Exploring Stories

Overview Beyond Booked Up aims to inspire a love of reading in Year 7 and 8 students through engagement with high quality writing across a range of formats. Exploring Stories is the Beyond Booked Up autumn term resource for Year 8 students. This resource includes a range of ways to explore the story of . The tale of King Arthur is one of the most enduring stories in Britain’s history. The various legends, along with the limited historical evidence, have combined to leave an indelible and intriguing narrative legacy. From 12th-century manuscripts, to 21st-century film and television, King Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table have been reimagined and retold for over 800 years. Exploring Stories aims to support students to develop a love of reading by delving into these exciting myths, using a wide range of texts, forms and genres. This CD-Rom resource features a rich variety of extracts that are designed to provide a fun and accessible route into discussions about storytelling. Learning Objectives: Exploring Stories provides a great opportunity for students to widen their reading experiences by engaging with a range of different texts, forms and genres. Specifically, the Exploring Stories resource is intended to support students to: • develop a love of reading through exploring different forms of storytelling • increase familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths and legends

Resources: The CD-Rom contains extracts from a range of different versions of the King Arthur story, with a focus on the retellings of the sword in the stone, and the Lady in the Lake. Extracts from the following texts are included: • A short story: King Arthur Gives Back His Sword by Geraldine McCaughrean • A graphic novel: Excalibur: The Legend of King Arthur by Tony Lee, illustrated by Sam Hart • A comic book: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Marcia Williams • Poetry: Excalibur the Magic Sword by Tony Mitton • A novel: Here Lies Arthur by • A play script: Little King Arthur by David Pemberton • Non-fiction: King Arthur’s World by Kevin Crossley-Holland • A news article: King Arthur’s Final Resting Place PDF versions of each text are also available online, through the Beyond Booked Up website: www.bookedup.org.uk/beyondbookedup. These versions can be downloaded, printed and distributed, or displayed on an interactive whiteboard.

Teachers Guidance 4pp leaflet_2017.indd 1 19/07/2017 10:07 Lesson plans To help you and your students get the most out of these exciting resources, we recommend that you use a sequence of five specially created lesson plans, available on our website. The lesson plans were developed by Richard Long, an educational consultant and English Advanced Skills Teacher. They provide a recommended learning route through the different texts in an order which will work even for those who are less familiar with the story. To download the lesson plans go to booktrust.org.uk/beyond-booked-up Suggested approach: The CD-Rom is a flexible tool, which we hope will spark ideas specific to your students and your own teaching approach. Suggestions for teaching and learning activities linked to each of the texts can be found below.

Title Format Suggested activity

Introductory Start by encouraging your students to mind map everything they already know about King Arthur. activity A template for this is included which can be photocopied to use with your class. Students should focus on where their knowledge comes from, identifying the media types they can remember. This could be combined with a general discussion around different media, forms and genres. For homework, ask students to research a version of the Arthurian legend, and compare and contrast the various versions in class.

King Arthur Short story Explore how Geraldine McCaughrean conveys setting, Gives Back character and mood in this story. His Sword - What can you tell about the characters from this short scene? - How does the writer achieve this? - Does this story rely on an understanding of the Arthurian legend for the reader to make sense of it? What does this imply?

Excalibur: The Graphic novel Explore movement and colour in this extract: Legend of - What do students notice about the sense of movement in the King Arthur illustrations? How has the artist created this? - Consider the colour palette used – what effect does this have on the reader? How does it fit in with students’ ideas of ‘Arthurian’ times? - In what way is the extract like a film, or cartoon? Compare the scenes to traditional camera shots. - Explore the significance of the full page picture of Arthur drawing the sword.

King Arthur Comic book Compare the visual techniques used in this comic book style and the with those in the graphic novel. Knights of the - What purpose do the illustrations serve? What do they add, Round Table and could the story be told without them? - Who is this book aimed at? How do the illustrations enhance the text?

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Excalibur the Poetry Explore retelling a story in verse. Magic Sword - Consider the form of the verse – how does this restrict the writer? What techniques must be followed? - Ask students to read the extract aloud – how does this retelling work in comparison to non-verse versions? Does the poem work better aloud or on the page? - Set students the task of writing their own verses of another part of the Arthur legend. To differentiate for different abilities, you could impose rhyme schemes, or give students a specific metre to follow.

Here Lies Novel Consider authorship and narrative reliability. Arthur - How does this extract challenge the accepted Arthurian legend? Why does the author retell the story in this way? - Look at perspective in the narrative – how would this scene differ if told from Arthur’s perspective? - Why does the character of Myrddin act as he does? How does this relate to story-telling, myth and legend?

Little King Play script Explore comedy in the Arthurian legends. Arthur - How does this version differ from other versions of the sword in the stone myth? - How has the author added comedy into this retelling of the ‘sword in the stone’ scene? What effect does this have on the audience? - How has the author combined modern with more traditional elements of the story?

King Arthur’s Non-fiction The creation of a myth: World - Compare the various versions of the Arthurian legend with the information in this chapter. - Discuss where the myths might come from, and why they’re so popular and enduring.

King Arthur’s Newspaper Making the legend real: Final Resting article - Consider this article in relation to the extract from King Place Arthur’s World. How do the two compare? - Analyse the historian’s argument – is it convincing? What techniques does he use to try to convince the reader? - What is the relationship between the enduring Arthurian myth, and the reality?

Closing Activity Set students the task of writing their own interpretation of one of the Arthurian legends, using one of the forms studied in this resource. Students should use the mind map to lay out their ideas, and reflect on: - Whose perspective they will focus on. - How they will characterise their protagonist. - Whether they want to stray from the accepted legend. - What techniques they will employ to best achieve their desired effect.

Teachers Guidance 4pp leaflet_2017.indd 3 19/07/2017 10:07 To access these extracts, as well as other Beyond Booked Up resources, visit us online booktrust.org.uk/beyond-booked-up

Beyond Booked Up is brought to you by BookTrust, the national charity dedicated to inspiring a love of books for all.

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