WBD Short Story Task - 'Matilda'

The aim of the lesson was to launch a short story competition across our school using the character of Matilda as a starting point. As (with reference to The Guardian) the character Matilda, from the novel of the same name, turned 30 last year, I thought it would be a great idea to have students reimagine their favourite child character as an adult too.

In this lesson students explore the suggested ideas put forward by other writers in the article ‘Matilda at 30’ from The Guardian, begin to gather evidence around Matilda’s character from the film adaptation, and then students begin their writing towards the end of the lesson. There is also a reading comprehension for students to complete. Please do bear in mind that I teach double lessons so you may need to consider the timings of tasks.

I have also attached a lesson on considering how to create an effective character, which would work well as a follow-up lesson to support students with redrafting their work.

This is a great way to encourage both reading and writing in KS3 students.