a water spirit or deity (god) sacred to West, Central and Southern Africa

a transition in a story to an earlier time in the life of one or more characters

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

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

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

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

Historic or outdated representations of people that may portray inequality or injustice.

Which of these are examples of present participles verbs? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') 

In 'Skin of the Sea' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire'), who transforms Simidele into a mermaid?

A {{ }} is when there is a transition to an earlier time in a character's life ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

when a writer suggests something bad is going to happen in the future

they are used at the beginning of most novels to intrigue the reader

when a writer uses vivid imagery to describe a particular scene

when there is a transition to an earlier time so the story isn't chronological

What is true of a flashback? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire')

In Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea', a {{ }} is a water spirit or deity (god) sacred to West, Central and Southern Africa ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

The {{ }} is the '-ing' form of the verb ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

In Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea', what is a Mami Wata? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

She gathers the souls of enslaved people who die at sea.

What is true of Simidele, the main character in Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

a method of comparison using 'like' or 'as'

when two or more words close by start with the same letter

Match these methods, all used by Natasha Bowen in 'Skin of the Sea', to their definitions ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

The sharks cut through the water like knives.

The sails of the ship were taught and tight, trembling in the wind.

Match these methods, all used by Natasha Bowen in 'Skin of the Sea', to their examples ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

moving or shaking in a rough, lurching way

Match each word to its meaning ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').

Simidele is swimming with sharks near a ship owned by slavers.

Simidele has a flashback to a time when she was human.

Simidele is sad she can't remember more about her life as a human.

Simidele sees the body of an enslaved person fall into the water.

Simidele swims towards the body of the enslaved person to gather her soul.

Simidele notices that the woman has been badly beaten.

Starting with the first plot point, put these events from Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') in chronological order.

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

Lesson outcome

Content guidance