KS3 & KS4 English curriculum

This unit uses and builds on pupils' understanding of power and coflict from previous units, including 'Lord of the Flies'. In 'Lord of the Flies' pupils explored how Golding presented natural and animalistic power. In this unit, pupils see how various writers have responded to the horrors of war, and they start to compare how they present power and conflict.This deepens pupils' conceptual understanding of power and conflict, and prepares them for 'Comparing Poetry from the First World War' and Key Stage 4 poetry units, where they will see how poets respond to other conflicts.

1. Understanding why people write about war
2. World War One: propaganda and trench warfare
3. Reading 'Propping Up the Line', a short story about World War One by Ian Beck
4. Analysing the presentation of the gas attack: Ian Beck's 'Propping Up the Line'
5. Ian Beck's ‘Propping Up The Line’: Alice’s experiences on the Home Front
6. The presentation of trauma in Ian Beck's short story, 'Propping Up the Line'
7. Symbolism and motif in Ian Beck's short story, ‘Propping Up The Line’
8. Vivid descriptive writing using Ian Beck's ‘Propping Up The Line’ as stimulus
9. Using sentence structure to create rhythm in writing about World War One
10. Reading Katherine Mansfield’s short story, ‘The Fly’ (1922)
11. Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly' (1922): exploring character foils and symbolism
12. Exploring the presentation of the boss in 'The Fly' by Katherine Mansfield
13. Debating different interpretations of Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’
14. Creative writing in the third person inspired by Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly'
15. Skim reading and close reading: Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter to his mother
16. Letter writing: planning, using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter as stimulus
17. Writing a letter as a soldier in the trenches of World War One
18. Improving the style of a letter: sentence structure and rhythm
19. Skim reading and close reading: 'Testament of Youth' by Vera Brittain
20. Letter writing: planning, using Vera Brittain’s ‘Testament of Youth’ as stimulus
21. Writing a letter from the British home front: tone, audience and purpose
22. Improving a letter: deliberate verbs and precise adjectives
23. Comparing texts about World War One using comparative topic sentences
24. Comparing texts about World War One in comparative analytical paragraphs