TEACHER'S BOOKLET - Pearson Schools

YOU DON’T KNOW ME TEACHER’S BOOKLET Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex,CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the World © Pearson Education Limited 2004 The right of Gavin Knight to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1998. Extracts from You Don’t Know Me © 2001 David Klass The original edition of You Don’t Know Me is published in the USA by Frances Foster Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux First published in Great Britain by Viking 2001 Published by Puffin Books 2002 Sources and acknowledgements We are grateful to all copyright holders whose material appears in this booklet. However in some instances we have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material and we would appreciate any information that would enable us to do so. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4LP ISBN 0 582 84492 4 First published 2004

ISBN 0-582-84492-4

9 780582 844926

Introduction Aim This resource provides materials to support the teaching of framework objectives through the reading of You Don’t Know Me. Reading can be a shared, social activity and it is important that pupils are given the opportunity to talk and write about their reading. Emphasis is placed on the promotion and development of independent reading, as pupils are asked to reflect on the reading strategies they use and encouraged to try out new ones. Many of the activities encourage pupils to build a bridge between their reading and writing. In particular, pupils are encouraged to develop the skills that readers in Year 9 need if they are to meet the reading and writing demands made of them.

The lesson outline The lesson outline provides a structure for teaching ‘at a glance’. It is intended to provide a framework and can be adjusted to suit your circumstances. The structure enables you to cover a longer text, while maintaining pace. Objectives are taught explicitly and are clearly placed within the context of the book and the lesson structure. There will be issues about coverage, but it is more important that pupils are able to explore their reading through talk and other interactive approaches, rather than sitting passively as the whole book is read to them, or worse, being asked to ‘read around the class’. Approaches for progressing through the book include:

• pupils or teacher recap previous chapters that may

Pupils can make a wide variety of entries in a reading journal, including: • noting responses

• questions arising • mind mapping and other graphic representations (tension graphs, timelines)

• jotting down words and phrases that need clarifying, or that they could ‘steal’ for their own writing

• keeping track of the plot. Most pupils will need support if they are to write with clarity and understanding, even if they are just making notes. For example, if pupils are asked to delve into characters’ motivations and choices, this kind of response will need to be modelled for them. You can also provide key words and phrases to prompt critical responses from pupils, for example:

to read and then the group reports back)

‘I wonder what this means …’ ‘This bit reminds me of …’ ‘If it was me, I would …’ ‘I was surprised when …’

• use of prepared summaries or diagrammatic

Assessing the reading journal

not have been read

• jigsaw reading (groups are given a section or chapter representations of the plot It is also important to allow pupils to control their own reading. If they want to read on, let them; re-reading chapters and revisiting prior reading may highlight things that were missed before.

It is important that pupils regard the journal as part of a continuing dialogue with the teacher and with each other, rather than work that is to be marked. However, there are three stages that reflect critical thinking and reading and these could be used as a teacher checklist for assessment:

Resources

1 A literal encounter with the text – the pupil’s responses are superficial and tend towards recount.

• reading at home, if appropriate.

This unit does not require extensive resources but ideally they should be prepared in advance. Group activities could be photocopied onto coloured card and laminated, so that pupils have their own copies for reference. The main resources you will need are: copies of the text, highlighter and marker pens, ‘Post-it’ notes, sugar paper, reading journals, copies of extracts on OHT and paper for annotation.

Reading journals While some pupils will eagerly share their impressions about texts they have read, others feel less comfortable in class discussions, and will keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all pupils to think more about what they read and share their observations and opinions confidently, some teachers

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use reading journals to great advantage. Reading journals provide pupils with the opportunity to reflect, speculate and express their immediate responses to their reading. They can be an essential tool in tracking how pupils are responding to the text. Whilst opportunities for using reading journals are not highlighted in this resource, it may be worthwhile incorporating the use of reading journals into your teaching of You Don’t Know Me. For example, pupils could be asked to reflect every lesson on the reading strategies that they have used, and make a brief note about them, including reference to the text.

2 Analysis and interpretation – the pupil’s responses are more reflective, for example empathy with a character is reflected in the journal. 3 Synthesis and evaluation – the pupil is able to make links within and beyond the text. It is important to remember that more challenging content on its own does not always improve pupils’ critical thinking. Equipping pupils with the right vocabulary and the methods by which they can appraise their learning and progress is a critical part of the process. Using a layout such as the one suggested on page 3 will support pupils when they are developing their critical engagement with the text they are reading. Some activities are listed, but these are just suggestions.

Before, during or after

Literal • Date of entry • Pages/chapter • Prior knowledge: – What happened in the last chapter? – What do you know about …? – Use of KWL grids. • Sequence key events: – How might the story continue? – What are the clues? • Brief summary: – main points – only important/new facts – plot development.

During or after reading

Analysis and interpretation • Personal response: – reactions – predictions – judgements – comparisons – questions, wonderings – sketches, illustrations – diagrams, tension graphs, mind maps – interesting vocabulary, images – cause and effect.

