The short stories in this collection are grouped into four genres: Humour, History, Diaries and Sport. An eight-lesson scheme of work accompanies each genre section, with two lesson plans provided for each story. Each of these schemes is organised so that the first two stories could be used for Year 7 students and the second two for Year 8 students. However, all of the stories have been mapped for both Year 7 and Year 8 Framework Objectives, so that the stories can be taught in genres rather than year groups if desired. Stories have been selected and lesson plans written primarily to target students who are working at Level 4 towards Level 5. However there are differentiated resources to suit less able students working at Level 3, as well as extension tasks for students working towards Level 6. Possible homework tasks are provided for each lesson, although these do not have to be used in order for the lesson to be successful. Resource sheets are provided to support each lesson and can be photocopied, used as OHTs or displayed using an interactive whiteboard or data projector. The Assessment Foci (AFs) are referenced throughout each scheme to aid preparation for the Year 9 National Tests. Each scheme contains one formal Assessment Task, modelled on the QCA Assessing Pupil Progress (APP) reading tasks. The QCA mark sheets can be used to mark each assessment. I hope that in these schemes of work you will find a good range of valuable teaching and learning resources to support delivery of texts by a wonderful range of contemporary children’s writers.
• all students will be able to: listen to a discussion based on predictions, read the story ‘A Place on the Piano’ and select quotations about Michael and Marianne.
• most students will be able to: contribute ideas to a discussion based on predictions, read the story ‘A Place on the Piano’, select and infer what the quotations show about a variety of aspects about the character of Michael’s mother.
• some students will be able to: make predictions using their inference and deduction skills, read the story ‘A Place on the Piano’ and select and infer what the quotations show about characters including Mrs Glossop and Mrs Wasilewski.
Assessment focus (Reading):
AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 5.1a use skimming and scanning to locate information from a text or source
Yr 7 5.1b use inference and deductions to recognise implicit meanings at sentence and text level
Yr 8 5.1a use a range of reading strategies to retrieve relevant information and main points from texts
Yr 8 5.1b use inference and deduction to explore layers of meaning
Before reading the short story, using Resource 1.1: Word-association instruction cards, play the word-association game. Students should be in groups of four. Each member of a group has a designated role: A is the referee, B and C play the game by saying the first word they think of which is linked to the previous one. D is the scribe, using Resource 1.2: Word-association notes. These roles can be rotated for each word.
Introduction:
10 minutes
As a class, or in groups of four, read up to ‘“She’ll live like a little princess,” said Cook. Imagine, after being brought up with peasants.’ Using Resource 1.3: Predictions, complete the Point, Evidence, Explanation table, which you could model using inference and deduction skills.
Development:
30 minutes
In groups of five, (or still in their groups of four) students read the story ‘A Place on the Piano’.
Each member of the group takes one of the character spider diagrams from Resources 1.4–1.8 as they are reading. After reading, they should make notes about their character’s appearance, personality/attitude, actions, relationships, importance to the plot. Quotations are to be written down, with adjectives to describe each attribute.
Organise the students into groups with the same characters to share ideas, e.g. all the students who looked at Michael should compare notes and share ideas.
Students then go back to their original group and share ideas.
Homework / Extension
Students write their own Point, Evidence, Explanation paragraph about at least one of the characters from the story. They will need to have copies of the quotations in order to be able to carry out this task.
Ask students to visualise parts of the story. They are to select parts of the story that evoke a strong mental image and draw what they see. Students should write their selected quotations below their pictures. Any students who struggle with selecting quotations could use Resource 1.9: Quotations to support visualisation.
Introduction:
10 minutes
In order to empathise with the character of Michael’s mother and the decision that she makes, ask the class: ‘Is it ever morally right to lie?’ In groups, or as a whole class, students should discuss the question, with two people invited up to the board to be the scribes (one writing the points ‘for’, the other writing the points ‘against’). Students can make notes on Resource 1.10: Is it ever morally right to lie?
Development:
30 minutes
To explore the ending of the story and how it is constructed, ask: ‘Why does Michael’s mother lie?’ Using Resource1.11: Why does Michael’s mother lie?, work through the story, charting the reasons why Michael’s mother makes this decision. Discuss the question: ‘Do you think Michael’s mother was right to lie?’ List the arguments for and against.
Plenary:
15 minutes
Use Resource 1.13: Plenary dictionary work. The words below are all used in the story. If students are unsure of their meanings, they should look them up in a dictionary and write a sentence for each one, using the word correctly.
