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Buried Thunder

Teachers’ Resources

By

Annie Fox

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Overview for Scheme of Work 4

Navigator 5–6

Lesson Plans 7

Assessment 49

INTRODUCTION

English teachers don’t need to be told the enormous value and pleasure of reading whole texts as class readers. Little compares with that feeling when a class are truly engaged in the reading of a really good book. Fortunately, contemporary writers of fiction for young adults continue to offer fresh opportunities to enjoy literature with students.

Oxford Rollercoasters is a series that offers teachers the opportunity of studying first-class novels as whole-class readers with Year 7, 8 and 9 students. Each set of materials has been written in response to the diverse needs of students in those year groups.

Focus on assessment of reading

Oxford Rollercoasters includes titles with varied themes, challenging subject matter and engaging plots. For example, Noughts and Crosses takes a contemporary slant on racism; The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas explores the Holocaust through the eyes of a young German boy; Buried Thunder is a psychological thriller which begins with a young girl discovering two bodies in a forest.

In the latest wave of Rollercoasters, each novel is accompanied by innovative and engaging teaching materials, designed to help all students access the texts and also to reflect the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. The key concepts of competence, creativity, cultural and critical understanding are clearly addressed, and the schemes offer a wide range of cross-curricular opportunities.

The latest teaching materials are firmly based on developing reading skills, though teaching plans include approaches to literature through oral work, drama and media. Theories behind both assessment for learning and thinking skills are evident in the lesson plans.

Time-saving resources

In each on-line Teacher’s Pack there is a compact Overview which summarizes the work scheme, identifies the specific reading skills and strategies being developed, and the resources available for each lesson.

Lesson Plans suggest particular focuses and learning outcomes, but the Word files can be adapted to suit the level of progression for each particular class. All Resource sheets can be easily adapted for differentiation.

The Navigator offers a clear plot summary, identifying the stages in the structure of the novel. It is designed to help teachers adapt the pace and detail of work according to the needs of their class.

Every set of lesson plans ends with its own student Reading Assessment Progress sheet, which can be used to identify areas for student development.

Reading Guide

Each of the novels has its own student Reading Guide – an accessible, magazine-style booklet, packed with visual, textual and activity materials to help engage students in their study of the novel. Each one features writer’s craft material to enhance and enrich the students’ appreciation of the author’s skills. Original drafts and commentary from the authors of the novels provide valuable insight into the process of writing.

Ideas for wider reading and for the extension of independent reading are provided in the Pathways section at the end of the Reading Guide.

Oxford Rollercoasters provides first-class teaching resources for first-class contemporary fiction. The series is designed to engage the widest possible range of students in reading for pleasure, and we feel confident that it will contribute to those memorable experiences of reading together in the secondary classroom.

OVERVIEW FOR SCHEME OF WORK

|Lesson and focus |Reading skills and strategies |Resources |

|1. Story opening |Appreciate an effective story opening |R: 1a, 1b |

|Chapter 1 |Make deductions about the book from its cover and predict plot and |RG: p.4 |

|(Homework Chapter 2) |character development | |

|2. Developing character and exploring |Interpret information about characters and structure |R: 2a, 2b |

|structure |Define suspense |RG: p.8 |

|Chapters 3–4 |Explore characters through role-play | |

|3. Characterization and dialogue |Understand how authors create characters |R: 3a, 3b |

|Chapters 5–6 |Explore dialogue |RG: p.6 |

|(Homework Chapter 7) | | |

|4. Creating suspense and mystery |Identify methods to create suspense |R: 4a, 4b |

|Chapters 8–9 |Locate examples of the mystery genre |RG: pp.7, 8 |

|(Homework Chapter 10) |Understand how clues are planted in the story | |

|5. Setting |Select and interpret information relating to settings |R: 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d |

|Chapters 11–12 |Plan an original piece of writing based on a setting |RG: p.5 |

|6. The role of foxes as a motif |Explore motifs |R: 6a, 6b |

|Chapters 13–14 |Debate how foxes are perceived |RG: p.3,10 |

|7. Deceptive appearances |Identify how the novelist uses the themes of deception and appearances |R: 7a, 7b |

|Chapters 15–16 |Understand the importance of the character, Mo |RG: p.12 |

|(Homework Chapters 17–19) | | |

|8. Creating a trailer to explore genre |Define ‘genre’ |R: 8a, 8b, 8c |

|Chapters 20–21 |Select key exciting episodes from the text |RG: p.9 |

| |Use media terminology to create a trailer storyboard | |

|9. Tension and crisis |Explore the build-up of tension |R: 9a, 9b |

|Chapters 22–23 |Chart the tension in two key chapters |RG: p.13 (optional) |

|(Homework Chapters 24–26) | | |

|10. The resolution |Reflect on key aspects of the narrative structure |R: 10a, 10b, 10c |

|Chapters 27–28 |Understand the resolution of the plot | |

|(Homework Chapter 29) |Explore implications and inferences about a character | |

|11. Writer’s craft |Understand aspects of the writer’s craft |R: 11a, 11b, 11c |

|Whole novel |Explore different writing techniques |RG: p.14 |

|12. Review and reflect |Express and share personal responses to the novel |R: 12a, 12b, 12c, |

|Whole novel |Review learning |12d |

Progression: teachers’ choice of this text should be influenced by the degree to which the study of Buried Thunder will allow a class to make appropriate progress in their knowledge and skills of reading. Buried Thunder offers students the opportunity to examine a story which deals with themes such as friendship, loss and danger.

Cross-curricular links: opportunities to link with PSHE, Media, ICT and Drama.

NAVIGATOR

|Chapter |Plot outline |

|Chapter 1 |Fourteen-year-old Maya Munro discovers a woman’s body in the forest. There is a horseshoe pendant around |

| |the woman’s neck. Maya hears mysterious rustlings and then discovers a red-haired man’s body. Finally she|

| |sees a third body with a figure standing over it. She also sees a fox. She runs from the forest and |

| |collapses. |

|Chapter 2 |Maya comes to and finds her worried family looking for her. She tells them what she has seen and her |

| |father calls the police. The Munro family returns to the Rowan Tree, an ancient hotel they have recently |

| |purchased. Maya’s brother, Tom, confronts Maya about her odd behaviour before she ran into the forest and|

| |tells her that she said ‘Someone’s going to die.’ A policewoman arrives at the door. It is the woman whom|

| |Maya saw lying dead in the forest. |

|Chapter 3 |The policewoman is WPC Annie Shaw. The other police officers arrive and question Maya. The police have |

| |found no evidence to support Maya’s story and do not believe her. |

|Chapter 4 |At night, Tom tells Maya that he doesn’t trust WPC Shaw because he saw her searching the reception area |

| |when she thought no one was looking. Maya goes downstairs to see if she can discover what WPC Shaw was |

| |looking for. She discovers a horseshoe pendant, the same one worn by the body in the forest. Maya hides |

| |the pendant in a secret cupboard beneath her bedroom floorboards. |

|Chapter 5 |The next morning, Maya is struggling with the busy breakfast orders. A ‘wild’ girl, Bonny turns up at the|

| |door asking for a job. She has a strange, large, silent boy, Mo, with her. Bonny sends the boy to wait |

| |for her by the church. Although surprised by Bonny’s manner, Maya’s father agrees to give her a trial |

| |shift. Maya goes to the churchyard. |

|Chapter 6 |In the churchyard, Maya meets Zep and they see a dead fox. Zep has a knife and seems threatening. A |

| |woman, Rebecca Flint, warns Maya to keep away from Zep. Bonny comes looking for Mo. Mrs Flint tells Maya |

| |that she never intends to go inside the Rowan Tree again. |

|Chapter 7 |Maya tells Tom there is something wrong with the Rowan Tree. He thinks she needs to face the forest |

| |again. She goes to retrieve the horseshoe pendant, but discovers a wooden effigy in its place. She |

| |decides to dispose of the effigy in the forest. Maya sees a man with red hair. |

|Chapter 8 |Maya and Tom go into the forest. She is looking for the red-haired man, and somewhere to throw away the |

| |effigy. Zep and a mysterious teenage girl emerge from the bushes where Maya has thrown the effigy. The |

| |girl leaves and Zep shows them a savagely cut tree trunk. Tom attempts to protect Maya. Zep leaves and |

