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The Hero GamePete Johnson

Introduction

New Windmills titles are supported by a full scheme of work, including a medium-termstudy plan, 15 individual lesson plans, and Student, Teacher and OHT resource sheets.These resources help students to engage with the novel and assist with your planning.

Each set of resources includes a set of self-contained lessons which can be used tosupplement your own teaching plans, or to provide extra support for specific teachingpoints. Each activity is individually mapped against the Framework Objectives andAssessment Foci. There are also guided reading and reading journal activities, plussuggestions for further study areas including speaking and listening, writing, reading anddrama activities. If your students have enjoyed reading this novel, there are ideas forother New Windmills they may like to read for pleasure.

Resources for The Hero Game:Synopsis 2Activate prior learning 2Activity sheets (Student sheets and OHTs) 3Teacher’s notes 22Reading journal 25– General reading journal 25– The Hero Game reading journal prompts 28Further study areas 32Reading for pleasure 32Medium-term study plan 33Individual lesson plans 36

Activities by Mike Royston

The following pages can be downloaded and printed out as required. This material may be freely copied for institutional use. However, this material is

copyright and under no circumstances can copies be offered for sale. The publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to reproduce copyright material.

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Teacher’sSheet © Harcourt Education Limited, 2007

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Charlie Marriott is sick of everything. His parents have separated and hehas no close friends. But a move to the countryside to live near his grandad marks a freshstart for Charlie and gives him an all-consuming new interest.

Grandad was one of the élite Spitfire pilots in World War II. Before long, Charlie hasmade a hero and a role model of him. For Grandad’s eightieth birthday, he arranges asurprise reunion with an old friend from the RAF. He also contacts on the internet aboyhood acquaintance, Maurice Perkins.

When Charlie goes to visit him, however, Perkins recalls Eddie Marriott not as a war herobut as a school thug who went on to join the fascist Blackshirts. Through Eddie, Perkinsalso became a Blackshirt – and he shows Charlie a photograph of himself and Grandad toprove it.

Charlie’s world falls apart. In playing the hero game, he has put Grandad on a very highpedestal. Now his hero is tarnished. To make matters worse, Grandad lies when Charlieconfronts him about his murky past.

Charlie turns the blame for shattering his idol onto Perkins, who is still a fascistsympathiser. As an act of revenge, Charlie tries to sabotage one of Perkins’s politicalmeetings at which further violence breaks out from a group called the Fighters AgainstFascism. Without realising it, Charlie is starting to relive a twisted version of Grandad’spolitical past.

Meanwhile, Grandad has distanced himself from Charlie. He is still unable to share thetruth with a grandson whose hero-worship he was happy to enjoy. Charlie can think ofonly one way out of the impasse: to borrow the Blackshirt photograph from Perkins, faceGrandad with it, and hope it will force him to admit the past – to both of them.

Charlie gets caught breaking into Perkins’s house. The police are called. Grandad,realising he is at the centre of Charlie’s tangled web, finally brings himself to explain histwo years as a Blackshirt. Doing so takes as much courage as flying Spitfires ever did.

Shortly afterwards, Grandad dies, but Charlie is consoled by the knowledge that the riftbetween them has been healed. He has got his hero back.

Activate prior learning

Some knowledge of the Blackshirts (the ‘British Union of Fascists’, BUF) formed underOswald Mosley in the 1930s will help set the context for Grandad’s early life. Chapter 9gives adequate information about the BUF: teachers are advised to consult it in advance.

Students need to be aware of the role of RAF Fighter Command in shaping the outcomeof World War II, particularly at the Battle of Britain (1940). In the scheme of work thatfollows, Preparation Activity 1 is devoted to this.

1 The Battle of Britain,September 1940

My engine screamed as I went down in a steeply banked dive on to the

tail of a forward line of Heinkels. I knew the air was full of aircraft flinging

themselves about in all directions, but, hunched and snuggled down

behind my firing-sight, I was conscious only of the Heinkel I had picked

out. As the angle of my dive increased, the enemy plane loomed larger in

the sight field, heaved towards the red dot, and then he was there!

I pressed the button. There was a smooth trembling of my Hurricane as

the eight-gun squirt shot out. I gave him a two-second burst and then

another. Cordite fumes blew back into the cockpit, making an acrid

mixture with the smell of hot oil and the aircompressors.

I saw my first burst go in and, just as I was on top of him, I noticed a

red glow inside the bomber. I turned tightly into position again and now

saw several short tongues of flame flick out along the fuselage. Then he

went down in a spin, blanketed with smoke and with pieces flying off.

I left him plummeting down and, horsing back on my stick, climbed up

again for more. The sky was clearing, but ahead toward London I saw a

small, tight formation of bombers completely encircled by a ring of

Messerschmitts. They were still heading north. As I raced forward, three

flights of Spitfires came zooming up from beneath them in a sort of

Prince-of-Wales’s-feathers manoeuvre. They burst through, upward and

outward, their guns going all the time. They must each have got one,

for an instant later I saw the most extraordinary sight of eight German

bombers and fighters diving earthward together in flames.

Pilot Officer John Beard

From Their Finest Hour, edited by Allan Machie and Walter Graebner, published by Allen & Unwin UK 1941.

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OHT © Harcourt Education Limited, 2007

2 Hero chart

Name: Date:

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StudentSheet © Harcourt Education Limited, 2007

A hero of mine

Name: Best known for:

Personal details:

Best qualities: A good role model because:

3 Character chart about Grandad

Name: Date:

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Grandad’s character Quotations from chapter 2

well-mannered

kind and caring

an interesting talker

brave

modest

4 Headings for recording thechanges in Charlie’s life

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moving house moving school

becoming confident becoming popular

finding a best friendfinding an interest in life

5 Smiler in action

Name: Date:

‘Scramble, scramble!’ shouts a voice. That’s the signal that means abattle in the skies against Hitler’s Luftwaffe.

‘Looks like Hitler wants to play,’ says eighteen-year-old Smiler. It’s hisfirst mission and he’s very scared. Not that anyone could ever guess that.

Smiler races to his Spitfire. His parachute is hanging on the wing tip. Heputs it on. The ground crew start up the engine. He runs his hand alongthe wing of the Spitfire.

‘Hello there, how are we tonight?’ He always speaks to his Spitfire as ifshe’s a beautiful woman. His mates do too. Vibrations start humming allthrough the Spitfire as if she’s coming alive. The door is closed. He sitstrapped in his cramped, tiny cockpit.

He is one of a squadron of twelve Spitfires. Smiler eases the throttleopen. It is take-off. ‘You’re a wonderful girl,’ he murmurs to the Spitfire.He talks to her all the time.

The first time he flew a Spitfire, he’d been terrified, though. She wentoff like a rocket and he couldn’t get the airspeed down again. Took hima few times to get used to her. But now, he thought, she was a magicalplane.

The airport is left far behind now as twelve Spitfires climb away on fullpower. Then control is calling. The controller’s voice is calm. But hisnews is terrifying. ‘OVER A HUNDRED ENEMY PLANES AREAPPROACHING.’

And then Smiler sees them in the far distance: a great plague of Germanbombers. They’re really putting on a show tonight. ‘Twelve against ahundred. Not the greatest odds,’ murmurs Smiler. Yet he knows theyhave a to win.

So there is nothing for it but to get stuck in. He remembers he mustnever fly straight for longer than fifteeen seconds. If he does, he’llalmost certainly be shot down. He’s got to hurl his plane across the sky.

