This is an analysis of an extract of the Kamala Harris VP Nomination Speech (follow the link to the full video below). It provides students with an annotated copy of the original text transcript, and an intro and thesis, something they often have trouble formulating. Also included are some past papers, model paragraphing, and essay plans. I hope these resources are useful in preparing for this year’s IB Paper 1 - they could be used either in class, online, or for revision.

Activities on every chapter of the book, organised on one linear PowerPoint (45 slides). Students read the book answering comprehension questions, completing a media project where they explore and create: Social Media Posts Messages and Blogs Formal and Informal Emails Bias Comparison Essays Oral and Written News Reports Photojournalism and Propaganda Satirical Comic Strips Assessment: You could use any of the above, but the main two assessments are: designing a propaganda poster to promote compassion; and comparing two newspaper articles with different biases - one is from the BBC and the other is taken from the Daily Mail.

A selection of activities over 80 slides containing contextual details, comprehension questions, mini exams, quotation analysis, and character profiles.

This is a brief guide to the Individual Oral for the IB LAL course (HL and/or SL). I have used two texts as an example of an interesting text pairing. The texts are the television series, The Great, combined with the novel by Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. The global issue I have focused on is: The imbalance of power between the sexes as a result of cultural/religious traditions. Both texts present the issue in different ways and both could be read through the lens of feminism. I have included the extracts for analysis that students could choose to use as part of their oral presentation. I have also included a guide to help students plan the first 10 minutes of the oral presentation. Finally, I have attached all of the quotes from the novel that link to the global issue. I hope it is all useful for you!

In this 16-slide PowerPoint you will find an interesting starter where students use the vocabulary of the poem to make a wall display of haikus, a discussion task on the allusions to sea gods, full read through discussion, homework task, comparison of two Wordsworth poems to help understand Cheng’s ideas, very detailed line by line annotations, essay question with mindmap for essay planning, full essay plan. It should take between two and five hours to complete.

In this 14-slide PowerPoint, you will find a theme exploration starter, line by line annotations, essay plan, twelve homework questions (students could do this in lesson but I like them to come to class having studied the poem a little), theme and quote matching task, and finally I have included an optional “fun” activity where students use the vocabulary of the poem to create a short playscript, which you could choose to develop into a performance. This PowerPoint will probably take about three hours to complete if you choose to do all the activities. It could also work as revision. Please let me know if you have any feedback.

In this 19-slide PowerPoint you will find a starter activity that helps students understand the concept of lamentation, and a vocabulary task to help with breaking down keywords, key context of Kuwait and a link to an online analysis video, reading comprehension questions, homework challenge questions, line by line questions, line by line analysis, essay plan with topic sentence ideas and quotes for each paragraph, and an essay question for students to tackle the assessment.

In this 17-slide PowerPoint you will find a research the author challenge, comprehension questions about the poem’s basics, a comparison of both Chimney Sweep poems from innocence and experience which is necessary to understand the poem properly, a fill in the blanks summary task, homework analysis challenge (line by line questions), detailed annotations of every line in the poem, an essay question and a full model essay. This will take anything from between one and three hours to teach.

In this 26-slide PowerPoint you will find a thought-provoking starter, matching poetry technique task, in-depth discussion task, creative writing exercise (using the key vocabulary from the poem), an artwork imagery task, homework questions, line by line questions, deep line by line annotations/analysis, essay question and plan, and a model paragraph (colour-coded). This could take anything between one and three hours of teaching, depending on the cohort.

In this 18-slide PowerPoint, you will find: starter and extension; vocabulary creative writing task; deep delve into the gods mentioned in the poem; classwork/homework PDF attached with 22 thought provoking questions (with answers); line by line analysis; summary of the poem; colour-coded example paragraphs; and finally, an essay question and essay plan. The PowerPoint works best downloaded and not converted to Google Slides (you will lose the animations I believe on Google Slides, but all the content will remain). I hope it is useful. Any doubts, let me know.

In this 25-slide PowerPoint, you will find a starter activity, vocabulary challenge, line by line annotations, activities on the author, a fun drama task, line by line questions (with answers), a summary of the poem, an activity about the rhyme scheme, and two possible essay questions to challenge students’ knowledge. An 18 question PDF handout (with answers) is also attached for h/w or pre-reading. This PP and PDF can be used as a teacher tool and/or revision resource. It is very detailed and should really take up to about 3-4 hours of teaching time. I hope you find it useful. If there is anything you are unhappy about, please let me know and I will try my best to satisfy your query.

This 22-slide PowerPoint covers the final 4 chapters of the novel, and contains: vocabulary activities, line by line extract analyses (with answers), matching activity, Freytag’s pyramid summary task (also with answers), discussion questions, and 5 practice exams. Please see bundle for discounted prices.