| |they see the man with red hair. |

|Chapter 9 |Maya and Tom meet McMurdo, the forester, and Bryn, the red-haired man who is McMurdo’s assistant. Maya |

| |asks who is responsible for the carved tree and dead foxes. Bryn asks what the red-haired man Maya had |

| |seen dead in the forest had looked like. She describes his clothes, which are like Bryn’s, but says he |

| |had a silver watch, which Bryn doesn’t have. McMurdo warns Maya against telling ‘fantasy stories’. They |

| |see Bonny, running through the forest. They come upon Mo near three carved trees standing over the corpse|

| |of a fox. He runs away, chased by McMurdo and Bryn. |

|Chapter 10 |That night Maya can’t sleep because she keeps hearing noises, particularly a scratching at her door. She |

| |goes to her parents’ room and her father goes out to explore. Hearing him say ‘Who’s there?’ her mother |

| |goes out as well. Maya hears more scratching and screams. |

|Chapter 11 |Dr Wade comes to examine Maya. The Munros have hired three new staff, two 16 year olds, Roxy and Jake, |

| |and Milly, ‘a fierce-looking’ woman. Bonny objects to the new recruitment, accusing the Munros of sacking|

| |her. The police turn up wanting to find Mo. Bonny runs off. |

|Chapter 12 |Jake’s parents used to own the Rowan Tree and so Jake shows Maya and Tom around it. His uncle is McMurdo.|

| |Jake admits the hotel is an unhappy place and the marriage of the previous owners, the Flints, broke up. |

| |He tells them there are secret cupboards in the attic and broom cupboard. |

|Chapter 13 |Maya follows a fox into the garden. Roxy joins her, asking why Maya is talking to herself. Maya worries |

| |that she is frightening all the hotel guests away. She feels the fox is summoning her from behind the |

| |garden wall. The Munros worry about business, but are glad they have one restaurant booking: Bryn and |

| |Annie Shaw are coming for dinner the next day. |

|Chapter 14 |At night, Maya follows a fox that she has seen digging outside. She is convinced it is trying to |

| |communicate with her. She goes outside and sees that its digging has revealed a human foot. She then |

| |sees a figure with a fox’s face rising from the bushes. |

|Chapter 15 |The figure dressed in fox fur runs tauntingly at her. It is Zep and he pushes against her. Zep suddenly |

| |runs away and Maya sees that Mo is there. She thanks him. He is waiting for Bonny. |

|Chapter 16 |Bonny arrives with food for Mo. Bonny agrees to walk Maya back to the Rowan Tree in return for her |

| |silence about the old barn that Mo and Bonny use as a retreat. She says they have enemies and that evil |

| |things are going on. Mo is innocent, but has been attacked and hit. When they return to the Rowan Tree, |

| |the police are there. |

|Chapter 17 |Annie Shaw interviews Maya and the body is identified as being Rebecca Flint’s. Maya is quizzed about her|

| |last conversation with Mrs Flint. Zep is considered a suspect. The police suggest that they stop running |

| |the hotel for a while, but Annie Shaw asks if they can still come for dinner as it is a special place to |

| |them and she thinks Bryn is going to ask her ‘something important’. Maya says ‘Don’t come.’ |

|Chapter 18 |Maya’s mother tells her that with a murderer on the loose she can’t go running off again. Maya knows she |

| |can’t convince her mother that she saw the bodies in the forest and she now wonders if what she saw has a|

| |more sinister meaning. Maya hears a scratching at the door again. |

|Chapter 19 |The police and press arrive in the morning to investigate Mrs Flint’s murder. Maya is grounded. Maya |

| |tells Tom again ‘Someone’s going to die.’ Jake tells Maya and Tom that Zep and Mrs Flint were in a |

| |relationship although he was only 19 and she was in her 40s. Mrs Flint was lonely after her husband had |

| |left her for another woman and so she let Zep stay in her outhouse. |

|Chapter 20 |Jake comes to check if Maya is all right. He feels Maya knows something she isn’t telling him and he says|

| |he is angry with whoever killed Mrs Flint. Maya hears a growling from behind a door. She shuts herself in|

| |a room and thinks that she is being hunted. When she goes downstairs she sees that two dinner guests have|

| |arrived in the Rowan Tree restaurant. |

|Chapter 21 |Bryn and Annie are seated in the restaurant dressed just as they were when she saw them as bodies in the |

| |forest – except Annie isn’t wearing the horseshoe pendant and Bryn doesn’t have a silver watch. Maya |

| |tells them they shouldn’t have come. Tom asks Maya if she thinks he is the one who is going to die. She |

| |replies that she doesn’t know. Tom falls ill and a doctor is called. After Bryn and Annie leave, Maya’s |

| |father becomes ill. He tells Maya that Annie is happy because they found her horseshoe pendant for her |

| |and Annie gave Bryn a silver watch. Maya sees two figures walking hand in hand to the forest and a fox |

| |looking at her. |

|Chapter 22 |Maya feels the fox is beckoning her to come outside. Maya’s mother falls ill. Although forbidden from |

| |going outside, Maya follows the fox. Someone places a garbage bag over her head and she is bundled away. |

| |She hears a moan and removes the bag. She finds Mo bending over an injured Bonny. Mo had brought Maya as |

| |the only other person he trusted, hoping she could help with Bonny. Mo suddenly runs off and Maya finds |

| |Annie and Bryn’s bodies just as they were in her first visit to the forest. Then she finds Mo, badly |

| |hurt, and realizes he was the third body and she was the figure standing over the body. A fifth figure |

| |dressed in fox furs arrives and pulls an axe from a tree. |

|Chapter 23 |The fox figure wields the axe and Maya is hit in the cheek with its handle. Mo tries to stop the fox |

| |figure but just as he weakens someone else hits the fox figure. Maya discovers that the fox figure isn’t |

| |Zep, and in fact it is Zep who has felled the fox figure. Zep runs off and Maya checks the pulses of |

| |Annie and Bryn. Maya sees a fox and then torches drawing near. |

|Chapter 24 |Dr Wade looks after Maya and tells her that her family had been poisoned by a home-made mixture, but they|

| |would survive. The others in the forest had been taken to the hospital. Bonny had been poisoned too. The |

| |police reveal that Rebecca Flint was poisoned. The police cannot yet tell them who the fox figure is. |

|Chapter 25 |Maya tells Roxy and Jake that she thinks the fox figure has been haunting the Rowan Tree and living |

| |there. They go in search of possible hiding places. They find loose floorboards and an old chimneybreast.|

| |Maya is convinced that the fox figure has been in her room and possibly the cellar. |

|Chapter 26 |In the cellar, they find a window with a broken latch. Maya senses a hostile presence there. She goes up |

| |to check on her ill family. The police come and ask Maya and Jake to accompany them. |

|Chapter 27 |The police take Jake and Maya to the hospital. They see Mo and Bonny recovering. They are told that Bryn |

| |and Annie may recover in time for their wedding. McMurdo reveals to Jake that he isn’t an only child. His|

| |mother Chloe had an affair with a 19-year-old Bryn and became pregnant. Jake’s father died and his |

| |mother, who was unstable, was found 13 years later living under a bridge. She died and no one knew what |

| |happened to her child. That child was the fox figure. |

|Chapter 28 |They are taken to see a young girl, Crystal, who was the fox figure. She was the girl who had been with |

| |Zep in the bushes. She is psychotic and wanted revenge on everyone involved with the Rowan Tree, |

| |particularly Bryn, her father. She was manipulating Zep, but when she killed Mrs Flint, he went after |

| |Crystal. Maya says ‘Someone’s going to die’ and Crystal stops breathing. |

|Chapter 29 |Maya’s family is recovering. A guest calls to make a reservation at the Rowan Tree. Jake and Milly return|

| |home. Maya checks the hotel. When she looks out the window she sees two yellow eyes peering in. |

LESSON 1

Focus: Chapter 1

Effective story openings

(Homework Chapter 2)

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Appreciate a story opening and comment on how this story introduces the characters

• Make deductions about the book from its cover and predict plot

• Explore the importance of sound in creating a sense of mystery and suspense

Engage

Distribute copies of Buried Thunder. Ask the students to look carefully at the cover and then consider the statements on Resource 1a. This resource can be displayed in front of the class or copied and distributed to pairs of students. Ask the students to rank the statements in order, putting the ones they most agree with at the top and the ones they least agree with at the bottom. (The statements can be cut out and physically rearranged if preferred.)