A voice on his earphones says, ‘OK, boys, in we go.’

A new power surges through him. He’s flying into deadly combat. He’sflying for his life …

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6 Planning sheet for yourdescriptive writing

Name: Date:

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Event Descriptive language: notes and try-outs

An enemy plane (a Messerschmitt) attacks …

Smiler banks steeply to dodge the tracer bullets …

The engine of his plane catches fire …

7 Spidergram for Charlie’s hero

Name: Date:

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Grandad: Charlie’s hero

he treats Charlie asan adult on the same

level as himself

he was one of Britain’sSpitfire pilots in

World War II

8 Questions about Charlie’s hero

Name: Date:

Look carefully at chapter 3 and then answer the questions below.

1 How do you know Grandad was a courageous fighter pilot who often risked his lifefor his country?

2 How does Grandad make it easy for Charlie to settle into his new school?

3 What do Charlie’s schoolmates think of Grandad?

4 Why does Grandad become famous in his community?

5 What souvenirs of the war does Grandad give Charlie? How does Charlie treatthem?

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9 Box diagrams for analysing thepassage in chapter 12

Name: Date:

the bedroom is ‘dark and dingy’ (page 47)

the ‘heavy brown curtains’ stay drawn (page 47)

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sinister atmosphere ??

?

feeling of being trapped ??

?

10 Questions on the passage inchapter 12

Name: Date:

1 Find three adjectives describing the smell in Mr Perkins’s room. What impressions ofhim do they give you?

2 Mr Perkins sits behind a heavy desk lit by a ‘small green lamp’ (page 47). Charlie sitsopposite him on ‘the hardest chair ever made’ (page 47). Does this remind you of atypical scene in war films?

3 Why do you think the author chooses to make Mr Perkins have ‘gloved hands’(page 48) to hide a chronic skin disease?

4 The car alarm in the distance is compared with a ‘banshee wailing a warning’ (page 48). What impression does this give you of the situation Charlie is in?

5 ‘He was making me wait, making it worse’ (page 48). What impression of MrPerkins does this give you?

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11 Notes for Grandad’s letter tothe council

Name: Date:

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Grandad’s attitude to the statue

FOR AGAINST

it will keep alive the memory of it will make him seem ‘a vain old

those who ‘never came home’ man snatching glory from his dead

(page 60) comrades’ (page 60)

12 Planning sheet for your webpage

Name: Date:

Name of action group: ____________________________________________

Slogan:

Logo:

Website address:

Group’s aims:

Action timetable:

How to join:

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13 Charlie and Grandad

Name: Date:

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The worsening relationship between Charlie and Grandad

EVENT CONSEQUENCE

Ch sees the photo of Ch is now forced to believe

G as a Blackshirt (page 48) Mr Perkins’s story

Ch looks at G and sees The shadow of the past

‘a fifth person: … Grandad’s comes between Ch and G

teenage self’ (page 60)

G tells Ch a ‘big, fat

lie’ about his past (page 63)

G postpones an interview

for Ch’s book: ‘so tired’ (page 66)

G rows with Ch like a

‘raging madman’ (page 92)

Ch removes all photos of

G from his bedroom wall

(page 98)

14 Planning sheet for your essay

Name: Date:

Paragraph 1How does the shadow of the past first come between Charlie and Grandad inchapters 12–14?– The Blackshirt photo:

– The ‘fifth person’ (page 60) present:

Paragraph 2Show how Grandad lies, and what the effects of this are, in chapters 14–15.– Grandad denies having been a Blackshirt:

– The ‘invisible wall all round him’ (page 66) is built:

Paragraph 3Why and how do Grandad and Charlie fall out in chapter 20?– Grandad behaves like a ‘raging madman’ (page 92):

– ‘it was my turn to give him the boot’ (page 98):

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15 The debate about Yolande

’Yolande is an important

character in the story.

The author has put her in

to help explore the central

themes of the book from

a girl’s viewpoint.’

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16 Yolande and Charlie: friendshipchart

Name: Date:

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Yolande: Charlie’s loyal friend

WHAT SHE SAYS ITS EFFECT ON HIM

Phone call after Charlie shows him that not all

has been to Mr Perkin’s Blackshirts were evil

(pages 57–58)

Phone call after

Grandad has lied to

Charlie (pages 64–65)

Conversation after

Yolande gatecrashes

Mr Perkin’s meeting

(pages 84–85)

Conversation before

going to the clinic

(pages 99–100)

17 Quick questions about Grandad

1 How old is he when he dies?

2 What is the illness that leads to his death?

3 How does the local community mark his death?

4 What happened to his mother when he was still a boy?

5 Why did his father find life so hard?

6 Why was he rebellious at school?

7 What attracted him to the Blackshirts?

8 What did he think about the violence the Blackshirts gotinvolved in?

9 Why did he leave the Blackshirts?

10 What did he do next?

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18 Planning sheet for your newcovers

Name: Date:

Rough sketch of front Rough sketch of back

BLURB

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19 Rating chart for the book

Name: Date:

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Rating chart

PLOT Exciting Dull

CHARACTERS Believable Unconvincing

SETTINGS Varied Not varied

STYLE Gripping Flat

Teacher’s Notes referred to in theindividual lesson plans

Lesson 1

Key points about the Battle of Britain

It lasted from August to November 1940.

It was the decisive air battle of the war, determining which side controlled theEnglish Channel and frustrating Hitler’s invasion plans.

The German Luftwaffe under the command of Goering outnumbered RAF FighterCommand by four to one.

The battle was fought out mainly between German Messerschmitts and Heinkelsand British Spitfires and Hurricanes.

The skill and bravery of the pilots on both sides is legendary. Spitfire pilots oftenflew two or more sorties in succession, landing at airfields in south-east Englandonly to refuel and reload.

Further information

The Battle of Britain: Air Defence of Great Britain Spitfire: RAF FighterEd. Sir Peter Squire et al. Dan Patterson and Ron DickPublisher: Frank Cass Publisher: Howell

Lesson 5

Guided reading questions

1 How do you know Grandad was a courageous fighter pilot who often risked his lifefor his country?

2 How does Grandad make it easy for Charlie to settle into his new school?

3 What do Charlie’s schoolmates think of Grandad?

4 Why does Grandad become famous in his community?

5 What souvenirs of the war does Grandad give Charlie? How does Charlie treatthem?

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Teacher’sNotes © Harcourt Education Limited, 2007

Lesson 6

Suggested questions about the Blackshirts

1 How close to Hitler’s brand of fascism was Mosley’s?

2 Did Mosley’s supporters treat him as a führer?

3 Why did Mosley advocate the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Jews?

4 How did newspapers of the time respond to the Blackshirts’ activities?

5 Was it legal to belong to the Blackshirts?

6 What happened to Mosley during the war?

Further information

Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the WarsMartin PughPublisher: Pimlico

Suggestions for the class display

Bear in mind that this is a sensitive area. Display material needs to be carefullycontextualised.

Newspaper archives on the web abound with photographs, reports and editorialcomment about the BUF. This can provide the basis of the display.

Original work by students might include:

– a cartoon gallery about Mosley and his followers

– personal response writing such as argued items, poems and news reports

– a photographic montage (with or without captions) compiled fromdocumentary material, conveying a personal opinion of the British fascists

– evidence of far right activism drawn from present-day media.

Lesson 7

Guided reading questions

1 Find three adjectives describing the smell in Mr Perkins’s room. What impressions ofhim do they give you?

2 Mr Perkins sits behind a heavy desk lit by a ‘small green lamp’. Charlie sits oppositehim on ‘the hardest chair ever made’. Does this remind you of a typical scene in warfilms?