After reading

Synthesis and evaluation • Readers make connections between the text and: – themselves – other texts – other things they know. • Elements of narrative style reflected in own writing. • How have responses developed during reading? • How are the elements of the text a synthesis? (Explore through mind-mapping.)

How often should pupils write in their journals? Less is more! Writing in journals several times a week will soon become tedious and pupils will find that they have nothing new to add. It is much better to ask for fewer responses, and ones that require deeper engagement, so that pupils are writing for themselves and not for the teacher.

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Overview of objectives The notion of literacy being embedded in objectives involves much more than the basic acquisition of skills. The objectives selected here focus on enabling pupils to read as readers in order to deepen their understanding and appreciation, and to read as writers so that they can identify typical features and explore how writers gain impact. This is the point at which the bridge between reading and writing is made – when the pupil has the ability to step outside the body of a text and look at it as a writer. Whilst the majority of objectives selected reflect the development of reading, this does not imply that they should be approached in isolation or taught in a reductive way. The objectives listed below encompass the ability to recognise, understand and manipulate the conventions of language and develop the pupils’ ability to use language imaginatively and flexibly, in the narrative context. Objectives (and pupils) benefit from being explicitly taught and from being identified and deployed in context. Other objectives can also be taught (through starter activities), but it is up to the teacher to decide where the priority lies and to adapt the resource materials according to the needs of the pupils.

Year 9 Word W7

Layers of meaning

Reading R1 R6 R7 R9 R11 R12 R13 R18

Information retrieval Authorial perspective Compare texts Compare writers from different times Author’s standpoint Rhetorical devices Evaluate own reading Prose text

Writing Wr6 Wr7 Wr12 Wr13 Wr16 Wr17

Creativity in non-literary texts ‘Infotainment’ Effective presentation of information Influence audience Balanced analysis Cite textual evidence

Speaking and listening S&L2 S&L5 S&L7 S&L8 S&L10 S&L11 S&L12

4

Standard English Compare points of view Identify the underlying issues Evaluate own contributions Group organisation Evaluate own drama skills Drama techniques

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Reading AF3 • R13 Evaluate own reading

Reading AF5 • R12 Rhetorical devices

1

2

Writing AF1 • Wr7 Infotainment

AFs and objectives

Lesson

Lesson outline Starter/Introduction

Chapters 1–3 • Narrative voice • Irony • Writer’s use of language

Exploring irony • Ask pupils to read Kamal’s letter in pairs. Pupil worksheet 2.1

Visualisation and speculation • Narrative structure • Ask pupils to discuss the impact of the book cover in pairs. They • Deduce, infer or should comment on: layout, use interpret of colour, symbolism, tone and information speculate about plot. Record their ideas on a flipchart.

Lesson focus

Homework • Read Chapters 2–3.

Plenary • Ask pupils to reflect on their expectations for the novel in light of what has been learnt today. • Add new ideas to the flipchart and save for future use.

Plenary and Homework

Plenary • Ask pupils to answer questions on the use • Pupils share their letters of irony. Pupil worksheet 2.2 to celebrities with the class. • Working in pairs, ask pupils to write a letter to a celebrity suggesting a life swap. • Ask pupils to comment upon effective uses of • Re-read aloud page 1 to the class and ask irony. pupils to consider: what the tone of the narration is, how we are hooked into the narrative and whether the narrator’s Homework position is comic or tragic. • Pupils research the biography of the writer, David Klass.

• Flick quickly through the novel and read out some chapter headings. Ask pupils to discuss what clues the chapter headings give us about the novel. • Ask pupils to complete the group task on chapter headings. Pupil worksheet 1.1 • Shared reading of Chapter 1.

Development

6 Development

• Read aloud the plot summary of Chapters Reading AF3 Chapters 7–9 Role on the wall 7–9. Pupil worksheet 5.1 • R13 Evaluate own • Hypothesise and • Ask Pupils to write words or • This lesson focuses on speculation so reading speculate phrases about John’s character reading these chapters will be deferred for on ‘Post-it’ notes. • S&L12 Drama techniques a while. • Ask pupils to place their ‘Post-it’ notes inside and outside a large • Group task: drama activities to explore John’s situation. Pupil worksheet 5.1 outline of John (on board) – key words which describe John to be placed inside the outline. Ask pupils to justify the inclusion/exclusion of words with reference to the text.

Homework • Read Chapter 5.

Plenary • Ask pupils to share what they found out about David Klass.



Plenary • Ask Groups and envoys to present freeze frames. • Pupils discuss which words or phrases should be added to or removed from John’s outline in light of what has been learnt today.

• Ask pupils (in triads) to recap on Chapters Plenary 4–5. • Check pupils’ • Shared reading (Chapter 6). understanding of their assigned learning about • The Pupils to skim read their chapter and narrative voice, rhetorical complete their grid on rhetorical devices in devices, and the effect use. Pupil worksheet 4.2 of these on the reader. • Pupils share their findings with others in the group.

