Meeting a fantastical creature in Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can effectively use topic sentences to present my ideas about how Bilan uses light and colour imagery to present the spirit bird.
Key learning points
- Use your first read through of an unseen extract to establish ideas about plot and characters.
- Use your second read through to examine words or phrases in more detail to consider the writer’s intention.
- Light imagery is where the writer uses descriptions of light in order to influence the atmosphere.
- Colour imagery is where the writer makes specific vocabulary choices to influence the reader.
- Topic sentences introduce the main idea of a paragraph and clearly tell the reader what your idea is.
Keywords
Topic sentence - a sentence that states the main idea of a paragraph
Present - to describe or show (someone or something) in a particular way
Imagery - the use of words or pictures in books, films, paintings, etc. to describe ideas or situations
Connotations - a feeling or idea that is suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning
Common misconception
That we will all have the same answer to a question about how a writer presents a particular character or theme.
The way we respond to how a writer presents a particular character or theme will be very individual since our responses depend on our own experiences or memories.
Teacher tip
Once they have created their topic sentence, you could ask the students to select at least two quotations from the text as evidence for their idea and explain those quotations for homework.
Equipment
You will need a copy of the Chicken House Books edition of ‘Asha and the Spirit Bird’ by Jasbinder Bilan.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.A fantastical creature is ...
Q2.Which of the following words for yellow suggests something valuable?
Q3.A topic sentence should ...
Q4.Concise means ...
Q5.Which light do we associate with mystery?
Q6.Colossal means ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In Jasbinder Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird', the feathers of the lamagaia are said to be ...
Q2.In Jasbinder Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird', Asha wants the lamagaia to be the spirit of her ...
Q3.In Jasbinder Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird', Asha meets the lamagaia under a...
Q4.To describe or show (someone or something) in a particular way means to ...
Q5.Why is 'The writer presents the spirit bird as beautiful' not an effective topic sentence?
Q6.What are the potential connotations of the word "mesmerized"?
To help you plan your 7 English lesson on: Meeting a fantastical creature in Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 English lesson on: Meeting a fantastical creature in Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the Step into the unknown: fiction reading and creative writing unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.