3 Why do you think the author chooses to make Mr Perkins have ‘gloved hands’ tohide a chronic skin disease?

4 The car alarm in the distance is compared with ‘ a banshee wailing a warning’. Whatimpression does this give you of the situation Charlie is in?

5 ‘He was making me wait, making it worse.’ What impression of Mr Perkins does thisgive you?

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Lesson 9

Aspects of issue-based newspaper writing

When analysing your chosen local newspaper story, focus on:

which aspect of the story is prioritised and how this is achieved

how the editorial viewpoint is conveyed through the choice of headline,interviewees and language

the balance between fact and opinion, including opinion disguised as fact

whether photographic captions are ‘neutral’ or slanted.

Lesson 10

Web page: style and content

Discuss styles most likely to attract teenagers who are merely surfing. Interactivestyles are probably the best: consider variations on question-and-answer.

The ‘action timetable’ should signpost three or four events which establish and givepublicity to the group, for example: a leaflet campaign, a public meeting, a Saturdaymorning demonstration in town, an interview on local radio, a guest appearance atschool assembly, etc.

Lesson 13

Speaking and listening objectives

Use the three objectives below for S&L assessment. Recast them in suitable language foryour particular students before announcing them:

1 Successfully adopting, and staying in, a role.

2 Giving relevant replies to the questions asked/asking questions relevant to thesubject.

3 Developing questions, follow-up questions or responses to questions in a confidentand convincing way.

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Reading journal

This reading journal is designed to help you record your thoughts about thebook you are reading. It is not intended to include only polished pieces ofwriting, but rather a collection of your developing responses to a text. To becomea better reader, it helps to write an entry at the end of each reading session inclass or at home, noting:

The strategies you have been using as you read, e.g. reading backwards andforwards, skimming, inferring.

Your responses to what happens/what characters do and say, and ask whatthe writer has done to make you feel this way.

The questions in your mind as you read, e.g. what you are wondering aboutat the moment.

The themes and patterns that you notice in the plot or the language used.

Similarities and connections to other books you have read.

Parts of the book (words, lines) that you have enjoyed.

How what happens in the book relates to your own experiences and feelings.

The notes you make will be useful to look back on, especially before writingabout the book. For example, it will show how the author has made a characterchange and affected your feelings about him/her as the book progresses.

Before starting to read …

Ask yourself:

What can I tell about the book from its front cover and the blurb on the back cover?

Have I read any other books by this writer? What were they about?

It is often useful to make a very brief timeline like the one below to track themain events, changes in narrator, scenes and characters. When you write aboutthe book in the future, this time-chart will remind you where things that happenare described.

While reading …

Ask yourself:

What does the opening tell me about the themes and ideas, characters andsetting of the book?

In what ways does the writer grab my attention?

How many points of view on events am I given?

What would I like to ask the author if I met him/her?

Beginningof book

End ofbook

20

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Reading journal (continued)

Name: Year:

Text title:

Text type:

Author:

Date started: Date finished:

20

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As soon as you have finished reading a book …

Ask yourself:

Can I sum up the main idea of the text in three sentences?

Which characters have changed and why? Which have stayed the same?

Who would I recommend this book to and why?

Award a book rating (between 1 and 5 stars, where � = poor and �� = excellent).

Write a review below summarising your thoughts about the book.

Reading journal (continued)20

21 The Hero Game reading journalprompts

Name: Date:

Use the questions below to help you fill in your English reading journal.

What you write will not be ‘marked’ by your teacher, only read.

Before starting the book, jot down your thoughts about:

why people seem to need heroes

why teenagers often get on extremely well with their grandparents.

Chapter 1

Why is Charlie ‘sick of everything’ (page 3) at the end of this chapter?

Do you feel sorry for him? Give two reasons for answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Chapter 2

Do you like Grandad?

Why do you think Charlie gets on with Grandad so well that he says ‘in a way, I was him’ (page 6)?

Chapter 3

How does Grandad turn Charlie’s life around?

Charlie thinks Grandad was a hero in the war. Does Grandad agree?

What do you think Charlie’s plan to surprise Grandad is?

Chapter 4

Why does Grandad enjoy his surprise so much?

What impression does Geoff Hays give of Grandad in his RAF days?

Chapter 5

What idea do you get of Yolande’s character in this chapter?

Charlie is keen to have her for his girlfriend. Is Yolande equally keen?

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21 The Hero Game reading journalprompts (continued)

Chapter 6

Why is Charlie worried about Grandad?

How does he reassure himself?

How does Charlie’s graphic novel draw him closer to Yolande?

Chapter 7

Why does Charlie ring up the local radio station?

Why is he pleased with the outcome?

Chapter 8

Why is Charlie shocked when he interviews Mr Perkins?

What impression does he form of Mr Perkins’s character?

Chapter 9

Had you heard of the Blackshirts before?

Does anything surprise you about what you learn in this chapter?

Chapter 10

Why do you think Grandad and Nan warn Charlie off Mr Perkins?

Does Charlie take any notice?

Chapter 11

Why does Charlie need to visit Yolande at the start of this chapter?

What further information does he find out on his second visit to Mr Perkins?

Chapter 12

How would you describe the atmosphere of the room where Charlie is shown theBlackshirt photo?

Do you think Mr Perkins is still a fascist?

What mistaken idea has Mr Perkins got about Grandad?

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21 The Hero Game reading journalprompts (continued)

Chapter 13

Who is Raymond? Why do you think the author introduces him into the book atthis half-way point?

Do you agree with Yolande’s explanation for Grandad being a Blackshirt?

Chapter 14

Who is the ‘fifth person’ (page 60) in Charlie’s family?

What lie does Grandad tell Charlie?

What effect does it have on both of them?

Chapter 15

Why do you think Mr Perkins sends Charlie the newspaper cutting?

In this chapter, Charlie says ‘the very best part of my life was falling to pieces’ (page 65). What does he mean?

Chapter 16

Why does Charlie go to the political meeting at Mr Perkins’s?

Why is he allowed in?

Chapter 17

Do you agree with Charlie that Gerald’s remarks are ‘racist ravings’ (page 76)?

How and why does Yolande interrupt the meeting?

Chapter 18

Why has Raymond gone to the meeting?

What do you find out in this chapter about why Yolande has been cool towardsCharlie?

Chapter 19

What is Yolande’s solution to her problem?

Do you think Charlie has any chance with Yolande now?

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21The Hero Game

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The Hero Game reading journalprompts (continued)

Chapter 20

Why does Grandad behave like a ‘raging madman’ (page 92) in this chapter?

Why does Charlie tear down his photographs of Grandad?

Chapter 21

What favour does Yolande ask Charlie to do?

Why is she so angry at him when he follows her to the clinic?

What does Charlie now decide he has to do about Grandad?

Chapter 22

‘Mission accomplished’ (page 110). Is it?

What difficulties do you forsee for Charlie at the end of this chapter?

Chapter 23

What news about Grandad does Mr Perkins give Charlie?

Why do the police visit Charlie’s home?

Chapter 24

How have Charlie’s lies affected Yolande?

Why is Charlie given a stern lecture by his mother?

How does Grandad help get Charlie off the hook?

Chapter 25

Why did Grandad join the Blackshirts?

Why did he keep it secret from Charlie?

Why are Charlie and Grandad reconciled by the end of this chapter?

