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Year 10 English

Autumn Term

week 1

Lesson 1

Approaches to reading unseen fiction texts

Approaches to reading unseen fiction textsIn this lesson, we will be looking at strategies for reading unseen fiction texts. We will be using Freytag's Narrative Pyramid and the idea of 'Four conflicts in Literature' as ways of reading unseen fiction extracts. You will then have an opportunity to try out these ideas by applying this learning to an unseen fiction extract from Katherine Mansfield's 'The Tiredness of Rosabel'.

Lesson 2

Character types and function

Character types and functionIn this lesson, we will learn about different character types; what they are called, their key characteristics and their function in a text. We will re-examine our text of the week, 'The Tiredness of Rosabel,' by Katherine Mansfield from this perspective. Our lesson will look at a pivotal moment in the extract and examine what roles the three characters perform within the passage and how Mansfield both conforms to and subverts our expectations as readers.

Lesson 3

Analysing language: Selecting evidence

Analysing language: Selecting evidenceIn this lesson, we will apply our language analysis skills to 'The Tiredness of Rosabel' . We will start by building our confidence with subject terminology, understanding what good analysis needs to contain and then really working on the most crucial skill: selecting the best evidence. You will have opportunity to really slow down the process and we'll work through a step by step guide to being successful in this skill area.

Lesson 4

Analysing language: Analytical writing

Analysing language: Analytical writingIn this lesson, we will focus on developing a clear strategy to transform our selected evidence from 'The Tiredness of Rosabel' into an effective piece of analytical writing. We will do this together: working through the steps using a slow writing model. This will give you chance to secure these steps in your mind for your own independent work in the future. At the end of the lesson we'll look at a sample response for you to use as a benchmark to assess your own work.

week 2

Lesson 1

Examining structural choices

Examining structural choicesIn this lesson, we will be examining Katherine Mansfield's text 'The Tiredness of Rosabel' from a structural perspective. We will look at the types of choices writers make when organising texts in order to create an impact on their readers. After ensuring we have the right subject terminology to tackle structural analysis, you will have the opportunity to try this for yourself and then also work through a model answer.

Lesson 2

Unseen Fiction Texts: Pre-1900

Unseen Fiction Texts: Pre-1900In this lesson, we will start by finding out a little bit about the background of our next text which is an extract from Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. We will look at the key themes as well as generic contexts before beginning to read the extract. When reading the extract, we will draw on our learning from previous lessons and revisit our reading process. You will be provided with prompt questions to help you track your way through the text systematically, thinking about what happens - first / next / then and finally. Feedback will be given at each stage.

Lesson 3

Mary/Eve Dichotomy

Mary/Eve DichotomyIn this lesson, we will be looking at traditional representations of women in Literature by exploring the Mary / Eve dichotomy. You'll then have the opportunity to apply this new theory to selected evidence from 'Dracula' before revisiting our cloud analysis techniques to make sure we are choosing the best evidence and linking our ideas together.

Lesson 4

Thinking about space: Where do women belong?

Thinking about space: Where do women belong?In this lesson, we will build on our understanding of the Mary/Eve dichotomy and look at a generic context idea with the 'Lady on the Pedestal' and an historical context idea with 'The Angel in the House.' Both these ideas will lead us to think about the space women occupy in society and how they are positioned and presented for us to read in texts. We'll go back to a passage from our 'Dracula' extract and continue to strengthen our interpretation.

week 3

Lesson 1

Responding to evaluation questions

Responding to evaluation questionsIn this lesson, we will be practising the skill of evaluation. Firstly, we will break down our question: 'This part of the story, where Lucy is forced back into her coffin by Van Helsing and his men, shows how men are always victorious. None of our sympathy is with Lucy.' After breaking down the statement, we will explore 'what' our response to the statement is and 'how' we came to that conclusion. We're going to use a planning strategy today to help in generating those ideas and selecting effective evidence.

Lesson 2

Evaluation: Writing it up

Evaluation: Writing it upIn this lesson, we will return to our planning in response to the question: 'This part of the story, where Lucy is forced back into her coffin by Van Helsing and his men, shows how men are always victorious. None of our sympathy is with Lucy.' Today, we will look at how to sequence our thoughts and build an effective evaluation in a systematic way.