Take feedback from the class. Encourage the students to explain how they made their choices. Finally, ask them to sum up their first impressions of the book.

Explore

Read pages 1 and 2 in the novel and then display Resource 1b. Ask the students to work in pairs, and to think about how the selected phrases create interest in the novel and a desire to know what is going to happen next. Ask:

• Do the words help the reader to understand how Maya is feeling?

• Do they plant questions in the reader’s mind?

• Do they help to create atmosphere or a sense of danger?

Make connections between the type of novel suggested by the students’ analysis of the cover and the first two pages. Then read to the end of the first chapter and discuss their first impressions of the novel.

Distribute the Reading Guide and ask students to turn to page 4, ‘A Hint of Danger’. Working with a partner they should complete the first task, looking at the events in the novel. This is an opportunity to check the understanding of less able students. (You may wish to organize the students into mixed ability pairs for this exercise to support those who may have been confused by the opening.) After the students have selected three important events that create suspense, ask three or four pairs to feedback on their decisions, encouraging them to explain why they made those choices.

Transform

Ask the class to consider the importance of sound in creating suspense. Ask them to identify the sounds that are both explicit (such as the rustling) and implicit (such as the sound of Maya’s breathing as she rushes through the forest) in the opening. On the board note their suggestions, which may include: Maya’s footsteps, wind, owls, Tom’s shouting, etc.

Divide the class into three groups and assign one person to be the ‘conductor’. Using the suggested sounds and the guidance on page 4 of the Reading Guide, the students should create a soundscape which captures the excitement of the opening chapter. More advanced groups might want to add some narration or movement to their soundscape.

Allow the students to rehearse for about five minutes, with the conductor controlling the volume and pace of the piece, as well as bringing in and silencing various sounds. Share with the class and discuss the importance of sound in this opening.

Review and reflect

Return to your discussion about the book cover and ask the students if their initial ideas about the effectiveness of the cover have changed now that they have read the beginning of the novel. Ask them whether they would now put their statements in a different order.

Distribute sticky notes and ask the students to make predictions about what they think will happen next in the novel. Collect these in and read out a few, without suggesting if they are correct or not. Keep these to refer back to in a later lesson.

Homework

Ask the students to read the next chapter in the novel (pages 7–15) and to answer the following question: What do we learn about Maya and her family in the second chapter?

Tell students that it will be tempting to read on but ask them to stop reading at the end of the second chapter.

Resource 1a

Book cover

Look at the front and back cover of Buried Thunder and read the statements below. Decide whether you agree or disagree with them, and be prepared to explain why. Rank them in order, marking the one you most agree with as 1 and the one you least agree with as 8.

|The colours suggest danger. |

|The book is about a forest. |

|The cover suggests that a girl is in danger. |

|The cover image is rather frightening. |

|The word ‘nightmare’ makes me wonder if it is all in a character’s mind. |

|The story takes place in the country. |

|The phrase ‘the eyes of a fox’ sounds mysterious. |

|The phrase ‘horrific discovery’ makes me think the book will be exciting. |

Resource 1b

Capturing the reader’s attention

Explain how the following phrases from the opening two pages capture the reader’s attention.

|‘The body was lying in a thicket’ | |

|‘a ghost of recollection’ | |

|‘And yet...’ | |

|‘the darkening forest’ | |

|‘a rustling sound’ | |

|‘starting to panic’ | |

LESSON 2

Focus: Chapters 3–4

Developing character and exploring structure

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Select and interpret information about characters and relationships

• Define and explore cliff-hangers and suspense

• Explore characters through role-play

Engage

Display the sticky note predictions from the first lesson and ask two or three volunteers to come up and see if any of these predictions can now be eliminated by what they have learned in the second chapter. Remove those that the class agrees could not be correct.

Invite students to share their responses to the homework question about what they have learned about the Munro family. Ask one third of the class to come up with adjectives to describe each of the following family members:

• Tom

• Maya’s mum

• Maya’s dad.

Take whole-class feedback on Maya’s relationship with each of these characters.

Explore

Display and/or distribute Resource 2a. Read through the definition of a ‘cliff-hanger’ and ensure students understand this term. Ask the students to compare the cliff-hangers that end the first two chapters. (They can work in pairs.) Encourage the more advanced students to attempt the extension task of writing their own alternative cliff-hanger to end Chapter 2. Ask them to predict what might happen next.

Read Chapters 3 and 4 (pages 16–29), checking the students’ comprehension as they progress. Draw out that the police are sceptical about Maya’s story and that Tom is protective of her.

Hand out the Reading Guides and ask the students to turn to page 8. Draw their attention to the definition of ‘suspense’. Ask them to read the different thoughts about why suspense is important and ask which most closely matches their own. Ask: How has further suspense been created in these two chapters?

Transform

Ask the students to remember what Maya has told the police about what happened in the forest. Put them into groups of three (or four with one director) and ask them to create a role-play scene in which three of the police officers return to the police station and try to make sense of what Maya has told them.

Hand out Resource 2b to give the students guidance about how they could play their parts. Remind them that they should base their ideas on what the police might actually think of what Maya has told them.

Give the students about ten minutes to rehearse their scenes and then choose two or three to share with the rest of the class. Ask the students to check that the actors playing the police have been accurately portrayed from the information available from the novel.

Discuss how Maya’s situation would be different if the police believed her.

Review and reflect

Ask the students to list all the questions they now have about the events in Hembury. (For example, what is the importance of the horseshoe pendant? Why does WPC Annie Shaw look like the dead person?)

Homework

Write a script showing what you think Tom would tell his parents about Maya’s behaviour in the forest.

Resource 2a

Cliff-hangers

Cliff-hanger an exciting but unfinished event that occurs at the end of a chapter or episode

| |Chapter 1 |Chapter 2 |

|Final line of each chapter |‘And a shadow leaning over her.’ |‘It was the woman she’d seen lying dead in the |

| | |forest.’ |

|What questions does this sentence | | |

|suggest to you? | | |

|What do you think might happen next? | | |

Extension task: Look again at the end of Chapter 2 and write an alternative cliff-hanger.

Resource 2b

Detective role-play

Use the role-play cards below to develop a scene in which DI Henderson, DC Coker and WPC Becket have returned to the police station and try to find alternative explanations for what Maya claims to have seen in the woods.

|DI Henderson |

|You are a very experienced detective. |

|You don’t believe Maya is lying, but that she is mistaken in what |

|she has seen. |

|You try to think of logical explanations for what she has said. |

|DC Coker |

|You are a younger detective constable and you want to solve |

|this case quickly. |

|You are impatient with time-wasters. |

|You are very aware that the Munros are new to this area. |

|WPC Becket |

|You are the least experienced of the three police officers. |

|You are very curious about why Maya would make these claims. |

|You wonder if something bad has happened in the forest. |

LESSON 3

Focus: Chapters 5–6

Characterization and dialogue

(Homework Chapter 7)

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Understand how authors create characters

• Explore how dialogue can be written effectively

Engage

Hand out the Reading Guide and ask the students to turn to page 6, ‘The Girl No One Believes’. Working in pairs they should look at all the adjectives at the bottom of the page and decide which they believe best describe Maya. Then ask one person from each pair to write one adjective on the whiteboard which describes Maya. Encourage them to think of any other adjectives which are not listed in the Reading Guide and explain why they would also be appropriate for describing Maya.

Ask the students to consider whether Maya is perceived differently by different characters (Tom, for example, as opposed to DI Henderson).

Explore

Ask for a few volunteers to read their homework assignment, encouraging the class to note in particular the quality of the dialogue. Display Resource 3a to help focus the discussion. Ask the students to comment on what works well in the dialogue and what could be improved.

Then ask the students to read pages 30–39, paying particular attention to the dialogue used in this chapter.

Then re-direct their attention to Resource 3a. Ask three students to re-read the dialogue between Bonny, Maya and Mr Munro on pages 33–37 and consider how the dialogue is individual to each character. They should then complete the statement at the bottom of Resource 3a.

