A Christmas Carol
What does Dickens want his readers to change, and how does he persuade them?
£150+ VAT, school licence
Every student answers the same question. The support comes at three levels.
Schemes of learning for A Christmas Carol, Macbeth, An Inspector Calls, unseen poetry and both English Language papers, written for the AQA specification. Every lesson has slides, teacher notes and a student pack at Securing, Strengthening and Soaring.
Lesson 3 of every scheme is free to read and download, with its teacher notes, slides and student pages.
One lesson, three ways in
Here is the same task from A Christmas Carol, Lesson 3, in each student pack. Everyone reads the same extract and answers the same question; the level only changes the support, and a student can move up as soon as they are ready.
Securing
aiming for a 4
A word bank, a choice of exact quotations, a worked example on a different quotation, and sentence starters for What, How and Why.
Strengthening
aiming for grades 5 to 6
Prompts for What, How and Why, a paragraph planner and a success checklist.
Soaring
aiming for grades 7 to 9
A debatable statement to argue with, prompts to think about, analytical verbs, and an argument planner that asks for an alternative reading.
Every lesson runs the same way
Know, Apply, Master, in that order, so students always know what comes next.
- Know
- Do Now from memory, vocabulary, then the reading.
- Apply
- The class explodes one quotation together, and a hinge question checks understanding.
- Master
- One shared question, answered as a What–How–Why paragraph at the student’s level, then a model paragraph and an exit ticket.
What–How–Why is how students build every analytical paragraph, from the first lesson to the end-of-unit assessment.
- What
- Make a clear point that answers the question.
- How
- Choose a quotation, name the method and zoom in on one word.
- Why
- Explain what the writer wanted readers to think, feel or do.
Pages from the A Christmas Carol scheme
Every scheme has the same parts. Choose a page to see it larger.
Teacher handbookCover
Unit mapTeacher handbook, page 6
Lesson notesLesson 3 in the teacher handbook
SlidesLesson 3: exploding the quotation
SecuringLesson 3 task, aiming for a 4
StrengtheningLesson 3 task, aiming for grades 5 to 6
SoaringLesson 3 task, aiming for grades 7 to 9
Whole-class feedbackFeedback Loop kit 1
Model answersA grade 8–9 answer with notes
Revision workbookFor studentsSix schemes
Four for English Literature and two for English Language. Every file is editable Word or PowerPoint, with a PDF copy.
Macbeth
What does ambition cost Macbeth, and what does Shakespeare want his audience to learn from the price?
£150+ VAT, school licence
An Inspector Calls
Who is responsible for Eva Smith, and what does Priestley want his audience to do about it?
£150+ VAT, school licence
Unseen poetry
How do you find what a poem is doing when you have never seen it before?
£100+ VAT, school licence
Language Paper 1
How do writers make readers see, feel and wait, and how can you do the same?
£150+ VAT, school licence
Language Paper 2
How do writers make us see the world their way, and how do you make a reader see it yours?
£150+ VAT, school licence
In every scheme
- Lesson slides
- One PowerPoint deck per lesson, with teacher notes on every slide.
- Teacher handbook
- Intent and outcomes, the unit map, lesson-by-lesson notes with timings and answers, the assessment guide and a knowledge bank.
- Student packs
- Securing, Strengthening and Soaring, with every lesson’s Do Now, vocabulary, reading, task and exit ticket.
- Deliberate practice
- Weekly homework booklets at the same three levels.
- Feedback Loop kits
- A mini assessment, level guidance, a whole-class feedback sheet and improvement tasks.
- End-of-unit assessment
- An exam-style paper and a teacher guide with model answers and the feedback lesson.
- Model answer pack
- Exam-style questions answered at grades 4, 6 and 8–9, with numbered notes on what earns each grade.
- Revision workbook
- Revision, practice at three levels, an exam guide, a timed question and answers, for students.
Feedback without raw marks
Feedback Loop mini assessments are planned into every scheme. You place each answer in an AQA level instead of giving it a mark, then fill in one whole-class feedback sheet.
Next lesson, students get their sheet back with a level circled, hear the feedback and do the improvement task for their level.
Free to try
Lesson 3 of every scheme, and four resources for any text. No sign-up and no password.
Lesson sampler: Lesson 3, Meet Scrooge
Teacher notes and student pages at all three levels.
Lesson sampler: Lesson 3, Brave Macbeth
Teacher notes and student pages at all three levels.
Lesson sampler: Lesson 3, A hard-headed man of business
Teacher notes and student pages at all three levels.
Lesson sampler: Lesson 3, The shape of a poem
Teacher notes and student pages at all three levels.
Lesson sampler: Lesson 3, Images and senses
Teacher notes and student pages at all three levels.
Lesson sampler: Lesson 3, Words with a purpose
Teacher notes and student pages at all three levels.
Guide for parents and carers
The four GCSE English papers, the three levels and how to help at home.
A Christmas Carol: a quotation a day
24 quotations for 1 to 24 December, each with a question.
Revision packs for home
For parents and carers whose child wants to revise from the same pages: the revision workbook, the model answer pack and practice at three levels for each text, as PDFs to print or read on screen.
£15 for one text, £25 for English Language or a Literature paper, and £50 for the complete GCSE.
Questions teachers ask
- Which exams are these for?
- AQA GCSE English Literature (A Christmas Carol, Macbeth, An Inspector Calls and unseen poetry) and AQA GCSE English Language (Papers 1 and 2). Questions follow the exam’s formats, and assessment places students’ writing in the AQA levels. The resources are written for the AQA specification and are not endorsed by AQA.
- Can I edit the files?
- Yes. The slides are PowerPoint and everything else is Word, with a PDF copy of each file. Change anything you like for your own classes.
- What do the licences cover?
- A teacher licence covers one named teacher using the files with their own classes. A school licence covers every teacher and student at one school, and a teacher licence can be upgraded to a school licence for the difference in price. Each further school in the same trust pays half. You may print the files, adapt them and put them on your school’s own secure learning platform. Please don’t share them outside your school or upload them to public websites. To upgrade, or to license another school in your trust, email hello@btl.education.
- Do the prices include VAT?
- School licences, revision sets for schools, Feedback Loop kits and routes are shown plus VAT, which state schools can reclaim. Teacher licences and revision packs include VAT.
- How do the files arrive?
- We email you a link to your download page as soon as your payment goes through. Check who each licence is for, tick the box to get your files straight away, and download each file as a zip. Paid files carry the licence holder’s name and the order number.
- Can my school pay by invoice?
- Yes. Email your purchase order to hello@btl.education with the school’s name and address, the products and licences, and the address for the invoice. We send the files and the invoice once the purchase order arrives, and payment is due within 30 days.
- How do three levels work in one lesson?
- Everyone reads the same text and answers the same question. Securing adds a word bank, a choice of quotations, a worked example and sentence starters. Strengthening gives prompts and a paragraph planner. Soaring gives a debatable statement and an argument planner. Students can move up a level at any point.
- Is it expensive to print?
- No. The pages are white, with colour only on small panels, so they print well in black and white. Students who find a tint easier to read can have their pack printed on cream, pale blue or pale lilac paper.
- Do I need special fonts?
- No. The Word and PowerPoint files use Calibri and Cambria, which come with Microsoft Office on Windows and Mac and with Google Docs and Slides.