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Rhetorical devices • Recalling rhetorical devices encountered during previous lessons, ask pupils to identify where they tried to use them within their own writing. • Model reading of the opening of Chapter 1 in order to identify further features of the narrative voice. Annotated text 4.1


Writing for effect: audience and • Group task: collaborative writing of film purpose review. Pupil worksheet 3.1 • Shared reading of the film review • Ask each group to read aloud their film of Van Helsing. review. Encourage pupils to comment on the effectiveness of the writing. Pupil worksheet 3.1 • Paired reading of Chapter 4. • Ask pupils to identify the conventions of the text type and record examples of rhetorical devices. Pupil worksheet 3.1

Starter/Introduction

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Chapters 4–6 • Narrative voice

Chapters 1–3 • Audience, purpose and effect


3

Writing AF2 • Wr13 Influence audience

Lesson focus

AFs and objectives

Lesson

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Reading AF4, AF5 & AF6 Chapters 10–12 • R7 Compare texts • Empathise • R9 Compare writers from • Interpret different times patterns • W7 Layers of meaning

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Lesson focus

AFs and objectives

Lesson Compare treatments • On whiteboards, ask pupils to write three pieces of advice they would give John about how to handle meeting Glory’s parents on their first date. Ask pupils to display their whiteboards and elaborate further.

Starter/Introduction Understanding the author’s craft • Shared reading of Extract A (from My Childhood by Maxim Gorky). Teacher planner 6.1 • Model active reading, underlining and annotating the text. • Pupils annotate Extract B (from My Childhood), followed with paired reading of Extract C (from You Don’t Know Me). • Pupils respond to prompts in annotations alongside text and then discuss whether all three extracts are similar or different in terms of narrative voice, situation, tone, language features and the effect on the reader.

Development


Plenary • Groups share findings on Extracts A–C. • Ask pupils to discuss why the man who is ‘not my father’ has a gun hidden in his sock drawer and how this might be significant to the story in the future.


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AFs and objectives

Reading AF3 & AF6 • R18 Prose text • S&L12 Drama techniques

Reading AF2 & AF6 • R6 Authorial perspective • R18 Prose text

Lesson

7

8

Role on the wall • Pupils discuss Glory’s motivation for going on the date with John and write suggestions on ‘Post-it’ notes. Ask pupils to place notes on a large outline of Glory’s head (on board). Hot-seat a selected pupil in the role of Glory. • Focus on exploring her motivation for going on the date.

Starter/Introduction • • • •


Homework • Ask pupils to select three humorous incidents from their reading of this novel and to make brief notes on these.

Recap Chapters 10–12. Plenary Shared reading (Chapter 13). • Pupils discuss which ‘Post-it’ notes should be Independent reading (Chapter 14). added to or removed Selected pupil is again hot-seated as Glory. from Glory’s outline in Ask pupils to explore the reasons behind light of what has been Glory’s behaviour during the date. learnt today.

Development

• Shared reading (Chapter 15). Plenary Chapter 15 Role of the author • Model active reading exploring with pupils • Group task on authorial • Interpret • Working in pairs, pupils discuss the following: and narrative voice. patterns humorous incidents in their Pupil worksheet 8.1 recent reading. – the sympathy that’s been built up for • Ask questions John after his big date • Alert class to the impact of • Establish sudden shifts in tone in narrative – his vulnerability (age, bare feet, relationship with writing. Ask pupils for examples loneliness, fear) author and from previous independent narrator – the viciousness of his only protector reading. Remind pupils to watch – the knowledge that the man who is ‘not out for this in Chapter 15. my father’ carries a gun – the journey in the back of the truck and the isolated locations.

Chapters 13–14 • Character development and motivation

Lesson focus

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Chapter 20 • Interpret patterns

Reading AF2 & AF6

10

Writing AF3 • Wr6 Creativity in nonliterary texts • Wr17 Cite textual evidence

• R1 Information retrieval • R18 Prose text

Chapter 16 • Interpret patterns • Identify key points made explicitly and implicitly • Consider implications in text

Reading AF3 & AF6 • S&L7 Identify underlying issues • S&L8 Evaluate own contributions • S&L11 Evaluate own drama skills

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Lesson focus

AFs and objectives

Lesson

Development


Narrative style • Remind pupils of Kamal’s letter. Pupil worksheet 2.1 • Working in pairs, pupils brainstorm onto whiteboards ideas for an entry into an ‘If you were me’ competition by John. • Model writing of the first paragraph, followed by paired writing of the remaining three paragraphs of letter.

Narrative style • Shared reading (Chapter 20). • Ask pupils to consider Gustav Kachooski: is he likely to be significant to the rest of this story? How can we tell? • Display blank grid and model completion of the first two boxes. Ask pupils to complete the remaining boxes. Pupil worksheet 10.1


Plenary • Select pupils to share their work on John’s letters and ask pupils to comment on the effectiveness of the writing. • As they read the next chapter, ask pupils to explore how successful David Klass is in making his less important characters seem real to readers.


