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2
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 2
The short stories in this collection are grouped into four genres: Humour, History, Diaries and Sport. An eight-lesson scheme of work accompanies each genre section, with two lesson plans provided for each story. Each of these schemes is organised so that the first two stories could be used for Year 7 students and the second two for Year 8 students. However, all of the stories have been mapped for both Year 7 and Year 8 Framework Objectives, so that the stories can be taught in genres rather than year groups if desired. Stories have been selected and lesson plans written primarily to target students who are working at Level 4 towards Level 5. However there are differentiated resources to suit less able students working at Level 3, as well as extension tasks for students working towards Level 6. Possible homework tasks are provided for each lesson, although these do not have to be used in order for the lesson to be successful. Resource sheets are provided to support each lesson and can be photocopied, used as OHTs or displayed using an interactive whiteboard or data projector. The Assessment Foci (AFs) are referenced throughout each scheme to aid preparation for the Year 9 National Tests. Each scheme contains one formal Assessment Task, modelled on the QCA Assessing Pupil Progress (APP) reading tasks. The QCA mark sheets can be used to mark each assessment. I hope that in these schemes of work you will find a good range of valuable teaching and learning resources to support delivery of texts by a wonderful range of contemporary children’s writers.
Introduction
Brave New Words resources
3 © Pearson Education Ltd 2008
Med
ium
-ter
m p
lan
: H
um
ou
r
T
itle
and
aut
hor
Les
son
outc
ome
and
obj
ecti
ves
Ren
ewed
Fra
mew
ork
Obj
ecti
ves
Yea
r 7
Ren
ewed
Fra
mew
ork
Obj
ecti
ves
Yea
r 8
AF
R
esou
rces
1
‘The
G
nom
ecom
ing
Par
ty’
by A
nne
Fin
e
Les
son
1
1.
Fam
ilia
risa
tion
wit
h ca
mer
a an
gles
an
d th
e im
port
ance
of
vari
ety.
2.
Vis
uali
satio
n w
hile
rea
ding
the
stor
y.
3.
Usi
ng q
uota
tion
s to
sto
rybo
ard
the
imag
es.
4.
Pee
r-as
sess
men
t of
stor
yboa
rd u
sing
‘T
wo
star
s an
d a
wis
h’.
5.
Sto
rybo
ard
a ch
apte
r or
res
earc
h 20
no
vels
that
are
als
o fi
lms.
5.1a
use
ski
mm
ing
and
scan
ning
to lo
cate
the
mai
n po
ints
and
rel
evan
t in
form
atio
n fr
om a
tex
t
5.1a
use
a r
ange
of
read
ing
stra
tegi
es to
ret
riev
e re
leva
nt in
form
atio
n an
d m
ain
poin
ts f
rom
text
s
AF
2
AF
3
1.1,
1.2
, 1.3
Sho
rt m
ovin
g-im
age
sequ
ence
, e.g
. adv
ert
ww
w.te
llya
ds.c
om
2 ‘T
he
Gno
mec
omin
g P
arty
’ by
Ann
e F
ine
Les
son
2
1.
Ana
gram
s m
ade
from
key
lear
ning
ob
ject
ives
.
2.
Ana
lysi
s of
hum
our.
3.
Und
erst
and
the
stru
ctur
e of
the
stor
y.
4.
Thi
nkin
g sk
ills
usi
ng ‘
But
wha
t if…
?’
ques
tion
s.
5.
Stu
dent
s cr
eate
thei
r ow
n ‘B
ut w
hat
if…
? qu
estio
ns.
5.1b
use
infe
renc
e an
d de
duct
ion
to r
ecog
nise
im
plic
it m
eani
ngs
at
sent
ence
and
text
leve
l
6.3
expl
ore
how
a w
rite
r’s
orga
nisa
tiona
l, st
ruct
ural
an
d pr
esen
tati
onal
cho
ices
su
ppor
t for
m
5.1b
use
infe
renc
e an
d de
duct
ion
to e
xplo
re la
yers
of
mea
ning
with
in a
text
6.3
Exp
lain
how
spe
cifi
c ch
oice
s of
for
m c
reat
e pa
rtic
ular
eff
ects
AF
3
AF
4
1.4,
1.5
, 1.6
, 1.7
, 1.8
.
3 ‘M
ore
Bit
s of
an
Aut
obio
grap
hy I
M
ay N
ot W
rite
’ by
Mor
ris
Gle
itzm
an
Les
son
1
1.
Fro
m th
e fi
rst s
ente
nce,
dis
cuss
text
ty
pe a
nd p
ossi
ble
mem
orie
s.
2.
Bra
inst
orm
hum
orou
s fa
mil
y re
lati
onsh
ips
and
why
they
are
fun
ny.
3.
Rea
d ex
trac
t, an
nota
te w
ith
ques
tion
s th
at f
ocus
on
impl
ied
mea
ning
s.
4.
Rea
d th
e re
st o
f th
e sh
ort s
tory
. Sel
f-ev
alua
tion
of
unde
rsta
ndin
g.
5.
Stu
dent
s cr
eate
thei
r ow
n hu
mor
ous
fam
ily.
5.2a
iden
tify
and
unde
rsta
nd th
e m
ain
idea
s,
view
poin
ts, t
hem
es a
nd
purp
oses
in te
xts
5.2a
trac
e th
e de
velo
pmen
t of
wri
ter’
s id
eas,
vi
ewpo
ints
and
them
es in
di
ffer
ent t
exts
AF
2
AF
3
AF
6
2.1,
2.2
, 2.2
, 2.3
, 2.4
, 2.
5, 2
.6.
4 © Pearson Education Ltd 2008
Brave New Words resources
T
itle
and
aut
hor
Les
son
outc
ome
and
obj
ecti
ves
Ren
ewed
Fra
mew
ork
Obj
ecti
ves
Yea
r 7
Ren
ewed
Fra
mew
ork
Obj
ecti
ves
Yea
r 8
AF
R
esou
rces
4 ‘M
ore
Bit
s of
an
Aut
obio
grap
hy I
M
ay N
ot W
rite
’ by
Mor
ris
Gle
itzm
an
Les
son
2
1.
Rem
ind
stud
ents
of
the
AP
P m
arki
ng
crit
eria
. Stu
dent
s sk
im-r
ead
the
extr
act.
2.
Intr
oduc
e A
PP
-sty
le r
eadi
ng
asse
ssm
ent.
3.
Ans
wer
AP
P-s
tyle
rea
ding
as
sess
men
t que
stio
ns.
4.
Self
-ass
essm
ent u
sing
the
QC
A A
PP
m
arki
ng s
heet
.
5.
Stu
dent
s cr
eate
thei
r ow
n hu
mor
ous
fam
ily.
5.1a
use
ski
mm
ing
and
scan
ning
to lo
cate
the
mai
n po
ints
5.1b
use
infe
renc
e an
d de
duct
ion
to r
ecog
nise
im
plic
it m
eani
ngs
5.2b
mak
e a
pers
onal
re
spon
se to
a te
xt a
nd
prov
ide
som
e te
xtua
l re
fere
nce
in s
uppo
rt
5.1a
use
a r
ange
of
read
ing
stra
tegi
es to
ret
riev
e re
leva
nt in
form
atio
n
5.1b
use
infe
renc
e an
d de
duct
ion
to e
xplo
re
mea
ning
with
in a
text
5.2b
res
pond
to a
text
by
mak
ing
prec
ise
poin
ts a
nd
prov
idin
g re
leva
nt e
vide
nce
in s
uppo
rt o
f th
ose
poin
ts
All
AF
s 2.