Transform

Continue to read until the end of Chapter 6, reminding the class to pay attention to the quality of the dialogue and what we learn about the characters.

Return to the Reading Guide, page 6, and direct the class to read from the top of the page, including the sample stories.

Organize the students into pairs and ask them to decide whether Maya is more like Cassandra or the Boy Who Cried Wolf. Encourage them to justify their opinions.

Distribute Resource 3b and ask the students to complete the characterization chart. Circulate around the room, prompting students to justify their opinions and to give detailed evidence (quotations) from the novel.

For an extension, encourage the more able to contrast two of the characters. You could write on the board: ‘In contrast to Bonny, Zep appears to be...’ and ask students to complete this sentence.

Review and reflect

Return to the adjectives that the class discussed at the beginning of the lesson and point out the definition of ‘protagonist’ in the Reading Guide, page 6. Play ‘Just a Minute’ giving students a chance to say in 60 seconds, without pause, hesitation or repetition, why they think Maya is an interesting protagonist.

Homework

Ask the students to read pages 48–55 and to write down three questions they want to know the answers to at the end of this chapter (for example, ‘Who is Mo?’, ‘Why does Zep have a knife?’, ‘What is an effigy?’).

Resource 3a

Analysing dialogue

dialogue words spoken between two or more characters

sub-text underlying, unspoken meaning of a scene or words

What makes good dialogue?

1. It helps to further the action of the plot.

2. The words spoken suit the characters and reveal something about their personality.

3. It is easy to follow – we know who is speaking and why.

4. It may suggest that there is more to the scene than just what is being said (i.e. it may imply a certain sub-text).

5. It is believable – the choice of words and phrases are appropriate for that given character.

6. It might catch us by surprise – amusing, shocking or intriguing us.

Read the dialogue involving Bonny on pages 33–37 and decide if you think this dialogue is well written and why.

Complete the following statement:

What I have learned about Bonny from her dialogue is...

Resource 3b

Comparing characters

| |Maya |Bonny |Zep |

|Dialogue | | | |

|What do we learn about this | | | |

|character from the way they | | | |

|speak and what they say? | | | |

|Give examples. | | | |

|Appearance | | | |

|What do we learn from the way | | | |

|they look and dress? | | | |

|Actions | | | |

|What do we learn from what they | | | |

|do? | | | |

|Reactions | | | |

|What do we learn from how others| | | |

|react to them? | | | |

LESSON 4

Focus: Chapters 8–9

Creating suspense and mystery

(Homework Chapter 10)

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Identify methods the author uses to create suspense

• Locate examples of the mystery genre

• Understand how clues are planted in the story

Note: There are some references to nudity and sex in this chapter which should be dealt with sensitively.

Engage

Ask the students to share the questions they had after reading Chapter 7 at home. Then distribute the Reading Guide and tell them to turn to page 7, ‘Secret Objects’. Check their understanding of the word ‘effigy’. It is likely this word will cause some confusion, so ask a student to look up and write the definition on the board (something like ‘a model or representation of a figure’). Then ask the students to complete the first two tasks on page 7 of the Reading Guide, looking at the secret objects and speculating on the significance of the contents of Zep’s bag.

Take feedback from the whole class on their discoveries, encouraging them to speculate on the possible meaning of the clues.

Explore

Before continuing to read, display Resource 4a. Discuss the key terms about suspense and mystery.

Read pages 56–62 asking the students to pay particular attention to any clues that the writer is planting.

Distribute Resource 4b and ask the students to analyse the clues on it, encouraging them to predict the possible meanings and to make connections with events that have occurred already in the novel. Keep Resource 4a on display, so the students can use this vocabulary in their answers.

Then ask the students to read to the end of Chapter 9.

Transform

Using the ‘Baffling object’ exercise on page 7 of the Reading Guide as a stimulus, ask the students to create their own suspenseful opening to a mystery story. They should use the techniques that have been discussed in this lesson such as creating atmosphere, planting clues and keeping the reader guessing.

Allow them 10–15 minutes to write, and then choose two or three students to read out their work to the class. Encourage the class to analyse how suspense, mystery and atmosphere have been created.

Review and reflect

Return to the Reading Guide and turn to page 8, ‘The Suspense Builds’. First read Tim Bowler’s writer’s craft section on suspense and then ask the students to read the speech bubble comments on suspense. Ask for hands up to establish which one they most agree with and then invite one or two students to explain why.

Homework

Complete a final, neat version of the opening to their baffling object mystery. They should also read Chapter 10.

Resource 4a

Terms used in mysteries and thrillers

Mystery: a fiction genre which involves the solving of a crime

Psychological thriller: a fiction genre which focuses on the feelings and fears of the characters. The suspense may come from characters trying to understand what has happened to them or attempting to make sense of confusing or disturbing events.

Clues: information or hints that help to solve a problem or mystery. This might be physical evidence (a weapon, for example) or something witnessed. Writers often plant a number of clues for the reader to try to connect and solve the mystery.

Suspense: a state of tension when waiting to learn the outcome of a situation or decision. In literature, this is associated with excitement and involvement for the reader.

Red herring: a false clue – something that you think might help you solve a mystery, but actually draws you away from the solution. Writers sometimes plant these to add confusion and tease the reader.

Atmosphere: the mood created by the writer; for example, eerie, calm or gloomy. This is usually created by the setting, description and dialogue.

Resource 4b

Close reading

Read the following quotations from Chapter 8 and, writing in full sentences, explain how they contribute to the suspense and mystery of Buried Thunder.

Hint: Do they help you solve the mystery or create a greater mystery? Can you make connections with earlier events in the novel? Do any of these lines contribute to the atmosphere of this chapter?

‘You’re acting strange. And you’ve still got that weird face.’

‘...but now a second figure was stirring from the bushes: a girl about fifteen.’

‘And if you eat the heart, you capture its strength.’

‘Something was stirring in the leaves ahead, and it wasn’t Zep.’

‘…two yellow eyes, staring towards her.’

‘The bark on the side facing them had been savagely cut back to form a shape in the tree-trunk as broad and tall as Zep himself.’

‘Zep smirked again, then suddenly turned his head and stared behind him.’

‘And unmistakable red hair.’

LESSON 5

Focus: Chapters 11–12

The importance of settings

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Select and interpret information relating to settings

• Create a plan for an original piece of writing based on a setting

Engage

Distribute Resource 5a and ask the students to answer true or false to the questions about the setting in Buried Thunder. Those who finish quickly should also complete the extension task of considering which points add most to the mystery of the novel.

Ask the students to exchange papers and then display Resource 5b.Tell the students to mark each other’s answers. Invite a show of hands of those who got more than eight correct and try to identify any areas of confusion.

Explore

Distribute the Reading Guide and ask the students to turn to page 5, ‘The Mystery of The Rowan Tree’. Together read the writer’s craft passage in which Tim Bowler describes the importance of the setting in the novel. Refer the students to the spider diagram in the middle of the page. Working with a partner, students should copy and complete the spider diagram using evidence from the novel so far. They must be able to back up their ideas with quotations from the novel.

Read pages 78–93, encouraging the students to note the ways in which the Rowan Tree is being established as an important aspect of the novel’s narrative.

Distribute Resource 5c which contains an extract from pages 92–93 in the novel. Explain that the students will be undertaking a close reading of this section. Ideally they should have coloured pencils or pens for this exercise, but if not they should simply circle or underline the different elements and annotate the text to explain what they have discovered.

Ask one student to read the passage aloud. Draw attention to the use of some unusually short sentences followed by longer, more complex ones and, for the more able, define the word ‘syntax’ (it is the way in which words are arranged to make phrases or sentences). The students should then work independently annotating their copy of the resource sheet, and most should also be able to complete the extension task.

When they have completed the resource sheet, ask the students to share their discoveries and draw out how Bowler uses sound, short sentences and Maya’s fears and discomfort to create a sense of suspense.

Transform

Using ideas from today’s lesson the students should make a plan for a story set in a specific location. Distribute Resource 5d. Working independently, ask the students to write for about ten minutes on their plans, reminding them of the importance of using their senses.

Review and reflect

Hear a selection of the students’ plans and, referring back to the writer’s craft material, ask them to decide if they have chosen a setting that is so exciting and interesting that it will be ‘like another character’ in the story. Tell the students to keep these plans safe as they will return to creative writing in another lesson.