Plenary Identifying underlying issues • Paired reading (Chapter 16). • Working in pairs, ask pupils to • Working in groups of six and working with • Peer and selfassessment. Pupil discuss what is happening to the a different partner for each one, ask pupils worksheet 9.1 narrator and why he feels so to improvise three different scenarios. powerless. Consider as a class Allow pupils at least five minutes planning • Ask pupils what implied who the narrator is speaking to time for each improvisation. Then select meanings they have and the evidence for this. Ask pairs to perform their scenarios to the discovered in the pupils what the purpose behind whole class. Pupil worksheet 9.1 improvisations. Then ask John’s narration is. pupils to explore how they add to our understanding of the novel’s underlying themes and issues.


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Lesson focus

Revisiting Chapters 20–21 • Interpret patterns

AFs and objectives

Reading AF2 & AF7 • R1 Information retrieval • Wr17 Cite textual evidence • S&L5 Compare points of view • S&L10 Group organisation

Lesson

11

Characterisation • In role, read Mr Kessler’s rant on pages 209–210 about the youth of today. • Working in pairs, ask pupils to make a bullet-pointed list of his main criticisms. Then in another colour, ask pupils to provide a counter-argument to each point. Select contributions for wholeclass consideration.

Starter/Introduction Characterisation • Remind pupils of the grid they filled in about Gustav Kachooski in Lesson 10. Pupil worksheet 10.1 • Working in pairs, ask pupils to complete similar grids for Mr Kessler and Dr Whitefield, focusing on the skill with which the author fleshes out his minor characters. Pupil worksheet 11.1 • Pupils form groups of six to share their work and respond to the following question: do you agree that David Klass is a gifted writer whose work is worthy of study in schools?

Development Plenary • Representatives from each group feed back responses on David Klass as a writer, and the suitability of You Don’t Know Me as a text for study in English lessons.


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AFs and objectives

Reading AF6 • S&L2 Standard English • S&L7 Identify the underlying issues • S&L10 Group organisation

Lesson

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Chapter 22 Tension rising? • Interpret • Draw a tension chart on the patterns board in the form of a bar graph. Label the y axis 1–10 (suspense • Identify issues rating). Ask pupils for • Reach consensus suggestions for ten significant moments from the novel for inclusion as points on the x axis e.g. Billy asks Gloria out. • Distribute graph paper. Ask each pair to make one copy and to agree where they want to place each event on the suspense rating (0 = chilled, 10 = meltdown).

Lesson focus Mini-debate: corporal punishment • Read aloud pages 218–220 up to ‘...I hate him, and how completely powerless I was to stop him.’ In groups of six, pupils engage in a mini-debate. Pupil worksheet 12.1 • Remind the class of the conventions and expectations for mini-debates. (See the DFES Year 7 Speaking and Listening Bank: 0141/2001 for advice on adopting roles in discussion and acknowledging, justifying or modifying views.) • Label pupils A or B. Explain that pupil As will speak in favour of the motion, Bs against. Allow 15 minutes’ preparation time, with As and Bs working in pairs. Form tables into islands with 6 pupils at each (3 As and 3 Bs). • Group A will contain a proposer, a seconder and a scribe.The proposer will speak for 3 minutes, the seconder for 2 and the scribe will note on A3 paper the key points of the debate. • Group B will contain two speakers against the motion (same timings), and a scribe. • Once the mini-debates are completed, display the A3 sheets and encourage pupils to move around looking at them, considering fresh ideas.

Development

Homework • Finish reading Chapter 22.

Plenary • Review the conflicting viewpoints expressed in the discussion. Check whether a considered consensus exists within the class.


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AFs and objectives

Reading AF5 & AF6 • R6 Authorial perspective • R11 Author’s standpoint • Wr17 Cite textual evidence

Reading AF4, AF5 & AF6 • R6 Authorial perspective • R12 Rhetorical devices

Lesson

13

14

Starter/Introduction Characterisation: Author’s standpoint • Write the key ideas about Violet on board. • Shared reading (Chapter 23). • Pupils share ideas about how the date with Violet differs from the date with Glory. • Paired reading (Chapter 24). • Ask pupils to make notes in pairs contrasting Glory and Violet (the grid can be used as a note-taking frame to support this activity). Ask pupils to focus on who the author wants us to prefer and how we can tell this.

Development

Chapters 26–27 • Shared reading (Chapters 26–27). Author’s standpoint • Re-read • Whole-class discussion about the • Explain that pupils will have until the next author’s strength of feeling • Reinterpret lesson to reflect on the ending of the about John’s beatings. novel and that the homework activity will • Summarise • In pairs, ask pupils to compose help them to evaluate the impact of this • Pass judgements three key questions they would ending. Pupil worksheet 14.1 • Interpret like to ask the writer. In role, hotpatterns seated as David Klass, answer selection of questions from the class.

Chapters 23–25 Characterisation • Infer and deduce • Skim re-read the first descriptions given of Violet Hayes • Empathise in Chapter 3. • Reinterpret • Working in pairs, ask pupils to jot down five important things about Violet that have emerged between Chapters 3 and 22. Ask pupils to examine whether their perceptions about this character have changed and discuss this with another pair.

