KS3 Whole-Class Reading Bundle (Spring 2)

KS3 Whole-Class Reading – Spring 2 (Year 7)
Lessons 1–5 + Medium-Term Plan + Reading Strategy Bookmarks
Genre: Historical Fiction, Poetry & Autobiographical Writing

This Spring 2 KS3 Whole-Class Reading bundle provides five fully resourced, curriculum-aligned lessons designed for Year 7 pupils. The unit explores how authors use language, personal experience, historical context and perspective to shape meaning, atmosphere and reader response.

Designed to save teachers hours of planning, this pack includes ready-to-teach PowerPoint lessons, structured reading tasks, oracy activities, vocabulary instruction, and a medium-term plan to support curriculum coherence.

Core Texts & Lesson Focus
Lessons 1–2: After the War – Tom Palmer

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pupils explore how language and vocabulary choices shape atmosphere and meaning in historical fiction. Through guided whole-class reading, students practise retrieval, inference and interpretation, supported by contextual knowledge of the author and historical setting.

Key learning focus:

1. Analysing vocabulary and atmosphere
2. Retrieving explicit information
3. Using inference to interpret implicit meaning
4. Understanding authorial and historical context
5. Summarising key ideas

Lessons 3–4: Windrush Child – Benjamin Zephaniah

Genre: Poetry / Autobiographical Writing

These lessons examine how personal experience, racism and migration are explored through poetry. Pupils analyse how Benjamin Zephaniah draws on real-life experiences to show the emotional impact of prejudice and the power of words.

Students explore how history can be presented differently depending on perspective, developing deeper inference, empathy and critical thinking.

Key learning focus:

1. Understanding the effects of racism and migration
2. Exploring how language can marginalise or empower
3. Recognising bias, perspective and historical voice
4. Making inferences about implied feelings and attitudes
5. Structured discussion, oracy and evidence-based interpretation
6. Producing concise summaries

Lesson 5: The Skylarks’ War – Hilary McKay

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pupils explore how authors create atmosphere and prepare readers through figurative language such as simile, metaphor and personification. The lesson strengthens inference skills by focusing on meaning that is implied rather than directly stated.

Contextual study of Hilary McKay and the novel’s historical background supports understanding of authorial perspective and setting.

Key learning focus:

1. Identifying and analysing figurative language
2. Exploring vocabulary choices and mood
3. Using inference to interpret unstated meaning
4. Understanding historical and authorial context
5. Participating in structured discussion
6. Summarising key ideas effectively

What’s Included in the Bundle:

1. Five Complete PowerPoint Lessons (Lessons 1–5)
2. Fully planned and ready to teach
3. Whole-class reading structure
4. Retrieval, inference and reasoning tasks
5. Tier 2 vocabulary instruction
6. Scaffolded comprehension and discussion tasks
7. Oracy-focused partner, group and whole-class activities
8. Opportunities for prediction, summarising and text analysis

Medium-Term Plan – Spring 2

A clear curriculum mapping document outlining:

1. Texts and lesson focus
2. Learning objectives
3. Vocabulary focus
4. Reading domains
5. Assessment opportunities
6. Cross-lesson progression

Set of Four Reading Strategy Bookmarks

Supports metacognitive reading strategies:

The Predictor
The Clarifier
The Questioner
The Summariser

Ideal for printing, laminating or digital classroom use.

Why This Resource Saves Time:

1. Instantly teachable — no extra prep needed
2. Consistent lesson structure for smooth delivery
3. Vocabulary, inference and reasoning tasks already sequenced
4. Extracts, questions and activities included
5. Designed by a KS3 specialist
6. Fully aligned with KS3 National Curriculum reading aims

Perfect For:

1. Year 7 English teachers
2. Whole-class reading lessons
3. Spring term fiction and poetry units
4. Literacy, comprehension and vocabulary development
5. Departments seeking consistent KS3 resources
6. ECTs, cover staff and non-specialists
7. TES sellers looking for polished, classroom-ready content