Lesson 3

Reading skills: Unseen fiction – Cold Mountain

Reading skills: Unseen fiction - Cold MountainIn this lesson, we will learn about the background of our next text, which is an extract from 'Cold Mountain', written by Charles Frazier. We will look at the historical contexts as well as finding out about our main characters before examining the exposition of the novel. Whilst reading the extract, we will continue to consolidate our reading strategies. You will be provided with prompt questions to help you track your way through the text systematically, thinking about what happens - first / next / then and finally.

Lesson 4

Journeys in literature: Cold Mountain

Journeys in literature: Cold MountainIn this lesson, we will be looking at quest narratives and how 'Cold Mountain' fits into this literary genre, particularly in relation to 'The Odyssey'. We will have reflection points throughout the lesson to help you think through our new learning and make links to ideas we have already explored. You'll be reading a new extract from 'Cold Mountain' today, one which focuses on our second protagonist, Ada, and her journey. At the close of the lesson, there will be a learning recap quiz to consolidate today's learning content.

week 4

Lesson 1

Descriptive detail: Close analysis

Descriptive detail: Close analysisIn this lesson, we will start with a quick quiz. We'll then be looking at a further extract from our text of the week, Cold Mountain. Today, we are going to examine how Frazier builds descriptive detail by analysing a new passage and also making use of our prior learning. In particular, we will remind ourselves of how to select 'rich' evidence and build an analytical response.

Lesson 2

Reading skills: Samphire

Reading skills: SamphireIn this lesson, we will examine a short story by Patrick O'Brian called 'Samphire'. We'll be reading the whole narrative over the next few lessons, but just starting with the first half today. Whilst reading the extract, we will be following our reading strategy routines. You will be provided with prompt questions to help you track your way through the text systematically, thinking about what happens - first / next / then and finally.

Lesson 3

Reading skills: Samphire (Part 2)

Reading skills: Samphire (Part 2)In this lesson, we will finish reading Samphire, and tracking the events against the components of the Narrative Pyramid. Whilst reading the extract, we will continue to consolidate our reading strategies. You will be provided with prompt questions to help you track your way through the text systematically. Feedback will be given at each stage. At the close of the lesson, we will return to our focus of considering how Patrick O'Brian's narrative follows the Narrative Pyramid in our reflection task.

Lesson 4

Reading skills: Pre-1900 unseen fiction - Heart of Darkness

Reading skills: Pre-1900 unseen fiction - Heart of DarknessIn this lesson, we will examine an adapted extract from the novel 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad. We'll start by locating the text within its context of writing and then thinking about how the issues it raises around colonialism can be considered today. Whilst reading the extract, we will be following our reading strategy routines. You will be provided with prompt questions to help you track your way through the text systematically, thinking about what happens - first / next / then and finally. It is also an opportunity for you to start making your own observations.

week 5

Lesson 1

Planning techniques

Planning techniques: Logos, pathos and ethosIn this lesson, we will be looking at planning techniques that will help us generate ideas as well as produce a balanced and thoughtful viewpoint essay plan. We will do this by looking to the Greeks and learning about 'logos', 'ethos,' 'pathos' and 'kairos'. You will then have an opportunity to start creating a plan, using a framework to help sequence your ideas.

Lesson 2

What makes an effective conclusion?

What makes an effective introduction and conclusion?In this lesson, we will be working with our plans and looking at the relationship between the introduction and the conclusion. We will start by reviewing the model answer and considering how the introduction works. We'll then look at how sentence level choices have been used to add meaning with a skills review. Then, we will look at the model response again to consider how 'Ethos' is used in the conclusion. By the end of the lesson, you will have drafted out your introduction and conclusion.

Lesson 3

Rhetorical devices

Rhetorical devices: Designing the main body of your essayIn this lesson, we will be looking at the main body of our essay, before piecing everything together. Firstly, we will return to our essay plan and look at how to build the main body of our response, thinking about the function of the paragraph, the desired effect on the reader and the types of rhetorical devices that might be best to choose. We'll do this as a slow write to give you time to think about your options. At the end of the lesson, we'll critique our writing and compare to the model answer for fluency and control.

Lesson 4

Using rhetorical devices for planning

Use a rhetoric framework for writingIn this lesson, we will secure our understanding of what it means to use effective rhetoric, and create a winning template that ensures all of our arguments are water-tight.

week 6

Lesson 1

opinion articles

Opinion articles and rhetoricIn this lesson, we will consider the key features of writing rhetorically for an opinion article. We will draw upon our knowledge of rhetoric to explore how this might help us to persuade others of our opinion around important topics. We will consider the key features of opinion articles, study an example article and think about our own opinion on the topic of 'too much tech.'