Lesson focus

Homework • Complete group worksheet on the impact of the ending. Pupil worksheet 14.1


Plenary • Pupils focus on how narrator’s and the reader’s perceptions of Glory and Violet alter as the story unravels.


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Writing AF2, AF3 & AF4 • Wr16 Balanced analysis • Wr12 Effective presentation

Chapter 27 Negotiating common readings • Recalling endings of other books studied in English at KS3, ask pupils to consider • Endings and • Ask pupils to complete a whether this text differs in some way and evaluations sequencing activity. Instruct if so to explain how. pupils to rank the five statements • Relate to they most agree with and to • Pairs share answers to homework. Pupil previous reading reject the rest, sharing the results worksheet 14.1 experience as a whole-class feedback. 15.1 • Recap the film review conventions considered in Lesson 3. Pupil worksheet 3.1 • Ask pupils to write a 150-word review for a forthcoming film of You Don’t Know Me. • Shared writing: model the opening two sentences and write the next two sentences with the class. Ask pupils to work in pairs and to draft the rest.

Reading AF1 & AF7 • R18 Prose text

Development

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Lesson focus

AFs and objectives

Lesson

Homework • Ask pupils to use ICT to produce an A4 poster of their film reviews for display in the classroom. Encourage pupils to incorporate suitable images, think about layout, visual impact and audience when designing the poster.

Plenary • Pupils share their film reviews and comment on examples of effective writing.


Pupil worksheet 1.1

Lesson 1

In You Don’t Know Me the writer uses chapter headings to signal what is about to happen. Here are ten of them; they are jumbled up. • • • • • • • • • •

Epilogue, whatever that means gotcha fateful Tuesday picks up steam in the war zone the happiest day of my life running away from home the Holiday Dance the best day of my life gets better fateful Tuesday begins the worst thing that could happen

1 Working with a partner, try to place the chapter titles into the correct box on the grid below. More than one title can go in each box.

Set the scene

Introduce a problem

Complication

Crisis

Adjustment

Resolution

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© Pearson Education Limited 2003. This may be reproduced for class use solely within the purchaser’s school or college.

Pupil worksheet 2.1

Lesson 2

Irony Irony: a subtle way of poking fun at something or somebody; a way of speaking in which the words used carry the opposite of their normal meaning. Dramatic irony: a device in a play or book where a character says something that has one meaning for that person but also a deeper one, visible only to the audience or reader. In an international competition called ‘If you were me’, children wrote to celebrities and offered to step into their shoes and trade places for a day. Letters from around the globe were received. Many gave vivid and moving accounts of daily life for children struggling against poverty and exploitation. Kamal’s letter below, concerning a life swap with David Beckham, was ‘highly commended’ by the judging panel.

Dear David Beckham I have your picture on my wall. You look so happy with your blond hair and big smile. I wish that I could play for Manchester United, drive fast cars, and be like you. I am in the football trade too. Sometimes I find myself surrounded by lots of balls and wish that I could boot them away, like you. I get up every day as soon as the sun rises. I know that somewhere you will be running along a riverbank, jumping, stretching up to the sun, and getting your body ready for battles with other great players. I cannot run outside and play with my friends. I have to work from dawn until the sun sets. I stitch together panels for the balls you like to kick. It is hard. I am ten years old and have never had a holiday. I have never seen a proper football match but everyone says that you are the best. Every week my father gets paid some money for all my work. It is not a lot but we need it. My sister, who is eight, has now joined me at work, so I am no longer lonely. I wish that I could be like you. Do you wish that you could be like me? Think of me the next time you take a penalty. May your spirit soar through the air, like the ball, and give me the strength to go on. Yours in friendship and trust Kamal

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Pupil worksheet 2.2

Lesson 2

Irony 1 Re-read Kamal’s letter on Worksheet 2.1. Discuss with a partner the contrasting life styles of Kamal and David Beckham. Focus on the following areas: • health • wealth • work • happiness. 2 Re-read the definitions of irony and dramatic irony on Worksheet 2.1. Is Kamal’s letter open to any kind of ironic interpretation? Discuss your ideas with your partners. 3 Re-read the letter once more and highlight any phrases that might be ironic. Share your thoughts with another pair when you are ready. 4 As you read You Don’t Know Me watch out for examples of irony. For example, in Chapter 1, when ‘the man who is not my father’ says ‘I’ll really take care of you John’ he is threatening him rather than reassuring him. Are any of the following quotations, taken from Chapter 1, intended to be ironic? a) ‘I am in the middle of a hurricane.’ b) ‘Your eyes are closed and you couldn’t care less.’ c) ‘When he hits me he doesn’t curl his fingers up into a fist because that would leave a mark.’ d) ‘You think I’m happy with this life. Hah, Hah!’ e) ‘You don’t know me at all.’ 5 Think about your own lifestyle. Working with your partner, decide which famous celebrity you would both like to life swap with. Working together, draft a four-paragraph letter to that person, suggesting why you chose them and what they might learn about life by becoming you for a day. Try to use irony within your writing!