7
QC
A R
eadi
ng A
F
Mar
k sh
eets
5 ‘S
choo
lday
s’ b
y B
ill B
ryso
n
Les
son
1
1.
Rec
ount
mem
orab
le e
vent
s.
2.
Lis
ten
to a
n ex
trac
t bei
ng r
ead
with
ex
pres
sion
.
3.
Ann
otat
e la
ngua
ge d
evic
es.
4.
Eva
luat
e ef
fect
ive
hum
orou
s se
nten
ces.
5.
Wri
ting
in f
ull s
ente
nces
, exp
lain
ing
how
the
auth
or e
nter
tain
s hi
s re
ader
.
5.1a
use
ski
mm
ing
and
scan
ning
to lo
cate
in
form
atio
n fr
om a
tex
t or
sour
ce
5.1b
use
infe
renc
e an
d de
duct
ion
to r
ecog
nise
im
plic
it m
eani
ngs
5.1c
mak
e re
leva
nt n
otes
w
hen
gath
erin
g id
eas
from
te
xts
5.1a
use
a r
ange
of
read
ing
stra
tegi
es to
ret
riev
e re
leva
nt in
form
atio
n
5.1b
use
infe
renc
e an
d de
duct
ion
to e
xplo
re
mea
ning
with
in a
text
5.1c
mak
e no
tes
whe
n re
sear
chin
g di
ffer
ent
sour
ces
AF
5 3.
1, 3
.2
6 ‘S
choo
lday
s’ b
y B
ill B
ryso
n
Les
son
2
1.
Pra
ctis
e, th
en r
ead
alou
d a
sect
ion
of
‘Sch
oold
ays’
with
exp
ress
ion.
2.
Rea
d al
oud
the
rest
of
the
extr
act,
inse
rtin
g su
bhea
ding
s at
app
ropr
iate
po
ints
in th
e te
xt.
3.
Stu
dent
s se
lect
the
ten
funn
iest
m
omen
ts a
nd c
hart
them
on
a hu
mou
r gr
aph.
4.
Just
ify
and
expl
ain
the
two
funn
iest
m
omen
ts.
5.
Pra
ctis
e re
adin
g al
oud,
with
ex
pres
sion
.
2.1b
usi
ng s
ome
verb
al a
nd
non-
verb
al te
chni
ques
to
mak
e ta
lk in
tere
stin
g fo
r lis
tene
rs
5.3
mak
e in
form
ed p
erso
nal
choi
ces
of t
ext a
nd e
xpre
ss
thei
r pr
efer
ence
s
2.1b
eng
age
list
ener
s’
atte
ntio
n an
d in
tere
st b
y us
ing
a ra
nge
of d
iffe
rent
ve
rbal
and
non
-ver
bal
tech
niqu
es
5.3
broa
den
thei
r ex
peri
ence
of
read
ing
and
expr
ess
pref
eren
ces
and
opin
ions
abo
ut te
xts
AF
4
AF
6
3.3,
3.4
, 3.5
, S
quar
ed p
aper
1–10
on
A4
pape
r
Brave New Words resources
5 © Pearson Education Ltd 2008
T
itle
and
aut
hor
Les
son
outc
ome
and
obj
ecti
ves
Ren
ewed
Fra
mew
ork
Obj
ecti
ves
Yea
r 7
Ren
ewed
Fra
mew
ork
Obj
ecti
ves
Yea
r 8
AF
R
esou
rces
7 ‘M
rs B
ixby
and
th
e C
olon
el’s
C
oat’
by
Roa
ld
Dah
l
Les
son
1
1.
A G
uide
d R
eadi
ng c
ard
is a
ssig
ned
to
each
gro
up.
2.
Stu
dent
s re
ad a
nd u
nder
stan
d th
e ac
tivit
ies
that
they
wil
l car
ry o
ut.
3.
Rea
d th
e st
ory,
con
side
ring
thei
r gi
ven
task
s.
4.
Eva
luat
e pr
ogre
ss a
nd p
repa
re f
or
next
less
on.
5.
Sup
port
a g
roup
that
is s
trug
glin
g.
5.1,
5.2
, 5.
3 re
adin
g fo
r m
eani
ng; u
nder
stan
ding
and
re
spon
ding
to p
rint
6.1,
6.3
, 6.3
und
erst
andi
ng th
e au
thor
’s c
raft
All
AF
s 4.
1, 4
.2, 4
.3, 4
.4, 4
.5,
4.6,
4.7
,
8 ‘M
rs B
ixby
and
th
e C
olon
el’s
C
oat’
by
Roa
ld
Dah
l.
Les
son
2
1.
Rec
ap n
otes
.
2.
Pre
pare
for
pre
sent
atio
n.
3.
Pro
gres
s th
roug
h ac
tivi
ties
on
Gui
ded
Rea
ding
car
d.
4.
As
a gr
oup,
dec
ide
indi
vidu
al
cont
ribu
tions
for
pre
sent
atio
n.
Pre
sent
.
5.
Nar
rati
ve s
truc
ture
and
nar
rativ
e de
vice
s to
be
anal
ysed
.
5.1,
5.2
, 5.3
rea
ding
for
mea
ning
; und
erst
andi
ng a
nd
resp
ondi
ng to
pri
nt
6.1,
6.3
, 6.3
und
erst
andi
ng th
e au
thor
’s c
raft
All
AF
s 4.
1, 4
.2, 4
.3, 4
.4, 4
.5,
4.6,
4.7
, 4.8
, 4.9
.
6
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 6
‘The Gnomecoming Party’ by Anne Fine Lesson 1
Class: 7 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: read ‘The Gnomecoming Party’ and select six quotations from the support sheet to aid visualisation of the story and draw a storyboard using more than one camera angle.
• most students will be able to: read ‘The Gnomecoming Party’ and select three quotations from the support sheet and three from the rest of the story; draw a storyboard using at least four camera angles.
• some students will be able to: read ‘The Gnomecoming Party’ and independently find six quotations and explain why they chose each one.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 5.1a use skimming and scanning to locate information from a text or source
Yr 8 5.1a use a range of reading strategies to retrieve relevant information and main points from texts
Resources:
Short moving-image sequence, e.g. advert from www.tellyads.com
1.1: Eight camera angles
1.2: Quotations for ‘The Gnomecoming’ storyboard
1.3: Storyboard template (A3 paper)
Personal teaching notes
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 7
‘The Gnomecoming Party’ by Anne Fine Lesson 1
Class: 7 Date: Period:
Starter:
15 minutes
Show students Resource 1.1: Eight Camera Angles. Ask students why they think varied camera angles are important in a visual presentation of a story. Show students a short moving image, for example an advertisement with the sound muted. TV adverts can be found at www.tellyads.com. Ask students to try to identify the number of different camera angles used in one advertisement.