1. ‘Snoek is a South African fish and when Cook opened the tin it turned out to be a bluish animal with terrifying spikes, swimming in a sea of gelatinous goo –’ (page 53)
2. ‘Marianne had been thrown out of a cattle train when she was a baby.’ (page
53) 3. ‘Their house was the largest in the square, double-fronted – and furnished as
though the war had never been.’ (page 55) 4. ‘– and I knew old Mrs Glossop’s boudoir on the first floor with the gilt mirrors
and claw-footed tables – and the piano.’ (page 55) 5. ‘It was an enormous piano…It was a piano for keeping relations on.’ (page 55) 6. ‘New curtains of pale blue satin to be sewn, and the bed canopied with the
same material. A white fur rug on the floor, the walls repapered with a design of forget-me-nots and rosebuds, and a new dressing table to be lined with a matching pattern.’ (page 56)
7. ‘…she would be taken to a school outfitter to buy a brown velour hat and a
brown gymslip and a hockey stick and go off with Daphne to St Hilda’s, …’ (page 57)
8. ‘Marianne has a birthmark on her arm, …It’s on her right arm and it runs from
her shoulder to her elbow…’ (page 59) 9. ‘She [Marianne] had thick, fawn, curly hair and brown eyes and she wore a
dirndl, and over it a knitted jersey which covered her arms.’ (page 60) 10. ‘The Waslilewskis had a smallholding, …’ (page 61) 11. ‘She led me to a part of the stream where the water ran clear over a bed of
pebbles.’ (page 62) 12. ‘It was an ancient oak standing on its own on a small hill and it was the kind of
tree that is a whole world in itself.’ (page 63) 13. ‘Her head dropped forward on to the table and she began to cry…she erupted
• all students will be able to: take part in a quiz about Elizabeth I and Women’s Rights; make a prediction based on the first sentence; read the story and listen to a discussion about one of the issues.
• most students will be able to: take part in a quiz about Elizabeth I and Women’s Rights; make various predictions based on the first sentence; read the story and discuss one of the issues.
• some students will be able to: take part in a quiz about Elizabeth I and Women’s Rights; make various predictions based on the first sentence; read the story and discuss one of the issues and select quotations to support their opinions.
Assessment focus (Reading):
AF 2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF 7 relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 6.1 understand the different ways in which texts can reflect their social, cultural and historical contexts
Yr 8 6.1 understand and explore the concept of heritage and why certain texts are important within it
Discuss students’ prior knowledge about the reign of Elizabeth I and the position of women, using Resource 2.1: True or false quiz. Students could stand up if they think a statement is true, or raise their hands if they think it is false (sitting and doing nothing is not an option!). Alternatively, students could raise red cards for false and green cards for true. Resource 2.2 has the answers and Resource 2.3: Women’s Rights timeline contains the historical information. Using Resource 2.2, ask students to write down at least two facts that they were previously unaware of.
Introduction:
10 minutes
Before students look at the story, show them Resource 2.4, which has just the first sentence of the story: ‘I turn the handle of the spit.’ Ask students to make predictions, which can be written below the sentence. Encourage them to think about the historical context of the story, what they know about the language, who the character might be, what they can deduce about the character and the image the first sentence creates.
Students could draw a picture of what they know.
Development:
30 minutes
Since this is a reading assessment, it will be best if students read the story by themselves, but if this is too difficult, they could read it aloud in small groups, reading a paragraph each before the person to their left continues.
In small groups, students should discuss the questions on Resource 2.5. Questions to examine ‘The Daughter’. Using Resources 2.6–2.9, one student can be the scribe, summarising the discussion and writing down the different ideas.
These topics (especially ‘d’) can be emotive. If it is not appropriate for some students to discuss these issues, the class could be split into groups and then feed back their findings.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Each group should report back the main findings of its discussion, using the spider diagram to help them.
Explain that in the next lesson the students will be answering seven questions about the story, with the questions assessing each of the AF criteria.
Homework / Extension
Students could be given further discussion topics, rather than splitting them up.
Recap the story using the spider diagrams from Lesson 1. Students skim-read the story again.
Remind students of the APP marking criteria, using the mark scheme.
Introduction:
5 minutes
Introduce the students to the assessment and explain that they are to work individually, since this is an assessment. Students should work through the seven questions on Resources 2.10–2.12, referring to and quoting from the text when required.
Development:
40 minutes
Ask students to turn back to their resource sheets. Instruct them to work independently through activities 1–8 while you circulate around the room, offering guidance and support where necessary.
If there is a teaching assistant, they can assist a small group, but remember to take this into account when marking that group’s responses.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Students are to be reminded of the APP-style marking grid. In pencil, students should self-assess their work, by ticking the boxes that show their attainment for each AF. If students are unfamiliar with the AF language or self-assessment process, this will take more than 10 minutes.
Homework / Extension Students could write a diary entry from the point of view of the daughter, using Resource 2.14: Diary-writing toolkit to help them. Alternatively, to challenge the students further, they could write the father’s diary entry.
If students have studied the diary genre set stories, they could create a Venn diagram to compare the daughter’s life with that of another female character, using Resource 2.13: Venn diagram to compare characters.
