War Horse Medium Term Plan

The medium-term plan for teaching "War Horse" by Michael Morpurgo is a comprehensive scheme that spans several lessons, each carefully structured to deepen students' understanding and engagement with the novel. The first lesson sets the stage with a PowerPoint (PPT) and worksheets, encouraging students to make predictions based on their prior knowledge and introducing a research task on the novel's social and historical context. Subsequent lessons build upon this foundation, with students presenting their research findings, discussing chapters, and completing tasks such as creating a fact file about Joey, the horse protagonist, and identifying themes through anagrams and mind maps. Homework assignments are given to reinforce the learning objectives, such as completing the theme mind map and researching further into the novel's backdrop.

As the scheme progresses, students delve deeper into character studies, narrative techniques, and plot analysis. Activities like 'Blockbusters', 'The story so far', and 'Noughts and Crosses' keep the sessions interactive, while reading and discussing chapters in groups fosters collaborative learning. Writing tasks range from diary entries to dramatic paragraphs and obituaries, with opportunities for peer feedback and constructive criticism. The unit plan culminates in lessons focused on synthesising the students' understanding of the novel through creating newspaper stories, inferring meaning from images, and hot-seating exercises. Each lesson is supported by PPTs, worksheets, and examples, ensuring a varied and engaging learning experience that connects the themes of "War Horse" to broader historical and literary contexts.