Introduction:
20 minutes
Explain to students that while you read the story to them, they should visualise the story, like a short film. They should then write down quotations that they think create a strong visual picture. Resource 1.2: Quotations for the storyboard can be used to support less able students. Students could number the quotations, making sure they stay in the correct narrative order, to help plan their storyboard. Encourage more confident students to use not more than three of the quotations listed and to find three of their own.
Development:
20 minutes
Using the quotations that they have selected, students storyboard these events. Display Resource 1.3: Storyboard template and model the first one with the class. Ask students to use a range of camera angles for their pictures. Students should write their selected quotations under their pictures and try to explain why they have used each one.
Plenary:
5 minutes
Students show their storyboard to a partner and ask them to comment on two things they like and one thing that could be improved. Comments could be based on:
• varied camera angles
• well selected visual quotations
• remembering to use speech marks around quotations
• the choice of camera angle to suit moments from the story.
Homework / Extension Students could storyboard a chapter from a book they are reading at home. Alternatively, they could research and name 20 novels that have been turned into films.
Additional teaching guidance
8
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 8
Eight camera angles
High-angled shot Low-angled shot
Long shot Mid-shot
Close-up shot Extreme close-up shot
Two-person shot Over-the-shoulder shot
Resource 1.1
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 9
Quotations for ‘The Gnomecoming Party’ storyboard
1. ‘It was like boot camp. Fresh commands kept hurtling over… Anything
you’ve grown out of in this pile, please.’
2. ‘And that is when I found him. I saw his pointy little cap first.’
3. ‘I’d left him in the driveway with a little black home-made pit stop flag in
his hand to greet my dad when he drove home from work.’
4. ‘And it was me, not him, who was going to have to face Miss Hooper’s
killer stare…’
5. ‘I shoved Geoffrey safely away in my big box of building bits.’
6. ‘They were a bit baffled when the card nattered on about sunbathing
when he was in Reykjavik.’
7. ‘GOBLIN REUNION!!! CLASS OF 1997!’
8. ‘He looked a little guilty, (He’d scoffed more than most.)’
9. ‘But most of all, worth standing there at the window at eight o’clock
knotting my school tie…’
10. ‘Looked at the tiny little pottery revellers flat out on their lawn.’
Resource 1.2
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 11
‘The Gnomecoming Party’ by Anne Fine Lesson 2
Class: 7 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: work out at least one anagram, find examples of humour and say why they are amusing; explore the structure of the story; consider at least one ‘But what if…’ question.
• most students will be able to: work out several anagrams; use the Point, Evidence, Explanation table to explore amusing moments in the story; explore the structure of the story and select quotations; consider a variety of ‘But what if…’ questions.
• some students will be able to: work out most of the anagrams; using the modelled example, find and select their own examples of humour and explain why they are amusing; explore the structure of the story, select quotations to support their thoughts; consider a variety of ‘But what if …’ questions and use their learning to plan and then write a story of their own.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF 4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 5.1b use inference and deduction to recognise implicit meanings at sentence and text level
Yr 7 6.3 explore how a writer’s organisational structural and presentational choices support form
Yr 8 5.1b use inference and deduction to explore layers of meaning within a text
Yr 8 6.3 explain how specific choices of form create particular effects
Resources:
1.4: Anagrams
1.5: Which moments are amusing and why?
1.6: Which moments are amusing and why? Support
1.7: Structure of a story
1.8: ‘But what if …?’
Personal teaching notes
12
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 12
‘The Gnomecoming Party’ by Anne Fine Lesson 2
Class: 7 Date: Period:
Starter:
10 minutes
Identify the key learning points for ‘The Gnomecoming Party’ using the anagrams on Resource 1.4: Anagrams. Allow one minute per anagram, revealing each one in turn. (Answers: 1. visualisation, 2. author, 3. imagery, 4. structure, 5. humour, 6. quotations, 7. reading, 8. strategies, 9. organisation, 10. language.)
Introduction:
20 minutes
Using Resource 1.5: Which moments are amusing and why?, or to support less able students Resource 1.6 Which moments are amusing and why? Support, students explore humorous moments in the story. This activity could be carried out in small groups or as a whole class.
Development:
20 minutes
As a class, recap the structure of a story. Ask students what the following stages of ‘The Gnomecoming Party’ are in relation to the structure: Opening, Development, Complication, Crisis, Resolution. Students could fill in Resource 1.7: Structure of a story, with relevant quotations to explain how events progress.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Ask students the questions on Resource 1.8: ‘But what if…?’. to develop thinking skills and as a way into the extension task.
1. But what if James was caught?
2. But what if Geoffrey really came to life?
3. But what if inanimate objects can come to life when no one is there?
Homework / Extension
Extension: try to create your own ‘But what if…?’ questions about ‘The Gnomecoming Party’. Students could use these questions for stimuli to write their own humorous story. Alternatively, a short story based on playing a joke on a neighbour.
Additional teaching guidance
Website for creating anagrams: http://wordsmith.org/anagram/
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 13
Anagrams
The words below have all had their letters have rearranged. See if you can
unscramble them and discover what the original words were.
Clue: The answers all relate to learning objectives and short stories.
1. Salivation I Us
2. Ah Tour
3. Rage I My
4. Truce Rust
5. Hour Um
6. Toast Quoin
7. Grained
8. Estates Rig
9. Again Riot Son
10. Algae Gun
Resource 1.4
14
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 14
Which moments are amusing and why? (AF3)
Point – moment in the
story
Evidence – quotation Explanation – why is it
amusing?
Mum telling James to
tidy up
‘Fresh commands kept
hurtling over’
Sounds like he is in
danger, with his mum’s
commands being
personified as objects,
which when thrown,
could hurt
Resource 1.5
Brave New Words resources
© Pearson Education Ltd 2008 15
Which moments are amusing and why?
Point – moment in the
story
Evidence – quotation Explanation – why is it
amusing?
Mum telling James to tidy up
‘Fresh commands kept
hurtling over’
Sounds like he is in danger,
with his mum’s commands
being personified as objects,
which when thrown, could
hurt
‘I know it’s wrong to steal –
bleh, blehdibleh bleh, etc.’
James expected his father to
notice a gnome waving a
flag, as he drove into his
driveway
Talking to the gnome like it is
a real person, makes me
think that some people really
do talk to inanimate objects
‘Having a simply lovely time
here in Vieux Crudville.’
Resource 1.6
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Structure of a story (AF4)
Chart the different stages of ‘The Gnomecoming Party’.
Stage of the story Moment when the
structure changes
Quotation from the
story
Opening
Development
Complication
Crisis
Resolution
Resource 1.7
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‘But what if…?’ Do you ever ask yourself questions that start with, ‘But what if…?’ Questions
like this encourage lateral thought.
Try to answer the following questions in different ways:
1. But what if James was caught?
2. But what if Geoffrey really came to life?
3. But what if inanimate objects can come to life when no one is there?
Extension: Try to create your own ‘But what if…?’ questions about ‘The
Gnomecoming Party’. Then swap your questions with a partner for them to
think about and answer.
Resource 1.8
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‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’ by Morris Gleitzman
Lesson 1
Class: 7 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: listen to the discussion about memories and the ‘families’ brainstorm; start to annotate the extract and have some understanding about how humour is created.
