writing that includes reference to some, or all, of the five senses

usually to describe water or air that smells bad because it is completely still and without movement

of an emotion, to keep it hidden or bottled up

Effective sensory language using ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ as stimulus

English

Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting

Exploring William Carlos Williams’s poem ‘Landscape with the fall of Icarus’

Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'

Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow'

Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter'

Comparing poems: 'Brueghel's Winter' and 'The Hunters in the Snow'

Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott': understanding the ballad

Symbolism in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's ‘The Lady of Shalott’

Exploring enjambment in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's ‘The Lady of Shalott’

Descriptive writing using Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' as stimulus

Third person omniscient writing: ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ as stimulus

Writing a full descriptive piece: ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus

Reviewing and refining descriptive writing: alliteration, plosives and sibilance

Natasha Bowen's ‘Skin of the Sea’: understanding the extract

Writing inspired by ‘Skin of the Sea’: varying sentence types to create rhythm

Use of flashback in Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea'

Geoffrey Chaucer's ‘The Canterbury Tales’: compelling characterisation

Creating convincing characters using ‘The Canterbury Tales’ as stimulus

Pat Barker's 'The Silence of the Girls': understanding the extract

Madeline Miller's 'The Song of Achilles': understanding the extract

Comparative paragraphs: 'The Silence of the Girls' and 'The Song of Achilles'

Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘The Fisherman and the Jinni’: understanding the story

Exploring the theme of power in Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘One Thousand and One Nights’

The five part narrative structure

Planning a narrative using the five part narrative structure

Writing a full narrative piece using the five part narrative structure

Improving and proofreading a piece of narrative writing

In 'Myths and Legends Re-Told', pupils explore how they can alter traditional stories to convey modern ideas and morals. In 'Animal Farm: the Pigs and Power', pupils learn about Orwell's allegory and understand how he uses an apparently simple fairy story to convey a political message. 

In 'Step Into the Unknown', pupils look at the ways in which famous children's writers create convincing settings, particularly through descriptions of windows and doors. In 'Myths and Legends Re-Told', pupils take inspiration from the ways in which writers and poets use powerful imagery and symbolism, to inspire their own writing. 

In this unit, pupils read and explore a range of text types in connection to classical myths and legends. They first look at poetry before doing some descriptive writing inspired by poetry and paintings. They then explore Chaucer and modern retellings of myths to inspire their narrative writing.

Myths, legends and stories that inspire

Discriminatory behaviour or images, whether on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation, or otherwise.

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction or discussion of violence or fighting, including threats of violence or the aftermath of violence.

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

In 'Myths, Legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey'. Who was Lady Jane Grey?

Mary I sentences Lady Jane Grey to death.

Lady Jane Grey is executed at 17 years old.

Starting with the first, order these significant moments in Lady Jane Grey's life ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

The pale straw glimmered in the candlelight.

The gentle whimpering punctuated the silence in the room.

Her mouth was dry, with the occasional flavour of bile.

The soft satin scarf wrapped around her head was caressing and soft.

The stale air of the room penetrated her nostrils.

Match the sense to the sentence which employs it ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

The man roughly moved her arm towards the tender block.

The man guided her arm tenderly towards the block.

The man's touch was aggressively tender, and jolted her towards the block.

The man was tenderous as he guided her towards the block.

Which sentence, all inspired by 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire'), uses the word tender accurately?

The ladies-in-waiting were suppressingly sobbing.

She suppressed a sob, gulping it deep down.

She said nothing, and suppressed so everyone could hear.

Which of these sentences, all inspired by 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire'), uses the word suppress (or a form of the word) accurately?

The people were stagnant, moving around the tiny room furtively.

The atmosphere was stagnant: no-one dared move and start the execution.

The man stagnantly guided Jane to the block.

Which of these sentences, all inspired by 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire'), uses the word stagnant (or a form of it) accurately?

We call sight, sound, touch, taste and smell the five {{ }} ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

a word you can use as a substitute for a noun

Match each of these word classes to their definitions ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

The five senses are sight, sound, taste, touch and {{ }} ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

Identify the adjective in the following sentence: 'The pale straw was strewn on the floor carelessly.' ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

Identify the noun in the following sentence: 'The velvet cushion was green, bordered with gold.' ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

Identify the verb in the following sentence: 'Her trembling hand reached out into the air.' ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').

Starter Quiz

We call sight, sound, touch, taste and smell the five ('Myths, Legends and stories that inspire').