Chapter 26

What view of Mr Perkins does Charlie take in this chapter? Why has it changed?

Do you think the book has a happy ending?

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Further study areas

The following study areas provide opportunities for creating interesting and stimulatingactivities:

Writing to imagine, explore and entertain: The secret Grandad keeps from Charlieclouds both their lives for most of the book. In trying to keep his secret, Grandad has totell lies. Explore the theme of ‘Secrets and Lies’ in a story of your own, either one fromreal life or one you make up.(Writing to imagine: Yr7 Wr5, Wr6, Wr9; Yr8 Wr5, Wr6, Wr7; Yr 9 Wr2, Wr5)

Drama-focused speaking and listening (pairs): Improvise a conversation betweenYolande and her mother about what to do in the future (see page 135). Her mother willclaim to have Yolande’s best interests at heart.(Drama: Yr7 S&L15, S&L16, S&L17; Yr8 S&L14, S&L15, S&L16; Yr9 S&L11, S&L12,S&L14)

Personal view: ‘Racism is the biggest evil our multi-cultural society faces.’ Write yourviews on this subject.(Personal view: Yr7 Wr15, Wr16; Yr8 Wr13, Wr14; Yr9 Wr13, Wr14)

Independent research/Information writing: Search the internet and/or reference booksfor information about the life of a fighter pilot in World War II. Then write about this inthe first person, using the format of ‘A life in the day’.(Writing to inform: Yr7 R1, R2, Wr7, Wr10; Yr8 R2, R3, Wr8, Wr10; Yr9 R1, R4, Wr7, Wr11)

Author’s craft: The Hero Game is written in the first person – Charlie himself tells a storythat has already happened. In group discussion, consider three advantages of writing anovel in this way. Refer to the text to illustrate your ideas.(Author’s craft: Yr7 S&L11, S&L14, R15, R16; Yr8 S&L10, S&L11, R10, R13; Yr9 S&L2,S&L10, R11, R12)

Reading for pleasure

If students have enjoyed reading The Hero Game and its themes of true and false heroismin wartime, they may also enjoy Spies by Michael Frayn, and Heroes by Robert Cormier.

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phic

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lore

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ar 8

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7:S

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1, S

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2, R

5, R

10Ye

ar 8

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L1,

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L6,

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9:S

&L

1, S

&L

7, R

2, R

4, R

11

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k o

f st

ud

y: 2

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din

g th

rou

gh t

he

nov

el: C

hapt

ers

3–9

+ D

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tten

hom

ewor

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here

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is in

tegr

al to

the

lear

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ach

ieve

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on.

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er h

omew

ork/

follo

w-o

n op

tion

s ar

e gi

ven

to m

axim

ise

teac

her

choi

ce.

The Hero Game

34


Lesson 10 Lesson 12Lesson 7 Lesson 8 Lesson 9+Med

ium

-ter

m s

tud

y p

lan

for

The

Her

o G

ame

by

Pet

e Jo

hn

son

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erag

eO

bje

ctiv

es a

nd

les

son

ou

tcom

esA

sses

smen

t fo

ciFr

amew

ork

ob

ject

ives

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k o

f st

ud

y: 3

Rea

din

g th

rou

gh t

he

nov

el: C

hapt

ers

10–1

8

Pass

age

inC

hapt

er 1

2

Cha

pter

14

and

earl

ier

part

s of

the

book

Cha

pter

s 17

–18

Ana

lysi

ng th

e la

ngua

ge a

nd s

truc

ture

of a

pas

sage

thro

ugh

shar

ed r

eadi

ngEv

alua

ting

the

effe

ctiv

enes

s of

the

auth

or’s

sty

lePl

anni

ng a

nd w

ritin

g to

des

crib

e

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e pl

ayin

g a

text

-bas

ed s

ituat

ion

with

a p

artn

erC

ompa

ring

the

attit

udes

of t

wo

char

acte

rs to

the

sam

e is

sue

Wri

ting

a fo

rmal

lett

er in

rol

e

Com

men

ting

on k

ey c

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cter

istic

s of

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nalis

tic w

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gPl

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er r

epor

tW

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g a

cont

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l new

spap

er r

epor

t

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R5,

R6,

W1,

W4,

W5,

W7

R3,

W2,

W3,

W6,

W8

R4,

R5,

R6,

R7,

W3,

W4,

W5,

W6

Year

7: R

12, R

14, W

r7, W

r10,

Wr1

4Ye

ar 8

:R10

, R13

, Wr5

, Wr7

, Wr1

0Ye

ar 9

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, R13

, Wr5

, Wr1

3

Year

7:S

&L

15, S

&L

16, R

9, W

r15,

Wr1

6Ye

ar 8

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L14

, S&

L15

, R6,

Wr1

3, W

r14

Year

9:S

&L

11, S

&L

12, W

r13,

Wr1

4

Year

7:R

8, R

9, R

10, W

r10,

Wr1

1Ye

ar 8

: R5,

R6,

R8,

Wr1

0, W

r12,

Wr1

7Ye

ar 9

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R6,

R8,

Wr9

, Wr1

1, W

r12

Pass

age

from

chap

ter

18 a

ndco

mm

unit

y is

sues

Cha

pter

s 8–

20

Who

le n

ovel

Exp

lori

ng a

cit

izen

ship

issu

e in

the

loca

l com

mun

ity

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min

ing

tech

niqu

es o

f pr

omot

ion

and

ad

vert

isin

g in

med

iate

xts

Cre

atin

g a

web

pag

e fo

r an

aud

ienc

e of

pee

rs

Trac

ing

the

chan

ges

in tw

o ch

arac

ters

’ rel

atio

nshi

p ov

er ti

me

Mak

ing

dia

gram

mat

ic n

otes

to a

ssis

t ess

ay p

lann

ing

Wri

ting

a li

tera

ture

ess

ay u

sing

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PEE

met

hod

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sid

erin

g th

e im

port

ance

of

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book

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ain

fem

ale

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acte

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stif

ying

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nal v

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poin

t in

deb

ate

Wri

ting

to a

rgue

and

exp

ress

opi

nion

(op

tion

al)

W2,

W3,

W5,

W6,

W7

R1,

R2,

R3,

R6,

W3,

W4,

W6,

W7,

W8

R2,

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Year

7:S

&L

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8, S

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12, W

r11,

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ar 8

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L10

, Wr1

0, W

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Year

9:S

&L

2, S

&L

5, S

&L

10, W

r9, W

r12

Year

7:R

6, R

8, R

9, W

r2, W

r4, W

r19

Year

8:R

3, R

5, R

10, W

r2, W

r10,

Wr1

7Ye

ar 9

:R2,

R3,

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, Wr3

, Wr1

6, W

r17

Year

7:S

&L

1, S

&L

5, S

&L

7, R

16Ye

ar 8

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L1,

S&

L5,

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L10

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Year

9:S

&L

2, S

&L

5, S

&L

9, R

5

Wee

k o

f st

ud

y: 4

Rea

din

g th

rou

gh t

he

nov

el: C

hapt

ers

19–2

6

+ D

enot

es s

ugge

sted

wri

tten

hom

ewor

k w

here

this

is in

tegr

al to

the

lear

ning

ach

ieve

d in

the

less

on.

Oth

er h

omew

ork/

follo

w-o

n op

tion

s ar

e gi

ven

to m

axim

ise

teac

her

choi

ce.

