The First Men on Mercury 
(P6–S2)

Covering Edwin Morgan’s poem of space exploration and alien encounters. Get a free copy of our comic strip version of the poem. (364K)

Lament for Sheku Bayoh by Hannah Lavery 

Teaching notes and discussion questions for Levels Three and Four English and Literacy. (238K)

(Click here to watch Gillian Sargent’s talk on Lament for Sheku Bayoh, plus other videos from the 2022 ASLS Schools Conference.)

Poems of Sir Walter Scott 
(S1–S3)

Notes, questions and full texts of eight shorter poems by Sir Walter Scott. (572K)

Scottish Languages 
(P5–S6)

For schools doing Scottish Studies from upper primary onwards or doing the certificate in Scottish Studies or the Scots Language Award in secondary.

(Click here to watch talks by Maureen Farrell and Alan Riach on Scots Language and Culture in the Curriculum, plus other videos from the 2020 ASLS Schools Conference.)

Aspects of Edwin Morgan 
(S4–S6)

Focusing on Edwin Morgan’s poems A City, Sonnets from Scotland and A Third Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries (137K)

(Click here to watch Alan Riach’s talk on Edwin Morgan: a poet of international stature, plus other videos from the 2020 ASLS Schools Conference, and here to buy the Scotnote study guide The Poetry of Edwin Morgan.)

Bold Girls by Rona Munro
(National 5) 

Analysis, activities, and essay questions on Rona Munro’s play, 
set in 1980s Belfast.

(Click here to watch Gillian Sargent’s talk on Bold Girls, plus other videos from the 2019 ASLS Schools Conference, and here to buy the Scotnote study guide Rona Munro’s Bold Girls.)

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
(National 5)

Teaching approaches and topics for Stevenson’s classic tale of adventure. (228K)

(Click here to watch James Robertson’s talk on Kidnapped, plus other videos from the 2015 ASLS Schools Conference, and here to buy the Scotnote study guide Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Catriona.)

Me and Ma Gal by Des Dillon
(National 5)

Textual analysis and critical essay questions on Des Dillon’s darkly comic tale of two boys from Coatbridge, with an extensive answer guide. (548K)

Six Poems by Jackie Kay
(National 5)

Teaching notes and discussion questions on Jackie Kay’s My Grandmother’s Houses; Keeping Orchids; Lucozade; Bed; Divorce; and Gap Year. (242K)

(Click here to watch Dorothy McMillan’s talk on the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay, plus other videos from the 2013 ASLS Schools Conference.)

Scottish Poetry of the First World War (National 5)

Teaching notes for a selection of Scottish poems from the First World War. (465K)

(Click here to watch David Goldie and Rory Watson’s talk on Scottish War Poetry, plus other videos from the 2017 ASLS Schools Conference.)

The Steamie by Tony Roper
(National 5)

Teaching notes for textual analysis and critical essays on Tony Roper’s play The Steamie, including a marking scheme. (348K)

Tally’s Blood by Ann Marie Di Mambro
(National 5)

Teaching notes for Ann Marie Di Mambro’s play Tally’s Blood.

(Click here to watch Ian Brown’s talk on Tally’s Blood, plus other videos from the 2013 ASLS Schools Conference, and here to watch Tally’s Blood, a co-production from ASLS and Awkward Stranger.)

Tourists at Auschwitz by Liz Niven
(National 5/Higher)

Textual analysis on Liz Niven’s poem in Scots (124K)

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil 
by John McGrath (Higher)

Teaching notes on the play by John McGrath. (238K)

The Colour of Black and White by Liz Lochhead
(Higher/Advanced Higher)

Focusing on ten poems by Liz Lochhead. (376K)

The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson
(Advanced Higher)

A summary and overview for Stevenson’s classic novel. (704K)

(Click here to buy the Scotnote study guide Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Master of Ballantrae and The Ebb Tide.)

Matthew and Sheila by Robin Jenkins (Higher/Advanced Higher)

Suggestions for teaching Robin Jenkins’s disturbing moral tale. (524K)

Medea by Liz Lochhead, after Euripides (Higher/Advanced Higher)

Classical adaptation in modern Scotland.

The Place-names of Scotland 
(S4–S6)

Place-names study is an ideal topic for interdisciplinary activities and Scottish Studies in particular.

Remainders that we never see … (Higher/Advanced Higher)

Examining four poems from Queen of the Sheep (New Writing Scotland 23). (192K)

Robert Burns 
(Higher/Advanced Higher)

Notes and sample questions on six poems by Robert Burns, for National 6.

(Click here to watch Robert Crawford’s talk on the poetry of Robert Burns, plus other videos from the 2014 ASLS Schools Conference, and here to buy the Scotnote study guide Robert Burns.)

Scottish Languages 
(P5-S6)

For schools doing Scottish Studies from upper primary onwards or doing the certificate in Scottish Studies or the Scots Language Award in secondary.

(Click here to watch talks by Maureen Farrell and Alan Riach on Scots Language and Culture in the Curriculum plus other videos from the 2020 ASLS Schools Conference.)

Scottish Poetry of the First World War (National 5/Higher)

Teaching notes for a selection of Scottish poems from the First World War. (465K)

(Click here to watch David Goldie and Rory Watson’s talk on Scottish War Poetry, plus other videos from the 2017 ASLS Schools Conference.)

The Shorter Fiction of Robert Louis Stevenson
(Higher/Advanced Higher)

Concentrating on The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with an extensive answer guide (293K)

(Click here to watch Ian Campbell’s talk on The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, plus other videos from the 2018 ASLS Schools Conference, and hereto buy the Scotnote study guide Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Master of Ballantrae and The Ebb-Tide.)

The Short Stories of Neil Munro (Higher/Advanced Higher)

Textual analysis and critical essay questions on the Para Handy story ‘The Malingerer’ and on the darker tale ‘Young Pennymore’, with an extensive answer guide (237K)

Six Poems by Kathleen Jamie
(Higher)

Teaching notes and discussion questions for Higher English and Literacy.

Six Poems of Sorley MacLean 
(Higher)

Teaching notes for six poems by Sorley MacLean, in English translation. (580K)

(Click here to watch Emma Dymock’s talk on the poetry of Sorley MacLean, plus other videos from the 2014 ASLS Schools Conference, and here to buy the Scotnote study guide The Poetry of Sorley MacLean.)

The Slab Boys by John Byrne
(Higher)

Teaching notes for John Byrne’s play The Slab Boys.

(Click here to watch Morna Fleming’s talk on The Slab Boys plus other videos from the 2015 ASLS Schools Conference.)

Tourists at Auschwitz by Liz Niven
(National 5/Higher)

Textual analysis on Liz Niven’s poem in Scots (124K)

Two short stories by Walter Scott
(Higher/Advanced Higher)

Notes and questions on “Wandering Willie’s Tale” and “The Two Drovers”, by Walter Scott.

(Click here for the ASL free download of As It Was Told to Me: Three Short Stories by Walter Scott.)

Two Scottish Women Poets (Higher/Advanced Higher)

Five poems by Marion Angus and five by Violet Jacob. (380K)

Visions of Scotland 
(Higher/Advanced Higher)

Focusing on Act 1, Scene 1 of Liz Lochhead’s Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off and stanzas 115 – 131 of Sir David Lyndsay’s The Dreme (136K)

(Click here to buy the Scotnote study Liz Lochhead’s Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off.)