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Pupil worksheet 3.1

Lesson 3 VAN HELSING

Action, Fantasy, Horror: stars Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh Deep in the mountains of Carpathia lies the mysterious and mythic land of Transylvania – a world where evil is ever-present, where danger rises as the sun sets, and where the monsters that inhabit man’s deepest nightmares take form. Into this world, brought to life and played out on massive sets and sweeping locations, comes Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman), the legendary monster hunter born in the pages of Bram Stoker‘s Dracula. In his ongoing battle to rid the world of its fiendish creatures, Van Helsing, on the order of a secret society, travels to Transylvania to bring down the lethally seductive, enigmatically powerful Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and joins forces with the fearless Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), out to rid her family of a generations-old curse by defeating the vampire and a host of other monsters. This film review was written in order to entice the reader into the cinema. Its purpose was to draw an audience for the film. 1 After the shared reading with your teacher and your class, fill out the grid (below) which focuses on the conventions of film review writing. Rhetorical devices

Example from extract

Overblown, highly exaggerated phrases suggesting great importance Powerful choices of verb Variety of sentence lengths for effect

2 Choose one of the famous tales below and, in a group of four, write a similar twoparagraph review for a new (and imaginary) Hollywood blockbuster due for general release into cinemas next week. • Puss in Boots • The Pied Piper of Hamelin • The Ugly Duckling • Jack and Jill • Rapunzel Make sure that you remember the conventions of film review writing as you will need them again for the final activity, once you have finished reading You Don’t Know Me.

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Chapter 1: page 1

4.1

Modelled reading who I am not Taunting or challenging tone. Who is being teased, the reader or the ‘you’ of the tale? Use of pronoun is ambiguous Second sentence beginning with ‘And’ – is he deliberately flaunting conventions of grammar? Weak pun over ownership of homework underlines narrator’s sensitivity over belongings

Short sentences serve as insults and challenge to reader. A mini paragraph packed with venom

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You don’t know me. Just for example, you think I’m upstairs in my room doing my homework. Wrong. I’m not in my room. I’m not doing my homework. And even if I were up in my room I wouldn’t be doing my homework, so you’d still be wrong. And it’s not really my room. It’s your room because it’s your house. I just happen to live there right now. And it’s not really my homework, because my math teacher, Mrs. Moonface, assigned it and she’s going to check it, so it’s her homework. Her name’s not Mrs. Moonface, by the way. It’s really Mrs. Garlic Breath. No it’s not. It’s really Mrs. Gabriel, but I just call her Mrs. Garlic Breath, except for the times when I call her Mrs. Moonface. Confused? Deal with it. You don’t know me at all. You don’t know the first thing about me. You don’t know where I’m writing this from. You don’t know what I look like. You have no power over me.


Single word sentence serves to underline our stupidity – narrator is gloating Narrator is revelling in our ignorance Tension over ownership of room. Pronouns drip with contempt, ‘you’ and ‘your’ must be enunciated with disgust Use of pronouns as weapons again. Moonface or Garlic Breath. It’s as if he’s saying I’ll call my teachers what I like. Just you try and stop me!

Fifth use of pronoun ‘you’ in this paragraph drives a finger into our chests. The final line: you don’t scare me, you’re powerless, I’m completely independent and will show no deference to you

Pupil worksheet 4.2

Lesson 4

Work in groups of three. You are going to analyse and discuss Chapters 4 – 6 with reference to the rhetorical devices used. 1

Decide who will be A, B or C. Person A will work on Chapter 4, B on Chapter 5 and C on Chapter 6.

2

Skim read your chapter once more, noting down in the checklist below any examples of effective use of the rhetorical devices listed.

Rhetorical device

Example of effective use

Rhetorical questions

Repetition

Unusual metaphors or similes

Variations in sentence length for effect

Mocking or teasing of the reader

Use of irony

Repeated jokes

3

Before you report back to the others in your group, consider the following: • What mood is John in within your chapter? • Does this change as your chapter progresses? • What evidence can you provide from the text to prove your point? • In your opinion, has the use of the rhetorical devices you have found helped to make this a more interesting piece of writing? How?

4a) When everyone is ready, share your findings. Try to make sure that each time you make a point you explain it clearly and give supporting evidence from the text. b) Make brief notes on what is said and be prepared to expand upon your own ideas, if requested by others. 19


Pupil worksheet 5.1

Lesson 5 Plot summary: Chapters 7–9

In these chapters we are given an insight into the ‘torture island’ inside John’s head as he musters up the courage to ask Glory Hallelujah out on a date. After furtively passing her a note in his anti-math class, he is surprised to see her eat it. In school the next day she accepts his invitation; John grows in stature and confidence, so much so that he even dares to point out a calculation error made by his anti-math teacher. Work in groups of 4–6. You are going to speculate on what might happen next. 1 What can you infer and deduce about the likely success of John’s date at the school basketball match? Brainstorm a list of possibilities. 2 Agree upon one scenario as the focus for your work. On a sheet of rice paper create a more detailed plotline, using the familiar narrative frame below: Set the scene

Introduce a problem

Complication

Crisis

Adjustment

Resolution

3 Role play: improvise an important moment from your new plotline, in order to explore your ideas more fully. 4 Reflect upon the performance: what did it teach you that you hadn’t realised before? Do you need to make any adjustments to your plotline in light of this? 5 Freeze-frame: select a key moment from your scenario and create a still picture recreating it. Be ready to show this in the plenary. 6 One member of each group should now act as envoy and move to another group to explain what you have achieved.

