This lesson is aimed at middle to higher ability students who are writing their first GCSE poetry comparison essay. Students should have studied Mother Any Distance and Walking Away prior to this lesson. This PowerPoint guides students by recapping the main quotations from each poem, pointing out some good similarities and differences to think about for the essay, a planning proforma and includes a model comparative paragraph. Students should steal ideas from this PowerPoint to complete the essay. This scaffold and model can be easily adapted to suit lower ability students too.

Ideal revision for GCSE exam classes…This PowerPoint focusses on revising characters through creating labels, crafting topic sentences and finding quotations to match. It then builds up to an exam question - including a focus on how to plan with a sample plan and introduction. This resource should take two lessons to teach.

Full, thorough and easy to follow lesson (approx 1-2 hour) with model paragraph analysing writer’s methods in the poem. Starter - generate discussion about images. Main 1 - Read through poem/gather initial ideas/whole class annotation - this can be supplemented with youtube clips of annotation. Focus annotation primarily on metaphor/structure/exaggeration/punctuation. Rank ordering task. Push students to think about the effect of key words in preparation for the second part of the lesson. Main 2 - Model paragraph - Discuss/annotate evidence of how it is a good example. Students then write up their own response in the same style as the model. *Model is aimed at higher ability GCSE students. This can easily be simplified to suit lower ability.

Full lesson (approx 1-2 hour) with model paragraph and quotation table analysing writer’s methods in the poem. Starter - generate discussion about links between poem and Shakespeare quotation/Making predictions. Main 1 - Read through poem/gather initial ideas/whole class annotation. Rank ordering task. Push students to think about the effect of key words in preparation for the second part of the lesson. This leads into the quotation table task. Main 2 - Model paragraph - Discuss/annotate evidence of how it is a good example. Students then write up their own response in the same style as the model. Could be given as a homework either. *Model is aimed at higher ability GCSE students. This can easily be simplified to suit lower ability.

Full lesson (approx 1-2 hour) with model paragraph analysing writer’s methods in the poem. Starter - List/draw image of swan/connotations of a swan. Main 1 - Read through poem/gather initial ideas/whole class annotation. Match images with Q’s task. Rank ordering task. Push students to think about the effect of key words in preparation for the second part of the lesson. Main 2 - Model paragraph - Discuss/annotate evidence of how it is a good example. Students then write up their own response in the same style as the model. Could be given as a homework either. *Model is aimed at higher ability GCSE students. This can easily be simplified to suit lower ability.

This resource is aimed at GCSE middle to higher ability but easily adaptable for lower ability pupils. This presentation will last for 2-3 lessons and is aimed at recapping the main parts of the text through images, quotation and context exercises. It then moves onto a sample extract I have created with a model answer designed to really push pupils towards a higher grade. In my lessons, I annotate the model with pupils focusing on where good choices and perceptive points have been made. From this, pupils then steal from what they have learned to complete their own response for a sample AQA question. I have found this approach and resource incredibly useful for revision and hope that you do too. It would be best if the full PowerPoint was printed for pupils but key slides would work just as well,

Full lesson (approx 1-2 hour) with model paragraph analysing writer’s methods in the poem. Starter - generate discussion about images. Main 1 - Read through poem/gather initial ideas/whole class annotation - this can be supplemented with the youtube clips of annotation at the end of the PPT. Focus annotation primarily on pronouns/structure/conversationalist tone/imagery of Hollywood + glamour Rank ordering task. Push students to think about the effect of key words in preparation for the second part of the lesson. Main 2 - Model paragraph - Discuss/annotate evidence of how it is a good example. Students then write up their own response in the same style as the model. Could be given as a homework either. *Model is aimed at higher ability GCSE students. This can easily be simplified to suit lower ability.

Full, thorough and easy to follow lesson (approx 1-2 hours) with model paragraph analysing writer’s methods in the poem. Starter - generate discussion about images. Main 1 - Read through poem/gather initial ideas/whole class annotation - this can be supplemented with the youtube clips of annotation. Focus annotation primarily on simile/structure/enjambment Rank ordering task. Push students to think about the effect of key words in preparation for the second part of the lesson. Main 2 - Model paragraph - Discuss/annotate evidence of how it is a good example. Students then write up their own response in the same style as the model. *Model is aimed at higher ability GCSE students. This can easily be simplified to suit lower ability.

Useful grid/ planning proforma to help students gain a good grasp of how to write a comparative response. Best printed on A3. Created for writing a comparative response on two poems but easily adaptable for comparing any two texts.