Tuesday 1 December 2009

One for the Teachers


It’s that final December slog for English teachers – getting through the text before the end of term, setting the assignments, writing reports, helping with the school production, covering for absences, rehearsing for the staff ‘skit’, preparing readings for the Christmas concert and final assemblies – oh, and maintaining a personal life!

It’s at times like these that any extra help is welcome. As you get more tired so your brain gets fogged and coming up with inspiring lesson ideas becomes ever harder. You probably already know that NATE’s associated Teachit! website contains a range of ideas and practical support. You may not yet know that there are some new teaching resources on www.crossref-it.info.

The two most recently featured texts are now accompanied by free, downloadable worksheets. Written by an experienced Head of English, these cover a range of themes and approaches to ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ by Thomas Hardy and the ‘Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer. You can use them to create a series of lessons, or just take individual aspects and link them in to existing work. Just what you need when the brain fog threatens to swamp you!

Please let us know how you get on and feel free to contribute your own tried and trusted suggestions!

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