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Lesson 6

Teacher planner 6.1

Shared reading Following a shared reading of Extract A from My Childhood by Maxim Gorky, model active reading, underlining and annotating the text. Ask pupils to annotate Extract B from My Childhood. Follow this with a paired reading of Extract C from You Don’t Know Me. Pupil task Ask pupils to discuss whether all three extracts are similar or different in terms of narrative voice, situation, tone, language features and the effect on the reader.

Immediate use of pronoun announces proximity to subject (physical and emotional) ‘gentle, peaceful, rest…’ The love for his father is clear, but is he dead? Is it a eulogy? Black disks seal up shining life of eyes, links to darkness of face in next line. Symbolic contrasts of light and dark Unprepared, vulnerable

Extract A Father lay on the floor, by the window of a small, darkened room, dressed in white, and looking terribly long. His feet were bare and his toes were strangely splayed out. His gentle fingers, now peacefully resting on his chest, were also distorted, and the black disks of copper coins firmly sealed his once shining eyes. His kind face had darkened and its nastily bared teeth frightened me. Mother, half naked in a red skirt, was kneeling beside him, combing his long soft hair down from the forehead to the nape of his neck with the black comb I loved to use as a saw for the melon rinds. She kept muttering something in a hoarse, deep voice. Her grey eyes were swollen and seemed to be dissolving in a flood of tears. Extract from My Childhood by Maxim Gorky

Hoarse from wailing and lamenting?

Use of adverbials provides information about geography of room and deliberately delays reader awareness concerning the man’s physical condition Why are his toes contorted? Unexpected viciousness, revealed by death. New perspective on father for narrator Complex sentence, subordinate clause links comb in contact with father’s hair to narrator’s own usage of this tool. Builds a bridge to touching of father Ashen-coloured eyes, – is the coldness of death being emphasised?

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Lesson 6

Teacher planner 6.1 Extract B On the floor, under the window, in a small, shuttered room, lay my father, dressed in a long white garment I had never seen him in before. His feet were bare and the toes were strangely distended, while the fingers of his hands, resting on his breast, were curled in. The blackened disks of two copper coins covered his eyes, shutting out their accustomed, cheerful gleam. All the light had gone out of his still face. But what scared me was the snarl his open mouth showed with the teeth bared. Beside him, on her knees, was my mother, in an undergarment. She was combing his long, fine hair back from his forehead to the nape of his neck. The comb she was using was the one with which I scraped edible shards from watermelon rinds. As she combed away, she talked to him without stopping, until it seemed that they must finally flood her eyes out of their sockets. Extract from My Childhood by Maxim Gorky

An ‘en dash’ – what does it do here?

Where do you think he’s earned all this money?

What effect does the sentence length have?

What effect does the sentence length have?

Extract C At the bottom of the sock drawer is a knitted bootie. It is heavy – crunchy to the touch. I open it… and see more money than I have ever seen before. The man who is not my father has an impressive stash. Clearly, he does not believe in banks. Or maybe he is planning to start his own bank. There are many twenties. There are fifties. I even glimpse several crisp hundred-dollar bills. I take only one twenty. I start to replace the bootie … and then I feel something beneath it. Something small and hard that clearly does not belong in a sock drawer. It is wrapped in a blue towel. I know I have no business looking at it, but there is a very good reason why I am curious. Whatever it is, it must be even more valuable than money, since the man who is not my father has buried it at the very bottom of his sock drawer, beneath his secret money stash. I need to find out what is more valuable than money. I carefully lift the blue towel out of the drawer. It is unexpectedly heavy. I unwrap it. Metal glints. I feel myself shiver. It is a gun. To be accurate, it is a pistol. Extract from You Don’t Know Me (Chapter 11: pages 100–101) by David Klass

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Bootie? What does this suggest? Ellipsis – what does it do here? Drug related language? What does this suggest? Ellipsis again – why? Limited vocabulary? Sounds like a very young child. Why is this appropriate here? What is the effect of the sentences used here?

Lesson 8

Pupil worksheet 8.1

1 Work in groups of four. You are going to analyse and discuss Chapter 15 with reference to the authorial and narrative voice used. Make notes on the following questions for homework and be prepared to share your ideas in the next lesson. Record your thoughts in the spaces provided. What do we mean by voice in a text?

Which voices can we hear?

What is John thinking as the events of the evening unravel?

What is the author thinking?

Are John and the author thinking the same?

What makes this section so shocking?

What have you noticed about the shift in tone and its effect on us as readers?