• all students will be able to: understand the term ‘heroine’, read the story ‘The Princess Spy’ and have some insight into the historical understanding of the story.
• most students will be able to: make word-association links, develop their understanding of the historical context and find a range of evidence to support their findings.
• some students will be able to: make word associations, develop their understanding of the historical context which is supported with evidence. These skills are then applied to students’ independent research of a hero/heroine and possibly a creation of a collage.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF7 relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 3.2 make clear and relevant contributions to group discussion
Y8 3.2 make a sustained contribution to group discussion and illustrate and explain their ideas
Yr 7 5.1c make relevant notes when gathering ideas from texts
Yr 8 5.1c make relevant notes when researching different sources
Resources
3.1: Heroine
3.2: Questions before reading
3.3: Evidence that Princess Noor Inayat Khan was a heroine
3.4: Evidence of the setting and historical context.
Using Resource 3.1: Heroine, ask the class ‘What do you associate with the word ‘heroine’?’ Ask students to come to the board to act as scribes for the discussion. Keep these notes to refer back to later.
Introduction:
5 minutes
Using the notes from the starter activity, introduce the story of ‘The Princess Spy’ and explain that this story is based on a real person and real events. Before reading the story, show the class the pictures on the web page http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SOEnoor.htm
As a class, ask students to discuss the questions on Resource 3.2: Questions before reading – ‘When might “The Princess Spy” be set?’ ‘Why do you think that?’ ‘What clues could you look for in the story to support your ideas?’ Write notes on the board while the questions are being asked.
Development:
30 minutes
Students read the story ‘The Princess Spy’. As they read, ask each group to collect quotations that show that Princess Noor Inayat Khan was a heroine. These notes could be collected in the form of a spider diagram using Resource 3.3: Evidence that Princess Noor Inayat was a heroine, or the quotes could just be listed.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Return students to the questions raised in the Introduction to the story, and ask them to collect quotations that show the story’s setting and historical context. These quotations could be collected on Resource 3.4: Evidence of the setting and historical context.
Homework / Extension
Using the websites below, students could research the life of Princess Noor Inayat Khan in greater detail. Alternatively, they could carry out research on a hero or heroine of their choice, to present in the form of a collage for display and as a possible speaking and listening task.
Additional teaching guidance
This story ends in a violent manner, be aware that some students might find this upsetting.
Useful websites to start research about Princess Noor Inayat Khan:
• all students will be able to: identify and explain a simile, attempt to sequence the events correctly, plot the events on a tension graph.
• most students will be able to: identify and explain similes and metaphors from the extracts provided; sequence most of the events correctly, plot the events on tension graph.
• some students will be able to: identify and explain figurative language from the extracts and from the rest of the story, explore the comparisons made, sequence the events correctly and plot the events on a tension graph. Explain the reasons for the two highest and lowest scores.
Assessment focus (reading):
AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
AF5 explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 6.2a identify and describe the effect of specific features of writer’s use of language and grammar
Yr 7 6.2b recognise and comment on how writers’ choice and techniques have an effect on readers
Yr 8 6.2a explore the range variety and effect of linguistic grammatical and literary features used
Yr 8 6.2b recognise and comment on how writers’ language choices contribute towards the overall effect
Resources:
3.5: Figurative language
3.6: Figurative language chart (if photocopied, this could be enlarged to A3)
3.7: Sequencing events
3.8: Sequencing events table
3.9: Sequencing events answers (1)
3.10: Sequencing events answers (2)
3.11: Tension graph
Access to the Internet in order to carry out the extension / homework tasks.
Personal teaching notes
This story ends in a violent manner; be aware that some students might find this upsetting.
(Or longer if students are unfamiliar with similes and metaphors)
Show the students Resource 3.5: Figurative language. The modelled examples of similes and metaphors are highlighted and definitions are included, to aid revision. Ask students to find similes and metaphors from the two extracts. As an extension task, they can look for further examples in the rest of the story. Students are to use their identified similes and metaphors to help them complete Resource 3.6: Figurative language chart. Explain that if they can give the definition and quote correctly, they would reach Level 4, but in order for them to progress to Level 5, they need to work on their explanations of why the comparisons are being made.
Introduction:
15 minutes
Use Resource 3.7: Sequencing events. Each event could be cut out and stuck down on a separate sheet of paper; alternatively, students could fill in the table using Resource 3.8: Sequencing events table, listing the letters A–O in the correct order. Answers for this are on Resources 3.9 and 3.10. As an extension task, students could find a quotation to support each event.
Development:
25 minutes
Go through the correct sequence; possible quotations are on Resource 3.8: Sequencing events table.
Using Resource 3.11: Tension graph in pairs, students could take the 15 events and plot a graph to enable discussion about tense moments during the course of the story.
Plenary:
10 minutes
In small groups, students could compare their graphs. Alternatively, different pairs could be invited up to the board to plot their graphs.
