Year 8 - English

Unit 1 - Novel study Students will learn analytical skills, social contextual study, vocabulary and grammar work, summarising, inference, narrative viewpoints.
Novels: Trash by Andy Mulligan or The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Unit 1

• Writing: Persuasive letter
• Reading: Extract based analysis of a character
• Talking and Listening opportunities include hot seating and discussions.

Students will read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts with the theme of survival. They will practise their comprehension and summarizing skills, complete vocabulary and grammar work, have class discussions and develop effective narrative and descriptive writing skills.

Unit 3 - Drama study – ‘Our Day Out’ – focus on performance and enjoyment of the text – culminating in students picking a scene to perform to their half year group. Project based learning focus to begin with to learn about the context of the text.

Unit 2

• Narrative and Descriptive Writing: a story entitled ‘Survival’
• Talking and Listening: group discussion

Unit 3

• Reading: Extract based analytical practice focused on character
• Talking and Listening opportunities include performance, and hot-seating.

Students will read a range of poetry from other cultures, with a focus on studying a poem’s structure and language use, including understanding key terminology

Unit 4

• Writing – Argument Writing

Unit 5

• Reading: Analysis of a poem