Lesson 11+

The Hero Game

35


Lesson 13 Lesson 14 Lesson15+Med

ium

-ter

m s

tud

y p

lan

for

The

Her

o G

ame

by

Pet

e Jo

hn

son

Cov

erag

eO

bje

ctiv

es a

nd

les

son

ou

tcom

esA

sses

smen

t fo

ciFr

amew

ork

ob

ject

ives

Wee

k o

f st

ud

y: 5

Rea

din

g th

rou

gh t

he

nov

el: W

hole

nov

el

Who

le n

ovel

wit

hpa

rtic

ular

refe

renc

e to

chap

ter

25

Who

le n

ovel

Who

le n

ovel

Form

ing

a su

mm

ativ

e vi

ew o

f on

e of

the

book

’s c

entr

alch

arac

ters

Find

ing

mat

eria

l for

a d

ram

a-fo

cuse

d a

ctiv

ity

by b

ackt

rack

ing

thro

ugh

the

book

Rol

e pl

ayin

g a

rad

io in

terv

iew

Dev

elop

ing

an o

verv

iew

of

the

book

R

elat

ing

the

book

’s ti

tle

to it

s ch

arac

ters

and

them

eSu

mm

aris

ing

the

plot

and

them

e in

the

form

of

a bl

urb

Est

ablis

hing

cri

teri

a fo

r m

akin

g ju

dge

men

ts a

bout

nov

els

Mak

ing

a pe

rson

al ju

dge

men

t of

the

book

’s e

ffec

tive

ness

Eva

luat

ing

the

book

’s f

ilmic

qua

litie

s

R3,

R6,

R7,

W2,

W5,

W7,

W8

R3,

R6,

R7,

W2,

W5,

W7,

W8

R3,

R6,

R7,

W1,

W3,

W4,

W7

Year

7:S

&L

3, S

&L

8, S

&L

15, S

&L

17, W

2Ye

ar 8

:S&

L2,

S&

L8,

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L14

, S&

L15

, W1

Year

9:S

&L

2, S

&L

3, S

&L

11, S

&L

12, W

2

Year

7:R

6, R

12, R

15, W

10, W

15, W

19

Year

8:R

4, R

10, R

13, W

11, W

12, W

16,

Year

9:R

2, R

5, W

9, W

12, W

16

Year

7:S

&L

1, S

&L

5, R

10, R

15, W

18, W

19Ye

ar 8

:S&

L10

, S&

L11

, R8,

R10

, W17

, W18

Year

9:S

&L

4, S

&L

5, R

8, R

10, W

16, W

17

+ D

enot

es s

ugge

sted

wri

tten

hom

ewor

k w

here

this

is in

tegr

al to

the

lear

ning

ach

ieve

d in

the

less

on.

Oth

er h

omew

ork/

follo

w-o

n op

tion

s ar

e gi

ven

to m

axim

ise

teac

her

choi

ce.

The Hero Game

36


The Hero Game by Pete Johnson Lesson 1 60 minutes

Class: Date: Period:

Lesson coverage: Information about the Battle of BritainLesson aims: 1 To analyse the style of a narrative passage

2 To locate and retrieve information from reference sources3 To write to inform and explain for an audience of peers

Prior learning/ Experience of searching reference sources for informationknowledge: Experience of writing for a real audience

Book activity: Preparation: Activity 1 – Researching the historical background to thenovel and writing a factual booklet for peers

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L1, R1, R2, R12, Wr10, Wr11 R1, R2, R3Year 8: S&L10, R1, R2, R4, Wr10, Wr11 W1, W2, W12Year 9: S&L2, R1, R2, R4, Wr9, Wr12

Starter: (15 minutes) Tell the class that a major character in the book has been afighter pilot in World War II. Briefly contextualise the Battle of Britain.Relevant facts are printed in the Teacher’s Notes, page 22. Then displayOHT 1 – ‘The Battle of Britain, September 1940’ – on an OHP and read italoud.

Introduction: (15 minutes) Take responses to the passage. Ask: what makes it a vividpiece of description? How does the writer’s choice of: i verbs, ii figurative language contribute to its effect? Annotate the OHT. End byasking: on the evidence of this passage, did the Battle of Britain pilotsdeserve Churchill’s accolade ‘Knights of the air’?

Development/ (30 minutes) Tell students that, working independently, they are to Plenary: research and produce an information booklet about the Battle of Britain

for their own age group. It will be four pages long and make strong useof presentational features. This should be planned during this stage andundertaken for homework.

Divide the class into small groups to discuss the contents of the bookletand where to find information. Advice on this is printed in theTeacher’s Notes, page 22. Finally, confirm that all students are clearabout the project and set a completion date.

Homework/ Students research and create their booklets.Follow-on:

Resources: OHT 1, Teacher’s Notes page 22.

Personal teaching notes:

The Hero Game

37




Lesson coverage: The novel’s central themeLesson aims: 1 To exchange ideas with and question classmates

2 To empathise with the novel’s main character by drawing onanalagous experience

3 To plan a formal talk for an audience of peers

Prior learning/ Experience of working collaboratively in groupsknowledge: Experience of making a formal presentation in class

Book activity: Preparation: Activity 2 – Planning and preparing a five-minute talk to asmall group

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L1, S&L3, S&L7, S&L14, Wr3 W2, W7Year 8: S&L1, S&L3, S&L5, S&L9, Wr3Year 9: S&L1, S&L2, S&L5, S&L10, Wr2

Starter: (15 minutes) Establish with the class that in this novel Charlie makes ahero of his grandad. Ask students about their own heroes. Are they allentertainers or sports people? Does every hero become famous? Whydo we have heroes?

Introduction: (15 minutes) Distribute Student Sheet 2 – a chart for students, workingindividually, to fill in with details about someone they regard as a hero.Explain the kind of information required for each box, particularly theone specifying ‘A good role model because: …’. Students can use noteform as they work.

Development: (20 minutes) Divide the class into small groups. Students read eachother’s charts and ask questions about the entries made. Encouragethem to be robust in their questioning, pressing classmates to bedetailed and precise as they justify their choices.

Plenary: (10 minutes) Tell students they are to prepare and deliver a five-minutetalk to a small group. Nominate a lesson in the near future for this. Endby highlighting the aims printed in Book Activity: Preparation 2. Thesewill form the success criteria when the talks are given.

Homework/ Students prepare and rehearse their five-minute talks.Follow-on:

Resources: Student Sheet 2


The Hero Game

38




Lesson coverage: Chapters 1–3Lesson aims: 1 To read inferentially to understand a character

2 To support points about character with textual evidence3 To write an explanatory account of how a character changes over

time

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapters 1–3knowledge: Experience of using the PEE method of analysis

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 1 – Exploring how Charlie’s life is transformed byGrandad in chapters 1–3

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L4, R8, R12, Wr10, Wr19 R2, R3, R6Year 8: S&L1, R5, R10, Wr10, Wr17 W2, W3, W4Year 9: S&L2, R1, R5, Wr9, Wr16

Starter: (15 minutes) Tell students they are to describe and explain the changesbrought about in Charlie’s life by Grandad. Read chapter 1 (very short)around the class. Ask for three reasons why Charlie is shy andwithdrawn before he meets Grandad. Write them up on the board.

Introduction: (15 minutes) Divide the class into small groups. Distribute StudentSheet 3 – a character chart about Grandad. The students’ task is to findtextual evidence for the five points made. They enter brief quotationsfrom chapter 2 on their sheets.

