War Horse is a unit of work containing a 142-slide PowerPoint, 14 PDF worksheets and 13 lessons. This scheme of work explores the novel chapter by chapter, analysing the book’s plot, characters, themes and language through a range of engaging activities. These teaching resources can be used with Year 5 or Year 6 (Upper KS2) or with a lower ability Year 7 group either as a whole class text or as part of a guided reading programme.
Below are examples of the activities contained in the lessons.
Comprehension questions
Chapter by chapter activities to consolidate understanding
Research task – World War One
Making predictions about War Horse using the cover, title, author and blurb
Exploring and discussing themes
Character analysis of Joey, Albert, Father and Captain Nicholls
Understanding the features of a novel – how does Michael Morpurgo use language and narrative structure in War Horse?
Close analysis of language in key scenes
Role play and hot seating activities
Understanding War Horse’s characters through empathetic writing – diary writing
Developing inference and deduction skills
Writing a newspaper story about key events in the story