• most students will be able to: take part in the discussion about memories; contribute to the ‘families’ brainstorm; annotate the extract and have a good understanding about how the humour has been created.
• some students will be able to: take part in the discussion about memories; contribute to the ‘families’ brainstorm; annotate the extract; have a strong understanding of how the humour has been created; create a humorous family.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
AF6 identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 5.2a identify and understand the main ideas, viewpoints, themes and purposes in texts
Yr 8 5.2a trace the development of writer’s ideas, viewpoints and themes in different texts
Resources:
2.1: First sentence
2.2: Humorous family
2.3: Extract from ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’
2.4: Plenary questions
2.5: Own humorous family
2.6: Humorous character
Personal teaching notes
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‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’ by Morris Gleitzman
Lesson 1
Class: Date: Period:
Starter:
10 minutes
Show Resource 2.1: First sentence, which has the first part of the first sentence:
‘I’ll never forget when…’ Ask students, what type of text this is? Students are to think of possible memories that this text could be about, if this was their autobiography. Take brief feedback from students, which could be listed on Resource 2.1.
Introduction:
10 minutes
As a class, using Resource 2.2: Humorous family, discuss humorous family relationships between parents and their children from sitcoms and films. Discuss why these relationships make us laugh. Example: ‘The Simpsons’.
Development:
30 minutes
Read the extract on Resource 2.3: Extract from ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’. Share the reading of the first text starting from ‘I’ll never forget when…’ to ‘…but I needed an extra six weeks.’ Check that students understand the word ‘indignant’. Check that students understand the basic set-up, e.g. father tries to do something, children point him in the right direction, father realises something (mostly for comic effect).
Using the extract (displayed) draw out and annotate, with the class, the answers to:
1. How has the text been written?
2. What kind of text is this?
3. Describe the characterisation, especially between the relationship between the writer and his children.
4. What is the tone used? How do you know this? Look for vocabulary choices and sentence structure?
5. Pick out examples of humour. How they have been created?
Read the rest of the short story.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Students should answer a minimum of two plenary questions from Resource 2.4: Plenary questions. Explain to students that in the next lesson they will be answering nine questions about the story, with questions assessing each of the AF criteria.
Homework / Extension
In groups, or as individuals, students create their own humorous family, using the ideas generated in the introduction as a model. Resources 2.5: Own humorous family and 2.6: Humorous character can be used to support students.
Additional teaching guidance
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First sentence
‘I’ll never forget
when…’
Resource 2.1
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Humorous family List as many sitcoms as you can that are made up around families, such as
The Simpsons and My Family.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
What do these families have in common?
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
Resource 2.2
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‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’
I’ll never forget when we got our first dog. The excitement! The noise!
The joyful howls (the dog). The puddles on the carpet (me).
I’d read all the books and knew exactly what to do. First, give her a
feed.
‘Better let us do that, Dad,’ said the kids, taking the bowl, ‘Better
safe than sorry.’
I was indignant. The dog was indignant.
‘Why?’ I demanded.
‘Because,’ whispered the kids so the dog wouldn’t hear, ‘you’re
hopeless with pets.’
I was deeply hurt. ‘That goldfish,’ I retorted, ‘died of a bad cold.’
The kids looked at me sternly. ‘It died,’ they said, ‘because of what you
fed it.’
I was even more indignant. ‘The box had pictures of fish on it,’ I said.
‘How was I to know it was cat food?’
The kids looked sad. The dog looked nervous. I took her for a walk
round the block.
‘We’ll do that,’ called the kids, running to catch up. ‘Better safe than
sorry.’
I boiled with indignation. The dog tried to hand them the lead.
‘You’re not being fair,’ I said. ‘I’ve never had a single accident
taking a dog for a walk round the block. Or a fruit-bat. Or a blue-tongue
lizard.’
Resource 2.3
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‘That’s right,’ said the kids sadly. ‘Just a mouse. What on earth
possessed you to throw that stick and tell our mouse to fetch it? With a
hungry cat on the loose whose dinner you’d just fed to the goldfish?’
Before I could answer, I realised I was holding an empty lead. The
dog had disappeared.
We found her halfway up a lamppost, trembling with fear. The kids
managed to coax her down, but only after I’d come to an agreement with
them. If anything happened to the dog, they’d have me arrested.
So I enrolled us both in training and obedience classes. The dog
graduated after a month, but I needed an extra six weeks.
Now answer the following questions, annotating the extract to illustrate your
responses.
1. How has the text been written?
2. What kind of text is this?
3. Describe the characters, especially the relationship between the writer
and his children.
4. What tone has been used? How do you know this?
5. Look for examples of interesting vocabulary choices and sentence
structure. Explain why you chose them.
6. Pick out examples of humour. How they have been created?
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Plenary questions
1. What new things have you learnt today?
2. What did you think about this short story?
3. How well did you complete the tasks?
4. What could you have done better?
Resource 2.4
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Extension task: Create your own humorous family
In a group, make up your own sitcom with different family members.
Create a family tree to show how the members are related. Include their
names and ages (remember that their ages always stay the same.)
Resource 2.5
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Humorous character
1 Each member of the group should choose a different family member
and draw a picture of them.
2 Now create a spider diagram for your character, giving as much
information about them as you can.
Other information
What do they like or
dislike?
Relation-ship with
the rest of the family
What are their
hobbies / interests?
What could their
catchphrase be?
What or who will
they admire?
How will they
behave?
How will they talk?
What do they look
like?
Humorous character
Resource 2.6
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‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’ by Morris Gleitzman
Lesson 2
Class: 7 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: attempt the APP questions and show some understanding of ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’.
• most students will be able to: complete the APP questions and show a clear understanding of ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’.
• some students will be able to: complete the APP questions and show a thorough appreciation of ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
AF5 explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level
AF6 identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 5.1a use skimming and scanning to locate the main points
Yr 7 5.1b use inference and deduction to recognise implicit meanings
Yr 7 5.2b make a personal response to a text and provide some textual reference in support.
Yr 8 5.1a use a range of reading strategies to retrieve relevant information
Yr 8 5.1b use inference and deduction to explore meaning within a text
Yr8 5.2b respond to a text by making precise points and providing relevant evidence in support of those points
Resources:
2.7a–d: APP questions ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’
QCA Reading AF Mark sheets
Personal teaching notes
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‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’ by Morris Gleitzman
Lesson 2
Class: 7 Date: Period:
Starter:
10 minutes
Remind students of the APP mark criteria, using the mark scheme. Ask students to skim-read ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’.
Introduction:
10 minutes
Introduce the students to the assessment and explain that they are to work individually, as it is an assessment. Students should work through the nine questions, referring to and quoting from the text when requested.
Development:
30 minutes
Ask students to turn back to their activity sheets. Instruct them to work independently through activities 1–9.
You could circulate around the class, offering guidance and support where necessary.
If there is a teaching assistant, they can assist a small group, but take this into account when marking their responses.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Students are to be reminded of the APP-style marking grid. In pencil, students are to self-assess their work, by ticking the boxes that show their attainment for each AF.
If students are unfamiliar with the AF language or self-assessment process, this will take more than 10 minutes.
Homework / Extension Students continue with the creation of their humorous family. They could then progress to writing story, or even a script for a sitcom based on their families.
