ENGLISH - KS3
 

English Learning Journey

 

WHO’S WHO?

Mrs Halsey - Progress Leader

Miss Asran, Miss Higgs, Mrs Williams, Mrs Dewhurst, Mrs Wood, Mrs Maund, Mrs Morrow, Mr Longson, Miss Harrigan

 

Link Governor: Dr R Foster

YEAR 7

   

TERM

UNIT OF STUDY

KEY SKILLS / LEARNING

Autumn

Origins & Language

Beowulf, Gawain, King Arthur, Faerie Queene, etc.) 
Introduction to Shakespeare 
Shakespeare extracts
Oracy skills & research skills

 

• Students develop an understanding of the History of the English and the evolution of language.

• Students are exposed to Shakespearean texts across plays and genres.

• Students develop oracy skills through planning the research project.

 

Spring

Transformation

Victorian era texts
Frankenstein (play adaptation by Pullman) 
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (extracts)
Industrial Revolution & Context
Fiction & Nonfiction extracts

 

• Students develop a deeper understanding of a specific time period.

• Students read widely, non-fiction & fiction texts to broaden exposure to wider texts.

• Students are able to respond to texts by developing knowledge of perceptions & impressions.

 

Summer

Telling Tales

Novel ‘Animal Farm’ & ‘The Island at the End of Everything’
Introducing ‘why?’
Introducing language analysis
Focus on setting & character description
Opening to a story

 

• Students study a novel in full and begin to understand the skill of analysis.

• Students begin to understand the development of a plot and character. 

• Students continue to broaden their vocabulary through exposure to wider lesson texts.

 

YEAR 8

   

Autumn

Innocence & Corruption

Novel ‘LOTF’ & ‘Welcome to Nowhere’
Poetry
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts
Character essay

 

• Students study a novel in full and further enhance analysis skills.

• Students develop their understanding of plot, character, context, themes & symbols.

• Students develop their ability to respond to a text using evidence and techniques to validate interpretations.

 

Spring

Power

Play ‘The Tempest’ 
Poetry
Descriptive Writing 
Theme essay

 

•  Students study a Shakespearean play and develop on exposure to the language, script reading, and genre.

•  Students respond critically to character, theme, pathos, playwright messages, symbol & dramatic irony.

• Students continue to read widely in wider reading lessons to broaden skills with core vocabulary interwoven in scheme.

 

Summer

Heroes & Horrors

Creating a story (beginning to middle)
Poetry unit
Comparison essay
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts

 

• Students develop understanding of the writer’s craft, using researched context to ground responses.

• Students begin to develop comparison skills through poetry. 

• Students begin to adapt authorial skills in their own writing when writing the beginning of a short story.

 

YEAR 9

   

Autumn

Dreams & Nightmares

Novel 'Of Mice and Men' & 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts
Narrative
Dystopias & Utopias

 

• Students explore and unpack themes, motifs, imagery, foreshadowing, and other literary conventions in the class novel.

• Students are exposed to a broad yet deep curriculum that ranges in fiction & non-fiction texts alongside the study of the novel.

• Students harness the writer’s craft in their own narrative writing.

 

Spring

Our World

Global Issues
Transactional Writing
Unseen Poetry
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts

 

• Students explore big issues facing the world today by reading widely on global issues.

• Students express their opinions through oracy tasks, creative tasks & non-fiction writing tasks.

• Students are encouraged to write persuasively and develop their Spoken Language skills.

 

Summer

Crime & Conflict

'Macbeth'
Dramatic monologue
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts
Theme essay

 

• Students critically study a Shakespearean play and further build on their core concepts of playwright, audience, character motive, context, literary techniques, and language analysis.

• Students employ empathy to create a creative and convincing character voice in a dramatic monologue. 

• Students respond critically to an extract and whole play to display their ability to analyse and track a text in its entirety.

 

ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES

  • Library
  • BBC Writing Competitions
  • Poetry By Heart Competition
  • Debate Competition
  • Reading Ambassadors

HOME LEARNING

Develop communication skills by encouraging reading, having conversations and developing an awareness of the wider world.

Discuss topics covered in school as a family. Discussions of key literary pieces, poems, characters etc can be really helpful in developing their analytical and evaluation skills. Introduce new vocabulary to them on a regular basis. Ensure they engage in creative and imaginative tasks at home. Taking an interest in film versions of texts and documentaries about key literary figures and historical events can enhance their understanding of the development of the English language and events that have influenced key literary works.

Encourage wider reading by obtaining materials related to your child’s interests (eg. Football match programmes, music magazines, film magazines, sports publications). Encourage your child to develop their oracy (speaking and listening) skills via developing a YouTube or Twitch channel dedicated to their interests.

WHERE TO GO:

  • Dove Cottage- Grasmere- Home to William Wordsworth
  • Theatre visits are enriching and entertaining and enhance understanding of texts
  • Speke Hall Liverpool designed in the Tudor style and Rufford Old Hall where a young William Shakespeare was rumoured to have performed.
  • New Shakespeare theatre – Prescot- Shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk
  • Haworth, Bronte museum
  • Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
  • Science & Media Museum – Bradford
  • National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
  • British Library
  • Charles Dickens Museum
  • The Lowry, Salford

WHAT TO WATCH:

  • Horrible Histories the Movie /Blackadder goes forth / Saving Private Ryan / Pearl Harbour / Battle of Britain / Dunkirk / 1917
  • Shakespeare-Franco Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado about Nothing (1993), West Side Story, The Lion King, Bill (Horrible Histories), Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, The Hollow Crown
  • Fantasy films e.g. Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Spirited Away, BBC’s His Dark Materials, Chronicles of Narnia
  • Dystopia Films – Ready Player One, A.I., 1984, Akira, Maze Runner, Wall-E, Divergent
  • Gothic films – Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Warerabbit, Nosferatu, The Innocents, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Elephant Man, The Woman in Black, Rebecca
  • Roald Dahl films- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches
  • BBC Newsround

WHAT TO READ

  • Quality newspapers (The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times)
  • First News- newspaper for children- online or newspaper available from newsagents and supermarkets
  • Ghost stories e.g. Susan Hill, Goosebumps, Point Horror
  • Elizabeth Laird novels – A Little Piece of Ground, Lost Riders, The Betrayal of Maggie Blair
  • Harry Potter series
  • Hunger Games series
  • The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings
  • Philip Pullman His Dark Materials Trilogy

ONLINE

 

English Heritage

 

goodreads.com

 

Shakespearesglobe.com- virtual tour

 

Poetryfoundation.org

 

Book Trust

 

BBC Bitesize

 

http://www.elizabethlaird.co.uk/ideas-for-fundraising

 

https://www.unhcr.org/uk/refugeeweek/

 

https://www2.bfi.org.uk/education-research/education/gothic-classroom

 

RSC YouTube

 

FUTURE CAREERS:

Law, Journalism, Emergency Services, Writer, Teacher, Researcher, TV Presenter, Acting, Media, Armed forces, Financial Services, Estate Agent, Vlogging, You tubing, Computing, Engineering