A Christmas Carol Scheme of Learning - Stave 1 Lessons (only)

These lessons are part of a bundle

I created this Scheme of Learning to support ECTs and newly qualified teacher in my department :)

This Stave 1 lesson bundle for A Christmas Carol provides 4–5 fully planned GCSE English Literature lessons designed for Key Stage 4 students (ages 14–15).

The lessons introduce students to Scrooge’s character, key themes, and Victorian social context, while building the foundations for confident exam analysis.

The sequence carefully supports students in understanding Dickens’ moral purpose, with structured activities that develop AO1, AO2, and AO3 skills from the very start of the novella. Lessons are ready to teach, making them ideal for busy teachers, ECTs, or departments seeking high-quality resources.

This bundle includes:

1. 4–5 complete 60-minute lessons focused on Stave 1
2. Clear learning objectives, outcomes, and success criteria
3. Analysis of Scrooge’s character, isolation, and greed
4. Exploration of key quotations (e.g. “solitary as an oyster”)
5. Motifs and symbolism (fire, darkness, weather)
6. Embedded AO3 context (poverty, Poor Law, attitudes to the poor)
7. Cloze tasks, Frayer models, retrieval starters
8. Sentence starters and model responses (Grades 6–9)
9. Practice GCSE-style questions
10. Challenge and extension tasks for higher-attaining students

Student Booklet: The ‘A Christmas Carol Generic Course Reader’ is not for sale. It was created by a wonderful English teacher and is available for free here: https://laurawebbcpd.com/a-christmas-carol-course-reader/