Additional teaching guidance
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APP questions ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’
1. In the first part of the story, what is the father looking forward to? (AF2)
______________________________________________________
2. List four phrases that show that the father behaves more like a child than
his children. (AF2)
a) ____________________________________________________
b) ____________________________________________________
c) ____________________________________________________
d) ____________________________________________________
3. Explain why the writer might have repeated the word ‘essential’ in the
section called ‘Bushfire!’ (AF4)
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
4. How do we know that exaggeration is being used throughout the ‘Boeing
767’ section? (AF3)
a) ____________________________________________________
b) ____________________________________________________
c) ____________________________________________________
Resource 2.7a
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APP questions ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’ (continued)
5. The writer chooses words and phrases to show how his children feel
about their father watching The Bill. Complete the table to show how his
children behave. One example has been done to help you. (AF5)
Words and
phrases used
by the writer
What they show about the children’s feelings about
him watching The Bill
‘you promised
you’d take us to
the park.’
‘promised’ shows that he had already made a
commitment and as he is breaking it, his children are
reminding him of what he said
‘“But Dad,” they
wailed,’
‘“Suit yourself,”
said the kids,
“but if you don’t
get any exercise
you will die.”’
6. Using Point, Evidence, Explanation, explain what has led up to the dog
smiling. (AF2 and AF3)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Resource 2.7b
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APP questions ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’ (continued)
7. Each text is organised in a similar way, for example:
• the writer does something wrong
• the children try to help
• the problem is sorted out.
Complete the grid below to show how this structure has been used. (AF4)
Text 1
Dog-walking
Text 2
Bushfire
Text 3
The dog versus
The Bill
The writer does
something wrong
His children try to
help
The problem is
sorted out
Resource 2.7c
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APP questions ‘More Bits of an Autobiography I May Not Write’ (continued)
8. Throughout this piece, how do the children try to help their father? (AF2)
Why do you think this is humorous? (AF3)
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
9. What is the writer trying to do in this story? Tick the answer you agree
with most below, and explain why you chose it. (AF6).
a) He is trying to show how difficult it is to be a writer.
b) He is trying to make fun of himself and amuse the reader
c) He is trying to show that his children are really clever.
I chose this statement because
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Resource 2.7d
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‘Schooldays’ by Bill Bryson Lesson 1
Class: 8 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: identify at least two different ways of starting a sentence and at least one example of each device; select their favourite sentence.
• most students will be able to: identify a range of different ways to start a sentence and more than one of each device used; select their favourite sentence and explain why they like it.
• some students will be able to: identify a range of different ways to start a sentence and annotate the extract in preparation for writing three paragraphs, explaining how Bill Bryson entertains his readers.
Assessment focus (Reading):
AF 5 explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 5.1a use skimming and scanning to locate information from a text or source
Yr 7 5.1b use inference and deduction to recognise implicit meanings
Yr 7 5.1c make relevant notes when gathering ideas from texts
Yr 8 5.1a use a range of reading strategies to retrieve relevant information
Yr 8 5.1b use inference and deduction to explore meaning within a text
Yr 8 5.1c make notes when researching different sources
Resources:
3.1: ‘Schooldays’ extract
3.2: Tasks for the first extract from ‘Schooldays’
Personal teaching notes
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‘Schooldays’ by Bill Bryson Lesson 1
Class: 8 Date: Period:
Starter:
10 minutes
As a class, students recount memorable events of their primary school years. A student scribe could list reasons why these events are memorable.
Introduction:
15 minutes
Model to the class reading with expression and read the extract on Resource 3.1: ‘Schooldays’ extract. (Explain to students that in the next lesson they are going to practise reading aloud other parts of the story.)
Development:
30 minutes
Model to the class how to scan and highlight or underline the first word in each paragraph. Students then highlight and scan the rest of the extract, looking for and selecting examples of: a connective, an adverb, a proper noun, a present participle, a question word. Prompts of what these terms are can be found on Resource 3.2: Tasks for the first extract from ‘Schooldays’. After 10 minutes, collect examples and discuss why it is important that writers start their sentences in a variety of ways.
Students then annotate the extract from Resource 3.1: ‘Schooldays’ extract, using the letter key. Colour has also been used, so that if a projector is available, examples could be modelled using the highlighter tool.
S = Similes: ‘using ‘as’ or ‘like’ to make a comparison
M = Metaphors: making a comparison where something is compared to something else
NP = Noun phrases: adjectives are used to expand a description of a noun e.g. wonderful old building
Est = Superlatives: words ending in -est, e.g. scariest
C = Connectives to link ideas and paragraphs together
H = Use of humour
E = Exaggeration
Plenary:
5 minutes
Ask students to select and label their favourite (most effective) humorous sentence. Below the extract, they should give at least two reasons why they chose it.
Homework / Extension
Based on the extract and the annotations that they have made, students should write three paragraphs in answer to the following question:
‘How does Bill Bryson entertain his reader?’
Students are given the following bullet points to prompt them:
• use of language
• use of devices
• tone of voice.
Additional teaching guidance
Students will need photocopies of Resource 3.1: ‘Schooldays’ extract, in order to make the annotations.
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‘Schooldays’ extract
Greenwood, my elementary school, was a wonderful old building, enormous to a small child, like a castle made of brick. Built in 1901, it stood off Grand Avenue at the far end of a street of outstandingly vast and elegant homes. The whole neighbourhood smelled lushly of old money.
Stepping into Greenwood for the first time was both the scariest and most exciting event of the first five years of my life. The front doors appeared to be about 20 times taller than normal doors and everything inside was built to a similar imposing scale, including the teachers. Everything about it was intimidating and thrilling at once.
It was, I believe, the handsomest elementary school I have ever seen. Nearly everything in it – the cool ceramic water fountains, the polished corridors, the cloakrooms with their ancient, neatly spaced coat hooks, the giant clinking radiators with their intricate embossed patterns like iron veins, the glass fronted cupboards, everything had an agreeable creak of solid, classy, utilitarian venerability. This was a building made by craftsmen at a time when quality counted, and generations of devoted childhood suffused the air. If I hadn’t had to spend so much of my time vaporizing teachers I would have adored the place.
Still, I was very fond of the building. One of the glories of life in that ancient lost world of the mid-twentieth century was that facilities designed for kids often were much smaller versions of things in the adult world. You can’t imagine how much more splendid this made them. Our Little League baseball field, for instance, was a proper ballpark, with a grandstand and a concession stand and press box, and real dugouts that were, as the name demands, partly subterranean (and never mind that they filled with puddles every time it rained and that the shorter players couldn’t see over the edge and so tended to cheer at the wrong moments). When you ran up those three sagging steps and out onto the field you could seriously image that you were in the Yankee Stadium. Superior infrastructure makes for richer fantasies, believe me. Greenwood contained all that in spades.
It had, for one thing, an auditorium that was just like a real theatre, with a stage with curtains and spotlights and dressing rooms behind. So however bad your school productions were – and ours were always extremely bad, partly because we had no talent and partly because Mrs De Voto, the music teacher, was a bit ancient and often
Resource 3.1
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nodded off at the piano – it felt like you were part of a well-ordered professional undertaking (even when you were standing there holding a long note, waiting for Mrs De Voto’s chin to touch the keyboard, an event that always jerked her back into action with rousing gusto at exactly the spot where she had left off a minute or two before).
