Diversify your KS3 English curriculum with 12 lessons on 6 brilliant short stories, from wonderful writers including Alex Wheatle, Langston Hughes, Dorothy Koomson, Bali Rai, Jeffrey Boakye and Kit de Waal. Our KS3 short stories teaching pack celebrates the work of Black and Asian writers and the short story as a unique form of literature. Introduce your students to a range of exciting literary voices they may not have encountered before with an engaging and inclusive scheme of learning, plus lesson plans and classroom resources. Engaging and accessible for year 7, 8 and 9 readers, these powerful short stories have been specifically chosen to encourage more reading for pleasure and to be more representative and inclusive. About the selected stories and authors All the selected stories are written by Black British and British Asian authors, with the exception of the celebrated Black American short story writer, Langston Hughes, whose unforgettable 20th-century story, ‘Thank you, Ma’am’, also features in this anthology. The other five stories are contemporary, 21st-century stories and include new writers such as Jeffrey Boakye. The settings range from New York in the 1950s to a science-fiction future world. Some of the stories have more familiar family or teenage contexts, but all share a focus on relationships and explore themes of race, identity and belonging, love and loss, and redemption. The collection is divided into three groups for thematic teaching, allowing teachers to dip into the teaching pack to complement an existing scheme of learning, or to teach the stories as a complete short story anthology. What’s included in the teaching pack? Written by two experienced English teachers, the teaching pack includes a detailed scheme of learning with lesson plans, teaching notes, differentiation suggestions and homework activities, as well as printable classroom resources. The 109-page photocopiable teaching pack is student-facing for use in the classroom, and is accompanied by 12 PPT lessons for classroom delivery, and 6 complete short stories for reading in class. Each lesson includes: Do now activity Starter activity 3-4 main lesson activities Plenary Extension or homework tasks Many of the activities are carefully scaffolded, with differentiated, ladder up support and sentence starters for writing tasks, as well as a range of stretch and challenge suggestions for early finishers and higher-attaining students. The pack includes a lovely range of fun and creative tasks, as well as a focus on developing learners’ reading comprehension and analytical writing skills. It also includes drama activities and engaging speaking and listening tasks to encourage lots of animated, on-topic classroom talk. There’s also a list of diverse reading recommendations so teacher can encourage more reading for pleasure, and a word bank to help with disciplinary literacy and vocabulary development.

This comprehensive unit lasts approximately one term and includes a variety of short stories from acclaimed authors. Each story has related comprehension and writing (both fiction and non-fiction) activities, as well as some grammar, spelling and related research tasks. Taught to a mixed ability Year 7 class, but could easily be adapted for Y6-Y8. Unit includes: Key Ingredients of story writing** Key ingredients of short stories looking at ‘Boo’ by Kevin Crossley-Holland Spotlight on vivid characters, looking at various extracts Spotlight on evocative settings, looking at various extracts Spotlight on engaging openers, looking at various extracts A selection of short stories and related activities ‘Charles’ by Shirley Jackson (comprehension questions and letter writing activity) ‘The Doll’ (analysing the author’s use of foreshadowing and writing a story) ‘I Used to Live Here Once’ by Jean Rhys (comprehension questions and story from the POV of a ghost) ‘The Wife’s Story’ by Ursula le Guin (comprehension questions and a twisted fairytale) ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ by Roald Dahl (comprehension questions and a story focusing on dramatic irony) ‘Examination Day’ by Henry Slesar (comprehension questions, script writing and a discursive essay) ‘All Summer in a Day’ by Ray Bradbury (comprehensive analysis of figurative language) PLUS Short Stories extended reading list to allow pupils to read around the topic Look at my free resource ‘Spotlight on engaging openers’ to preview content in this pack

22 short stories, 42 slides. Each can be storyboarded and adapted to hot seat activities. All on one file; I've put 6 so you can preview. Exercises and activities are provided for each story. Some of the stories are items adapted from the news.

