Short Stories Complete Scheme of Work KS3 - Language and Literature skills

A fully resourced scheme, covering 34 lessons (which can be reduced if needed, as covered below) on a range of engaging short stories. This allows KS3 students to enjoy reading without getting bogged down in a single text, while covering key skills for both GCSE Language and Literature further down the line. It is most suited to Year 8 or 9, but could also be tailored for use with Year 7 or even as an introductory unit to GCSE skills in Year 10.

Included:

• A ‘five a day’ style ‘Do Now’ activity, to recap key knowledge and settle students on entry, for each lesson.
• Learning intention/objective (as a ‘big question’, with differentiated success criteria - bronze, silver, gold) for each lesson.
• Regular opportunities for reflection, peer/self assessment and improvements.
• All stories, worksheets, assessments and PowerPoints.
• Mark schemes and conversions to estimated GCSE grades.
• Coverage of key assessment objectives for Language and Literature, based on AQA spec but transferable across boards.
• Work on building tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary.
• Extensions for students who finish tasks before others.
• Embedded challenge tasks for higher ability students.
• Opportunities to scaffold and support.
• Model answers.
• Quiz at the end of each story to check learning, which can be peer assessed.
• Embedded AfL opportunities to check knowledge.
• Guidance for teachers within ‘Notes’ of relevant slides.
• Potential to use creative tasks as homework pieces.

Five short stories have six lessons each, following the same pattern and developing skills further each time:
1: Reading, understanding and enaging with the story. (Lang & Lit AO1)
2: Checking understanding and covering literary concepts, such as theme and genre. (Lang AO1; Lit AO1 & AO2)
3: Structure skills. (Lang & Lit AO2)
4: Evaluation skills (including language analysis) - with support. (Lang AO2, AO4; Lit AO2)
5: Independently applying evaluation skills. (Lang AO4)
6: Reflecting on evaluation and creative writing. (Lang AO5, AO6; Lit AO4)

This scheme can be taught ‘straight out the box’. The only parts you might wish to edit are the references to red and purple pen for reflection and extending work, if your school has a different policy. Lessons can also be easily edited to suit your students; the scheme can be shortened if necessary by removing one or two of the stories - it could cover a few weeks, a half-term or even a full term. Sections could even be taken to set as cover for a few lessons’ absence.

My students, particularly boys, have responded really well to this unit and enjoyed the stories, which were selected in consultation with both students and English teachers.