Greenwood also had the world’s finest gymnasium. It was upstairs at the back of the school, which gave it a nicely unexpected air. When you opened the door, you expected to find an ordinary classroom and instead you had – hey! whoa! – a gigantic cubic vault of polished wood. It was a space to savour; it had cathedral-sized windows, a ceiling that no ball could ever reach, acres of varnished wood that had been mellowed into a honeyed glow by decades of squeaky sneakers and gentle drops of childish perspiration, and smartly echoing acoustics that made every bouncing ball sound deftly handled and seriously athletic. When the weather was good and we were sent outdoors to play, the route to the playground took us out onto a rickety metal fire escape that was unnervingly but grandly lofty. The view from the summit took in miles of rooftops and sunny countryside reaching practically to Missouri, or so it seemed.
Mostly we played indoors because it was nearly always winter outside. Of course winters in those days, as with all winters of childhood, were much longer, snowier and more frigid than now. We used to get up to eleven feet of snow at a time – we seldom got less, in fact – and weeks of arctic weather so bitter you could pee icicles.
In consequence, they used to keep the school heated to roughly the temperature of the inside of a pottery kiln, so pupils and teachers alike existed in a state of permanent, helpless drowsiness. But at the same time the close warmth made everything deliciously cheery and cosy. Even Lumpy Kowalski’s daily plop in his pants smelled oven-baked and kind of strangely lovely. (For six months of the year, his pants actually steamed.) On the other hand, the radiators were so hot that if you carelessly leaned an elbow on them you could leave flesh behind. The most infamous radiator-based activity was of course to pee on a radiator in one of the boys’ bathrooms. This created an enormous sour stink that permeated whole wings of the school for days on end and could not be got rid of through any amount of scrubbing or airing. For this reason, anyone caught peeing on a radiator was summarily executed.
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Greenwood had no cafeteria, so everybody had to go home for lunch, which meant that we had to dress and undress four times in every school day – six if the teacher was foolish enough to include an outdoor recess at some point. My dear, dim friend Buddy Doberman spent so much of his life changing that he often lost track and would have to ask me whether we were putting hats on or off now. He was always most grateful for guidance.
Among the many thousands of things moms never quite understand – the manliness implicit in grass stains, the satisfaction of a really good burp or other gaseous eructation, the need from time to time to blow into straws as well as suck out of them – winter dressing has always been perhaps the most tragically conspicuous. All moms in the 50s lived in dread of cold fronts slipping in from Canada and therefore insisted that their children wear enormous quantities of insulating clothes for at least seven months of the year.
What they failed to take into account was that you were so mummified by extra clothing that you had no limb flexion whatever, and if you fell over you would never get up again unless someone helped you, which was not a thing you could count on. Layered underwear also made going to the bathroom an unnerving challenge. The manufacturers did put an angled vent in every item, but these never quite matched up, and anyway if your penis is only the size of a newly budded acorn it’s asking a lot to thread it through seven or eight layers of underwear and still maintain a competent handhold. In any visit to the restroom, you would hear at least one cry of anguish from someone who had lost purchase in mid-flow and was now delving frantically for the missing appendage.
Mothers also failed to realize that certain clothes at certain periods of your life would get you beaten up. If, for instance, you wore snowpants beyond the age of six, you got beaten up for it. If you wore a hat with ear flaps or, worse, a chin strap, you could be sure of a beating, or at the very least a couple of scoops of snow down your back. The wimpiest, most foolish thing of all was to wear galoshes. Galoshes were unstylish and ineffective, and even the name just sounded stupid and inescapably humiliating. If your mom made you wear galoshes at any point in the year, it was a death sentence. I knew kids who couldn’t get prom dates in high school because every girl they asked remembered that they had worn galoshes in third grade.
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Tasks for the first extract from ‘Schooldays’
1. Highlight or underline the first word of each sentence on Resource sheet 3.1.
Now select examples of:
• a connective ……………………………………………………………..
• an adverb (-ly) ……………………………………………………………
• a proper noun (specific person, place or thing).………………………
• a present participle verb (-ing) ………………………………………….
• a question word, e.g. ‘Wh...?’ ………………………………………….
2. Look for the following and annotate the extract using the key below.
S = Similes: using ‘as’ or ‘like’ to make a comparison
M = Metaphors: making a comparison where something is compared to something
else
NP = Noun phrases: adjectives used to expand a description of a noun, e.g.
wonderful old building
Est = Superlatives: words ending in -est, e.g. scariest
C = Connectives to link ideas and paragraphs together
H = Use of humour
E = Exaggeration
3. Label your favourite sentence in the extract, and write two reasons why you like it.
4. Based on the extract and your annotations, write a three-paragraph answer to the
question below. Try to construct your answer using Point, Evidence, Explanation.
How does Bill Bryson entertain his reader?
You should say something about:
• his use of language • his use of devices • his tone of voice.
Resource 3.2
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‘Schooldays’ by Bill Bryson Lesson: 2
Class: 8 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: read at least a sentence (if not more) of the story; take part in summarising each section and evaluate which moments they consider to be funny; select ten moments and plot them on a humour graph.
• most students will be able to: read aloud with intonation and emphasis; summarise each section with an appropriate subheading; evaluate which moments are funny; select ten moments and plot these on a humour graph, giving reasons for their choices and attempting to explain why they are funny.
• some students will be able to: read aloud with intonation and emphasis; summarise each section with a humorous subheading; select their own funny moments; evaluate these moments and plot them on a humour graph, giving reasons for their choice and explaining why they are funny.
Assessment foci (Reading):
AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
AF6 identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 2.1b use some verbal and non-verbal techniques to make talk interesting for listeners
Yr 7 5.3 make informed personal choices of text and express their preferences
Yr 8 2.1b engage listeners’ attention and interest by using a range of different verbal and non-verbal techniques
Yr 8 5.3 broaden their experience of reading and express preferences and opinions about texts
Resources:
3.3: Subheadings for ‘Schooldays’
3.4: Humorous moments in ‘Schooldays’
3.5: Humour graph
Squared paper to plot the humour graph; numbers 1–10, one number per page.
Personal teaching notes
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‘Schooldays’ by Bill Bryson Lesson 2
Class: 8 Date: Period:
Starter:
5 minutes
Assign students different sections to read and ask them to practise reading their sections in pairs, focusing on using punctuation to aid reading, using the narrator’s tone of voice to create the correct intonation to show emphasis humour and exaggeration where appropriate.
Introduction:
30 minutes
Students are to read aloud the rest of the short story. As they read, pause at the end of each short anecdote and ask other members of the class to volunteer an idea for an appropriate subheading, e.g. ‘The wonderful old building’, ‘The weather and its consequences’, ‘Not being popular with the teachers’, ‘Disorganisation’, ‘The joy of Dick and Jane’, ‘26 absences’, ‘Civil defence’. Students could use words from the extract to help them; noting them down on Resource 3.3: Subheadings for ‘Schooldays’.