Lesson 2

Writing an effective speech

Writing an effective speech using rhetoricIn this lesson, we will focus on writing speeches. Drawing upon spectacular speakers of the past, we will explore how rhetoric is used to build instant trust with a crowd. We will use this inspiration to create our own professional speeches, to secure our powers of persuasion for any scenario.

Lesson 3

Exploring adverts

An exploration of rhetoric and advertisementsIn this lesson, we will consider some of the key ways that companies use rhetorical language to meet a clear purpose, thinking of their target audience. We will look at a variety of ways in which advertisements manipulate our minds, before creating our own advertisements, making use of all of our knowledge of influence.

Lesson 4

How to plan a piece of non fiction

How do I plan and write from scratch?In this lesson, we will look at how we can switch our register to adjust matching our written tone depending on our purpose, audience and form. We will finish by considering how we plan for our own independent piece.

week 8

Lesson 1

Historical context

Lesson 2

the witches

Lesson 3

tragedy and the tragic hero

Lesson 4

The Witches and the tragic hero

week 9

Lesson 1

meeting macbeth

Lesson 2

macbeth meets the witches

Lesson 3

lady macbeth

week 10

Lesson 1

The natural order

Lesson 2

The natural order

Lesson 3

The supernatural

Lesson 4

the tragic hero

week 11

Lesson 1

The tragic hero

Lesson 2

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Lesson 3

Macbeth and Lady MAcbeth

week 12

Lesson 1

Banqo and Macduff

Lesson 2

Banqo and Macduff

Lesson 3

The witches

Lesson 4

The witches

Spring Term

week 1

Lesson 1

Responding to a setting stimulus

Descriptive writing: Responding to a setting stimulusIn this lesson, we will be looking at how to plan effectively for a setting based descriptive task. We'll look at a range of planning tools to help us generate ideas and organise our material in a way which will have an impact on the reader.

Lesson 2

Responding to an image stimulus

Descriptive writing: Responding to a setting stimulusIn this lesson, we will be looking at how to plan effectively for a setting based descriptive task. We'll look at a range of planning tools to help us generate ideas and organise our material in a way which will have an impact on the reader.

Lesson 3

Use of symbolism

Descriptive writing: Responding to a setting stimulusIn this lesson, we will be looking at how to plan effectively for a setting based descriptive task. We'll look at a range of planning tools to help us generate ideas and organise our material in a way which will have an impact on the reader.

Lesson 4

Narrative writing

Descriptive writing: Responding to a setting stimulusIn this lesson, we will be looking at how to plan effectively for a setting based descriptive task. We'll look at a range of planning tools to help us generate ideas and organise our material in a way which will have an impact on the reader.

week 2

Lesson 1

Descriptive Writing: planning techniques

Descriptive writing: Planning techniquesIn this lesson, we will be looking at what the key characteristics of descriptive writing are and what we need to consider when planning for this style of response: organisation, vocabulary selection and technical accuracy. We will work our way through a range of planning techniques before reflecting on the design choices of our studied writers to help us build a successful plan.

Lesson 2

The Slow Write

Descriptive writing: Slow writeIn this lesson, we will complete a 'slow write' exercise where we'll work through an image together, thinking about how to start our response, zoom in on detail and then develop a 'Big Picture' perspective in our writing.

Lesson 3

Narrative Writing - What Makes a good opening?

Narrative writing: What makes a good opening?In this lesson, we will define exactly what the ingredients of a narrative piece are before moving on to examine how to write an effective opening. In order to do this, we'll look at the example of George Orwell's '1984' as well as reviewing the opening from our set text Samphire. You'll then have an opportunity to plan a narrative and write your own opening paragraph to try out your learning from the session.

Lesson 4

Creating movement in our writing

Narrative writing: Creating movement in our writingIn this lesson, we will continue with our narrative writing response, looking in particular at how to make design choices that will give texture to our writing and create a sense of movement in our work. We'll be using an extract from Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' as a model as well as returning to our set text, 'Samphire' by Patrick O'Brian.

week 3

Lesson 1

Narrative Writing: effective endings

Narrative writing: Effective endingsIn this lesson, we will focus on how to write effective endings and consider some of the choices we can make as writers. We will do this by reviewing the ending of our set text, 'Samphire' by Patrick O'Brian, and experimenting with how we can alter meaning. We will then have the opportunity to review our writing across the unit as a whole before designing our own conclusion.

