Cirque Du Freak - Steve Leonard!

This engaging and informative lesson helps students to understand and analyse how the character of Steve Leonard is introduced and developed throughout Darren Shan’s ‘Cirque Du Freak.’ In addition to considering how Shan uses foreshadowing in his introduction, students plot how Steve’s character develops as the events of the plot take place.

The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through:
- Reading and comprehending the opening chapters, understanding how Steve’s character is initially presented to the reader;
- Defining the key term ‘foreshadowing’, and considering how this technique has been used by Shan in his introduction of Steve;
- Tracking the changes in Steve’s character throughout the text;
- Analysing the characterisation of Steve throughout the text, utilising textual evidence to back up ideas;
- Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts;

Included is:
- Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive;
- Extracts from ‘Cirque Du Freak’ - Chapters 1-2;
- Analysing Steve’s Character Essay Template;
- Character Development Graph Template;
- Detailed Lesson Plan.

There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 7 and 8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 4 and 9 with minimal adaptations.

All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.