Development:
20 minutes
Ask students to list what they think are the ten funniest phrases or events in the story. These could be selected from the list on Resource 3.4: Humorous moments in ‘Schooldays’. More confident students could create the list themselves. Students should use these ten moments or phrases to create a humour graph using Resource 3.5: Humour graph, marking events on the horizontal axis and degree of humour on the vertical axis. Ask students to come to the front of the class and plot their lines on the board.
Discuss how some of the moments in the story reflect when and where the autobiography was written. Ask students to find examples of events that would not happen today.
As an alternative to the humour graph, display the numbers 1–10 around the room (with plenty of space between them). Describe a moment in the story and ask students to move to the number that shows how funny they think that moment is. They could then use the plenary to write down the two funniest and two least funny moments and the score they gave them, with a brief explanation.
Plenary:
5 minutes
Ask students to show their humour graphs and to explain the reasons behind their two highest and two lowest scores.
Homework / Extension
To practise reading aloud a story at home, to an audience if possible.
Additional teaching guidance
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Subheadings for ‘Schooldays’
Imagine that the publishers intended to give each section of the
autobiography a subheading, but they forgot.
Write a subheading for each part of the story. You could make up one of your
own, or use a short phrase from the extract, which you think sums up that
part of the autobiography.
1. ‘The wonderful old building’
2. .........................................................................................................................
3. .........................................................................................................................
4. .........................................................................................................................
5. .........................................................................................................................
6. .........................................................................................................................
Resource 3.3
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Humorous moments in ‘Schooldays’ Moments of humour /10
A ‘Shorter players couldn’t see over the edge and so tended to cheer at the wrong moments’
B ‘… waiting for Mrs De Voto’s chin to touch the keyboard…’
C ‘…weather so bitter you could pee icicles.’
D ‘Even Lumpy Kowalski’s daily plop in his pants smelled oven-baked and strangely kind of
lovely.’
E ‘…was of course to pee on a radiator in one of the boys’ bathrooms…anyone caught peeing
on a radiator was summarily executed.’
F ‘Changing time was always like a scene at a refugee camp…’
G ‘… all children had running noses from October to April, which most treated as a kind of drip
feeder.’
H ‘Buddy Doberman spent so much of his life changing…grateful for guidance.’
I ‘…moms never quite understand … the satisfaction of a really good burp or other gaseous
eructation…’
J ‘…so mummified by extra clothing that you had no limb flexion’
K ‘…if your penis is only the size of a newly budded acorn, it’s asking a lot to thread it
through…and still maintain a competent handhold.’
L ‘cry of anguish from someone…delving frantically for the missing appendage.’
M ‘If you wore snow pants beyond the age of six, you got beaten up for it.’
N ‘Some of these women had been powdering for years, and believe me it didn’t work.’
O ‘They insisted on knowing strange things, which I found bewildering…Number 1 or Number
2…didn’t strike me as entirely healthy.’
P ‘In our house, you either went toity or had a BM (for bowel movement)…“I need to do a big
BM. It could be as much as a three or four.”’
Q ‘…fresh mimeograph…I draped them over my face and drifted off into a private place…soft
trill of pan pipes floated on the air.’
R ‘I remember once in kindergarten, in a kind of desperation, I just showed my fingers.’
S ‘I stared and stared…no circumstances, including at gunpoint, in which you could get all the
members of my family to try to do that together.’
T ‘Every character talked exactly like people whose brains had been taken away.’
U ‘How can he have 26 absences in one semester…Do you just send part of him to school
sometimes? Do you keep his legs at home?’
V ‘“What is this?” I asked Buddy Doberman’s butt, for that was the only part of him still visible.’
W ‘But evidently, they all took the matter seriously…Miss Squat Little Fat thing, was inserted
under her desk, too, or at least as…40 per cent.’
X ‘“You’d be dead before bedtime,” he added brightly. “We all would.”’
Y ‘Mrs Unnaturally Enormous Bosom, the principal…’
Z ‘To be cavalier about nuclear preparedness was only half a step away from treason.’
Resource 3.4
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Humour graph – charting the funniest moments in ‘Schooldays’ by Bill Bryson
Plot your ten funniest moments on the graph below.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Letter
Resource 3.5
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Give reasons for your two highest and two lowest scores.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
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‘Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat’ by Roald Dahl Lesson: 1
Class: 8 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: read the story and select quotations that are necessary for their guided reading card activities, which may include ‘Characters’ and ‘Setting’, to prepare a presentation to the group.
• most students will be able to: read the story and work independently through the guided reading cards, which may include ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Genre’, to prepare a presentation to the group.
• some students will be able to: read the story and work independently through the guided reading cards, which may include ‘Structure, ‘Language’ and ‘Message’.
Assessment foci (Reading):
Depending upon the Guided Reading card issued:
AF2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
AF5 explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level
AF6 identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 and Yr 8 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 reading for meaning, understanding and responding to print
Yr 7 and Yr 8 6.1, 6.3, 6.3 understanding the author’s craft
Resources:
4.1: Guided Reading cards: Genre
4.2: Guided Reading cards: Structure
4.3: Guided Reading cards: Setting
4.4: Guided Reading cards: Characters
4.5: Guided Reading cards: Atmosphere
4.6: Guided Reading cards: Language
4.7: Guided Reading cards: Moral, philosophical and social significance of a text: Message
Materials for students to create visual aids for their presentations, e.g. blank OHTs, OHT pens, or large pieces of sugar paper and marker pens, or A3 paper and colouring pens.
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‘Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat’ by Roald Dahl Lesson 1
Class: 8 Date: Period:
Starter:
5 minutes
Divide the class into groups of four (or groups of five if you have more than 28 students). Assign each group one of the seven Guided Reading cards, and explain that they will read the short story in groups and then work independently through the tasks. Tell students that they will be giving a Speaking and Listening presentation to the rest of the class, to report their findings. To help them with their presentation and to make the necessary notes, supply them with OHT, OHT pens, large pieces of sugar paper and marker pens, as well as blank pieces of A4 paper for making notes.
Introduction:
10 minutes
Students read their cards while you circulate among the groups, checking that they have understood the tasks. The story can either be read individually and silently, or aloud as a group. Try to give the students a choice here, depending on which they prefer.
Development:
40 minutes
When students have finished reading the story, they can start the activities on their card. Groups should decide whether to allocate the activities to individuals or pairs, or to carry them out as a group. Once each group has understood their tasks, you can decide which group(s) to work with. If students are struggling with all of the tasks, encourage them to work in pairs.
Plenary:
5 minutes
Students evaluate their progress and ensure that they know what is expected of them in the next lesson.
Homework / Extension
You could make additional copies of Resources 4.1–4.7: Guided Reading cards, so that if groups do finish, they could prepare an additional card, or support a group that is struggling.
Additional teaching guidance
Some students might find the Characters card easier, so this could be given to less able students.
Photocopying the Guided Reading cards onto different pieces of coloured card helps groups to identify their work and to see that each group is working on a different set of tasks.
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Guided reading card: Genre
Resource 4.1
Genre (type of story, e.g. diary, humour, historical, sporting)
1. What clues can you find that might indicate the genre of this story?
2. Are the characters stereotypical (what you would expect from this type of story)?
3. How does the vocabulary indicate the genre? List three phrases that tell you the genre.
4. Do the characters change location during the story? If so, how do their new locations fit in with the genre of the story?
