Year 7 English Curriculum
Scheme of Learning Oliver Twist Who are we and where have we come from?
Where in the year? Autumn 1
Island Life What resources do I have as a writer?
Autumn 2
Romeo & Juliet What can we learn from Shakespeare?
Spring 1 & 2
Journeys Where has our language come from and where is it going?
Summer 2
Framed Can we paint pictures with words?
Summer 2
What will you be learning?
How will you be assessed?
You will be reading an abridged version of Dickens’ classic novel, Oliver Twist, and discussing the characters, themes and settings. We will also be using this text to look at how our culture and background makes us who we are. You will be using Speaking & Listening skills to get to know everyone in your English class. You will have to use all of your survival skills when you are trapped on an (imaginary) desert island. We will look at all the instances in our everyday lives when we need to use non-fiction writing to express ourselves. We will also read some travel journals and poetry about islands. We will read the original text of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, focusing on the characters and themes in the play and use lots of drama and mini-Harkness discussions to explore the play and create your own modern version of the Romeo and Juliet story. There are lots of different types of journeys. In this scheme of learning we will be looking at the never ending journey of the English language, as well as one of the earliest and most famous stories about journeys even written: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Many famous works of art have been inspired by writing. We will look at the relationship between art and literature and try to work out how we can use art to help with our own writing. This will also be your opportunity to study a whole class novel.
You will prepare for and sit your first ARK English assessment, which will be a tiered paper about Oliver Twist.
You will produce a portfolio of non-fiction writing and use persuasive language in a Harkness discussion.
You will write a formal essay on the play and participate in a Harkness discussion on what we can learn from Shakespeare.
You will produce a piece of creative writing using ‘journeys’ as a stimulus and participate in a Harkness discussion on Chaucer.
You will sit your end-of-year English exam using the themes, characters and setting from Framed.