This is a book about the power of poetry to speak about the central themes of what it is to be a human being. The first part is an anthology of specially selected poems; the second part provides detailed notes for teachers on how to use these poems in the classroom.;The poems in the book are about morality: how we get on, or don't get on, with each other; how we feel when we are alone; the destruction of the world we live in; childhood; celebration; fear; death; mystery. Sharing these poems helps us to understand ourselves, and to express ourselves. The poems are selected to help to break down the barriers between curriculum subjects, and to be specially useful for religious education and personal, social and moral education. There is a mixture of the classic, the traditional and the new here, but all of the selected poems show the true power of poetry to express feelings about things that matter.

Professional poets spend many hours crafting a finished piece of work, yet we expect children in school to sit down and write when they are told to, whether they feel inspired or not. This series of four books is a toolkit to help you build a positive framework for children to read, write, understand and enjoy poetry - to bring a creative spark to the poetry classroom. A combination of featured poems, creative ideas, structured lesson plans and differentiated photocopiable activity sheets gives the series a uniquely flexible approach - which means you can use the materials in any classroom context. If you're wary of poetry, if you think it's boring, or if you're nervous about teaching poetry, then you've chosen the right book. Key themes covered in BOOK 4: Language and Performance are moods and feelings through the use of effective language; nonsense and humorous verse; the continuity and links between ancient and modern, between nursery and playground rhymes and Shakespeare; whatever our ability, there is a place for everyone on the poetry 'ladder'; and performance poetry. Other books in the series are: BOOK 1:Words and Wordplay; BOOK 2: Rhymes, Rhythms and Rattles;and BOOK 3: Style, Shape and Structure.

This edition of Julius Cesear is especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including websites) and classroom notes, allowing students to master Shakespeare's work.
About the Series:
Newly redesigned and easier to read, each play in the Oxford School Shakespeare series includes the complete and unabridged text, detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays.

Mrs Porter keeps a pet shop full of animals. But one day she comes to work and finds that the animals have escaped.

Designed for practicing and student teachers working with a wide range of narrative fiction in infant and junior classrooms, this book highlights the creative and expressive aspects of children's engagement with literature, is written in the context of National Curriculum English at Key Stages 1 and 2 and with full attention paid to the National Literacy Framework, and provides Literacy Hour projects complete with lesson notes and plans for each age group.

The author shows how storytelling, drama and the arts can be used to bring texts to life, making the acquisition of literacy skills a more enriching and enduring experience. This text is a companion to Teaching Poetry in the Primary School by the same author.

The launching of Sputnik in 1957 sparked an education movement that stressed the importance of curricular rigor and standardization as a means to improve education and bolster national defense. Within six months of Sputnik's launch, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) that approved an unprecedented amount of federal funding toward the math, science, and foreign language disciplines. The teaching of English was left out and through the leadership of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the discipline maneuvered public relations and political connections in its quest to acquire federal funds. In doing so, the NCTE mimicked strategies that galvanized funding for math, science, and foreign language disciplines by arguing the importance of the teaching of English for national security and advocating for a teaching model that aligned with Cold War Era pedagogical trends. These tactics marked a major shift in how the NCTE advocated for the teaching of English. In the early twentieth century, the organization embraced student-centered education practices connected to the ideas of progressive educators. This perspective continued with the creation and expansion of life adjustment education during the 1930s and 40s. During this era, many NCTE authors recommended this movement that advocated connecting education to future adult experiences. Following Sputnik, NCTE leaders supported content-centered reforms. Instead of curriculum recommendations based in discovering and fostering relevant student experiences, the NCTE's focus became adjusting student learning to predefined skills it thought all students should possess. This trend was supported by conceptions of Cold War education models, including those advocated by their rival English organization, the Modern Language Association (MLA). The MLA had successfully worked with federal actors in attaining funding for foreign language training institutes and the NCTE's collaboration with the MLA represented a shift in adopting ideas it was previously opposed to promoting. Despite their efforts, the NCTE was not a part of NDEA reauthorization in 1961 the federal government, led by U.S. Commissioner of Education, Sterling McMurrin, funded teacher-training institutes for the study of English through a program called ""Project English."" The 1960s continued with the NCTE representing stronger content-centered ideas before shifting in less than a decade as indicated by the materials produced by the 1966 Anglo- American Conference on English at Dartmouth. Here, NCTE leaders reassessed their beliefs after meeting with British educators who advocated student-centered curriculum models and reintroduced benefits of experiential education. These ideas would manifest into student- centered curriculum models during the late 1960s and 1970s.

The READ ME brand has been a publishing sensation, selling tens of thousands of copies and continuing to sell strongly for half a decade. This brand-new collection features a funny poem for every day of the year, from rhymes that will raise a gentle smile to verse that will make you laugh your socks off. This book is packed with gems new and old from poets such as Charles Causley, Roger McGough, Lewis Caroll, Paul Cookson and Wendy Cope.

This is an anthology of South African poetry spanning several centuries, but with an emphasis on the contemporary.