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Lesson 9 1

Pupil worksheet 9.1

Work in groups of six. Each group is going to improvise three different scenarios. For each scenario work with a different partner. These scenarios take place in Chapter 16 at the time when John, alone and scared in the back of the van, prays to God for help. Scenario 1 Under a piece of sacking John discovers the mobile phone belonging to the man who is not my father. In the memory he finds his mum’s mobile number. Very quietly he calls her up and tries to explain what is happening. Scenario 2 The mobile memory also gives a number for Mona, the ex-wife of the man who is not my father. John decides to call her up and find out what he can about this man he hates so much. Scenario 3 Mona gives John some information he thinks he might be able to use in order to blackmail his future step dad. He decides to bring it up in conversation over breakfast the next day.

2

To get better at improvisation, you need to think about what you can already do well and what you need to improve. You need to reflect on the quality of your own work and the work of others. When you give feedback on each other’s improvisations, your comments should be positive and specific. You should comment on: • movement • gesture • use of voice • believability of the person in the role • contribution to success of group’s performance.

3a) Pick out at least three strengths and praise the performers for them. b) Outline one aspect for future development. Give guidance on how the performers might improve this area in the future.

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4

Think about your own performance. What were you pleased with?

5

In the light of your friend’s comments and your own thoughts, can you identify one target that you might set yourself so that next time you are asked to work in this way you can achieve even more? Discuss your evaluation with your teacher and write it down before you forget it!


Lesson 10

Pupil worksheet 10.1

One of the signs of a really good writer is how believable the minor characters are. In Chapters 20–21 we meet Gustav Kachooski, Mr Kessler, and the Principal, Dr Whitefield. They are probably minor characters because they haven’t featured prominently until now. 1 Work in pairs. Discuss the character of Gustav Kachooski. Record your ideas in the grid.

Looking at a minor character – Gustav Kachooski How the character is first seen by the reader

Physical appearance

Character’s feelings about John

What the character says that’s memorable

Future importance of the character

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Lesson 11

1 Working with a partner and without referring to the novel, try to fill out the grids. Then refer to the novel again in order to add further details, including evidence and quotations. 2 Form groups of six and compare your grids and impressions. Based upon your work today, and discussions with others in the group, do you agree that David Klass is a gifted writer whose work is worthy of study in schools? 3 Elect a spokesperson who will share your group’s views on this question in the plenary. Remember to cite evidence from the text as proof for each point you make. Mr Kessler

Dr Whitefield

How the character is first seen by the reader

Physical appearance

Character’s feelings about John

What the character says that’s memorable

Future importance of the character

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Lesson 12


Mini-debate: corporal punishment ‘Teachers need control in the classroom. Banning the use of the cane was a mistake. If pupils are properly punished for offences in school they will learn better. Corporal punishment should be brought back immediately.’ 1 Use the space provided in the boxes to record ideas for your mini-debate. Some ideas have been provided to get you started. Group A (In favour)

Group B (Against)

• Poor discipline means that teachers are leaving the classroom. They find the job too stressful, dealing with endless confrontation.

• Beating people is barbaric and degrading.

• Employers complain that school leavers are not up to the jobs they take up.

• It is against the law and ignores our human rights.

• It is a form of physical abuse that leaves scars inside and out.

• Rowdy behaviour by one child affects the life chances of everyone else in the classroom.

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Lesson 14


1 Hubris is a Greek word. It means that when life seems great and everything is going right, that’s when you’re most likely to take a fall. Explore the impact of the ending. Do you agree that having enjoyed the dance, John let his defences down? 2 Make notes on the following questions for homework and be prepared to share your ideas in the next lesson. Record your thoughts in the spaces provided. Do you think that there was anything John could have done to avoid the assault?

Had he provoked his assailant in any way?

Why didn’t he speak up earlier and tell somebody what was going on?

What do you think he should have done?

When John says ‘You don’t know me’ is he talking to everyone around him, to us as readers, or was it really his mother that he was trying to communicate with?

Sometimes stories finish with a happy ending and a moral. Do you think that this is the case in You Don’t Know Me? What did John have to say about his life in the future?

In your opinion, how successful was the ending?

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15.1

Sequencing activity

1 Read the following statements. Rank the five statements you most agree with in order of importance. Discard the rest. Be prepared to feedback to the class.

✁

A good story has a beginning, a middle and a definite end.

When writers fail to wrap up loose ends, it leaves the reader feeling frustrated.

A happy ending is not necessary, it is essential!

Villains should be punished for their wrongdoings or justice has not prevailed.

The final chapter is the most important of all.

Every ending is a new beginning.

Bury the dead, marry the living, pat the dog, feed the cat, set the sun, and soothe the reader – that’s the way for writers to make a million.

Always leave your audience wanting more.

There should be more questions raised than answers given by the closing pages.

There’s nothing as sad as losing somebody close, and finishing a good book feels just the same.

Life is random, chaotic, messy and confusing; nothing ends happily ever after. Books should reflect this from beginning to end.

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