A Christmas Carol - Medium Term Plan

The medium-term plan for "A Christmas Carol" is an engaging unit designed to delve into Charles Dickens' classic tale through a series of eight lessons, each structured with a starter, introduction, development, and plenary. Lesson 1 kicks off with a comparison of Christmas celebrations now and then, using PowerPoint presentations (PPT) and worksheets to assist students in understanding the story's historical context. This lesson includes reading the opening pages of the novel, forming first impressions, and expressing them in written paragraphs. In Lesson 2, students develop their inference and deduction skills, analyzing language from the first stave and engaging in a creative task to develop character understanding.

As the unit progresses, Lesson 3 explores how language has evolved over time, focusing on Dickens' writing techniques in Stave One and encouraging students to share their findings. Lesson 4 introduces an imaginative task where students prepare and perform a TV talk show segment featuring Scrooge, followed by constructive feedback. In Lesson 5, the concept of flashbacks is discussed, and students delve into Scrooge's past, using textual evidence to analyze his character. Lesson 6 is an interactive session where students identify quotes and meet the Cratchit family, discussing key themes such as Ignorance and Want. The penultimate lesson, Lesson 7, involves reading up to the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, with activities and discussions around plot, characters, and themes. The unit concludes with Lesson 8, where students read and discuss the final stave, engage in a 'New Man' activity, answer comprehension questions, and write letters as Scrooge, culminating in a peer-review session.