23-slide PowerPoint. Lots of activities which lead up to the first assessment of the SoW. These lessons include a gap-fill activity about the purpose of the curate, a brief drama activity, reading comprehension, four model paragraphs analysing a range of techniques, lots of ‘think, pair, share’ questions, handouts of the chapter for assessment prep, the assessment insert handout, links to the four AOs, a simple essay plan for students to organise their ideas, summaries of every chapter, and lots of lovely visuals. I hope it is useful for your classes. It should take about 3 or 4 hours to complete this PowerPoint.

20-slide PowerPoint. Guided reading and analysis tasks based on key extracts. The starter is a selection of vocabulary games and activities, based on tricky vocabulary found in chapter 8. This is followed by some personal response questions and a summary of the chapter. For chapter 9 we have some reciprocal reading tasks and a question about connotations, pathetic fallacy, imagery, personification etc. The extract here is provided and colour-coded. This should work as build up for the chapter 10 lesson where students have to compare and contrast two extracts which show a technologically driven power imbalance between the Martians and Humans. Students watch a short video of technology around 1898 (the time the book was published), and make some connections to the real world. Then they must complete a close analysis of the two extracts. Guided annotations and note-taking methods are included, as well as links to the marking criteria for the iGCSE syllabus. I have also written a 200-word model response for students to understand what is required of them, and how they should be embedding quotes, commenting on language and providing a personal opinion. I have uploaded most of these PowerPoints as one lesson but in reality each one will probably take around 2 hours to complete. All chapters are also summarised, just in case students miss a class, or need a reminder of key events. I would advise sharing all PowerPoints with students before the course starts so that they have a reference point to go back to should they require it.

In this 20-slide PowerPoint covering chapters 11 and 12, you will find some vocabulary work, active reading strategies, guidance on descriptive and narrative writing, a reminder of using the senses to describe, activities on the themes of the novel, labelling activities, and a short debate. Students have plenty of time to discuss, write creatively, and analytically. Summaries of chapters 11 and 12 have been included as well as a clear plenary. I hope you find it useful.

In this 18-slide PowerPoint, you will find an initial vocabulary activity based on some of the tricky words in Book 2, Chapter 1, then some straightforward discussion questions to facilitate active reading, followed by a fun activity where students design their own technological alien and write a 200-word profile for it. Included is a gap fill activity to check understanding of Book 2, Chapter 2, followed by a “discussion” with HG Wells regarding the themes of reason/belief. This final activity should really get to the heart of the book and with the right teacher guidance there will hopefully be a rich discussion. All three chapters are also concisely summarised.

In this 23-slide PowerPoint you will find: summaries of both chapters, four short model responses for language analysis, an activity on how to embed quotes, a short drama task about how dialogue is used for suspense, a definition of the technique ‘allusion’ with a task based on Wells’ allusion to the Huns; here students watch a 10-minute YouTube video about the Goths and Huns in Europe and complete 18 viewing questions based on the video (could be done as h/w). Finally, students finish Chapter 17 by reading alongside a selection of comprehension/discussion questions to check understanding. This is the last lesson for Part 1 of War of the Worlds.

12-slide PP covering three chapters. A range of activities for these chapters and some model responses analysing the language and themes. Matching tasks and summaries galore. Please see shop for full bundle.

In this PowerPoint presentation you will find an overview of the radio broadcast that was presented by Orson Welles in 1938, with a range of activities included about fake news and entertainment. This is the second introductory lesson to the SoW for the IGCSE first exams 2024, but can be used for other curricula too. It could also be used as a standalone lesson on fake news to help students navigate the web more safely. The starter is an inference task based on the headlines that shocked the US after the first airing of War of the Worlds. The next task is a listening activity where students listen to a 10-minute extract of the radio broadcast (script handout and link included), highlighting lines/features that make it so believable. This is followed by a true or false quiz about fake news in today’s era. The main task is a creative one. Students, in groups/pairs have to create their own piece of “fake news” and then swap it with another group/pair. Finally, using the provided guide to spotting fake news, students have to break down one another’s piece of “fake news”. It should be a fun and informative lesson that is simple to teach and easy to follow for the students. Please check out the full SoW and my other resources. All feedback is enormously appreciated.

In this 13-slide PowerPoint, you will find: two lesson objectives, summaries of Chapters 3 and 4, ten comprehension questions (with answers), a vocabulary matching activity (with answers), a breakdown of the 4 assessment objectives for the prose exam (with a plenary gap fill to test retention), an extract from Chapter 4 for analysis which includes a highlighting task, followed by assessment objective-specific questions for students to answer in groups (possible answers to these questions have also been included). Finally, there is a plenary connected to the assessment objectives. After this lesson, students should have a good understanding of the two chapters, and some knowledge about how HG Wells has managed to use descriptive language effectively. Students should also have a good grasp of the assessment objectives.