Homework

Ask the students to research foxes and how they are perceived by society nowadays. They should list five positive points and five negative ones.

Resource 5a

True or false?

True False

1. Maya has lived in Hembury all

her life.

2. The Rowan Tree is an old country

hotel.

3. Hembury is a busy urban setting.

4. There is a church and graveyard in Hembury.

5. Maya feels immediately at home at the Rowan Tree.

6. There is a secret cupboard underneath the floor in Maya’s bedroom.

7. Maya hears a barking at her bedroom door.

8. The Rowan Tree is a very successful hotel.

9. There is a forest near the hotel.

10. Mrs Flint has happy memories of the Rowan Tree.

Extension: Which of the above do you think particularly adds to the mystery and atmosphere of the novel?

Resource 5b

True or false: answers

True False

1. Maya has lived in Hembury all her life.

Her family only moved in a few days before the novel begins.

2. The Rowan Tree is an old country hotel.

It dates from the 14th century.

3. Hembury is a busy urban setting.

It is a quiet country (rural) location.

4. There is a church and graveyard in Hembury.

5. Maya feels immediately at home at the Rowan Tree.

Her parents and brother love it, but she feels ill at ease.

6. There is a secret cupboard underneath the floor in Maya’s bedroom.

7. Maya hears a barking at her bedroom door.

She hears a scratching.

8. The Rowan Tree is a very successful hotel.

Her parents need to build up the business.

9. There is a forest near the hotel.

10. Mrs Flint has happy memories of the Rowan Tree.

She never wants to set foot in it again.

Resource 5c

Close reading

How does Tim Bowler use the setting to create suspense in the following extract?

1. In one colour, underline any short abrupt sentences.

2. In another colour, underline any mention of sounds or silence.

3. In a third colour, circle any time Maya’s feelings or fears are mentioned.

4. Circle any words you associate with mystery.

She set off down the corridor.

A rest in her room.

She frowned. She hadn’t been in there since she left it last night. She walked up to the door, stared at it for a few moments, then turned away; and there it was again: that feeling of something dangerous and familiar.

And close.

She walked back down the corridor. All was quiet in The Rowan Tree, especially now that the guests had gone, but from the attic room above came the sound of Tom and Jake laughing. She moved on down the corridor.

The feeling was still there and it was strongest towards the back of the hotel. She stopped outside Room Seven, listening hard. No further laughter from the attic room, nor any other voices. She pushed open the door, stepped in and closed it behind her, then walked over to the window.

Nothing suspicious in the garden: just the lawn, the path, the empty tables. She heard the door open behind her. She whirled around and saw Milly standing there.

Extension: Using what you have discovered by analysing this passage, complete the following sentence:

Tim Bowler creates an eerie atmosphere in The Rowan Tree by...

Resource 5d

Creating a powerful setting

Choose a location, for example:

a leisure centre a school

a shopping mall a museum

Now imagine you have been trapped here overnight. Think carefully about all your senses. What would you:

• see

• hear

• feel?

Write a story plan following the steps below.

LESSON 6

Focus: Chapters 13–14

The role of foxes as a motif

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Explain what a motif is and to what effect the fox motif is used in this novel

• Discuss how foxes are used in literature

• Debate how foxes are generally perceived

Engage

Ask one student to write the word ‘Foxes’ on the whiteboard and, using their homework and their own knowledge, invite the class to help that student write as many bullet points as he or she can in two minutes about foxes. Encourage them to be imaginative and to think about foxes in fiction as well as fact.

Explore

Display Resource 6a and ask a student to read the definition of ‘motif’. Check the students’ understanding of the term and then guide them through the quotations about foxes in the novel. Encourage them to discuss whether the images are positive or negative.

They should then read Chapters 13 and 14 in the novel, noting down every time foxes are mentioned. When they have finished reading, the students should work with a partner to compare their lists, making sure they haven’t missed any instances. Then, still in pairs, the students should discuss why foxes are mentioned so often and what they might represent or symbolize.

Distribute the Reading Guide and ask the students to turn to page 3. Read what Tim Bowler says about the foxes and how they inspired him. Encourage the class to discuss the points Bowler makes about foxes and how the image of the staring fox helped him to write the story.

Transform

Ask the class to turn to page 10 in the Reading Guide, ‘Those Yellow Eyes…’, and together, read the section about the reputation of foxes and the topic for the debate.

Put the class into groups of five and distribute Resource 6b. You may wish to simply photocopy this sheet six times and cut it into sections, and then cut off the top section, so every group has a single Fox Fact File and each individual has a debate card. If you have mixed ability groups, you may wish to appoint a more able student with leadership skills as the moderator for each group and ask him/her to oversee each individual’s debate preparation.

Each student should use his/her homework research, plus the fact file and other information they may have, to write an opening speech from the point of view of his or her debate character.

After they have completed this preparation, the groups should debate the issue using the following format:

1. Moderator introduction of topic and speakers. (1 minute)

2. Speakers alternate for and against foxes.

(1 minute each)

3. Moderator allows speakers to question and challenge each other’s point of view.

(5 minutes)

4. Moderator invites questions from the audience for the speakers. (2 minutes)

5. Moderator closes discussion and asks for a show of hands whether the class feels that foxes are foes to society. (1 minute)

There will not be time to see every group in this lesson, so choose a group that has worked well to share with the class or, alternatively, set aside a separate lesson for a Speaking and Listening assessment based on this exercise.

Review and reflect

Return to the words that had been put on the board at the beginning of the lesson and ask a student to come and circle any words which help to explain why Tim Bowler has used foxes as a motif in Buried Thunder. Invite the class to suggest more words for the board, following their debate and discussion.

Homework

Read ‘The Thought Fox’ on page 10 of the Reading Guide and write down any connections you can make between the foxes in that poem and those in Buried Thunder.

Resource 6a

The fox motif

motif a symbol, element or image which recurs in a story.

symbol something which stands for or represents something else.

A symbol may only occur once in a text, but a motif

re-occurs throughout.

Chapter 1

‘Two yellow eyes, watching her; and now a head, and a body. Then she saw what it was.

A fox.’

Chapter 2

‘All that came was another image – of yellow eyes drawing her into the trees: the way the owl had flown.’

Chapter 6

‘Lying on the grass was a dead fox, or part of a dead fox.’

‘...she could see the fox’s mutilated form inside. It was twisted in such a way that the dead face would have stared out at her, had it been there.’

Chapter 8

‘Who’s killing the foxes?’ she said. ‘And mutilating them.’

Resource 6b

Fox debate

FACT FILE: Foxes in Britain

Name: The scientific name of a fox is Vulpes vulpes. Foxes are members of the dog family.

Size: The average fox weighs between 4 and 8 kilogrammes and is a little larger than a pet cat.

Appearance: Usually a reddish coat with a white or grey throat and belly; pointed ears and long muzzle. The tail or ‘brush’ makes up roughly a third of the fox’s total length.

Habitat: Due to their adaptability, they can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. There are both urban and rural foxes. There are roughly 250,000 adult foxes in Britain, with the majority living in rural locations.

Life Expectancy: Captive foxes can live up to 14 years, but in the wild, they rarely live for more than a couple of years.

Debate topic: ‘Foxes are foes to society and therefore all means to protect people and livestock from them should be allowed, including hunting and culling.’

|Role 1 |

|You live in the countryside and believe that all living creatures are beautiful and should not be destroyed or hunted. You feel foxes |

|are unfairly blamed for damage to livestock. |

|Role 2 |

|You live in the city and are frightened by urban foxes. You have heard stories of foxes entering houses and causing damage and injury.|

|You believe they should all be captured and returned to the countryside. |

|Role 3 |

|You live in the countryside and believe that the tradition of hunting foxes is a good one. You believe that it is a strong country |

|tradition, an enjoyable sport and protects livestock. |

|Role 4 |

|You are interested in wildlife and work for a society which protects and helps injured animals, including foxes. You think that foxes |

|should be kept away from houses, but that they should also be protected and not trapped or culled. |

|Role 5 |

|You are the moderator of this discussion. It is your responsibility to make sure that everyone gets a chance to speak and to reply to |

|questions. You will start the debate by introducing the topic and speakers. You should conclude by inviting questions from the |

|audience. |

LESSON 7

Focus: Chapters 15–16

(Homework Chapters 17–19)

Deceptive appearances

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Identify how the novelist uses the themes

of deception and appearances in the novel

• Understand the importance of Mo and how he is portrayed

Engage

Distribute and/or display Resource 7a and ask the students to create a spider diagram which explores all the reasons why someone might want to disguise his or her appearance. (For example, they are going to a fancy dress party; they are criminals; they don’t like how they look, etc.) Give the students three minutes to come up with as many reasons as they can. Feedback and lead the class on to the idea of how appearances can be misleading.

