Created for a year 11 class to try to build on their skills of analysis of unseen poetry this uses a deceptively simple poem by Whitman and guides the students through the process of analysis. With this lesson I am trying to encourage them to write about structural features for a poem that doesnât necessarily have a wealth of language. The teaching strategies include close questioning on the title (something I find my students tend to ignore in their analysis though it is often a fruitful area for exploration), a whole-class reading of the poem (changing voice with punctuation to encourage students to notice that the whole poem is a single sentence and how the punctuation is used for emphasis), some paired discussion, spotting and beginning to explore the features and then modelling of the first paragraph of the response. The mark scheme is used to plot whatâs required in the response.
Created as a homework task as part of a unit on gothic horror, this would also work as a cover activity. It uses a short extract from âThe Mysteries of Udolphoâ by Ann Radcliffe and there are 8 questions, most requiring a more extended answer, focusing on analysis. Useful for honing the reading skills that will be tested at GCSE and for exploring a less common text from the genre of gothic horror.
Created for a year 8 class but suitable at the top of KS2 as well as KS3, this lesson uses the poem âLeisureâ by William Henry Davies and asks the pupils to update the poem for their own context. Prior to that, however, the pupils are asked to explore and comment on the effect of the long vowel sounds and the simile used in the poem, being able to explain what is Daviesâ message in the poem. My own class worked in pairs to create their own poems and I was genuinely impressed by many of the outcomes! They seemed to find that matching their ideas to Daviesâ structure worked as a scaffold.
Prior to using this lesson, my class had watched the BBC adaptation of âAn Inspector Callsâ so already had knowledge of the plot and a basic understanding of the roles of the characters in terms of Priestleyâs intentions. Watching the adaptation first worked really well in my 4/5 target group. This is a short lesson (only 8 slides on the ppt) together with a multiple-choice quiz focusing the students on Priestleyâs use of stage directions in âAn Inspector Callsâ. The aim of the lesson is to draw inferences from Priestleyâs stage directions. For more able classes, the multiple-choice quiz could be used prior to the lesson to identify gaps in the studentsâ understanding so that subsequent teaching can be very precisely focused. With my own class (targets 4 and 5), I used the powerpoint first and then set the quiz as homework for consolidation and a little extension of knowledge.
If you find either aspect of this resource useful, I would very much appreciate you taking the time to leave a review.
I made this for my year 11 class at their request, to revise âOzymandiasâ prior to their February mock exam in English Lit. Please feel free to use/amend for your own classes. The intention is that the ppt slides provide prompts for probing questioning and whole-class discussion of the poem. Just to be clear - this wasnât used for first teaching of the poem - my students had a (in many cases, very hazy) knowledge and understanding before they went through this lesson. I hope very much that you will find this resource useful and will be really grateful if youâll take a minute to leave a review. Thank you.
I've created this revision powerpoint for my year 11 class - it's a detailed walkthrough of the poem with a focus on language and structural features (the metaphor of the mind-forg'd manacles, the effect of the first verb, wander, the symbol of the river, Blake's use of contrast and of a semantic field). The lesson begins with a reference to the French Revolution and asks the students to link the mind-forg'd manacles to the slogan of the revolution. It uses a lot of questioning - the questions form a large part of the powerpoint - and the intention is that the pupils should annotate their anthologies or copies of the poem as they work through the lesson.
I created this short comprehension activity for my year 7 class to be used alongside their class reader, "Love That Dog". It uses an excerpt from "The Call of the Wild" describing Buck's kidnap. Alongside the extract are ten questions focusing on vocabulary and understanding. This works as a homework but could also be used as a cover activity. Alternatively, the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session.
Created for a year 7 class as a homework to go alongside our class reader of 'Love That Dog', this is a comprehension (close reading and response) activity based on the segment from "The Call of the Wild" in which Buck fights Spitz to become top dog. There are 14 questions in total, focusing on vocabulary, inference and the effects of language. This would be a good cover activity or the questions could be used to structure a guided reading session.
Created for a year 9 class, this is a lesson on Wordsworthâs âUpon Westminster Bridgeâ which asks the students to identify the viewpoint expressed in the poem and then explore features of language and structure that help to convey that viewpoint. Also attached here is a multiple-choice quiz that I originally created as a homework to be used after the lesson in order to consolidate the learning.
