Activities

The Centenary of the Birth of Dylan Thomas

This October sees the centenary of the birth of one of the 20th century’s greatest authors and poets, Dylan Thomas. There are few writers who fill their work with such vivid imagery and the anniversary gives us the excuse to delve into some of his most famous works and use… Read More

What is Plague?

Throughout medieval times, plague was a word that struck fear into the hearts of all that heard it whispered or shouted in their towns and cities. In this activity the pupils will find out what ‘plague’ actually is and how it was spread as well as the shocking news that… Read More

Class Reader: Anita and Me

By Naomi Hursthouse Anita and Me is a funny, irreverent and poignant ‘coming of age’ novel. It is so much more than the sum of its parts. It could just be a 1970s, Brummie To Kill a Mockingbird, but what makes this novel… Read More

Probability and the Brazil World Cup 2014

The games of the FIFA World Cup offer a great chance to work on probability using data read from charts. In the first activity the pupils will try to predict the results of group matches in three groups using FIFA rankings, the recent form of the teams and… Read More

Writing for different purposes: Brazil 2014

This summer Brazil will be hot news and not just for the tropical weather there for, in June, it hosts the 2014 FIFA World Cup and two years later will host the Olympic Games. How much do you, your friends or your family know about the… Read More

A Skulduggery Success Story

Bridget Young, English and Humanities teacher at The Holmewood School in London, tells us about her class’s rewarding experience using the Collins Readers schools edition of Skulduggery Pleasant in the classroom. Skulduggery posters had been plastered around the school and in my classroom. Read More

The Horror Genre: Creating Atmosphere

by Naomi Hursthouse What is it about the horror genre that continues to grip teenage readers? Two hundred years ago the young Mary Shelley was so enthralled by the ghost stories she heard that her imagination gave birth to Frankenstein. And now, my students still flock to the horror section of… Read More

Fun with Foreshadowing

By Cathy MacPhail You know the kind of stories I love? The kind of stories that begin like this: We all arrived at the lakeside cottage, my friends and I, for a weekend of fun. The lake sparkled in the sun; we could hear the birds singing… Read More

Starting a Story – Catherine MacPhail

  It’s the simple things that give us the best ideas for stories. I was walking along the street and I heard a boy talking on his mobile phone. All I could hear him saying was, ‘I know, I know, this is my last chance.’ I thought, ‘Last chance… Read More

Teaching Skulduggery Pleasant

Compelling characterisation The exciting action in Skulduggery Pleasant is played out by well defined and, at times, mysterious characters as written by author Derek Landy. In particular, the two main characters, the skeleton detective, Skulduggery Pleasant, and young Stephanie Edgley, break stereotypical moulds as they… Read More