Designed to support the needs of low ability learners, this series of lessons explores the poem Exposure through a range of tasks around form, structure, language and context.

An introductory lesson to the study of A Christmas Carol where students are taken through a range of tasks in which they recall prior knowledge and are introduce to knew contextual knowledge revelent to study of the novel. All tasks are designed for the needs of lower ability students.

This scheme of work has been designed for low ability students to support their study of A Christmas Carol. The unit begins with contextual study, before moving into close textual analysis of key sections and quotes needed for preparation for the AQA literature exam. Retrieval of prior knowledge is embedded throughout the unit through a variety of starter tasks. Written analysis of extracts is supported through use of the ‘what? how? why?’ approach promoted by AQA in the recent examiner’s comments. There are also mid-point and end of unit assessments with preparation lessons to support students in tackling exam-style tasks.

This lesson is designed for low ability learners. It begins by asking them to consider why charity exists before exploring information relating to charity in the Victorian era. The lesson then moves on to consider the attitudes towards charity presented by Fred and the Portly Gentlemen through a range of close textual analysis tasks.

Designed for low ability students, this lesson considers the presentation of Fred’s Christmas, as well as Scrooge’s character development by this point in the novel.

Designed for low ability students, this lesson explores reactions to Scrooge’s death in Stave 4.

Present students with extract from Chapter 5 and ask them to identify the gothic features used by Stevenson, as well as the atmosphere they create at this point in the novel. Students then move on to closely analyse the following phrase: ‘for even in the houses the fog began to lie thickly’. Present students with extract about the two signatures and ask them to consider what the two signatures may have looked like, as well as what they might reveal about their owners. End lesson with paired discussion of the phrase: ‘“What!” he thought. “Henry Jekyll forge for a murderer!” And his blood ran cold in his veins.’

The lesson (Works across two lessons if the analytical writing task is completed) begins by exploring the term ‘duality’ through an image and range of questions which ask students to link their discussion to their knowledge of the plot and contextual understanding so far. The lesson then moves on to ask students to consider how many ‘sides’ there are to their own personalities and whether we make conscious choices in the sides we choose to show. Students then read chapter 1 with a range of questions to consider around the character of Mr Utterson, the detached narrator and links to duality. Students then complete close textual analysis of the description on Mr Utterson with prompt questions and terminology (my own annotations provided).Introduce students to the question: What do we learn about Mr Utterson and his lifestyle at the beginning of Jekyll and Hyde? and the analytical support sheet. Before students write their own response, explore the example paragraph. Once students have written their response, use the peer assessment sticker to select a ‘WWW’ and ‘EBI’. Students can then be set homework on creating a quote bank from their reading of chapter 1.

The lesson starts with retrieval questions around the gothic genre, with a challenge question asking students to link the genre to the theme of duality. Across the lesson, students then analyse 3 extracts about Mr Hyde, with questions provided to prompt students to look for links to duality, as well as using terminology to identify Stevenson’s choices. The lesson then focuses in on two important questions ‘like some damned juggernaut’ and ‘the man trampled calmly over the child’s body’ to closely analyse these. Students then end the lesson by discussing and recording their ideas about how the tree concepts of Mr Hyde, the gothic and Duality are linked together in the chapter.

Students start by defining the term ‘irony’ using the two literary examples on slide 1. Before reading chapter 3, students consider the importance of the title, our expectations and how this might create irony within the story. After reading the chapter, students then explore this key quote, using prompt questions to guide their discussion and notes: “The moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr Hyde… this is a private matter, and I beg of you let it sleep.” Students can then complete a creative writing task (with reminders to support their writing for Language Paper 1 Section B) from the perspective of either Mr Utterson or Dr Jekyll. Students then peer assess one another’s pieces, using the guide on the final slide, before explaining how Chapter 3 is ironic.

Students need to have read chapter 2 prior to this lesson - the lesson starts with some retrieval questions around their reading of chapter 2. The lesson then moves on to discussing students’ prior knowledge about science and discovery in the Victorian era and social impact of these before analyising two extracts from chapter 2 link to these themes. The PowerPoint supports students in picking out key language and phrases to explore, as well as questions to guide their analysis. After analysis, students have a range of consolidation questions to answer around the presentation of science and technology and the way gothic conventions are used in the chapter. The lesson then moves on to explore animalistic imagery used to describe Mr Hyde, then linking to duality. Finally, the plenary asks students to consolidate their learning about Mr Hyde in Chapter 2 by considering how he is frightening.

