Language Paper 2 is TOUGH - in large part because it revolves around extracts written in that more challenging Victorian style. For now, th... Read More...
Ben is one of the original Sound of Pen student crew. As passionate about music as he is about English, his thoughts on Dave's 'love' songs... Read More...
'NO U IN FTRE' is the latest project from Sound of Pen. Watch the video, press pause when you reach each activity slot and get ready to abs... Read More...
Once in a while, you read something that takes your breath away. Today is that once in a while! Year 10 student, Ania, wrote this poem and ... Read More...
Being a teenager is hard! But one thing we know for sure - listening to Taylor Swift makes us feel way less alone!
Here's 'Fifteen'...
https://youtu.be/... Read More...
CLASS FOCUS:
Understanding how context impacts on the significance of key vocabularyIdentifying key themes/messages within course textsCollecting quotes tha... Read More...
Let's be clear: you want your analysis of a writer's alliteration to SPARKLE! Okay, so it's fair to say that a writer often uses the technique to draw our att... Read More...
CLASS FOCUS:
Making clear pointsEstablishing three points per essay Collecting quotes that evidence the family theme
When Avicii died in 2018, we lost an... Read More...
CLASS FOCUS:
Identifying key themes within course textsIdentifying vocabulary used for effectExploring use of language techniques in relation to theme
Sl... Read More...
We want to support AND recognise your dedication and development. Thus the Sound of Pen achievement awards! There are three different categories and you will b... Read More...
The 3 purple links below serve as wormholes. They'll take you straight into the pages of the texts you're studying at school. Use YONAKA's ideas to develop you... Read More...
And so we reach the end of another school year. Where did the time go?!
It's been an amazing first twelve months for Sound of Pen. It started with a collect... Read More...
As you read through the below, you'll find our model ideas in orange and green. There are tasks for you to complete in purple.
We always love the summer te... Read More...
The purple links in this article serve as wormholes. Click on them and you'll find yourself walking through the pages of Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture Of Dorian G... Read More...
We've heard so much amaaaaazing music in 2021 already! Here are the songs we've enjoyed most. Each mini-review includes a word that you can try to use in your ... Read More...
So, you KNOW we love it when our favourite artists offer us a way into the texts we’re studying in class. We especially love it when that artist is TAYLOR ... Read More...
Finding the words to describe that feeling our favourite music gives us is never easy. And so we repeat ourselves in the hope that someone will get what we're ... Read More...
A story isn't just a story. It's a message. From the writer to US. But what exactly is the message? Well, let's find out...
Watch: Video
Watc... Read More...
Iago gets to Othello because the eponymous 'hero' has got a head full of voices. The men in charge of Gilead are absolutely ruled by the chattering that only t... Read More...
It's time for us to YELL about our favourite songs of recent times. Have a read of the four reviews below, and remember: it's not always about using BIG words ... Read More...
There are a lot of activities already available at Sound of Pen. And, yes, they'll help you develop the skills you'll want to sharpen in advance of any GCSE an... Read More...
Your voice is EVERYTHING. But how to say all the things you need to? Well, it's so funny that you should ask! Enter Shikari's impassioned frontman Rou Reynolds... Read More...
Because work and play can be exactly the same thing, here are 3 more reviews that will introduce you to the best music of recent times AND improve your confide... Read More...
The music we listen to keeps us afloat and fills us with good and lovely feelings. It helps us to remember that WE ARE NOT ALONE. Here are our reviews of some ... Read More...
Listening to the music of the world's greatest pop star, Kim Petras, might be our absolutely favourite thing to do. And now that we know we can improve our ess... Read More...
You know how easily you remember the lyrics to your favourite songs? Let's make sure you can recall all the 'Romeo & Juliet' quotes with the same amount of... Read More...
Watch: Video
Secret Love Story Part 2 by Little Mix:
We keep behind closed doorsEvery time I see you, I die a little moreStolen moments that we s... Read More...
This is the second part of a lesson which started here. Last time, we looked at approaching unseen poetry questions and we concentrated on that idea of taking ... Read More...
womenrcool. YOU do not need telling. If only there'd been someone with your good sense running Gilead.
Thankfully, the future IS in your hands - and the wor... Read More...
