Welcome to English Online!
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Tom Rank, Editor
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My aim as Editor is to provide innovative, high quality teaching materials for teachers at all stages in secondary education. From lesson plans and schemes of work to interactive units and powerful discussion forums, English Online opens up new opportunities for both learning and for your own professional development.
Finding your way around
We've tried hard to make finding your way around as easy as possible. Wherever you are, you will see that each page has a navigation bar identical to the one above: clicking on a word will take you to an introductory page for that section. The labels used correspond to commonly-used divisions of English teaching. No such system is perfect: we've used "Literacy" to include both units to improve children's grasp of how to use language and more general writing ideas.
Wherever you are, you can return to the English Online home page at any time by clicking on the English logo in the top left-hand corner of each page.
What's new?
Keep an eye on the English Online home page for details of our new resources. Take a look at our special section on Wilfred Owen's war poems - just the thing for AS and A Level students tackling the new specifications. I think you'll be impressed with the sophisticated interactivity you'll find there. These features are not mere window-dressing - each unit encourages students to explore a new aspect of the poems in a way that will make them read closely and think carefully. Having marked plenty of superficial A Level examination answers in my time, I know that's just what examiners long for!
I aim to make this combination of innovation, relevance and ease of use a hallmark of the resources in English Online. Whether you're after a quick lesson on Jabberwocky or guidance on the best Shakespeare websites, I hope that the materials here will meet your needs.
What's coming up?
We're trying to provide materials across the age range. Many of you have asked for GCSE materials, so in the next few weeks we shall add extensive units on materials from the NEAB English Anthology, on A Kestrel for a Knave and on Animal Farm.
Shortly, we shall be opening up our Study Room; this will make it even easier to give students access to the resources in English Online by enabling you specify just which pages they can use!
What's special?
All our special features, for a start! They are units that don't fit readily into the categories on our button bar - often because they cross boundaries, just like English teachers love to do.
We also think that some of our "extras" are, well, extra special! Have your students become involved in Writers Online yet? It's easy, it excites them and it should encourage them to read too! Have a look, as well, at what went on during Shakespeare Online this year.
Why not look into our Project Boxes? They are online simulations that will grip your students and provide hours of genuine talk and writing. When we demonstrated Murder at this year's NATE Conference we couldn't persuade the participants to go to bed until they'd cracked all the clues!
Have your say
English Online aims not only to provide the resources you need but also to offer you a forum to exchange ideas - and ask for help. Use our set text talkboards, our discussion areas for Heads of Department and new teachers and our general forum to express your views, exchange ideas and ask questions. We want to hear from you!
Tom Rank, Editor
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