Myths, legends and stories that inspire
Why this, why now
In this unit, pupils read and explore a range of text types in connection to classical myths and legends. They first look at poetry before doing some descriptive writing inspired by poetry and paintings. They then explore Chaucer and modern retellings of myths to inspire their narrative writing.
Prior knowledge requirements
- Ardaydu waa inay yaqaanaan aasaaska maadada.
- Ardaydu waa inay awoodaan inay raacaan tilmaamo fudud.
Unit 1 / 9
Myths, legends and stories that inspire
In this unit, pupils read and explore a range of text types in connection to classical myths and legends. They first look at poetry before doing some descriptive writing inspired by poetry and paintings. They then explore Chaucer and modern retellings of myths to inspire their narrative writing.
28 lessons- Creating convincing characters using ‘The Canterbury Tales’ as stimulus
- Geoffrey Chaucer's ‘The Canterbury Tales’: compelling characterisation
- Exploring William Carlos Williams’s poem ‘Landscape with the fall of Icarus’
- Planning a narrative using the five part narrative structure
- Natasha Bowen's ‘Skin of the Sea’: understanding the extract
- Third person omniscient writing: ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ as stimulus
- Writing a full descriptive piece: ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus
- Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow'
- Comparing poems: 'Brueghel's Winter' and 'The Hunters in the Snow'
- Effective sensory language using ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ as stimulus
- Reviewing and refining descriptive writing: alliteration, plosives and sibilance
- Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'
- Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter'
- Writing inspired by ‘Skin of the Sea’: varying sentence types to create rhythm
- Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting
- Madeline Miller's 'The Song of Achilles': understanding the extract
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott': understanding the ballad
- Improving and proofreading a piece of narrative writing
- Pat Barker's 'The Silence of the Girls': understanding the extract
- Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘The Fisherman and the Jinni’: understanding the story
- Use of flashback in Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea'
- Symbolism in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's ‘The Lady of Shalott’
- Exploring enjambment in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's ‘The Lady of Shalott’
- Writing a full narrative piece using the five part narrative structure
- Descriptive writing using Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' as stimulus
- Comparative paragraphs: 'The Silence of the Girls' and 'The Song of Achilles'
- The five part narrative structure
- Exploring the theme of power in Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘One Thousand and One Nights’