Okay, it's unlikely you'll be asked to analyse the awesome Against The Current's lyrics in your exam! The skills you'll use to investigate 'Gravity', though, a... Read More...
When I started designing this lesson, I was thinking it would be most useful to my A-Level students. But actually these activities will prove just as purposefu... Read More...
In our first live lesson with real students in an actual classroom, we talked in more detail about redemption and Against The Current! It was SO much fun. If y... Read More...
I asked my Sound of Pen students to let me know which songs they were loving right at this moment. I then started to create a series of classes in which we tre... Read More...
After looking at Kate Nash's blog, Ella realised she had something equally crucial to say. This is Ella's own beautiful and brilliant blog entry. Read it and b... Read More...
Alice is an amaaaaaazing digital artist. Her A-Level study of 'The Handmaid's Tale' inspired these incredible pictures - we are IN AWE. The pictures are inters... Read More...
It's impossible to pile all the music we LOVE at Sound of Pen into one genre. And yet there IS a thread that joins all our favourite music together. It's somet... Read More...
We LOVED so much of the music released in 2020. Here are our top 50 songs. Each mini-review includes a word that you should be using when writing your A-Level ... Read More...
It's impossible to pile all the music we LOVE at Sound of Pen into one genre. And yet there IS a thread that joins all our favourite music together. It's somet... Read More...
In our last class, we reviewed Sound of Pen's best songs of 2020. Who made it to number 1? YUNGBLUD maybe? Or Against The Current? Taylor Swift perhaps? Have a... Read More...
The first piece of student work has arrived!
Adela was tasked with summarising her A-Level 'Love' learning. No one could have expected what came next - this... Read More...
In our first live lesson with real students in an actual classroom, we talked in more detail about redemption and Against The Current! It was SO much fun. If y... Read More...
Listen to YUNGBLUD's god save me, but don't drown me out, Bring Me The Horizon's One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest... or Against The Curr... Read More...
Some people think listening to the unstoppable Kim Petras isn't the answer to EVERYTHING. Which is obviously ridiculous.
All you need to do to improve your ... Read More...
If you say you LOVE Kim Petras as much as you LOVE Enter Shikari, some people look at you like you're craaaaaaaaazy. When, of course, what they should be doing... Read More...
If you've already listened to the groundbreaking Bring Me The Horizon's 'Parasite Eve' a million times, you'll know what a huge and important song it is. But d... Read More...
Shakespeare's 'Othello' may have been written just a few years earlier than Maggie Lindemann's 'Pretty Girl'! But if you're a female living in the 21st Century... Read More...
YUNGBLUD really is the Shakespeare of our generation. Deepen your understanding of 'Sonnet 116' by exploring the lyrics to 'Weird!' - one of the best songs of ... Read More...
Punk dramatists, Creeper, explore themes of loss, struggle, friendship, class, hopelessness, anxiety and free will. Explore how they do it in order to deepen y... Read More...
This is the final part in a series we created so that you can indulge your love for the inimitable Taylor Swift AND develop your confidence with unseen poetry ... Read More...
This is the fourth part in a series we created so that you can indulge your love for the inimitable Taylor Swift AND develop your confidence with unseen poetry... Read More...
Lil Peep knew how it felt to get his heart broken. And because it's definitely way easier to relate to the rapper's romantic issues than it is to those of Erne... Read More...
It's helpful to look at so many of the texts you're studying through a feminist lens. To do that, you need to really understand what feminism is. Kate Nash wil... Read More...
So many A-Level Literature texts deal with what it means to lose out in love. If you look closely at Taylor Swift's 'Exile', you'll realise our favourite pop ... Read More...
This is the third part in a series we created so that you can indulge your love for the inimitable Taylor Swift AND develop your confidence with unseen poetry ... Read More...
This is the second part in a series we created so that you can indulge your love for the inimitable Taylor Swift AND develop your confidence with unseen poetry... Read More...
This is the first of a five-part series which will allow you to indulge your love for the inimitable Taylor Swift AND develop your confidence with unseen poetr... Read More...
Whenever we record one of our Wormholes podcasts, we use the artist in question's ideas as fuel for a series of related classes. Theresa Jarvis of YONAKA spear... Read More...
