Lesson one Slide one- Questions to think about: Genres and book covers – What do you know about the series? What genre of story do you think they fall into? Slide two- Look at the front cover of and answer the questions. Slide three/slide four- Look at the opening sentence: “When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it’s never good news.” Answer the questions on slide four. Predict what you think would happen next. Slide five- Can you think a name of a book (bonus if you can also name the author) for each genre? Slide six- Question. Activity- Choose one of the Alex Rider books listed below. Using the title and your knowledge of genre, create an exciting book cover to represent what you think the story is about. Remember the following success criteria when creating a book cover: a bold design, strong colours, and a clear title. STORMBREAKER POINT BLANC EAGLE STRIKE SCORPIA ARK ANGEL SNAKEHEAD CROCODILE TEARS SCORPIA RISING RUSSIAN ROULETTE NEVER SAY DIE SECRET WEAPON Lesson two Slide one- Read the extract. Character profiles What can you tell about Alex’s character from this extract? Slide two- Using the character wheel displayed, think of a character you know well. Can you add notes to different sections of the wheel?

Activity one- Using another character wheel, make notes to create a spy character of your own. Activity two- Write a short description, like the extract, based upon your own character. Lesson three Slide one- Read the extract from Stormbreaker. Storyboard Answer: 1. What is Alex’s mission? 2. Who is Alex spying on? 3. Why does Mrs Jones think this is a good idea? 4. What has happened to Alex’s uncle? Slide two- Look at an example of a mission file. Clarify words you may not understand. Activity 1- As Alex is only a child, his mission file would be much simpler. Using the extract, create a Mission File for Alex. Note down all of the important information that he needs to remember into bullet points. Draw pictures of anyone he needs to look out for! Slide three- Begin to think of a new mission Alex rider (or a character of your own) could complete. Activity 2- Create your own Secret Mission for Alex or for the character that you created in the previous lesson. Make an original Mission Storyboard showing how the mission should progress. For example, in the first box you might draw a character or scene at the beginning of the mission. Consider whether it includes a crime scene, or even a person wondering how to get revenge. Use words and illustrations to tell the story of your mission. Lesson four Activity one- Read through the extract from an Alex Rider book. Look Setting description for a at the phrases/words which have been highlighted. What are they spy story examples of? This extract is riddled with personification. Some has been highlighted, can you find the rest? Can you highlight any more features or description you like? Create a success criteria for what makes a setting description successful in a spy story. Activity two- Compare the generated checklist against another story setting description. Can they identify the genre? Is there anything else this author has done well which could be added to the checklist? Activity three- Selecting one of the scenes from the storyboard, add information to it including the five senses. Add ideas for figurative language e.g. personification. Activity four- Children to write a setting description which would be featured in their spy story. Assess themselves against the success criteria generated.

Lesson five Activity one- Questions to think about... Creating tension and pace What is pace? in a story. Why is pace important in an adventure story? How does increasing pace in a story make the reader feel tense or “on the edge of their seat”? Can you think of a book that you’ve read which had a moment of tension? How did it make you feel? What is a cliffhanger? Slide one/Activity two- Read the extract from Stormbreaker which shows the building up of tension. Plot these events onto the graph. Consider when the tension is at its highest and at its lowest. How does the author achieve this? Activity three- Read the extract again. Can you find examples of the following techniques to create tension or excitement for the reader? • A variation of short and long sentences to create pace. • Vocabulary to evoke an ominous atmosphere. • Strong emotions from the characters. • Cliffhangers. Activity four- using your own storyboard, plot out a scene within your story using a tension graph. Consider the following things: • What events will occur? • How will your characters feel? • How will the pace increase or decrease? • What will the highest/lowest moment of tension be? Activity five- write a scene from your story. Try and include features which you looked for in the Stormbreaker extract.