A complete scheme of work (13 lessons), including three assessments, for Sarah Crossan's stunning novel-in-verse The Weight of Water. Dealing with common issues for today's teenagers, such as bullying, migration, racism and family break ups, this uplifting tale is always a hit with students. Over the past four years I have used it with Years 8, 9 and 10, and it makes a great introduction to (or consolidsation of) poetic analysis. The scheme includes speaking and listening tasks, as well as creative writing, media and reading assessments. An overview document gives lesson by lesson instructions, while each lesson comes fully resourced.

A complete scheme of work for the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, which I have taught (and refined) for the past 5 years. I've always done it with Year 9 (it makes a great introduction to Romeo and Juliet in KS4) but could be done with high ability Year 8s as well. It's 25 lessons long, all fully resourced with powerpoints and handouts. An overview document gives lesson by lesson instructions as well as ideas for AFL and differentiation. Homework tasks, a display and three optional drama lessons are also included. Originally designed to help prepare students for the skills needed for the CIE English Language GCSE, I have also used it to prepare students for the skills needed for the AQA Literature GCSE.

A complete scheme of work on biography, which uses substantial extracts from the Diary of Anne Frank, as well as poems and other prose extracts. The 19 lessons include both reading and writing assessments, an extended writing project, and a teacher(s) in role lesson that is the most fun I’ve ever had with a class - I still have Year 11 students who come up to me to talk about it from when they were in Year 8. A scheme of work overview document gives you a break down of each lesson, along with ideas for differentiation and AFL. All lessons come with a powerpoint and other resources. Happy teaching! Note: 1. For copyright reasons, the extracts from Anne Frank are not included. You will need a copy of the text. However, the dates of the relevant extracts are clearly labelled, so you should easily be able to find them in your copy. 2. For some reason Lesson 4 was missing from the zip file, so this is included separately.

This short (7 lesson) poetry scheme of work was originally designed for a Year 7 class full of extremely weak readers, many of whom still struggled to blend phonemes. Therefore, this unit focusses very closely on the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and meanings, examining alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia in a fun and accessible way. As such it may well suit KS2 classes. There is a particular focus on Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, but Macbeth and tongue twisters also make an appearance. Opportunities for spoken and creative writing tasks are included. An overview document gives a lesson by lesson account, while all lessons come with a powerpoint and resources. Happy teaching.

An 11 (double) lesson scheme of work for Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is for Edexcel’s International A Level, paired texts, paired with The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, though many if not all of the lessons would work for teaching Ishiguro’s novel in isolation. If you are teaching this paired with Atwood, this scheme of work is based on the premise that students have read The Handmaid’s Tale independently (or at the very least watched the 1990 film) in advance. This allows them to make superficial comparisons of plot and character as you teach Never Let Me Go. I 've had very mixed ability groups, so there is a lot of differentiation, with scaffolding for weaker students and stretching questions for the more able. If you want to buy schemes of work for both texts, at a discount, you can. Just search my shop.

A workbook to aid and guide students in their revision of Romeo and Juliet.

A selection of revision tasks for the Edexcel iGCSE English Literature qualification. Unseen poetry, Poetry Anthology and Of Mice and Men. To give to students, or to allow them to choose from them, for work in class or homework.

This is a 12 to 14 lesson complete scheme of work on Media Analysis and Text Creation. Students will learn the vocabulary necessary for the analysis of a range of multi-media texts (advertisements, comic strips, posters and so on) and then apply these in written and spoken assessments. Texts used include Thor posters, extracts from Heartstopper and stills from Bohemian Rhapsody. Students then create and reflect upon their own multi-media texts. There is lots of differentiation built in and students have lots of agency, able to select their own texts and tasks. Intended for KS3 classes (I do it with Year 8), this does have an eye on preparing students for the IB Diploma Programme (the success criteria for the oral assessment comes straight from the Language A Individual Oral assessment). It was a pretty enjoyable unit, both for teachers and students, and it was amazing how some normally quite weaker students really shone once they were working with multi-media texts rather than just pages of print. I’ve made this available for free, but it does represent HOURS of work. Therefore, if you do use it, please leave a review. Thanks. Happy teaching!

A 16 lesson complete scheme of work for Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. Powerpoint presentations and other resources for all lessons are included, as well as an overview document giving ideas for differentiation and homework. The lessons include two debates, opportunities for performance, group work, and lots of peer marking - students will be very familiar with the Assessment Objectives by the end. Originally, this was planned for a Year 11 class taking the CIE iGCSE English Literature exam (100% pass rate with 75% at A*/A… just saying!), while simultaneously being used with a Year 10 class writing coursework for the Edexcel iGCSE English Literature (again, 100% pass rate with 75% 7 to 9). That Year group’s coursework essay was “How crucial is Alfieri’s role in A View from the Bridge?”; my current Year 11s’ coursework title - which they did in Year 10 - was “How does Miller present conflict?” (a slightly weaker group). Happy teaching!