Lesson 2

Writing Skills: the process

Writing skills: A writing processIn this lesson, we will review all of our learning on developing our creative writing responses by looking at a new text, 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells, and a stimulus image. We'll be breaking this down into a 'process' for approaching our written work - think, plan, draft, critique, write - which will hopefully be a routine you can apply to your work in the future.

Lesson 3

What is memoir writing?

What Is Memoir Writing?In this lesson, we will learn what memoir writing is, and we will start our own memoir by writing about our surroundings.

Lesson 4

Writing about a memory.

Writing About a MemoryIn this lesson, we will explore how to bring an early memory alive with our words and write the second chapter of our memoir.

week 4

Lesson 1

Writing about someone important

Writing About Someone ImportantIn this lesson, we will describe an important person in our lives for the third chapter of our memoir.

Lesson 2

Creating tension

Creating TensionIn this lesson, we will understand which language techniques can create suspense and tension, and use these techniques to write the fourth chapter of our memoir.

Lesson 3

Describing a strong emotion

Describing a Strong EmotionIn this lesson, we will write the final chapter of our memoir and we will convey a powerful emotion using imagery. Then we can put all our work together and compile a finished piece.

Lesson 4

Viewpoint writing

Viewpoint writing: what is it?In this lesson, we will begin to look at the features of viewpoint or discursive writing. Today we will begin with a statement - 'All sports should be fun, fair and open to everyone. It is the taking part not the winning that matters'. Then, we will have a look at a student response to see how someone else has tackled this statement and begin to understand the features of viewpoint writing.

week 5

Lesson 1

Narrative Writing: effective endings

Narrative writing: Effective endingsIn this lesson, we will focus on how to write effective endings and consider some of the choices we can make as writers. We will do this by reviewing the ending of our set text, 'Samphire' by Patrick O'Brian, and experimenting with how we can alter meaning. We will then have the opportunity to review our writing across the unit as a whole before designing our own conclusion.

Lesson 2

Writing Skills: the process

Writing skills: A writing processIn this lesson, we will review all of our learning on developing our creative writing responses by looking at a new text, 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells, and a stimulus image. We'll be breaking this down into a 'process' for approaching our written work - think, plan, draft, critique, write - which will hopefully be a routine you can apply to your work in the future.

Lesson 3

What is memoir writing?

What Is Memoir Writing?In this lesson, we will learn what memoir writing is, and we will start our own memoir by writing about our surroundings.

Lesson 4

Writing about a memory.

Writing About a MemoryIn this lesson, we will explore how to bring an early memory alive with our words and write the second chapter of our memoir.

week 6

Lesson 1

Narrative Writing: effective endings

Narrative writing: Effective endingsIn this lesson, we will focus on how to write effective endings and consider some of the choices we can make as writers. We will do this by reviewing the ending of our set text, 'Samphire' by Patrick O'Brian, and experimenting with how we can alter meaning. We will then have the opportunity to review our writing across the unit as a whole before designing our own conclusion.

Lesson 2

Writing Skills: the process

Writing skills: A writing processIn this lesson, we will review all of our learning on developing our creative writing responses by looking at a new text, 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells, and a stimulus image. We'll be breaking this down into a 'process' for approaching our written work - think, plan, draft, critique, write - which will hopefully be a routine you can apply to your work in the future.

Lesson 3

What is memoir writing?

What Is Memoir Writing?In this lesson, we will learn what memoir writing is, and we will start our own memoir by writing about our surroundings.

Lesson 4

Writing about a memory.

Writing About a MemoryIn this lesson, we will explore how to bring an early memory alive with our words and write the second chapter of our memoir.

week 7

Lesson 1

The history of tragedy

The History of TragedyIn this lesson, we will learn about the origins of tragedy in ancient Greece. We will then look at how Shakespeare evolved tragedy in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.

Lesson 2

The tragic hero

Unit - Oak National AcademyFree online lessons for students across a variety of UK school curriculum subjects

Lesson 3

The structure of tragedy

Unit - Oak National AcademyFree online lessons for students across a variety of UK school curriculum subjects