Development: (20 minutes) Skim chapter 3 to establish that Charlie’s life changesradically when he moves to Grandad’s village. Display OHT 4 – sixheadings under which students can list these changes – on an OHP.Annotate the OHT as they offer responses. This is straightforward,requiring only basic inference, but give generous praise to motivatestudents for the homework. They should copy the main OHTannotations before this lesson ends.

Plenary: (10 minutes) Set the homework/follow-on below. Suggest threeparagraphs, which can follow the a, b, c structure of the Book Activity.Insist on textual evidence in the form of quotation. Briefly revise theP(Point) E(Evidence) E(Explanation) (PEE) method.

Homework/ Students write an account of how and why Charlie’s life changes for the Follow-on: better in chapters 1–3.

Resources: Student Sheet 3, OHT 4.


The Hero Game

39




Lesson coverage: The passage from Charlie’s graphic novel in chapter 6Lesson aims: 1 To analyse the language and structure of part of a graphic novel

2 To write a continuation of the passage in a similar style3 To write to imagine, explore and entertain

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapter 6knowledge: Some understanding of the concept of a graphic novel

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 2 – Examining the style of a graphic novel anddeveloping the extract from it further

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: R7, R12, R14, Wr5, Wr6, Wr7 R1, R4, R5Year 8: R4, R8, R10, Wr5, Wr6, Wr7 W1, W4, W7Year 9: R5, R11, R12, Wr4, Wr5, Wr6

Starter: (15 minutes) Discuss with the class what a graphic novel is. Compare itwith a storyboard: a linked sequence of ‘snapshots’ with descriptivecaptions, normally in the present tense. Then distribute Student Sheet 5– a clean copy of the passage for students to annotate in the next stageof the lesson. Ask several expressive readers to perform it aloud as if itwere a playscript.

Introduction: (25 minutes) Divide the class into small groups. Students annotate their sheets by: i writing instructions for the illustrator against the firstand last paragraphs, ii underlining four Subject Verb Object (S V O) sentences, iii highlighting four passages of direct speechand identifying the speakers. Then devote ten minutes to comparing theresults in whole class discussion.

Development/ (20 minutes) Distribute Student Sheet 6 – a planning sheet for studentsPlenary: to write an outline of how they will continue the passage – and display

it as an OHT. Explain that this will be started now and finished forhomework.

Ask for ideas. Enter a selection of them on the OHT. Then allow ten tofifteen minutes for the writing to get under way. Support individuals inadopting a suitable style: simple sentence structures, present tense, abalance between description and direct speech, fast-paced action.

Homework/ Students write a continuation of the graphic novel passage in five or six Follow-on: paragraphs. They illustrate two or more of these.

Resources: Student Sheet 5, Student Sheet/OHT 6.


The Hero Game

40




Lesson coverage: Chapters 3–8Lesson aims: 1 To identify and explain two conflicting views of a character

2 To plan for an essay by making brief, clearly organised notes3 To write a literature essay using the PEE method

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapters 3–8knowledge: Familiarity with PEE-based analysis

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 3 – Comparing two views of Grandad’s character,first in note form and then in a formal essay

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L1, S&L5, R8, R12, Wr12, Wr19 R2, R3, R5Year 8: S&L1, S&L10, R5, R13, Wr16, Wr17 W2, W3, W4, W6Year 9: S&L1, S&L2, R5, R11, Wr 16, Wr17

Starter: (15 minutes) Skim chapter 8 with the class. Then brainstorm the mainimpressions of Grandad given by Maurice Perkins. List at least threepoints on the board. Ask: how do they show Grandad in a bad light?Why is Charlie taken aback?

Introduction: (20 minutes) Divide the class into small groups or pairs. DistributeStudent Sheet 7 – a partly completed spidergram for recording whyGrandad becomes Charlie’s hero in chapters 3–8. Groups add fourpoints to it. Guided reading questions for weaker groups are printed inthe Teacher’s Notes, page 22, and reproduced on Student Sheet 8. Endthis stage by taking feedback and agreeing on key points.

Development: (15 minutes) Create a second spidergram, this time on the board and asa class, to show how totally opposite Mr Perkins’s view of Grandad isto Charlie’s (and Geoff Hays’s in chapter 4). Refer back to the Starter forthis. Concentrate on bringing out contrasts. Emphasise how thespidergram is a useful tool for doing so.

Plenary: (10 minutes) Review the ground covered in this lesson. Ask students toexplain how two such different views of the same character can be held.Then set the homework/follow-on below.

Homework/ Students use both spidergrams to plan and write a literature essay:Follow-on: ‘Describe and explain the two different views of Grandad given in

chapters 3–8’. Use the P(Point) E(Evidence) E(Explanation)(PEE) method.

Resources: Student Sheet 7, Student Sheet 8, Teacher’s Notes page 22.


The Hero Game

41




Lesson coverage: Chapter 9 and information about the BlackshirtsLesson aims: 1 To search the internet for information

2 To form a considered opinion about a citizenship issue3 To contribute to a class display of researched material

Prior learning/ Experience of using an internet search engineknowledge: Some awareness of the rise of fascism in the 1930s

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 4 – Researching the social background to part ofthe novel and creating a class display around it

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L1, S&L7, R2, R5, R10 R2, R3, R6, R7Year 8: S&L1, S&L6, R2, R5, R16Year 9: S&L1, S&L7, R2, R4, R11

Note: This lesson depends on access to the internet.Starter: (20 minutes) Tell students that they are to search the internet for

information about the Blackshirts in the 1930s. Then read chapter 9(very short) around the class. Ask students for questions raised by thechapter to which they genuinely want answers. A list of possibilities isprinted in the Teacher’s Notes, page 23. Write four or five on the board:these will guide the research in the next stage of the lesson.

Introduction/ (30 minutes) Suggest web sites to visit for the required information.Then ask students to work independently on screen using appropriatestrategies to select the information they want: highlighting, merging,cutting and pasting, etc. At the end of this stage, they print out theirwork.

Plenary: (10 minutes) Nominate a future lesson in which the class display basedon this research and the homework/follow-on will be assembled. Eachstudent should provide at least one item. Some will, ideally, be jointefforts. There is a list of suggestions in the Teacher’s Notes, page 23.Ensure that everyone is clear about their contribution by the end of thelesson.

Homework/ Students continue their research and prepare their contributions to the Follow-on: class display.

Resources: Teacher’s Notes page 23


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Lesson coverage: Chapter 12, pages 47–48Lesson aims: 1 To use shared reading to analyse the language and structure of a

passage2 To evaluate the effectiveness of the author’s style3 To plan and write a descriptive piece using similar techniques

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapter 12knowledge: Experience of commenting on an author’s style

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 5 – Reading a passage analytically and writing todescribe

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: R12, R14, Wr7, Wr10, Wr14 R4, R5, R6Year 8: R10, R13, Wr5, Wr7, Wr10 W1, W4, W5, W7Year 9: R12, R13, Wr5, Wr13

Starter: (15 minutes) Ask students in pairs to imagine themselves trappedunderground. They discuss the precise circumstances of this, then writedown two sentences which convey their physical feelings.

Have volunteers read their sentences aloud. Invite comment. End thisstage by asking: what do we mean by ‘atmosphere’ in a piece ofwriting? How do good writers create it?

Introduction: (25 minutes) Read aloud the passage from chapter 12. Tell students tothink about its atmosphere as you do so. Then distribute to the pairsStudent Sheet 9 – two box diagrams for recording during discussionhow the author creates: i a sinister mood, ii a feeling of being trapped.Guided reading questions to support weaker students are printed in theTeacher’s Notes, page 23, and reproduced on Student Sheet 10. End thisstage by taking feedback for ten minutes.

