Fiction

Objective & content

This sheet on fiction starts from a conversation in the school library: Kofi is reading a fantasy novel he cannot put down, Mia prefers science fiction and mysteries, and they talk about classics such as Roald Dahl's The BFG and J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Pupils learn to talk about books and stories: genres, characters, plot and what they like reading. They answer six multiple-choice questions, match ten words such as villain, cliffhanger and blurb with their meanings, complete seven sentences and match six genres with what they are about. The sheet ends with six back-cover blurbs to match with six book covers.

Pedagogical guide

The conversation carries the words of the topic, so pupils meet each one in context before working on it. Real books are named but never quoted, and the six covers are original designs, so pupils read the blurbs instead of recognising a famous cover. The tasks go from recognising words to using them: meanings, sentences, genres, then whole blurbs. There is no word-form task on this sheet: the genre words do that work. In the last task, each blurb fits one cover only; pupils should look for the key detail (a time machine, a door behind a bookcase, an owl for a teacher). Every task tests words, never grammar.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask "What are you reading at the moment?" and write the titles and their genres on the board.
2. (10 min) Two pupils read the conversation aloud; the class answers the six questions.
3. (10 min) Pupils match the ten words with their meanings, then complete the sentences.
4. (10 min) Pupils match the six genres with what they are about.
5. (10 min) Pupils read the six blurbs and write the number of each one under its book cover.
6. (5 min) Check with the answer key on page 4.

Adaptations

[S] Each pupil names a book or a film they love and its genre before reading.

[A] Pupils write the blurb of an imaginary book in four sentences, ending on a question. To take it further, the class runs a book swap with recommendations.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of the three pupil pages per pupil, in colour or in black and white. Page 4 is the answer key: keep it. Pupils should know the past simple and the present perfect with ever and just.