A Thought-Provoking Journey through Classic Dystopian Literature Embark on a captivating educational journey with our 14-lesson scheme, “Navigating Dystopias,” designed exclusively for secondary education. This comprehensive program delves into the thought-provoking world of dystopian fiction, featuring five seminal works that have shaped the genre: “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury “The Test” by Theodore Thomas “Examination Day” by Henry Slesar Educational Objectives: Students will engage in analysis of thematic elements, character development, and socio-political commentary embedded within each story. Our scheme encourages students to draw parallels and contrasts between the different dystopian worlds, fostering a nuanced understanding of the genre. Engaging Content: Dystopian fiction resonates with young minds, sparking their imagination and prompting meaningful discussions about society, governance, and individual freedoms. Includes: 14 lessons of PowerPoints 5 Dystopian Stories Booklet

Creative writing short story ending lesson that explores Dickens’ The Signal-Man and is part a unit of work on short stories whilst looking at creative writing. Students explore how the signal-man ends, what kind of overall structure it has, as well other examples of short stories, and then create their own endings to their own short stories. A useful lesson for both KS3 and GCSE English Literature and English Language students. Includes differentiated activities, source materials, engaging tasks and extensive student and teacher notes. Check out our English Shop for loads more free and inexpensive KS3, KS4, KS5, Literacy and whole school resources. AQA English Language Paper 1 and Paper 2 Knowledge Organisers AQA English Language Paper 1 Section A package AQA English Language Paper 1 Sections A and B package AQA English Language Paper 1 package AQA English Language Paper 2 Question 5 package AQA English Language Paper 1 Question 5 package AQA English Language Paper 2 Section A package AQA English Language and English Literature revision package An Inspector Calls whole scheme package An Inspector Calls revision package Macbeth whole scheme package Macbeth revision package A Christmas Carol whole scheme package A Christmas Carol revision package Jekyll and Hyde whole scheme package Jekyll and Hyde revision package Romeo and Juliet whole scheme package Power and Conflict poetry comparing poems package Power and Conflict poetry whole scheme package Love and Relationships poetry whole scheme package Unseen Poetry whole scheme package Or check out some Citizenship GCSE, RE, PSHE + RSE resources at EC Resources

In this PPT students will read different short stories making note of plot and themes. They will also explore the text type in preparation for writing their own short story,

Compiled the short stories we’ve discussed in #ShortSundays Twitter chats into a booklet which can be used for remote learning and/or oracy. Each story includes discussion questions, some kind of creative task and an extension. The focus is more on experiencing different genres/themes than deep analysis. Please let me know what you think! @StarEnglishhh Short Story 1: ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ by Gabriel García Márquez Short Story 2: 'A Good Man is Hard to Find’ by Flannery O’Connor Short Story 3: ‘Happy Endings’ by Margaret Atwood Short Story 4: ‘The Beggar’ by Anton Chekov Short Story 5: ‘Sweetness’ by Toni Morrison

Creative writing scheme range of activities to support writing

Ben and the Stolen Diamond is a short story I wrote for my year 4 class’s Talk 4 Writing unit on finding tales. We used the story for reading lessons, vocabulary work and a basis for shared writing. We also created story maps and internalised this as a model text. The story follows the generic plot of a finding tale based on Pie Corbett’s research into teaching writing. The story would be suitable for year 3 or 4 as it covers the grammar points for LKS2. In particular, there is a focus on fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases. There are also adverbs and an example of direct speech. This resource pack includes a PDF and a Word version so that you can adjust the story to fit your class’s needs. This resource complements the newspaper article on Ben and the Stolen Diamond which can be used for non-fiction teaching.

A collection of resources on planning a short story. The resources include: 40 slide PowerPoint 1st / 3rd person debate Tenses Features of narrative writing Grade 9 exemplar Worksheets Writing techniques Lecturer tips

Two lessons on the 19th century short story ‘The Necklace’ by Guy De Maupassant. Originally taught to a mid to high ability year 8 group.

This learning sequence is your ‘one-stop shop’ for finally getting them to plan a short story for success. By the time the plan is done, all the events in the story have been worked out and tested for efficacy and so the pitfalls of short story writing are mainly avoided. The whole narrative arc is planned for using ‘The Rule of One’ with each step in the planning being afforded time and practice through this 40 slide PPT. All task sheets for students are embedded in the slides for convenience and quick location. Hugely methodical to use with no great bridges for the teacher to make between slides. How often do student’s short stories get out of control and end up being of epic proportions? How often do students set off with a vague idea then lose their way? How often does a one sheet written plan end up NOT helping them to write a successful story and you are left scratching your head as to why? I am both a professional and award-nominated creative writer and a Lead Practitioner in English. This resource combines both of my practices and, it is my belief, that it offers a pertinent insight into how a professional writer’s strategies translate to outstanding classroom practice in teaching and learning.

