stories which explain how the world began and what the world is like and why

a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it

when there is no punctuation at the end of a line of poetry

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

English

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

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

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

Subjects which particular individuals may be sensitive to, eg, adoption, migration, bereavement or death, divorce, poverty, deprivation.

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Pieter Bruegel's painting 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'

William Carlos Williams’s poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'

In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at three pieces of art about the same set of characters: Daedalus and Icarus. Starting with the first, put them in chronological order.

A pupil argued, 'Pieter Bruegel's painting and William Carlos Williams's poem present Icarus’s death as trivial.' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') What does trivial mean?

In Williams's poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire'), the poet uses no {{ }} throughout. This increases the pace we have to read the poem.

In Williams's poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire'), there is no punctuation at the end of any of the lines. What is this technique called?

Match the first six stanzas of Williams's poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') to its focus.

Williams's poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') is an {{ }} poem, which means a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.

In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. What type of story was this inspired by?

Daedalus and Icarus have been imprisoned by King Minos.

Daedalus creates wings from wax and feathers so they can fly away.

Daedalus tells his son not to fly too close to the sun.

Icarus flies higher and higher, enjoying the feeling of flying.

The wax begins to melt as Icarus flies close to the sun.

Daedalus offers his wings to the god, Apollo, and swears never to fly again.

Starting with the first, put these plot points from the myth 'The Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') in chronological order.

In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. Who is the smallest figure (person) in this painting?

In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. Who is the largest figure (person) in this painting?

In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. Which of these people or things are captured in the picture?

In the unit 'Myths and Legends', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. Which of these people or things are not captured in the picture?

Introduction

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Equipment

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Supervision

Worksheet