The starter provides students with a range of facts which connect to one historic event: The Whitechapel Murders. They are asked how this might be linked to the novel. Students then consider how Jack the Ripper was linked to the novel by public imagination through the ‘The Illustrated Law Courts and Weekly Record’, with a challenge question which asks them to think about what this might reveal about Victorian reading habits. As a class, then read chapter 4, giving students responsibility for thinking about and finding evidence for one of the following 4 areas: Gothic Imagery Foreshadowing Moon Imagery and Mythology Duality Once reading of chapter 4 is complete, students explore two extracts from the chapter to consider the presentation of Mr Hyde and the description of Jekyll’s ransacked rooms. To consolidate, students write an analytical response to the following question: “a fog rolled over the city in the small hours…”: How does Stevenson create a dark / mysterious atmosphere in chapter 4?

This lesson contains resources for both higher and lower ability students to introduce them to the plot of the novel prior to reading. The lesson begins with a retrieval quiz on contextual areas covered in lesson 1 of the unit. Students then move on to explore the connotations and etymology of the title of the novel, with visual prompts. In the next task, students watch a 30 minute summary of the novel while complete a character match task, and making their own notes about key plot points. Finally, students then identify the 8 most important plot points and create a storyboard on the worksheet provided. Challenge is added to the storyboarding task by asking students to identify where they could link their contextual understanding to the plot, and then where cause and effect can be identified in the sequence of events.

This lesson (to be completed over 2-3 lessons) is designed for a high ability GCSE class and introduces students to key contextual areas pertinent to their study of Jekyll and Hyde prior to reading the novel. Part 1:The lesson begins by introducing the unit objectives and asking students to reflect on prior feedback they have received in setting themselves a target for the unit. The second phase of the lesson uses images to aid students in making predictions and sparking discussions around the content and themes of the novel, before viewing a short animated summary. The final part of the lesson asks students to define the concept of ‘context’, with a challenge discussion question which asks students to consider the pros and cons of taking an historicist approach to studying literature. Part 2: The lesson begins by introducing students to key numbers surrounding the production of the novel, and the main activity: to work in groups to create posters on a specific contextual area which then be used to present to their peers, and displayed in the classroom for the duration of the unit. The word documents provided contain information and images for students to explore, and the slides on the PowerPoint provide questions for students to also consider and include their thoughts on in their presentation of their posters. Part 3: During this lesson, students will watch each groups’ context presentations and collect their notes in an A5 booklet. Homework from this lesson is to crunch and consolidate these notes onto a table.

The lesson begins by considering an image to introduce / review the term ‘dramatic irony’, with a challenge questions asking students to explain how this technique is used by writers to build tension. Students then read chapter 6 ‘The Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon’, looking out for the following: When the reader knows something the characters do not When something happens that the reader doesn’t know about When the reader has unanswered questions Students then complete a short task which exemplifies the technique of ‘foreshadowing’ before analysing an extract from chapter 6 where they consider how dramatic irony and foreshadowing have been used by Stevenson to build tension. Finally, students identify key quotes from the chapter which have been used to create tension.

The lesson (to be complete across two lessons) begins by considering the motif of the door which has been previously been used as a tool for creating mystery and suspense in the novel. After reading the chapter, students then complete a carousel activity where they take responsibility for exploring either unanswered questions, powerful verbs and adjectives, sibilance and gothic imagery in the chapter (they work on these in pairs before moving into groups to feedback on their findings). Students then work in pairs to explore the use of syntax to build tension. The lesson ends with students with students writing two analytical paragraphs (one on language choices and one on syntax) answering the question: How does Stevenson create tension and suspense at the end of chapter 7? A writing scaffold is included to provide students with both support and challenging in their analytical writing, as well as a feedback sticker for peer or self assessment.

The lesson begins with students identifying and justifying which event of the novel is most important, as well as the ideas of causes and consequences to develop their ideas. The students then move on to explore the structure of the novel through a graph task. Part 1: students cut out and glue events of novel and place them in the correct order along their graph. Part 2: students then plot the tension of each chapter along their graph to identify where tension reaches its peak, and where Stevenson deliberately misleads the reader. A supportive analysis task is then provided to allow students to explore where the novel is most calm and most tense, and choices Stevenson has made at these points. Students then return to the question posed at the beginning of the lesson to see whether their position has changed.