Development: (10 minutes) Ask the class to find uses of language and imagery in thepassage which suggest: a decay, b secrecy, c captivity. How do theseimpressions help us identify with Charlie’s situation here?

Plenary: (10 minutes) Summarise the main learning points of the lesson.Emphasise that atmosphere in descriptive writing is most stronglyevoked by a combination of small sensory details. Then set thehomework/follow-on below.

Homework/ Students plan and write a three-paragraph description on one of the Follow-on: topics listed in Book Activity: Exploration 5.

Resources: Student Sheet 9, Student Sheet 10, Teacher’s Notes page 23.


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Lesson coverage: Chapter 14 and earlier parts of the bookLesson aims: 1 To role play a text-based situation with a partner

2 To compare the attitudes of two characters to the same issue3 To write a formal letter in role

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapter 14knowledge: Familiarity with the conventions of a formal letter

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 6 – Role playing a difference of opinion betweenCharlie and Grandad, then writing an explanatory letter

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L15, S&L16, R9, Wr15, Wr16 R3Year 8: S&L14, S&L15, R6, Wr13, Wr14 W2, W3, W6, W8Year 9: S&L11, S&L12, Wr13, Wr14

Starter: (15 minutes) Read aloud pages 59–60, where the issue of a statue tohonour Grandad is first raised. Brainstorm with the class two reasonswhy Charlie is in favour of it and two reasons why Grandad hasreservations. Which view do students share, and why?

Introduction: (15 minutes) Tell students that, in pairs, they are to role play aconversation between Charlie and Grandad about the statue. Charlieargues strongly for it; Grandad expresses doubts but is open topersuasion. Allow five minutes’ preparation time, then five minutes forthe performance.

Development/ (30 minutes) Distribute Student Sheet 11 – a partly completed chart for Plenary: noting down why Grandad feels torn about the statue. Working by

themselves, students draw on the role play to add two more points toeach column.

Then tell students that Grandad decides to write to the council givinghis decision. They will write this letter for the homework/follow-on,which you should now set. Reserve ten minutes to revise theconventions of laying out a formal letter. Suggest it has three mainparagraphs. Emphasise the need for technical accuracy, includingcorrect spelling.

Homework/ Students write Grandad’s letter to the council explaining his decisionFollow-on: about the statue. It is up to students what this will be.

Resources: Student Sheet 11


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Lesson coverage: Chapters 17–18Lesson aims: 1 To identify and comment on some key characteristics of journalistic

writing2 To work in role as a journalist to plan and structure a newspaper

report3 To write a newspaper report on a controversial topic

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapters 17–18knowledge: Familiarity with newspaper writing

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 7 – Writing a newspaper report for the localnewspaper about the disturbances at Mr Perkins’s political meeting

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: R8, R9, R10, Wr10, Wr11 R4, R5, R6, R7Year 8: R5, R6, R8, Wr10, Wr12, Wr17 W3, W4, W5, W6, W7Year 9: R4, R6, R8, Wr9, Wr11, Wr12

Starter: (15 minutes) Skim chapters 17 and 18. Ask the class to put themselvesinto role as undercover journalists at the meeting. Which events wouldthey build their story around? What would be most likely to grab theheadlines? Make a quick list on the board.

Introduction: (20 minutes) Tell students they are to write in role their report on themeeting for the local paper. Ask them to rough-draft: a an attention-catching, emotive headline, b the first paragraph answering ‘wh’questions, c two interviews, d a strong final sentence.

Take brief feedback. Then distribute copies of a report from your localnewspaper on a controversial topic.

Development: (20 minutes) Discuss with the class the characteristics of journalisticwriting to be found in the report. Focus on: i emotive language, ii exaggeration and bias, iii the way interviews are edited to suit the‘slant’ of the report, iv the impact of presentational devices. Advice onconducting this stage of the lesson can be found in the Teacher’s Notes,page 24.

Plenary: (5 minutes) Use this to set the homework/follow-on below.

Homework/ Students write a report for the local newspaper about the political Follow-on: meeting at Mr Perkins’s house, making use of the techniques of writing

examined in this lesson. If possible, they should use a computer tomake their work resemble a real newspaper.

Resources: Copies of a local newspaper report, Teacher’s Notes page 24.


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Lesson coverage: Chapter 18, pages 79–85 and community issuesLesson aims: 1 To explore a citizenship issue in the local community

2 To examine techniques of promotion and advertising used in mediatexts

3 To create a web page for an audience of peers

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapter 18knowledge: Familiarity with the typical format of a web page

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 8 – Creating a home web page to promote andexplain a newly formed action group

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L1, S&L8, S&L12, Wr11, Wr17 W2, W3, W5, W6, W7Year 8: S&L1, S&L5, S&L10, Wr10, Wr14Year 9: S&L2, S&L5, S&L10, Wr9, Wr12

Starter: (15 minutes) Tell students that, working in pairs, they are to create ahome web page advertising an action group that they have set up.Provide a context for this by referring to Raymond’s ‘new organization’in chapter 18. Then give them ten minutes to make a short list of issuesthey feel strongly about in their local community or in school.

Introduction/ (40 minutes) In pairs, students compare lists, then decide on a common Development: issue. Distribute Student Sheet 12 – a planning document for the

writing task. At your discretion, have copies of a real home web pageavailable as a model. Most students will be familiar enough with thetypical format, though.

Support pairs as they work. They will need particular guidance on: i the style of their ‘manifesto’, ii the content of their ‘action timetable’.Advice on this can be found in the Teacher’s Notes, page 24. Changeperiodically to class discussion during this stage when several pairs areasking for the same help.

Plenary: (5 minutes) Set the homework/follow-on below and nominate a futurelesson for the completed web pages to be read and evaluated. Pairsneed to arrange to work together out of class.

Homework/ In pairs, students complete their web pages. They should bring them to Follow-on: a future lesson when each pair will read another pair’s web pages.

Resources: Student Sheet 12, copies of a home web page from the internet(optional), Teacher’s Notes page 24.


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Lesson coverage: Chapters 8–20Lesson aims: 1 To trace the changes in the main characters’ relationship over time

2 To make notes in the form of a flow diagram to assist essay planning

3 To write a literature essay using the PEE method

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapters 8–20knowledge: Familiarity with the PEE method of analysis

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 9 – Explaining how and why Charlie’s relationshipwith Grandad deteriorates in the second half of the book

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: R6, R8, R9, Wr2, Wr4, Wr19 R1, R2, R3, R6Year 8: R3, R5, R10, Wr2, Wr10, Wr17 W3, W4, W6, W7, W8Year 9: R2,R3, Wr1, Wr3, Wr16, Wr17

Starter: (20 minutes) Tell students they are to make notes for an essay tracingthe decline of Charlie’s relationship with Grandad up to the end ofchapter 20. Brainstorm explanations for this, for example: Charlie’sdiscovery of Grandad’s pre-war past, Grandad’s lies, Mr Perkins’srevelations about Grandad’s schooldays, etc. Write three or four keypoints on the board.

Introduction/ (25 minutes) Divide the class into small groups. Distribute Student Development: Sheet 13 – a cause-and-effect chart recording six stages in the worsening

relationship. Students discuss and fill in the ‘Consequence’ column.Support groups who find difficulty in: i keeping the order of eventsclear in their minds, ii empathising with the two characters concerned.

At the end of this stage, devote ten minutes’ class discussion tocomparing points made on the charts.

