Modernising Greek Myths is an 8-lesson English scheme of work. It is intended for a Secondary KS3 classroom - years 7-9, but could also be adapted for use at KS2. As a narrative writing scheme of work, the unit introduces pupils to 3 key activities based on the myths themselves. The scheme includes an engaging and easy-to-follow 83-slide ppt with teaching notes, classroom worksheets and exemplar material. This unit is short, versatile and dynamic. It begins by providing an overview of Ancient Greek mythology and culture, introducing pupils to key Greek gods as well as Ancient Greek inventions. The following lessons introduce pupils to 3 key Greek Myths: Pandora’s Box, the Myth of Narcissus and the Fall of Icarus, which pupils explore through film clips, worksheet acitivites and creative writing activities. The scheme moves on to cover the basics of successful story writing and helps to scaffold the unit’s main learning outcome: to modernise one of the 3 myths in order to make it your own. Answers to all questions are provided on the master ppt and exemplar materials are also provided.

Creating Characters: Narrative Writing is a double lesson powerpoint which helps pupils create strong and believable characters in their creative writing. The first lesson encourages pupils to reflect on memorable fictional characters they already know and to consider what makes them so effective. It culminates in a character profile activity which asks pupils to select a character from a portrait gallery and write a detailed character profile of them. The second lesson introduces pupils to the principle of ‘show don’t tell’ and builds on their work in the first lesson. It culminates in an extended writing task which sets their character in motion completing an activity or speaking to another character. Finally, pupils peer assess each other’s work evaluating the extent to which their writing has absorbed teaching points from both lessons. The double lesson can be taught as a stand-alone or integrated as part of a unit of work on narrative writing. It is intended for use in a Secondary School English lesson, for a KS3 audience (11-14 year-olds), but it could also be used at KS2. I delivered these lessons to Year 7 classes, however they would also be suitable for a low ability Year 8 group. The lesson pack includes: A 25-slide powerpoint with teaching material design to fill 2x hour-long classes. Easy-to-follow slides with discussion prompts and learning objectives, lesson starters and plenaries. 1x printable worksheet for pupils to fill in (Character Profile) Answers to all questions on slides and useful exemplars.

Dialogue: Narrative Writing, is an engaging, single-lesson introduction to dialogue in fiction. The lesson can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or integrated as part of a unit of work on narrative writing. It is intended for use in a Secondary School English lesson, for a KS3 audience (11-14 year-olds), but it could also be used at KS2. The lesson includes: A reminder/refresher on the rules of punctuating direct speech Links to a student-friendly video and dialogue transcript Tips on how to write effective dialogue using speech tags Activities to help pupils practise the techniques in the ppt Main Creative Writing activity and plenary Extension Activity The 20-slide ppt is easy to follow with all answers provided. This lesson is intended for a 50 minutes - 1 hour of teaching time, but an optional extension task would easily extend it to cover 2 lessons if desired.

Story Openings: Narrative Writing is an engaging, single-lesson introduction to what makes a great story opening in narrative fiction. The lesson can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or integrated as part of a unit of work on narrative writing. It is intended for use in a Secondary School English lesson, for a KS3 audience (11-14 year-olds), but it could also be used at KS2. The lesson includes: A quiz of well-known children’s book openings Tips on how to create effective story openings Activities to help pupils practise the techniques in the ppt Main Creative Writing activity and plenary The 20-slide ppt is easy to follow with all answers provided.

‘Blue Dog’: English Scheme of Work is a comprehensive KS3 teaching pack for the class novel - in this case, ‘Blue Dog’ by Louis de Bernieres. It can be used for a Year 8 or Year 9 class and may be particularly successful for pupils in a rural setting. It comprises 14x 1-hour lessons in a well-presented master ppt, accompanying worksheets, and essay planning guidance. The SoW has been designed to be as versatile and engaging as possible - with research tasks, interesting video links, links to online articles, a diverse portfolio of creative tasks (mapping, letter-writing, creative writing, book reviews), oracy-enhancing discussion questions for each lesson and a chapter-by-chapter glossary of terms to help the study of the novel progress as smoothly as possible. The novel itself is an uplifting coming-of-age story, packed with adventures in the Australian outback. This teaching pack includes: A master ppt (111 well-presented slides) with 14x 1-hour lessons Teaching notes on ppt slides with answers to discussion questions and handy teaching tips 7x class worksheets including i) A vocabulary-building ‘word wall’; ii) An A3 sized ‘map’ of the novel for jotting down notes on characters, themes and novel symbols; iii) A characterisation chart for the novel’s main protagonist, Mick; iv) An example PEE grid; v) An essay planning guide; vi) Book review template. vii) open-cloze worksheet activity on Australian aboriginals. All worksheets provided in doc x and pdf format so they can be adapted. Note to teachers: schools will need to provide pupils with copies of the novel in order to teach this SoW.

English Short Story Exemplar: WAGOLL is a handy teaching resource for the English classroom. It is a 2-page short story, under 1,000 words in length, written with a secondary school audience in mind. It uses all of the essential ingredients of short story writing: an engaging opening, dialogue, figurative language, plot twists and a mysterious ending - so it is a useful resource for teaching the craft of story writing. The story itself, ‘Bubble Man’ tells the story of a broken-hearted bubble artist who seeks to avenge himself on his disloyal girlfriend. Suitable for KS3 and KS4 pupils (11-16). Accessible and easy to print.

This handy worksheet encourages pupils to brainstorm ideas about a fictional character that they can integrate into a piece of creative writing. It scaffolds characterisation, encouraging pupils to consider different facets of their chosen character: their appearance; likes and dislikes, fears and hopes - even what they like to eat for breakfast! A pdf and a word x version of the file is available so the worksheet can be adapted if desired.

Re-writing the Myth of Narcissus: KS3 English is a free single lesson with accompanying worksheet. It is intended for a KS3 secondary audience, within an English classroom. The lesson aims to familiarise pupils with the story and moral of Narcissus’ fate and to inspire them to re-write the tale in their own way. The learning outcome for the lesson is narrative fiction by way of Greek mythology. What’s included? An engaging and self-explanatory, 9-slide ppt with teaching notes. An accompanying worksheet. Designed for a 50 minute-1 hour lesson

Story Setting: Narrative Writing is an engaging, single-lesson introduction to how to build strong and realistic story settings in your creative writing. The lesson can be taught as a stand-alone lesson or integrated as part of a unit of work on narrative writing. It is intended for use in a Secondary School English lesson, for a KS3 audience (11-14 year-olds), but it could also be used at KS2. The lesson includes: Tips on how to help to create rich and believable story settings Exercises inspired by artwork to help stimulate pupils evocations of space and place A well-scaffolded series of exercises helping to strengthen pupils’ use of sensory language, figurative langauge and use of concrete details. Main Creative Writing activity and plenary The self-explanatorty, 14-slide ppt is easy to follow with all answers provided.