Yes, English really is lit!

English is all about the literature.

But sometimes teaching English can get a bit repetitive. Most of us have found ourselves stuck on a hamster wheel teaching “old faithfuls”, units of work we roll out year after year because the time and energy it takes to sit down to plan and resource-build for something new can sometimes be hard to find.

English in real life is (as the kids might say) lit. The publishing world keeps turning and churning out critically-acclaimed literature; podcasters continue to up their game; TV has become a high art form; and rappers are picking up Pulitzer prizes or Mercury Awards for their lyrics. How can we harness this energy and bring it into the English classroom?

This website is dedicated to showcasing ways in which unusual, innovative and challenging contemporary texts might work in practice. Each month writers or texts will be promoted as being worthy of space in your (virtual) book cupboard and (blended) classrooms. Any texts featured on the site will have been selected because of their versatility. Whether you only have enough money to buy in one copy, or whether you are going to invest in a class set, you have to be sure of the return you’ll get from your investment. Could that text be used with S2 and Advanced Higher? Could an S1 and a Higher candidate use it as a stimulus for a creative writing piece?

Accompanying each blog post will be teaching resources that have been mapped on to English and Literacy BGE Experiences and Outcomes or designed for use in SQA National Qualifications.

Along the way we’ll also throw up some suggestions about texts in your book cupboards that are long overdue a reboot.

Hopefully, you’ll find something of use!