Homework / Extension
Students can explain their two highest and two lowest scores and make notes below their tension graph.
Students could continue (from last lesson) using the websites below to research the life of Princess Noor Inayat Khan in greater detail. Alternatively, they could carry out research on a hero or heroine of their choice, to present in the form of a collage for display and as a possible speaking and listening task.
Additional teaching guidance
Useful websites to start research about Princess Noor Inayat Khan.
• all students will be able to: make at least one prediction; think of one adjective to describe the reception a soldier might receive; make notes from just the narrator’s point of view.
• most students will be able to: make at least two predictions; think of several adjectives to describe the reception a soldier might receive (they may still only perceive it from one angle, e.g. positively); make notes from the narrator, Ginny and the man at the end of the novel’s point of view.
• some students will be able to: make three different predictions; think of a range of adjectives and consider both positive and negative angles; make notes from all the characters’ viewpoints.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 3.2 contribute to discussions in different ways
Yr 7 5.2a identify and understand the main ideas, viewpoints, themes and purposes in texts
Yr 8 3.2 take a variety of designated roles in discussion
Yr 8 5.2a trace the development of writers’ ideas, viewpoints and themes in different texts
From the title of the story ‘Real Tears’, ask the students to make three predictions about what this story might be about and give reasons for their ideas.
Introduction:
5 minutes
As a class, discuss the question: ‘What kind of reception might a soldier receive when he comes home on leave from Iraq?’ (or from anywhere else that is relevant). Use Resource 4.1: Predictions and reception of a soldier. Make notes using adjectives.
Development:
40 minutes
Students should read the story ‘Real Tears’. As they read, they can make notes using Resource 4.2: Attitudes towards Ben, about the different attitudes towards Ben from different characters’ point of view. Students can select quotations that show the different points of view.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Using Resource 4.3: Plenary questions, ask students to consider the different questions and choose one to answer.
Homework / Extension Extension task: students should add to their spider diagrams, giving reasons why they think the author has presented a range of attitudes towards Ben.
Additional teaching guidance
The ending is violent, although handled well by Celia Rees. Be aware that some students might find Ben’s death difficult to deal with. There may also be students with relatives in the armed forces, who may also have strong views or feelings.
• all students will be able to: discuss an advantage and a disadvantage of joining the British Army; identify and comment on the purpose and viewpoints that the author expresses; address how the story made them feel; identify at least one way in which speech can show attitudes.
• most students will be able to: discuss a range of advantages and disadvantages of joining the British Army; address how the story made them feel and what the ending might mean; identify a range of ways in which speech can show attitudes and opinions.
• some students will be able to: discuss a range of advantages and disadvantages of joining the British Army; address how the story made them feel, what the ending made them think about and why the author may have written the ending; identify a range of ways in which speech can show attitudes and opinions and construct their own.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
AF6 identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 3.2 contribute to discussions in different ways
Yr 7 6.2b recognise and comment on how writers’ choices and techniques have an effect on readers
Yr 8 3.2 take a variety of designated roles in discussion
Yr 8 6.2b recognise and comment on how writers’ language choices contribute to the overall effect
Resources
4.4: Advantages and disadvantages of joining the British Army
For 10 minutes, in groups of four, and in two pairs, students are to discuss the question: ‘What advantages and disadvantages should be considered when thinking about joining the British Army?’ Pair A could focus on the advantages and pair B the disadvantages. Students could make notes using Resource 4.4: Advantages and disadvantages of joining the British Army.
Introduction:
10 minutes
Return to the students’ answers to the question: ‘What kind of reception might a soldier receive when he comes home on leave from Iraq?’ Ask students to make notes on the reasons why Celia Rees ended the story in this way. They should consider the following points: ‘How did the ending make you feel?’ ‘Why?’ ‘What did the ending make you think about?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Why might the author have ended her story in this way?’ Resource 4.5: Purpose and viewpoints can be used to support less able students, or to remind students of the questions.
Development:
30 minutes
Recap the different devices that are used to show a character’s point of view and attitudes through speech, using Resource 4.6: Speech and tone of voice. Questions 1–5 and the modelled example support the students before they scan for and write down their own examples. Students can then label their examples with either the numbers, or abbreviated notes of the key shown with coloured highlighters.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Using different phrases, students should add more information in order to change the attitude and tone of voice of the phrases: ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Fine’, ‘I will do that now’.
Students can then make up their own dialogue and share with a partner.
Homework / Extension
Using Resource 4.7: Speech, students should write their own sentences and explain the technique that they used. Students could create a dialogue between two characters. By keeping the dialogue the same, the second dialogue will adjust the words around the speech to change the character’s attitudes, behaviour and actions.
Additional teaching guidance
This story ends in a violent manner; be aware that some students might find this upsetting.
