A presentation which gets students to re-write classic fairy tales with a twist. Very visual and comes complete with planning grids. Suitable for KS2 and early KS3.

A fully-fleshed resource, which has activities designed for analysis of two extracts from The Woman in Black. There is an activity which looks at Ann Radcliffe’s definitions of horror and terror. Included is an extended writing question and writing frame. I have also added a creative writing task with a model response, plus a re-drafted model which could be used to illustrate the importance of making conscious choices as an author. I use the resource with very able year 8 classes, but it would be suitable for key stage 3 and 4 students alike. 15 slides in length and enough material for up to two lessons. Lesson has been updated with working links (September 2019).

An introduction to Romanticism aimed squarely at KS3. The focus is on the art and ideals of the Romantic era and begins with some annotation of Fuseli's The Nightmare. There is a link to an engaging video on the topic, though it runs rather fast, so it would be worth pausing for discussion or using the video with higher ability only. The presentation contains printable grids with key questions, drawing students attention to important things in the artwork. The resource does not deal with any literature, but provides an opening from which you can segue into the works of the Romantics.

A full lesson covering (lots of) context, form and structure, tone and pace, language and interpretations of the poem.

The presentation begins by focusing on the character of Nick as first presented in Chapter 4 of the novel. There is a group task with key quotations for this purpose. Next, to promote discussion, there is inter-textual information on Newspeak from Orwell's 1984, which has strong similarities with the language used in Chapter 4. Finally, there are some questions about the end of the chapter and sexual repression in Gilead, along with a link to an online article on the same topic; QR code provided for students with ipad or similar.

The presentation looks at Moira across the text. It begins with a quotation hunt , contains a task where students evaluate who would be the better protagonist (Moira or Offred) , considers the issue of race and provides a starting point for an essay question.

The second in a sequence of lessons on dystopian fiction which builds upon grammatical skills for writing. The resource works as a stand-alone lesson too. The lesson introduces students to adverbs and adverbial phrases through the blurb of Gone by Michael Grant, getting them to identify the different types of adverbial in the text before asking them to write their own blurb or story opening in the dystopian genre. This lesson was designed for Year 7 but could work for students in years 5, 6 or 8 dependent upon ability.

An introductory lesson aimed at Year 7 students on dystopian writing. The resource could be used with students in 5, 6 or 8 too, dependent upon ability. The lesson begins by deconstructing the etymology of the words ‘utopia’ and ‘dystopia’ and is then made up of a series of tasks on identifying, analysing and using nouns and noun phrases in relation to an extract from The Beach by Alex Garland. At the end of the scheme, students will use their learning to write a part of a dystopian story. Two separate starter activities are included in case you would like to spread the material across two lessons. There should be enough material to do so. Other lessons in the sequence will follow as they are completed.

A full lesson on Keats’s To Sleep, covering context in detail, form and structure, tone, imagery, themes and interpretations.

The lesson takes students through some key aspects of context, including some of the language of the letter Keats wrote to Fanny Brawne which sheds light on the themes of this sonnet. There are slides containing comprehension questions designed to get students talking about Keats’s use of the sonnet form and comprehension questions which engage with the main imagery of the poem. The final part of the lesson provides questions to prompt comparisons with other poems by Keats.

A bright and visual presentation with a mix of teacher led and student led activities, designed to promote engagement and independent thought. Structure, form, language and context are all covered. There is an annotation activity for students' anthologies (not just copying off the board). The resource would suit middle ability and more able students studying the Eduqas exam board for GCSE and provides work for at least 2 lessons.

A pair of lessons which focus on extract analysis of characters from Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein. The Frankenstein lesson contains printable resources for close language analysis in groups and the Jekyll and Hyde lesson contains an engaging activity where students can draw and label Mr Hyde. I would recommend the resource be used with low to middle ability KS3 students.

A presentation which considers some advanced aspects of the context, form and structure of John Keats's To Autumn. It then provides discussion / comprehension questions for the language in each stanza. The resource is suited for more able GCSE learners (i.e. those following the Eduqas specification) and A level Literature students who have selected Keats as their pre-1900s poet.

A full lesson on The Eve of St Agnes by John Keats, taking students through key points of plot, context, form and structure, language features and themes. I used this over a two-lesson teaching sequence.

A simple planning resource and essay question for The Handmaid's Tale

A bright and visual presentation on Wordsworth's Excerpt From The Prelude. It contains printable slides to annotate in groups with focused questions. Also included are tasks which require students to make predictions before reading the poem and there is information on the context. Middle to high ability students would suit this presentation. Please note, the Eduqas excerpt is different from the AQA excerpt. This resource is designed for the Eduqas GCSE specification.

The lesson begins with some definitions of reliable and unreliable narrators, requiring students to justify which they feel Offred is. Next, students discuss the benefits of each type of narrator to an author before looking at some specific sections where Offred can be seen as unreliable. They must analyse the possible reasons and effects of this lack of reliability.

A full lesson on Keats’s La Belle Dame covering context, form and structure, interpretations and the central theme of the poem. The resource should enable the poem to be taught effectively in a single lesson.