Created for a more able year 8 class, this is a lesson on the description of Gradgrind from the start of âHard Timesâ. The aim is to link Dickensâs use of language and structural features to his viewpoint. The lesson is scaffolded so that there is a grid for the pupils to complete explaining what they can infer about Gradgrind from the language used to describe him (thereâs also a little bit on the Victoriansâ belief that character could be gauged from facial features). After having completed the grid, the pupils then look at the longer excerpt and work more independently on an extended answer - though they can use the structure of their response in the grid to plan and guide that answer.
Created for a year 7 class as part of a unit of work on âTreasure Islandâ, this lesson invites the children to explore Masefieldâs poem, âSea Feverâ, identifying the speakerâs attitude towards the sea and focusing on the use of personification and other language features. The lesson uses hinge questions at key points, requiring all children to feed back with one from a choice of answers. In my classroom we use our arms to make letter shapes; you could use mini-whiteboards. At the end of the lesson, the children are asked to produce a written response focusing on Masefieldâs use of personification and two other language features of their choice, explaining whatâs revealed about the speakerâs attitude towards the sea (and here you could introduce or embed the idea of viewpoint). There is a separate homework available for this lesson which is a series of multiple-choice questions about the poem.
Planned for my year 9 class as part of a unit of work on Journeys, introducing the skills and tasks of English GCSE, I have also used this with a year 10 group as we begin to tackle the unseen poetry question for English Literature. It uses Shakespeareâs sonnet 50 and is an opportunity to explore the sonnet form as well as the poetâs use of language and structural features.
A 14-slide powerpoint, taking the students through the Inspectorâs final speech with a focus on the features of language and structure used in the speech and an analysis of their effects. Planned for my mixed-ability year ten class, this lesson does emphasise that the Inspector is a vehicle for Priestleyâs ideas and messages in the play.
Created for a mixed ability year nine class, this powerpoint takes the pupils through the poem, initially with a focus on Owenâs redrafting - what is the effect of âdoomed youthâ rather than the initial âdead youthâ. Throughout the lesson the pupils are asked to consider the effect of Owenâs language choices. There is a multiple-choice question focusing on the simile âwho die as cattleâ. In our classroom, we respond by using our arms to make the letters, YMCA-style. The question could as easily be answered using mini whiteboards. The lesson takes the pupils through a model paragraph of response focusing on the effect of the âas cattleâ simile; theyâre then asked to produce a further three paragraphs working independently. Useful as a reading assessment or as part of a unit of work on war poetry. The intention is that this lesson begins to embed the skills on which the pupils will be tested at GCSE.
Created for a higher-ability year 7 class as part of a unit of work on "Treasure Island" and pirates, this lesson plan takes the pupils through "The Ballad of John Silver" by John Masefield. Using images and drama to embed the idea of writing having a mood, the lesson culminates with the pupils selecting one of the verses from the poem and re-writing it in script form (model given on one of the slides), creating the same mood as the original poem.
Created for my year nine group as part of a non-fiction SOW on journeys, this uses Scottâs diary and focuses on the pupils using their skills of inference to link Scottâs feelings to his use of language. The lesson culminates with the writing of a P.E.E response.
Planned for a year 10 group all of whom have targets of a grade 5, this ppt leads the students through the presentation of Gerald Croft, up to the exploration of his affair with Daisy Renton. Students are encouraged to think about the method Priestley uses to link Gerald to Mr Birling, one way in which the theme of hypocrisy is explored and the way in which Gerald is used to explore the idea of different attitudes and values across generations.
Aim - link charactersâ names to the playâs themes.
Powerpoint encouraging the students to explore the significance of the names Eva Smith and Daisy Renton and including a focus on the name of Inspector Goole.
Aim: to comment on the effect of some of Owenâs specific language in âAnthem for Doomed Youthâ.
Lesson plan originally created for year 9 to develop their skills of writing a P.E.E structured answer, exploring the effect of Owen's language choices in the poem. Includes an opportunity for a whole-class model answer which then forms the basis for some independent responses.
Powerpoint presentation looking at emotive language and linking the use of emotive language to Priestleyâs intentions. Students are asked to write using emotive language with picture prompts that echo Priestley's attitudes. Students are then asked to explore Priestley's use of emotive language, linking it to his message in the play.