lesson plan

How a Book is Made: The Designer

Meet Nigel Jordan, graphic designer. Nigel designed all the inside pages for the Read On books, include Lone Wolf. Nigel is going to tell you about how he put the words and pictures together in the… 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

A good return on ‘The Returned’

I like using a variety of completely authentic materials in the classroom to show learners that the language they are acquiring is also used in the real world! One of my sources is film trailers – or bandes-annonces. They have the advantage of being short and snappy so the viewing… Read More

Causes and effects of World War 1

Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6 Learning Focus: To empathise with people’s feelings over the cause and effects of the Great War To be able to compare and contrast source material to form a personal opinion This year our TV screens, newspapers and more will be filled with stories… Read More