Explore

Explain that the focus of today’s lesson will be on appearances and deception. As they read, the students should note when someone’s outward appearance disguises what they are really like.

Read pages 107–109, stopping after the sentence ‘A lonely place to die.’ Ask the students to discuss the effect of this mysterious ‘fox figure’ in the chapter. How does this figure connect with the motif work they did in the previous lesson? Who do they think the fox figure is and why is that character in disguise?

Continue reading until the end of Chapter 16. Ask the students to explore what they have learned about Mo in this chapter and how people judge him.

Distribute Resource 7b and ask the students to find quotations from the novel to support their ideas about the appearances of Zep and Mo. Draw out that both characters are judged by their appearances, but that Mo is falsely judged.

Transform

Distribute the Reading Guide and ask the students to read ‘The Silent Boy: Mo’ on

page 12.

Ask them to work in pairs to complete the role-play exercise in which they create a scene between Mo and a social worker. You may need to explain the role of a social worker and what information Bonny has provided about Mo’s background.

Circulate around the room and encourage students to engage empathetically with Mo’s life and troubles.

Invite a few students to share their work with the rest of the class, encouraging sympathetic reactions. If students are confident enough, they could engage in a hot-seating exercise to delve more deeply into this character. An additional role of Bonny, who could assist Mo in the interview, could be created for a more able student.

Review and reflect

Ask one student to stand with his/her back against the whiteboard. Write either ‘Zep’ or ‘Mo’ above his/her head. He or she can ask up to ten ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions in order to determine which character he/she is (without using any names). Draw out the key differences between the characters.

Homework

Read Chapters 17–19. List the five most important events that occur in these three chapters.

Resource 7a

Reasons to be disguised

Complete this spider diagram exploring as many reasons as you can for why someone might wish to disguise his or her appearance.

Extension: Can appearances be deceptive? Explain when you think a fictional character’s appearance has been misleading in the novel Buried Thunder.

Resource 7b

Appearances and deception

Complete the chart below, using the evidence from the novel.

| |Zep |Mo |

|How does he appear at first? | | |

|Does he wear a disguise? If so, | | |

|describe it and the effect it has. | | |

|Do people judge him because of his | | |

|appearance? | | |

|Do people treat him unfairly because of| | |

|his appearance? | | |

|Do we learn anything about him to | | |

|suggest that his appearance is | | |

|misleading? | | |

Complete the following sentence:

I believe that appearances are/are not deceptive because...

LESSON 8

Focus: Chapters 20–21

Creating a trailer to explore genre

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Define ‘genre’

• Select key episodes from the text

• Use media terminology to create a trailer storyboard

Engage

Ask the students to share the five important events that they selected for their homework. Encourage them to compare their lists within small groups (four or five students) and to negotiate a single list between them. Invite someone from each group to write their final list up.

Then ask the students to write a four-sentence-long radio voiceover advertising the novel Buried Thunder.

Share the voiceovers and ask the students to choose the ones which they find most enticing and to explain why. If possible, follow this up by showing one or two movie trailers from YouTube or another source. Draw out how interest is created in the films, such as through the use of emotive language, exciting scenes, and quick flashes of a range of different settings.

Explore

Ask the students to define the term ‘genre’ (a type or category of literature, film, etc.) and remind them of the first lesson they did on the book cover. Discuss the importance of understanding the genre of a book or film and why, when a book or film is promoted, its genre is usually made very clear.

Read pages 141–156, stopping at key points to discuss how the author creates tension. Ask the students to look for the following:

1. cliff-hangers

2. increasing pace

3. a sense of danger.

Encourage the students to discover how the proposed meal between Annie and Bryn increases the tension. Draw the students’ attention to the ways in which this novel is adhering to the expectations of its genre and how, if it was turned into a film, the trailer would need to convey that, just as the book cover did.

Transform

Distribute the Reading Guide and ask the students to turn to page 9, ‘Lights, Camera, Action’. Read through the guidance on creating a trailer and the associated media language.

Distribute Resources 8a and 8b and direct the students to use the storyboard template to create their trailer (you may wish to have extra sheets for students who need more frames to create their trailer). One student may wish to be in charge of the artwork, while the other writes the script for the sound effects and voiceover.

More able students should be encouraged to use media terminology with precision and imagination.

Invite the groups to share their storyboards, in turn. Assign Buddy Assessors (i.e. Groups 1 and 2 might assess each other, etc.) and hand out Resource 8c. Ask the students to complete the checklist, adding in details where appropriate and then complete the sections saying what went well and suggested targets for improvement.

Review and reflect

Ask one student to stand at the whiteboard and to write down the definition of ‘genre’. Give the class one minute to tell him/her as many different genres that they can think of (‘comedy,’ ‘romance,’ ‘horror’, etc.). Ask one or two groups to suggest how they would change their storyboards to suggest that they were of a different genre.

Homework

Ask the students to design a poster advertising a film of Buried Thunder. They should emphasize its genre and how it could appeal to its target audience (teenagers). Also, ask them to write five quiz questions (with answers) about the novel, which can be used in the next lesson.

Resource 8a

Creating a trailer

Use the template below to sketch out and note four episodes from the novel that you think would be effective in a trailer. Decide what order you would put them in, and what camera angles you would use.

Resource 8b

How to create a storyboard for a film trailer

Before you begin drawing

✓ Agree on your target audience and how you will make this trailer appeal to them.

✓ Select a few key scenes from the novel as inspiration.

✓ Decide on the type of soundtrack/sound effects and/or voiceover you will have.

Drawing your storyboard

✓ Draw your first image (consider if you want it to be in close-up, mid-shot or long-shot).

✓ Underneath that image write any sound requirements you have (for example, scary music, dialogue or a voiceover).

✓ Choose and draw your next image until you finish the storyboard.

Checking your work

✓ Ask someone in your group to read out the storyboard making sure it is complete.

✓ Are your intentions clear or do you need to add a little more explanation?

✓ Does it make clear the type of film Buried Thunder would be and why it would be exciting to see?

Resource 8c

Buddy group assessment sheet

Name of Group:

Name of Assessors:

✓ Is it an interesting trailer?

Explain why:

✓ Are the ideas clear?

✓ Does it capture some appropriate incidents from the novel?

✓ Does it use media terminology correctly?

Give examples:

✓ Does it have a complete set of pictures?

✓ Does it have a voiceover and/or sound effects/soundtrack?

✓ Would it appeal to a teenage audience?

Explain why:

✓ Does it capture the genre of the film?

Explain how:

Two particularly good things about this storyboard:

1.

2.

Two targets for improvement:

1.

2.

✓ LESSON 9

Focus: Chapters 22–23

Tension and crisis

(Homework Chapters 24–26)

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Explore the build-up of tension

• Locate the variety of ways the author increases tension

• Chart the tension in two key chapters

Engage

Share the students’ posters and highlight those that convey the genre ‘psychological thriller’ with particular skill.

Collect in all the questions (with answers) that the students produced for homework. Choose ten questions from the homework assignment and ask a student to serve as ‘quizmaster’. The quizmaster should read out the questions while the students work in pairs answering them. Pupils should then swap papers with another pair and the quizmaster should read out the answers. Points are awarded for each correct answer and, at the discretion of the teacher, for particularly clever questions. The pair with the most points wins.

Alternatively, use the crossword puzzle on page 13 of the Reading Guide to test the students’ knowledge.

Remind the class of what happened at the end of Chapter 21. Encourage the students to speculate on the importance of the arrival of the fox and what might happen next. Explain that the focus of this lesson is to trace how the author builds up tension in the next few chapters.

