Small Things Like These Pre-reading and context lessons

This resource is an introductory set of lessons for Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, designed as a pre-teaching tool to give students valuable insight into the context, characters, and key themes of the novella. This could be 3 lessons or more depending on how you teach it.

The lessons build students’ knowledge of the main character, Bill Furlong, alongside wider context such as 1980s Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries. Activities also encourage students to engage with Keegan’s writer’s style and intentions.

A wide variety of differentiated tasks are included, offering opportunities for:

Pair and group discussions

Short, focused writing tasks

Whole-class debates

Independent prediction and analysis activities

Quick-writes and creative pre-reading tasks

There are also links to external sources (e.g., interviews and documentaries) that can be watched in class or independently, supporting further exploration of the text.

This resource is lesson-ready and can be used across multiple teaching sessions or adapted as a one-off context introduction. Perfect for teachers seeking to save planning time while ensuring students develop the background knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to approach the text with confidence.