Plenary: (15 minutes) Set up the homework/follow-on below and distributeStudent Sheet 14 – a planning frame for the homework essay. Takestudents through the sheet. Emphasise the need to: i use textualquotation to support each major point, ii use a formal style andaccurate punctuation and spelling. Revise the P(Point) E(Evidence)

E(Explanation) (PEE) method and model an example.

Homework/ Students describe the way Charlie’s relationship with Grandad breaks Follow-on: down between chapters 8 and 20 and explain why it does so.

Resources: Student Sheet 13, Student Sheet 14.


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Lesson coverage: Whole novelLesson aims: 1 To consider the importance of the book’s main female character

2 To justify a personal viewpoint in debate3 To write to argue and express opinion

Prior learning/ Awareness that a character is the author’s creation, not a real personknowledge: Experience of exchanging views in class debate

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 10 – Considering the character of Yolande andevaluating her role in the book

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L1, S&L5, S&L7, R16 R2, R5, R6Year 8: S&L1, S&L5, S&L10, R10Year 9: S&L2, S&L5, S&L9, R5

Starter: (10 minutes) Tell students they are to prepare for and take part in adebate about the author’s presentation of Yolande. Display OHT 15 – acomment on Yolande’s role in the story – to announce the topic. Keepthis displayed throughout the lesson. Brainstorm with the class theirinitial reactions to the claim that Yolande is ‘an important character’who helps the author ‘explore the central themes of the book from agirl’s viewpoint’.

Introduction: (20 minutes) Divide the class into small groups. Distribute StudentSheet 16 – a chart for recording evidence that Yolande acts as a loyalfriend to Charlie. Groups discuss and fill in the right-hand column. Endthis stage by asking students to decide where they stand on the issue ofYolande helping to explore the central themes of the book from a girl’sviewpoint.

Development: (25 minutes) Tell the class that you will lead the debate.

Conduct the debate. Ensure that you provoke students to think forthemselves and revisit the text to support what they say. Everyoneshould contribute.

Plenary: (5 minutes) Summarise the balance of opinion about Yolande to haveemerged during the lesson.

Homework/ If this option is taken, students draw on the class debate to write Follow-on: discursively about Yolande’s character and role in the story, as in Book

Activity: Exploration 10c.

Resources: OHT 15, Student Sheet 16.


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Lesson coverage: Whole novel with particular reference to chapter 25Lesson aims: 1 To form a summative view of Grandad and how he is presented in

the book2 To backtrack through the book for material required by a drama-

focused task.3 To role play a radio interview

Prior learning/ Pre-reading of chapter 25knowledge: Experience of unscripted drama

Book activity: Exploration: Activity 11 – Role playing an interview between Charlie’smother and a radio talk show host

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L3, S&L8, S&L15, S&L17, W2 R3, R6, R7Year 8: S&L2, S&L8, S&L14, S&L15, W1 W2, W5, W7, W8Year 9: S&L2, S&L3, S&L11, S&L12, W2

Starter: (20 minutes) Ask students to skim chapters 25 and 26. Then displayOHT 17 – ten quick questions about: i Grandad’s early life, ii thecommunity’s reaction to Grandad’s death. Some of these will be literal,some inferential: explain the difference. Then give students fifteenminutes to write and check their answers.

Introduction/ (30 minutes) Tell students that, in pairs, they are to plan and act out an Development: interview on local radio with Charlie’s mother, in which she presents a

tribute to Grandad. Establish that the interview will cover: a Grandad’schildhood, b his membership of the Blackshirts, c his service in the RAF,d his relationship with Charlie. Write on the board the three S&Lobjectives for the task printed in the Teacher’s Notes, page 24. Thenallow pairs fifteen minutes to draft out questions and answers.

Ask pairs to do a dry run of the interview, then to join up with anotherpair. Each pair performs for three to five minutes as the other listens.Tape-recording can add a sense of occasion.

Plenary: (10 minutes) Pairs exchange evaluative comments, using the four S&L objectives.

Resources: OHT 17, Teacher’s Notes page 24.


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Lesson coverage: Whole novelLesson aims: 1 To develop an overview of the book

2 To relate the book’s title to its characters and theme3 To summarise the plot and theme in the form of a blurb

Prior learning/ Some understanding of ‘theme’knowledge: Familiarity with the nature and purpose of a blurb

Book activity: Inspiration: Activity 1 – Considering the significance of the book’s title,then designing the front and back covers for a new edition

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: R6, R12, R15, W10, W15, W19 R3, R6, R7Year 8: R4, R10, R13, W11, W12, W16, W2, W5, W7, W8Year 9: R2, R5, W9, W12, W16

Starter: (20 minutes) Tell students they are to consider how the book’s titleapplies to the theme and characters, then in the light of this to designnew front and back covers.

Skim the last conversation Charlie has with Grandad (pages 128–132).Make a class list of the things Charlie learns about him here for the firsttime. Ask students about the significance to the novel’s title of ‘Toldmyself you needed me to be a complete hero, when really I just didn’twant you to know’ (page 130).

Introduction: (15 minutes) Lead class discussion about the reasons for ‘Game’ in thetitle. Establish that, throughout the book, both Grandad and Charlieplay up to an image of the former that is too perfect to be true. Citethree specific examples. Ask: do we criticise Grandad for lying? Howmuch pressure does Charlie put on him, consciously or not, to be ‘acomplete hero’?

Development: (20 minutes) Divide the class into small groups. Distribute StudentSheet 18 – a frame for creating new front and back covers, including ablurb. Students share ideas about how the new covers might reflectwhat they now understand about the title. They then begin drafting.

Plenary: (10 minutes) Take brief feedback from the group work about designs.Then set the homework/follow-on.

Homework/ Students design the covers for a new edition of the novel. They should Follow-on: include a blurb of 60–75 words on the back.

Resources: Student Sheet 18.


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Lesson coverage: Whole novelLesson aims: 1 To establish criteria for making judgements about novels

2 To make a personal judgement of the book’s effectiveness3 To evaluate the book’s filmic qualities

Prior learning/ Expressing a personal response to literatureknowledge: Experience of comparing fiction with film

Book activity: Inspiration: Activity 2 – Judging the book’s suitability for being madeinto a film

Framework Objectives: Assessment Foci:Year 7: S&L1, S&L5, R10, R15, W18, W19 R3, R6, R7Year 8: S&L10, S&L11, R8, R10, W17, W18 W1, W3, W4, W7Year 9: S&L4, S&L5, R8, R10, W16, W17

Starter: (15 minutes) Tell students they are to rate the book’s effectiveness as apotential TV film for teenagers. Ask them to suggest criteria. List theseon the board. Lead them in the direction of the rating chart printed inBook Activity: Inspiration 2, but be receptive to any sensiblesuggestions.

Introduction: (25 minutes) Distribute Student Sheet 19 – the rating chart referred toabove – and display it as an OHT. Ask students to work for fiveminutes filling in the chart. Then take feedback. Prompt students toexplain their judgements and to question those of others. At the end ofthis stage, annotate the OHT to represent a consensus of class opinion.

Development/ (20 minutes) Ask students to begin writing down their views. They Plenary: should use five headings: the four listed on the rating chart and

‘Summary’. Emphasise that, as in a literature essay, they should makeexplicit reference to the text to support what they say. They completethis task for the homework/follow-on.

Homework/ Students write their views about whether The Hero Game would make Follow-on: a good film for teenagers.

Resources: Student Sheet/OHT 19.


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