Explore

Read pages 157–172. As you read, ask the students to note:

• when Maya puts herself in danger

• when Maya is unsure what is happening

• when the action speeds up

• when it looks as if one or more of the characters will not survive.

Ask the students which part of this section was most tense and how the appearance of Zep changed the direction of this chapter. Encourage speculation on who the fox figure is now that we know it’s not Zep.

Transform

Display Resource 9a and distribute Resource 9b. Ask the students to look at the events listed on Resource 9b and then chart how they contribute to the level of tension in these two chapters. If possible, display the chart to the whole class on an interactive whiteboard and invite a student to put in two of the events, encouraging a discussion as to why those particular moments are tense (some prompts: they cause uncertainty; the characters are in danger; Maya doesn’t know what is happening; the action has speeded up; the first chapter is coming true).

Then ask the students to work in pairs and to be as accurate as possible to identify when the tension increases or decreases. They may wish to work with different coloured pens so that they can chart any points where they disagree about the level of tension.

More able students should be encouraged to identify precise quotations, which they can note on the chart, which they feel significantly demonstrate that the situation is reaching a crisis (again this could be modelled by a student for the rest of the class).

Review and reflect

Ask several pairs to show their charts and see how many have identified similar points of high tension and crisis. Check that they have noted that the tension decreases when Maya and other characters are out of danger. Discuss how the author has varied the tension and what other crisis points they have noted in the novel (for example, the opening chapter and the encounter with Zep in the graveyard).

Homework

Ask the students to read Chapters 24–26 and to answer the following questions:

• How has the police’s attitude to Maya changed?

• What mysteries still surround the Rowan Tree and the fox figure?

Resource 9a

Tension chart

Use the chart below to track the level of tension in Chapters 22 and 23.

Resource 9b

Events to chart

1. The fox stares at Maya.

2. Maya’s mother tells her not to leave the Rowan Tree.

3. Maya thinks that evil is attacking her family because they are ill.

4. Maya goes outside and something is thrown over her head.

5. She is carried into the forest and finds Bonny who is very ill.

6. Mo is nearby, moaning and saying ‘Bonny’.

7. Mo gets a club-like branch and runs past Maya and Bonny.

8. Bonny explains that Mo would have fetched Maya to help her.

9. Bonny says someone wants Mo dead.

10. Maya sees Bryn and Annie’s bodies in the forest.

11. Maya finds Mo badly hurt.

12. Maya realizes she was the standing figure in Chapter 1.

13. Maya sees the fox figure with an axe.

14. The fox figure attacks Maya and Mo.

15. Zep appears and attacks the fox figure.

LESSON 10

Focus: Chapters 27–28

The resolution

(Homework Chapter 29)

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Reflect on key aspects of the narrative structure

• Understand the resolution of the plot

• Explore implications and inferences concerning the character of Crystal

Engage

Put the question ‘What makes a satisfying ending?’ on the board and ask the students to discuss, in pairs, what they like to happen (generally) and to feel at the end of a book. Give them about three minutes to discuss and then invite whole-class feedback. Draw out their particular expectations of this novel (for example, they will probably want to know who committed the crimes and why).

Refer back to the sticky notes used in the first two lessons and ask which predictions the students can now eliminate. Discuss whether any might still be close to the actual ending.

Explore

Read pages 198–212, stopping occasionally to check understanding.

Distribute the ‘Who is this girl?’ police sheet (Resource 10a) and ask the students to work individually completing these in as much detail as they can from the evidence they have from the novel. Check their understanding and make sure that they understand the difference between facts (such as Crystal’s age) and what they can infer (she hated everyone involved with the Rowan Tree). Instruct them to work at first individually and, after a few minutes, encourage them to compare their responses with a partner’s.

This is a good opportunity to check understanding of the resolution of the novel, which may be confusing for some students.

Transform

Display Resource 10b and give the students time to discuss the introduction of these terms to make their discussion of the crime sound more official and accurate. Then explain to the students that they will be preparing a news report based on the events at the Rowan Tree. They must make sure that they are as factually accurate as possible but it must also be a clear and interesting story.

Highlight points that they may wish to make; for example, that Zep is a key witness and that some of Crystal’s movements and motivations are still unknown.

Distribute Resource 10c to assist their preparation and allow about 15 minutes for the newscasts to be prepared.

Review and reflect

Choose three or four students to present their newscasts and advise the class they may award points for the following:

1. clarity and accuracy of information

2. use of correct vocabulary

3. ability to interest audience

4. delivery of newscast.

Ask the class whether Crystal is the culprit they expected. Are they disappointed that it was not another character?

Homework

Tell the students to read the final chapter and to return to the question at the start of this lesson: What makes a satisfying ending? Ask them to write a paragraph explaining whether they feel the ending of Buried Thunder is satisfying, and encourage them to support their ideas with evidence from the novel.

Resource 10a

Who is this girl?

Police are asking for information about this 15-year-old girl known as ‘Crystal’.

She is suspected of a number of serious crimes. Complete as much as you can, using evidence from the novel.

Resource 10b

Terms to use in a news report

Imply: to strongly suggest something without explicitly saying it

e.g. The author implies that Crystal’s sad childhood is the cause for her criminal behaviour.

Infer: to form an opinion or draw conclusions based on what someone does or says, or something that happens, without being explicitly told

e.g. From this, we can infer that Crystal had stayed in the Rowan Tree and was responsible for all the noises that Maya heard.

Facts: things that can be proven to be true

e.g. Crystal was the fox figure who attacked Maya

and Mo.

Circumstantial evidence: evidence such as fingerprints or clothing which suggests someone has committed a crime

e.g. If the note to Frank telling him about Chloe was in Crystal’s handwriting, then that would be circumstantial evidence.

Witness testimony: the words of a witness who describes what they have seen

e.g. Zep told the police that Crystal slept in the Rowan Tree.

Resource 10c

Planning a news report

You have been asked by a local news station to prepare a report on the events at the Rowan Tree and the discovery of the perpetrator (i.e. who was committing the crimes).

Use the grid below to help you plan your report.

|Crimes |Murder, trespass, grievous bodily harm, cruelty to animals |

|Culprit | |

|Timings | |

|Location | |

|Motivation | |

|Witness testimony | |

LESSON 11

Focus: Whole novel

Writer’s craft

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Understand aspects of the writer’s craft

• Create an original psychological thriller

• Explore different writing techniques

Engage

Ask the students to share their homework paragraphs about the ending of the novel with their partner. Then invite a short whole-class discussion by asking the students to explore other possible endings for the novel and decide if they would have been equally satisfying.

Then set a few objects on a table or desk in a ‘stage-managed’ way to suggest that some action has just taken place. For example, you might place two ‘poker hands’ of cards next to a torn letter and an overturned glass. Alternatively you might have a single glove, next to a broken necklace and a candle. Ask the students to take one minute examining the scene and then six minutes writing the opening to a thriller that would explain this mysterious scene.

Explore

Invite a few students to share their writing and ask the rest of the class to identify what makes an exciting opening. Remind them what they enjoyed about the opening of Buried Thunder and how they might wish to emulate its strong points.

Transform

Distribute the Reading Guide and ask the students to turn to page 14, ‘Writing Your Own Thriller’. Together, read the opening paragraph and Tim Bowler’s writer’s craft section. Ask the students what they think Tim Bowler is saying about creative writing and how his advice might help them.

Display Resource 11a and ask the students to use this as guidance for creating a plan for their story. Distribute Resource 11b (a standard planning sheet) and if necessary, Resource 11c (a support planning sheet for students who find writing difficult). They may use the ideas from the props exercise or they may want to build on the setting work they did in Lesson 5, or they may work on a fresh, original idea they have.

Circulate around the room helping the students to complete the planning sheet, encouraging them to use the skills covered in other lessons, such as building suspense, using interesting settings and careful choice of adjectives.

Review and reflect

Tell the students to swap their plans with a partner and ask them to comment on the following:

1. anything that they particularly like

2. anything that they don’t understand or they think might cause confusion

3. anything that could be developed further.

Homework

Ask the students to complete their psychological thriller short stories.

