The Demon Headmaster - Lesson 1 - PowerPoint

Lesson One of the English teaching resources introduces students to "The Demon Headmaster" by Gillian Cross. The session begins with an exploratory activity where students are encouraged to examine the book's title, front cover illustration, and the blurb on the back, prompting them to share their initial thoughts on the novel's content, genre, and any previous works by Gillian Cross they might have encountered. This sets the stage for a deeper engagement with the text, as students are invited to speculate on the narrative and themes they expect to encounter in the forthcoming weeks of study.

Subsequent chapters delve into character analysis and comprehension exercises. After reading and discussing the first chapter, students are tasked with drawing and labelling stick figures of the characters Lloyd, Harvey, and Dinah, surrounding these images with descriptive words that capture their personalities. Moving on to Chapter Two, students engage in a more detailed examination of the characters' reactions and relationships, as well as the emerging plot points. They are prompted to answer a series of questions that require critical thinking and textual evidence to understand character motivations, narrative development, and the creation of mood by the author. An extension task invites students to empathise with Dinah by writing a diary entry from her perspective, detailing her first impressions of her foster family and new school.