A new series of bespoke, full-coverage resources developed for the 2015 GCSE English qualifications. Approved for the AQA 2015 GCSE English Literature specification, this print Student Book is designed to help students develop whole text understanding and written response skills for their closed-book exam. The resource provides chapter-by-chapter coverage of Shelley's novel as well as a synoptic overview of the text and its themes. Short, memorable quotations and striking images throughout the book aid learning, while in-depth exam preparation includes practice questions and sample responses. See also our Frankenstein print and digital pack, which comprises the print Student Book, the enhanced digital edition and a free Teacher's Resource.

A new series of bespoke, full-coverage resources developed for the 2015 GCSE English qualifications. Approved for the AQA 2015 GCSE English Literature specification, this print Student Book is designed to help students develop whole text understanding and written response skills for their closed-book exam. The resource provides chapter-by-chapter coverage of Dicken's novella as well as a synoptic overview of the text and its themes. Short, memorable quotations and striking images throughout the book aid learning, while in-depth exam preparation includes practice questions and sample responses. See also our A Christmas Carol print and digital pack, which comprises the print Student Book, the enhanced digital edition and a free Teacher's Resource.

A new series of bespoke, full-coverage resources developed for the 2015 GCSE English qualifications. Approved for the AQA 2015 GCSE English Literature specification, this print Student Book is designed to help students develop whole text understanding and written response skills for their closed-book exam. The resource provides scene-by-scene coverage of Priestley's play as well as a synoptic overview of the text and its themes. Short, memorable quotations and striking images throughout the book aid learning, while in-depth exam preparation includes practice questions and sample responses. See also our An Inspector Calls print and digital pack, which comprises the print Student Book, the enhanced digital edition and a free Teacher's Resource.

This series of unabridged Shakespeare titles is based on the premise that students can reach a clear understanding of their work only through a close and careful reading of the text. The commentary facing each page of the text has been designed to suggest a critical interpretation of the play.

Set in the aftermath of the 1707 Union of the Parliaments, Sir Walter Scott's romantic tragedy The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) conveys the anxiety of a fractured Scottish society through the ill-fated romance of two young lovers, Edgar and Lucy. With its heady gothic mixture of history, fiction, humour, romance, and the supernatural, The Bride of Lammermoor is both intriguing and entertaining, and an ideal text for further study. Eileen Dunlop's SCOTNOTE explores and explains the historical, social and political background of this influential novel, and is an ideal study guide for senior school pupils and students.

The important thing about The Important Book--is that you let your child tell you what is important about the sun and the moon and the wind and the rain and a bug and a bee and a chair and a table and a pencil and a bear and a rainbow and a cat (if he wants to). For the important thing about The Important Book is that the book goes on long after it is closed.What is most important about many familiar things—like rain and wind, apples and daisies—is suggested in rhythmic words and vivid pictures. ‘A perfect book . . . the text establishes a word game which tiny children will accept with glee.’ —K.

This richly annotated edition takes a fresh look at the first part of Shakespeare's second tetralogy of history plays, showing how it relates to the other plays in the sequence. Forker places the play in its political context, discussing its relation to competing theories of monarchy, how it faced censorship because of possible comparisons between Richard II and Elizabeth I, and how Bolingbroke's rebellion could be compared to the Essex rising of the time. This edition also reconsiders Shakespeare's use of sources, asking why he chose to emphasize one approach over another. Forker also looks at the play's rich afterlife, and the many interpretations that actors and directors have taken. Finally, the edition looks closely at the aesthetic relationship between language, character, structure, and political import. A textual analysis of the play's eight early editions, a doubling chart for casting, and geneological tables are included as appendices.
The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play's foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader. Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
General Editors' Preface
Preface
Introduction
Politics
Historical Context and the Issue of Topicality
The Connection with Essex
Ideology: Competing Conceptions of Monarchy
Characterization: Attitudes towards Richard and Bolingbroke
Politics in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth- Century Stagings
Language
Style
Imagery, Major Themes, Symbolism, Patterns of Allusion
Rhetoric
Afterlife
The Date
The Relation to "Edward II" and "Woodstock
" "Richard II" and the Second Tetralogy
Probable Venues of Early Performance
Sources
"Holinshed"
"Hall"
The Mirror for Magistrates
"Daniel"
Woodstock
"Froissart"; "Creton"; Traison
Edward II
"Minor Sources"
Text
THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND
Longer Notes
Appendices
1 Textual Analysis
2 Doubling Chart
3 Genealogical Tables
Abbreviations and references
Abbreviations used in notes
Works by and partly by Shakespeare
Editions of Shakespeare collated or referred to
Other works
Modern stage and television productions cited
Index

Each of the plays in this book is a complete dramatic work balanced for a two-actor performance. Lengths vary from ten to thirty minutes. Many different types of roles from liberated women to bumbling detectives, from childhood sweethearts to homeless immigrants. Many styles: slapstick comedy, modern drama, satire, character study and tragedy. No royalties required. Plays are divided into three sections: 1, Plays for Men and Women, 3. Plays for Men Only and 3. Plays for Women Only. Especially good for classroom and workshop use. Scripts are excellent for secondary and university-level forensic competitions. Some of the plays include: For Men And Women--My Friend Never Said Goodbye, The Cabble from Calcutta. For Men Only--Sherlock Holmes: 10 Minutes to Doom. A Death in the Family. For Women Only--My Baby, The Day Mother Left Home.