexagons, displaying different levels of Bloom's taxonomy with regard to which hexagons touch which others.
Some shapes and text boxes might need adjusting in other versions of Word. Print out the hexagons and laminate, and enjoy pupils' presentations to the class of their final patterns!
Exemplar paragraphs on computer games in functional / discursive essays, written by top-level KS3 class, and also used by a lower-ability GCSE class as 'What a Good One Looks Like' for English Language revision.
KS3 novel - randomly allocate a character from the novel to each pupil (or also works in pairs, depending on ability), then get them to use this worksheet to develop deeper understanding of character. A nice follow-up extension is to work this into a Speaking and Listening class presentation for Key Skill Communication assessment.