Resource 11a

Outline plan for a psychological thriller

Resource 11b

Psychological thriller planning sheet

|Setting | |

|Main character | |

|Villain | |

|First frightening event | |

|Second frightening event | |

|Climax | |

|Resolution | |

Resource 11c

Support planning sheet

1. Choose one setting, one main character, one villain and one event from the boxes below:

2. After choosing your setting, characters and event from above, complete your plan.

3. Then write your opening paragraph. If you are stuck you could begin:

could not believe what he/she saw/heard.

His/her heart was beating fast...

LESSON 12

Focus: Whole novel

Review and reflect

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Review the whole novel

• Explore alternative titles, blurbs and covers

• Reflect on their own reading progress

Engage

Working in pairs, ask the students to list as many possible titles for the novel as they can. Set a timer and award points to the pair who comes up with the most titles. Ask the students to reflect on how they came up with a title and what they like about titles suggested by others.

Introduce them to the idea of evaluating the choices the author and publisher have made, from the title of the book to its ending. They should always be considering what they find effective and what could be improved.

Explore

Distribute Resource 12a and ask the students, working in pairs, to read the two reviews of Buried Thunder and to carry out the three tasks. Encourage them to flag up any words or phrases that they don’t understand (‘claustrophobia’ or ‘paranoia’ might confuse some, for example).

Circulate around the room to check understanding and to make sure that the students understand that a review does not just retell the plot, but evaluates the whole work.

Take a few minutes for whole-class feedback to ensure their understanding of the articles and the form and purpose of a review.

Transform

Display Resource 12b. Read it through with the students, explaining that this will support their task of writing their own review of the book. The review should be between 300 and 500 words. (Encourage more able students to aim at the higher word count.) Ask them to plan three paragraphs and to consider how they can fulfil the requirements listed on Resource 12b.

Circulate around the room and note the range of views expressed in the reviews. Although there isn’t a headline on the reviews, you could encourage those who work quickly to think of a clever, succinct headline for their review.

As an extension for more able students, ask them to make a comparison with another novel they have read.

Review and reflect

If time allows, choose four students with differing points to make about the book and invite them to form a panel for a television review show. Ask another confident student to be the host and ask them to express their views on Buried Thunder. Invite the class to ask or challenge the opinions of those on the panel show.

Conclude by asking each student to evaluate his or her own reading progression by completing Resource 12d.

Homework

Distribute Resource 12c and explain that the final Buried Thunder assignment will be to re-imagine the cover, title and blurb for the novel. Alternatively, if they have worked well on their own original writing, the students could use this resource sheet to create a cover and blurb for their own work.

Suggest that students could help create a Buried Thunder board, based on the more visually appealing assignments in the scheme of work including the storyboards, posters, creative writing and the new covers.

Resource 12a

Reviews

Read the two reviews below.

1. Underline the adjectives the writers use to describe the novel.

2. Circle the phrases which engage your interest.

3. Explain which review you like most and why.

It’s possible to be chilled to the bone without meeting any vampires. In Tim Bowler’s frightening and well-paced Buried Thunder, Maya’s enemy is a personal demon. Something in the forest doesn’t like her, and it follows her into the country house where her family runs a hotel. The suspense and claustrophobia, and the war in Maya’s head between reason and paranoia, reminded me of Alan Garner’s classic The Owl Service. It was hard to believe that Maya’s family could move into their new home, acquire guests and scare them away all within a week, but the story is strong enough to survive a sketchy set-up.

From The Observer, Sunday 3 April 2011, by Geraldine Brennan

This spine-tingler plunges into the stuff of nightmares.

“The body was lying in a thicket,” it begins. Fourteen-year-old Maya doesn’t remember why she ran off the path in this dark forest. Two dead bodies lie on the ground, each turning its head with eyes aglow. A shadowy figure bends over a third body. Maya stumbles and screams. Her family finds her and guides her out of this terrifying forest, but when they reach their new home/business – a village hotel called the Rowan Tree – something chilling occurs: A police officer sent to investigate is the same person as the first dead body. Not a twin, not a doppelganger – the same person. Maya just knows. Fright and grisliness escalate. Someone unknown and unseen stalks Maya; a fox has an unnatural power to make her follow it; foxes are turning up disembowelled and decapitated – and not just foxes. The narration stays faithful to Maya’s third-person-limited perspective, so readers don’t know who’s good or bad any earlier than she does. Maya’s warm parents and dedicated older brother can’t shield her or the village from danger, and they become targets too. There’s nothing particularly unique or specific about Maya and her family, which works well here, as if this could happen to anyone. When clarity and answers come, they’re sad, satisfying and less supernatural than they first seemed.

From Kirkus Reviews, 1st September 2011

Resource 12b

Checklist for a review

When writing your own review, remember to include:

1. A catchy opening sentence

2. Information about the author and book

3. A short synopsis of the book

4. Advice about the kind of readers it is aimed at and why it might appeal to them

5. Your opinion of the book

6. A memorable last line.

Your review should be 300–500 words long.

Write at least three paragraphs.

Resource 12c

New cover design and blurb

Use this resource sheet to plan a new title, cover and blurb for the novel.

|Title | |

|Cover image | |

|Blurb | |

Resource 12d

Self-assessment sheet

|Reading skills and |You practised this when: |I do this well|I can |I need to |

|strategies | | |do this |practise this |

| | | |sometimes | |

|Understand, describe, |You gathered evidence about characters from the text | | | |

|select or retrieve |You selected events that built up tension or showed | | | |

|information, events or |understanding of characters like Maya, Bonny or Mo | | | |

|ideas from texts and use |You traced the development of themes through the plot | | | |

|quotation and reference | | | | |

|to text | | | | |

|Deduce, infer or |You first looked at the cover of the novel and made predictions | | | |

|interpret information, |about its content | | | |

|events or ideas from |You performed the role-play of the characters | | | |

|texts |You analysed Crystal’s actions | | | |

|Identify and comment on |You thought about how the writer hooked the reader’s interest in| | | |

|the structure and |the opening chapters | | | |

|organization of texts, |You looked at the effect of cliff-hangers | | | |

|including grammatical and|You tracked the tension in the text | | | |

|presentational features | | | | |

|at text level | | | | |

|Explain and comment on |You looked at the use of short and long sentences in a specific | | | |

|writers’ uses of |passage | | | |

|language, including |You analysed passages, like the description of the Rowan Tree, | | | |

|grammatical and literary |looking at word choices | | | |

|features at word and |You analysed dialogue | | | |

|sentence level | | | | |

|Identify and comment on |You discussed the letter from the author in the Reading Guide | | | |

|writers’ purposes and |You analysed a review and wrote one of your own | | | |

|viewpoints and the | | | | |

|overall effect of the | | | | |

|text on the reader | | | | |

|Relate texts to their |You looked at other stories where characters weren’t believed | | | |

|social, cultural and |You looked at a poem, ‘The Thought Fox’ | | | |

|historical contexts and |You debated literary portrayal and social perceptions of foxes | | | |

|literary traditions | | | | |

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Acknowledgements

The author and publishers are grateful for permission to include the following copyright material in this resource:

Review by Geraldine Brennan of Buried Thunder by Tim Bowler, The Observer, 3.4.2011, copyright © Guardian News and Media Ltd 2011, reproduced by permission of GNM Ltd.

Extracts from Buried Thunder by Tim Bowler (OUP, 2011), copyright © Tim Bowler 2011, reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press.

Review of Buried Thunder by Tim Bowler, Kirkus Reviews, 1.9.2011, reproduced by permission of Kirkus Reviews, book-reviews/

We have tried to trace and contact all copyright holders before publication. If notified, the publishers will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Images:

p1: OUP; p23: Tatiana Belova / Shutterstock; James R. Martin / Shutterstock; Jenny Solomon / ; Bikeworldtravel / ; p26: OUP

Layout by Mark Walker. Artworks for the Teacher Pack series are by Mark Walker and Steve Evans.

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Motivations for actions?

Home?

Family?

Crimes committed

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Relationship to the Rowan Tree

Friends?

Childhood?

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Main character

• a shy teenage girl

• a young orphan

• a new employee

Setting

• an old house

• an abandoned train station

• a deserted warehouse

Villain

• the secret owner of the

setting

• someone with an important secret

• a rich celebrity

Event

• unusual and unexplained sounds are heard

• a mysterious and frightening object is found

• a threatening note is discovered

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