A lesson suitable for either KS3 or 4 in order to encourage students to independently explore the poem by using a 6x6 grid. Dice are needed for the activities. Feedback welcome!

This is a DIRT lesson which aims to get students to improve on a previous response. (Therefore you might want to get students to have a go at the task independently before using this lesson). The starter is a refutational text through which students are asked to spot the mistakes. This is also differentiated for different abilities. The students are then directed to look at a model answer and then fill in the venn diagram comparing their response to the model one.

This is a lesson I taught in order to get students thinking about how to write more descriptively and in a fun way. It involves them writing a 'pirate' story by using a 6x6 grid which gives them images as a stimulus for each sentence. They will need dice for this activity. After they have done this, they then think about techniques to improve their writing further (extract from 'Treasure Island' provided for students to get some ideas). They then create an up-levelled and improved version of the grid and challenge each other to improve their descriptions. Any feedback welcome!

This is a lesson I created for a very low ability Year 7 class as they were struggling with identifying the basic word classes. It involves them thinking of definitions and writing their own (guided by teacher). There are then some pictures as stimulus to get them identifying their own examples (I used mini whiteboards for this task). The students are finally given a picture for them to put into practice what they have learnt/recapped. There is an extension activity using some of the Alan Peat sentence types for further challenge. I ended the lesson by playing a silly sentence game where students are put into groups of 4 and come up with their own silly sentences by including the word classes they have learnt/recapped in the lesson. My students really enjoyed this (especially as I included pictures of my son!)

A lesson I taught to a lower ability KS3 group which gets them thinking about using PEE to write about a text. This will take a few lessons to teach. It also gives them some useful phrases in order to link their paragraphs together. A copy of the story is provided as well as a success criteria so students can self/peer assess after they have completed their final response to the question.

A powerpoint that walks through the main ideas in the poem including key annotations. Also includes a revision quiz to complete after studying the poem.

A lesson created for Year 7s to introduce them to the Shakespearean sonnet. The lesson mainly focuses on the meaning of the poem and deciphering/interpreting language as a starting point. I have included some activities on iambic pentameter at the end of the PowerPoint and also a homework to further knowledge and understanding of the structure of a sonnet.

An annotated version of the poem useful for a lower ability group with the aim to get an understanding of the meaning of the poem. There are also some differentiated questions and a writing activity looking at different emotions experienced by the soldiers.

A resource that I used with my Year 8 class. It involves watching a clip of 'Holidays from Hell' and then improving an informal letter of complaint. They are encouraged to create their own success criteria but are then given a more challenging one with a focus on use of grammar and punctuation for effect. They really enjoyed it! Feedback welcome!

A lesson I used with a Year 11 class which asked them to focus on 'zooming in&' to aid with descriptive writing. I found that the catch phrase game worked really well in order to get students to really focus on aspects of a scene in order to provide more detail and focus in their writing, The individual challenge cards also worked well and students enjoyed having their own personal challenges to meet during the lesson.

A fun way of getting students to zoom in on details of an image used as stimulus for descriptive writing. Students work in groups and are each given a section of the image to write about. They are then shown the whole image at the end and asked to write their final paragraph together. They are then encouraged to experiment with the structure of their paragraphs by deciding on an effective order, ending with feeding back to the class and explaining their choices.

A lesson about how the theme of conflict is presented in the poem.

A lesson which takes students through a section of the scene in order to prepare them for an extended written response.

A lesson I used for a middle - high ability class who have just finished reading 'Of Mice and Men'. In order to challenge them further I got them to analyse the 'Two Scavengers poem' - they used a 6x6 grid to help them (you will need dice for this). They then used a venn to compare themes/ideas/characters from the poem to the novella. This was a really successful lesson and the students cam up with some amazing links. I was observed teaching this and received excellent feedback. I have also attached my lesson plan.

A lesson I have put together for a high ability Year 7 class which challenges them to interpret Act 1 Scene 5 and independently annotate it in a fun and challenging way. This could easily be used with higher year groups.

An introduction to poetry/recap of some common poetic devices. Works well with lower ability classes.

This is a group debate task which could easily lead in to a written piece. Students complete an individual task where they have to decide how far their given character is responsible. They then come together as a group to decide together which character is most responsible. Students really enjoyed this lesson and it promoted a lot of discussion/debate. Any feedback welcome!

A lesson I put together for low ability KS4. It gives them some ‘quick win’ ideas regarding how to improve their own descriptive writing. There is also a resource to get them thinking about how they could use some ideas from the ‘Power & Conflict’ poems and also an activity on improving vocabulary whilst revising poems/texts for the literature exam.

An annotated version of the poem in detail - would be useful for higher end GCSE students studying the AQA Power and Conflict cluster or teachers who are unfamiliar with the poem. Also contains notes on context/form/structure as well as some discussion questions. Revision quiz also attached which could be used as a homework activity/consolidation task.

An annotated version of the poem in detail - would be useful for higher end GCSE students studying the AQA Power and Conflict cluster or teachers who are unfamiliar with the poem. Also contains notes on context/form/structure as well as some discussion questions. Revision quiz also attached which could be used as a homework activity/consolidation task.