Excite and engage your classes with one (or both!) of these great plays. This scheme of work gets students thinking critically about the strategies playwrights use, while also getting them out of their chairs to perform, either using the scripts or improvisation prompts. Scripts not included. An overview document gives you a run down of the scheme of work, with instructions for each lesson plus ideas for differentiation. There are 8 lessons with entrance tasks and powerpoint presentations: all of these are set up for both plays, so just delete the slides that aren’t relevant to the one you are teaching. The whole scheme will probably take longer (maybe 12 lessons) and one of the powerpoint presentations can just be recycled as you act/read the play through. Assessments are an essay on the presentation of the protagonist, and speech on the value of watching drama. Resources include example paragraphs, writing frames for low ability students and marking templates. Year 8 have great fun with this every year, and I hope you do too! Happy teaching!

26 lessons, covering ALL poems in the Edexcel iGCSE Literature Poetry Anthology. As well as individual lessons for each poem, this unit includes: lessons on specific poetic techniques (metre; alliteration, assonance and sibilance); an introductory lesson to the whole anthology; a student-friendly printable version of the anthology, complete with glossaries, explanations and relevant context; six lessons on how to compare poems; marking slip template; peer feedback template; homework and extension tasks. Lessons tend to follow the entrance task - starter - development - consolidation - plenary format. A couple are carousel lessons: others are quite teacher-led. There is lots of peer marking involved - students really get to grips with the assessment objectives by the end. Happy teaching! Note: I have made some - but not all - individual resources available for free.

A complete scheme of work for A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Edexcel A Level English Literature). 12 fully resourced lessons covering the full play, which you will want to intersperse with essay-writing lessons, plus example essays, and useful materials on context and criticism. Happy teaching!

An 11 (double) lesson scheme of work for The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. This was taught as part of the Edexcel International A Level in English Literature, paired with Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. This has always been taught as the second text, so that students are already able to make quite detailed connections between texts. Flip learning and peer marking are used regularly. There is a presentation for each lesson. I’ve had very mixed ability groups, so there is a lot of scaffolding for weaker students and stretching questions for the higher ability ones. If you would like to buy both schemes of work at a discount you can; please check my shop.

A ten (or more) lesson scheme of work on writing to advise, argue and persuade. Originally designed for Year 9, it would also work with high ability Year 8s and low ability Year 10s. An overview document gives a lesson by lesson guide, as well as ideas for further AFL and differentiation (lots of both are already built in to the lessons). All lessons come with powerpoints and resources. It's a very mobile and energetic unit, with speeches and debates, as well as an essay and grammar lessons on passives and phrasal verbs. Texts examined include those by Malala Yousafzai and Wilfred Owen. Happy teaching!

A complete scheme of work for Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (25 lessons long) aimed at Year 9, intended to provide context and familiarity with Dickens for further study in KS4. The unit contains powerpoints and resources for all lessons, and includes ICT, debates, speaking and listening lessons alongside reading and writing assessments. Many activities are also differentiated by reading ability.

A fantastic and fun introduction to Shakespeare for KS3 - I've used it with both Years 7 and 8. The 19 lessons include a five lesson lead in looking at fairy tales, with an emphasis on thinking critically, followed by a fun exploration of Shakespeare's classic comedy using an abridged script (uploaded separately as a free resource as I don't own it). The unit includes both reading and writing assessments, spoken tasks, fully resourced lessons and differentiated activities.

This is a short but useful unit on Stevenson's short story Markheim, which shares many of the same themes as 'The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', so would work well as either an introduction to the author prior to teaching Jekyll & Hyde, or as an extension for higher ability groups. However, as it was originally taught to an extra-English class, many of the lessons use the Inference format (a form of reading instruction designed to boost the comprehension skills of low ability readers), so the unit could also be used for that purpose.

A complete scheme of work for Night John, which I have taught (and refined) for the last 6 years. I usually teach it with Year 8, though I have also used it with Year 7 and low ability Year 9 groups. The scheme is 18 lessons long, and covers all the main reading, writing and speaking objectives. It includes an extended creative writing task, related non-fiction texts, a persuasive speech, an ICT research lesson, a drama lesson and a debate lesson. It's great fun despite the weighty themes, and students always enjoy this unit.

Two schemes of work (11 double lessons in total) for the Edexcel IAL in English Literature. These are for Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. Students should read The Handmaid’s Tale independently first (or at least watch the 1990 film) before studying Never Let Me Go, and then studying The Handmaid’s Tale. Both schemes of work are available separately from my shop.

This unit is designed for Year 9, to prepare them for study of the AQA Poetry of Conflict cluster at GCSE - though it is a good preparation for the study of poetry at GCSE for any exam board. The unit includes poems by Wilfred Owen (2), Jessie Pope, Alison Fell, Pablo Neruda, Ciaran Carson and John Agard. In addition, there is an extended creative writing task, two discussion lessons using de Bono's hats and an ICT lesson. An overview document contains a lesson by lesson guide, giving suggestions for AFL, differentiation and homework (though lots of all three are already built into the unit). All lessons come with powerpoints and accessible resources. Happy teaching!