| Unit | Content |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 Gothic |
Students read a selection of gothic texts, developing the ability to analyse an extract for points and supporting evidence. Building on their KS2 learning, they enhance their understanding of how to create point-evidence paragraphs. Extracts include: Edward Scissorhands, The Highwayman, The Castle of Otranto, Dracula, The Graveyard Book, City of Ghosts, Frankenstein, Coraline, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Raven. Key knowledge developed:
Key skills developed:
Assessment: Learning is assessed at the beginning of Term 2 at the first school-wide assessment point. The assessment focuses on the construction of point-evidence paragraphs, and includes single-mark questions that test students' knowledge of the literary devices included in the unit's toolkit. |
| Unit 2 Creative Writing |
Students learn to create careful, purposeful descriptive writing, drawing inspiration for their texts from written prompts and animated clips. Students are introduced to an advanced vocabulary which they can use in their writing, and are explicitly taught punctuation and sentence variation forms. They explore the process of developing individual characters which they then bring into their own creative writing. Key knowledge developed:
Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students are assessed at the end of the unit in a short creative writing task inspired by one of the animated texts they study. |
| Unit 3 Novel Study |
Students read Killan Millwood Hargrave's novel The Island at the End of Everything, using the book as a context in which to learn how writers construct texts in ways that engage their readers. In this unit, students build on the learning of Unit 1, increasing their confidence in tracking key ideas, themes, characters and evidence across a whole text. Key knowledge developed:
Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students complete a formal written assessment at the end of the unit drawing on their understanding of how a character has changed throughout the course of the novel. |
| Unit 4 Romantic Poetry |
Students learn to read and explore poems from the English Romantic movement. They develop the skills required to analyse and write about a given text, developing confidence in identifying a range of poetic devices that writers use when building meaning. Students also learn to use subject-specific terminology when analysing poems. Texts studied include poems by William Wordsworth, John Keats, Emily Brontë and John Clare. Key knowledge developed:
Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students complete a formal written assessment in response to a question on a given poem at the end of the unit. They write a sequence of point-evidence-explanation paragraphs drawing upon knowledge built throughout Unit 1. Knowledge of the poetic devices toolkit is tested as part of the second formal assessment in Term 5. |
| Unit 5 Literary non-fiction |
In this unit students develop the necessary skills and knowledge to write in non-fiction formats. They are exposed to a range of non-fiction texts such as letters, articles, blog posts, autobiographical work and journals/diaries before then writing an example of their own. We support students in writing about real-life experiences by providing them with stimuli such as an educational visit or exploration within our local community. Key knowledge developed:
Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students produce their own piece of non-fiction writing about a real-life event or visit. This will be similar in style to the travel journalism we encounter in lessons. |