This is a checklist I created for my IGCSE English B students, but can also be used for advanced storywriters in other year groups or programs. Can serve as a success criteria or a means of self or peer assessment.

A mini-unit on the Cambridge IGCSE short story ‘A Woman’s Rose’, by Olive Schreiner. The unit focuses on the themes but mostly on Assessment Objective 3, and the close-language analysis skills of connotation and word choice. It also introduces students to literary conflict and helps them to apply this. This could be used to build up to an essay practice or short PEE paragraph practice.

Creative writing short story lesson that explores The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant and how the writer uses narrator, narrative voice, plot and structure to engage his readers with this short story. Useful for creative writing as students reflect on how they can introduce their short stories and adapt structure and plot for their own writing. A useful lesson for both KS3 and GCSE English Literature and English Language students. Includes differentiated activities, source materials, engaging tasks and extensive student and teacher notes. Check out our English Shop for loads more free and inexpensive KS3, KS4, KS5, Literacy and whole school resources. AQA English Language Paper 1 and Paper 2 Knowledge Organisers AQA English Language Paper 1 Section A package AQA English Language Paper 1 Sections A and B package AQA English Language Paper 1 package AQA English Language Paper 2 Question 5 package AQA English Language Paper 1 Question 5 package AQA English Language Paper 2 Section A package AQA English Language and English Literature revision package An Inspector Calls whole scheme package An Inspector Calls revision package Macbeth whole scheme package Macbeth revision package A Christmas Carol whole scheme package A Christmas Carol revision package Jekyll and Hyde whole scheme package Jekyll and Hyde revision package Romeo and Juliet whole scheme package Power and Conflict poetry comparing poems package Power and Conflict poetry whole scheme package Love and Relationships poetry whole scheme package Unseen Poetry whole scheme package Or check out some Citizenship GCSE, RE, PSHE + RSE resources at EC Resources

‘He knows when you’ve been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake’. Here’s a fun writing activity to get your learners in the festive spirit. Invite your learners to enter a Gothic Christmas short story writing competition, based around the folklore/film of ‘Krampus’. With riddles, videos and sentence starters, this lesson is sure to put the ‘ho ho ho’ in ‘horror’. I’ve used this with learners across the key stages, with great, memorable results!

A series of lessons on dystopian short stories and creative writing, focusing on Henry Slesar’s ‘Examination Day’ and Ray Bradbury’s ‘The Pedestrian’. Suitable for Years 8-11. Resources include: Well-designed PowerPoints with a variety of independent and group tasks Worksheets with comprehension questions and exemplar paragraphs A scaffolded dystopian creative writing task with self-assessment sheet An essay question and planning sheet on ‘The Pedestrian’ including examples of introductions Recommendations of dystopian novels for wider reading

A booklet full of short stories for your students to enjoy. The table at the front of the booklet allows students to review and rate the stories that they have read.

Immerse your students in the thrilling world of storytelling with this comprehensive teaching unit on “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty. Designed for secondary English classrooms, this teaching unit explores the powerful themes, vivid imagery, and compelling character in O’Flaherty’s iconic short story. With a range of engaging activities, comprehension questions, language analysis sheets and an essay writing prompt, your students will analyze the effects of war and the fragility of human nature. Our teaching unit provides a sample lesson plan, extension tasks, and supplementary resources to support your teaching. From close reading and textual analysis to creative writing exercises, this comprehensive resource ensures that every aspect of the story is explored and understood. By the end of this unit, your students will have developed critical thinking skills, enhanced their literary analysis abilities, and gained a deeper appreciation for the craft of storytelling. Enhance your secondary English curriculum with our teaching unit on “The Sniper” and inspire a love of literature in your students. Get your hands on this print and teach resource today!