5. Does the plot (story) appear to follow a pattern similar to other stories and/or films? What is the pattern? Try to name some similar stories or films.
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Guided reading card: Structure
Structure (how a piece of writing is put together)
1. How are the characters introduced? For example through speech, actions, by other characters.
2. What is mentioned that indicates how the plot will develop? For example, someone may have to do something, therefore you know that the story will take place around that.
3. How is tension built? Is it gradually, sporadically, slowly? Pick out key moments in the story and chart them on a tension graph.
Look at the line of your graph to see how tension is built.
4. Analyse how the story develops. Think about the action that takes place and how the plot unravels. What devices have been used to hook the reader?
Devices may include imagery, hearing a voice through the text, hooks for the reader to predict what might happen, questions that the author wants the reader to think about.
5. Is there a twist at the end? If so, what is it?
Resource 4.2
10
6
1
A B C D E F
Events in the story
A =
B =
C =
D =
E =
F =
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Guided reading card: Setting
Resource 4.3
Setting (where the story is set)
1. Where is the story set? If there is more than one location, list all of them.
2. Draw a sketch to illustrate each setting from the story, using a separate sheet of paper for each setting.
3. Now annotate each of your drawings as follows:
a) Underneath or around each picture, write quotations from the story to support your interpretation.
b) On each piece of paper, include notes about the importance of the setting. Consider what the author was trying to create when they wrote the story.
c) Does the setting represent anything? A symbol is anything that stands for or represents something else, usually an idea associated with it, for example the colour red can be used to symbolise danger.
d) How does the setting contribute towards the atmosphere of the story?
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Guided reading card: Characters
Resource 4.4
Characters (the people in the story)
You could create a mind map or spider diagram and add to it as you go through the questions below.
1. Who are the characters in the story? (If they do not have a name, give them one that describes their appearance or behaviour, e.g. ‘the bald man’.) Draw a picture showing how you imagine they look, based either on the text or on your own interpretation. Use one sheet of paper for each character, as you will be cutting it out and adding it to your mind map later.
2. Around each picture, write five adjectives to describe that person.
3. For each of the main characters, choose at least one quotation from the story. This might be to describe their physical appearance or something that they do in the story. Write your quotation(s) next to your picture.
4. Explain the purpose of each of the characters in the story. Consider what their role is and how they are linked to the other characters.
5. Does any of the characters create tension or suspense? If so, how?
If there is more than one main character, you can split up the timeline,
where one character has the marks above the line and a second character has the marks below the line.
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Guided reading card: Atmosphere
Atmosphere (a feeling or mood created by the surroundings)
1. Draw a timeline (the scale does not have to be accurate, but the order of events does.)
2. What is the atmosphere at the start of the story?
3. Pick out moments in the story when the atmosphere changes. Chart them and explain what the change in atmosphere is (hint: it could be an increase in fear).
4. Underneath each moment, explain how the atmosphere has changed.
5. Underneath each moment, explain why the author changed the atmosphere at this point.
6. What does the atmosphere contribute towards the story?
Resource 4.5
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Guided reading card: Language
Resource 4.6
Language (how the writer has used certain words and sentences)
1. How does the story open? What effect does this have on the creation of humour?
2. Select five interesting sentences and write them down. For each one, try to give reasons why you chose it.
3. Try to find an example of either a simile or a metaphor in the story. Why might the author have made this comparison?
4. Find five effective (good) short sentences. Write them down and say why the author might have used them.
5. Find examples of complex sentences (look for sentences that use commas). Write them down and say why the author might have used them.
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Guided reading card: Moral, philosophical and social significance of a text: Message
Resource 4.7
Message
1. Why might this story have been written?
2. Does the opening give a strong opinion? What might that opinion be?
3. Why might the author have ended the story in this way?
4. What questions or issues might this story raise and why?
5. Consider the question opening: ‘But what if…?’ Create at least three questions of this kind and attempt to answer them.
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Narrative structure and plot
Decide how the following moments are created in the story. You can make
your notes as a flow chart, table, bullet points etc.
Coda
Literally
‘the tail’:
how the
story
actually ends.
Exposition
How is the scene
set?
How are the
characters
introduced?
Complication
What happens to
complicate the lives of the characters?
Crisis
What is
the
decisive
moment?
How has it
been
reached?
Resource 4.8
Intensification
How are things
complicated for the
characters?
Towards
resolution
The story
moves
towards a
fitting
resolution.
What is it?
Resolution
The
‘problem’
of the story
is brought
to a
conclusion.
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Narrative devices
Complete the table below.
Narrative devices Quotations and explanations from the story
Perspective: first, third
person? Give an
example
Background:
What information is
given? How is it
relevant?
Clues:
What information is the
reader given for the
creation of the plot?
Build-up of tension:
How is tension created?
Climax:
What is the main
moment of the story?
Twists:
Describe any
unexpected events
Resource 4.9
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‘Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat’ by Roald Dahl Lesson 2
Class: 8 Date: Period:
As a result of this lesson:
• all students will be able to: read the story and select quotations that are necessary for their guided reading card activities, which may include ‘Characters’ and ‘Setting’, to prepare a presentation to the group.
• most students will be able to: read the story and work independently through the guided reading cards, which may include ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Genre’, to prepare a presentation to the group.
• some students will be able to: read the story and work independently through the guided reading cards, which may include: ‘Structure, ‘Language’ and ‘Message’.
Assessment foci (Reading):
Depending upon the Guided Reading card used:
AF2 understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
AF5 explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level
AF6 identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Renewed Framework Objectives:
Yr 7 and Yr 8 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 reading for meaning; understanding and responding to print
Yr 7 and Yr8 6.1, 6.3, 6.3 understanding the author’s craft
Resources:
4.1: Guided Reading cards: Genre
4.2: Guided Reading cards: Structure
4.3: Guided Reading cards: Setting
4.4: Guided Reading cards: Characters
4.5: Guided Reading cards: Atmosphere
4.6: Guided Reading cards: Language
4.7: Guided Reading cards: Message
4.8: Narrative structure and plot
4.9: Narrative devices
Materials for students to create visual aids for their presentations, e.g. blank OHTs, OHT pens, or large pieces of sugar paper and marker pens, or A3 paper and colouring pens.
Personal teaching notes
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‘Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat’ by Roald Dahl Lesson 2
Class: 8 Date: Period:
Starter:
10 minutes
Remind students of the importance of using their notes to present their findings back to the class.
Work with a different group for each different activity. If students are struggling with all of the tasks, encourage them to work in pairs.
Students should work on activity 3 from their Guided Reading cards.
Introduction:
20 minutes
Students should work on activity 4 from their Guided Reading cards.
Development:
20 minutes
Students should work on activity 5 from their Guided Reading cards.
Plenary:
10 minutes
Students should ensure that each member of their group knows how they will be contributing to the presentations. These could start to take place during this lesson, if students are ready.
Homework / Extension As well as practising for their Speaking and Listening presentation, groups that are ready could work on Resource 4.8: Narrative structure and plot and Resource 4.9: Narrative devices while they are waiting for the other groups to finish.
Additional teaching guidance Students should have finished making notes in preparation for sharing their information with the class. However, this feedback session may need to take place in a third lesson.