Teaching Malorie Blackman in Year 8

A fun Scheme of Work with 15 clear lesson plans, pick-up-and-go student worksheets and PowerPoint presentations.

Clearly been put together by an experienced teacher...

...The clear learning objectives link to the curriculum and test a diverse range of skills. Excellent!

S Tassiker, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Malorie Blackman's works will challenge, enthuse and stimulate year 8 students of all abilities.

Very comprehensive and contextualises the AFs...

...The educational value is extremely high

J Forth, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Lessons use engaging activities to look at Malorie Blackman's narrative techniques plus contextual influence and importance by referencing three different texts:

  • Noble Conflict
  • Noughts and Crosses
  • Pig Heart

Lessons build towards a final reading assessment.

What do teachers say about this resource? (5799)

What a fantastic resource. Taking an excellent writer for young people and picking several of her key pieces for study really works. Even for schools who only teach one of these texts, the contextual use of the work on the other texts and on Blackman's life would be incredibly useful... I like how much is done for you in this resource – lesson plans, worksheets, PowerPoints, YouTube clips – saving a lot of time, effort and searching on the part of teachers. I loved that there are links covering reading, writing and S&L AFs alongside up-to-date links to clips and Twitter (so even media is covered to an extent as well). The 'story pot' is a fabulous idea... Incredibly valuable... The homework sheets and ideas are fantastically detailed - no student could possibly say 'I didn't do the homework because I don't get it'... excellent. Logically organised... Aptly covers the new KS3 NC requirement to study an author in depth – and then some!

P Town, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A fantastic resource that has clearly been put together by an experienced teacher... The lesson outline is a fantastic way for teachers to easily be able to pick and choose or move things around... adding flexibility. The clear learning objectives link to the curriculum and test a diverse range of skills. Excellent!... Absolutely love the emotion ‘match and mash up’. This is a really sharp, effective way to help students engage with something they find difficult – language analysis. I really like the use of WWW and EBI to reflect on their own progress... the lessons have a range of activities to suit all learners and the extracts chosen are interesting and appropriate for the tasks... Top Trumps is great fun and even the most reluctant will be engaged. Teachers will like this as it’s the sort of thing we want to do but never have time to make. This is similar to the example sections for each of the levels – there is never enough time to organise these but they are invaluable... I think bringing in the ‘Guardian’ is an excellent idea, not just for introducing students to broadsheet publications but for challenging their reading skills too... The lesson outlines are very clear and have realistic timings... I like the progression through the scheme... By the time we get to the play there is more success criteria, self-assessment and extended writing... The tasks are interesting... I like the differentiation such as the HOT thinking in the ‘prologue post-its’... The worksheets are clear and well-structured, providing a basis for students to organise their thoughts and writing.

S Tassiker, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

The layout and the simple breakdown of lessons made it instantly accessible... I could see how these activities would fit into each lesson and could be used with different class abilities. It is also flexible... Has various teaching styles built in. Engaging tasks used with each text... Lesson 11 is a brilliant introduction to a modern play and gives students another perspective of other types of texts they may have to study... Clear success criteria... It encourages student-led learning and discussion... the more investigative focus helps students to take ownership of the learning. It is very comprehensive and contextualises the AFs... The educational value is extremely high.... It is something that will enable teachers to... improve students' understanding of the texts and the skills needed... suits the KS3 curriculum with clear learning objectives, the level it is pitched at and the exemplar material included... It helps to support an author study and helps to develop understanding of different types of texts... a well-crafted and extremely detailed resource, which would suit my students and help them develop and improve their analytical reading skills in a fun and engaging way with relevant and up-to-date texts.

J Forth, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Will be a great addition to a department as it is ready to use... a detailed resource... I’m pleased to see the list of suggested websites for the research task and also YouTube clips which have been identified and checked. This will save teachers a lot of time and also keep students focused and supported. I also very much like the reflective exercises (debate reflection sheet)... This is something I find very beneficial to do with my own classes and the use of WWW and EBI helps them to be specific in their reflections... I like how independent the students are throughout the scheme. There are a lot of tasks which ask them to work in groups of reflect on their own performance... These skills are vital to helping them perform at their best with the new GCSE qualifications and also when they leave education... very refreshing and clearly wanting to develop the individual as well as their knowledge... Example responses are pitched appropriately and are very useful to students. I know that students would be happy to use these and progression is clear... I love the ‘Malorie and the Media’ section as it includes Twitter feeds and other media relevant to the students... The worksheets are all presented clearly and with enough space for students to provide detailed responses. They will not be overwhelming for LA students nor will they limit HA students... The planning sheets are very clear for students to use and will help them plan their work effectively. Many similar resources don’t include a planning sheet for tasks... There is a good range of tasks which incorporate all three strands of English and which will keep learners engaged and enthused throughout

K Greaves, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer