Tudors Year 4 English and Reading Week 4 of 10 (First Blood: Spy Master) planning and resources

Week 4 of 10 English and Reading unit on the book ‘First Blood: Spy Master’ by Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler (approx. 5-6 hours worth of planning per week).

A great book for The Tudors topic in KS2.

I used the book last year during remote learning, recorded chapters and set writing tasks. The children loved the book and the mystery of it so I decided to revisit it this year and expand the learning. I will update MyShop each week with the next set of weekly Reading, English, Grammar plans and resources.

** Reading Lessons**

• 4 x Reading lessons (30 mins)
• I have written the Reading comprehension questions myself, in the style of Literacy Shed’s VIPERS for each chapter.
• At the end of last week, I began to use Jane Considine’s Hooked on Books approach.
• This week’s planning consists of 2 x demonstration comprehension sessions (Mondays and Wednesdays) which will be based on the book, Spy Master.
• There are also 2 x book talk sessions (Tuesdays and Thursdays) where the children will be in mixed ability groups, each group with a different text to focus on together.
• Usually, there will be a fifth lesson on Friday where we complete an independent comprehension task, which will be based on the book, Spy Master and completed in a similar way to the demo lessons, but with less discussion and modeling.

English Lessons

• 3 x English lessons which go alongside the book and are differentiated (45 mins approx.)
• 4 x 5-minute grammar starters
• 1 x Grammar lesson which covers the LKS2 statements (30 mins approx.)
• Planning based on chapters 11-14 (38 chapters in total)
• Detailed SmartNotebook slides for each Reading, English and Grammar lesson ( 37 slides) - I have converted these to Power Point slides too for those without access to Smart Notebook (may need some editing)
• Model writes are included
• All other resources mentioned for lessons are included

The next set of planning and resources will be available on MyShop.

About the book:

**'THE YEAR IS 1532.
In the court of King Henry VIII, spies are everywhere and no one can be trusted.

This is the world Jack Briars faces when he becomes apprentice to Thomas Cromwell, the King’s right-hand man - and Spy Master!

Jack’s new life is exciting, but, when you’re surrounded by secrets and lies, even one mistake can be deadly. Can Jack keep his place - and his head?’**