Teaching David Almond in Year 7

Specifically written for the new 2014 KS3 English National Curriculum.

Easy to understand lesson plans for teachers. Attractive resources for students...

...Very useful

E Gasan, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A fun and stimulating scheme of work with 15 one-hour lesson plans, worksheets and 14 PowerPoints, which supports your teaching of David Almond in detail through four texts:

I would definitely purchase this resource for my teaching and recommend it to others

A-M, Spooner, Tutor & Peer Reviewer
  • My Name is Mina
  • Skellig
  • Wild Girl, Wild Boy
  • Jonadab

Each lesson focuses on a key element of Almond’s writing by referencing a specific text. Challenging yet engaging reading and writing activities, spoken language, teamwork, independent research and wider reading.

Lessons build towards a final reading assessment on The Savage to consolidate the knowledge gained over the 15 lessons.

Plus! Each lesson is cross-referenced to the current KS3 English AFs to help you with targeting assessment.

What do teachers say about this resource? (5525)

An excellent resource for KS3... the content was both challenging and engaging. The document throughout was clear and precise and lessons well-structured... the Assessment foci were clear and well-signposted for the teacher. I particularly liked the provision for paired and group work and the activities for each were interesting and motivating for the pupils. The lesson plans were well-written and allow for flexibility, while having a clear structure... the lesson plans gave pace and challenge which are key to good/outstanding lessons... The resource enhances and encourages collaborative work which is essential in any literacy learning in order to share ideas and develop confidence... the self-evaluation sheets for "what went well?" were very useful for pupils reflection on their own learning. (Often resources do not cater for this important aspect and are left out of lessons)... the homework activities were exciting and achievable for all pupils... the signposts to helpful websites was excellent and very helpful for busy teachers.... Excellent use of questions posed to aid pupils' thinking/analysis... The comparison of two Author work is an important aspect of KS3 and I thought the author choice for the resource was excellent... The resource gives opportunities for all pupils to access the author's work and extend their reading and critical skills... I would definitely purchase this resource for my teaching and recommend it to others... I think it would be a very useful resource for any PRU and would definitely be able to use this as a scheme for Home Tutoring... an excellent resource for KS3 and can see this being a very popular scheme of work.

A-M, Spooner, Tutor & Peer Reviewer

An excellent resource. It can be picked up by teachers and taught straight away, with very little extra planning to do... It gives [students] a good breadth of study and exposes them to more than one text. There is a good mix of creative tasks and analytical tasks. The unseen task is a nice link to AQA GCSE... it gets them used to unfamiliarity... Very good – Easy to understand lesson plans for teachers. Attractive resources for students... very useful

E Gasan, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A comprehensive resource which clearly references National Curriculum Assessment focuses. This is easy to use for teachers and has done most of the planning, so that teachers only need to adapt it to their classes. There was a nice range of activities, covering speaking and listening, reading and writing as well as independent research task... I liked the way the lessons were clearly structured, with different starter activities. I thought the idea of giving star ratings out of 5 to different aspects of David Almond's work was a great one... The resource clearly enhances learning as success criteria are made clear to students and are referred to throughout the resource. This allows students to see exactly what they need to do to succeed. The list of key websites also gives students a place to look if they need more information and enhances their independent research skills... The presentation was clear and easy to follow. I liked the way the scheme of work outline was included at the beginning of the resource and the way that it was clearly divided into individual lessons... A very good, clear resource. Easy to use in the classroom.

A Davenport, Tutor & Peer Reviewer

Very clearly presented for easy navigation. Clearly highlights which AFs are being covered... The lesson plans are very detailed and the resources are structured to support learning. The homework tasks are especially good as they are meaningful... I like the challenge aspect which is included on the worksheets... I really like the 'thinking cards'... They provide a challenging extension activity as they encourage students to use a range of skills and can easily be adapted for other schemes... I also like the homework for lesson four which allows students to create something which represents Mina. This allows teachers to see what inspires their students (art, writing, equations) and build confidence/self esteem because the students can adapt the task to show their strengths... I like the creative aspects of the scheme which will engage the students and when they share their work it will encourage the class to see the task from a new perspective. It also makes every student feel valued and will boost their confidence... well-matched the new 2014 curriculum.

K Greaves, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer