‘The Dog That Saved Christmas’ by Nicola Davies is the touching, diverse and insightful story about Jake, a young boy who struggles with the noises, lights, other people and the lack of routine which comes with the festive period. Christmas is a real nightmare for Jake, until he finds a lost dog and she becomes his trusty companion. The bond that quickly develops between the two of them changes Jake’s views and makes the difficulties he experiences, much more bearable.
Teaching From Text have created fully resourced Christmas planning for Key Stage 2. There are two different festive English units of work focused on Jake’s journey; one for Lower Key Stage 2 and another for Upper Key Stage 2. Both units are two weeks long and are completely FREE, to help you with those final weeks before the Christmas holidays.
Both FREE units contain 10 x 1 hour English lesson plans, differentiated and engaging activities, top teaching tips, hand-drawn images, bespoke teaching videos, every single resource needed and opportunities for the development of reading, writing, SPAG and oral skills – all of which focus on this high-quality text.
Fully resourced Christmas planning for Lower Key Stage 2
This two-week English unit of work has been written for Years 3 and 4 (ages 7-9). During this unit the children will have an opportunity to develop their retrieval and inference skills, create a festive cinquain (and therefore develop an understanding of word classes), perform poetry, write a set of instructions, participate in a purposeful debate, practise editing skills and create a festive letter of thanks.
Fully resourced Christmas planning for Upper Key Stage 2
This two-week English unit of work has been written for Years 5 and 6 (ages 9-11). During this unit the children will have an opportunity to develop their retrieval and inference skills, expand their understanding of figurative language and imagery, create free verse poems, perform poetry, develop their summarising skills, practise editing skills, create a persuasive speech with an understanding of emotive language and participate in a purposeful debate.
These units of work can be downloaded for free as our Christmas gift to you, allowing you more time for self-care in those final build-up weeks to Christmas. We would love to see any examples of work created by your children in response to these units and we can be contacted via contact@teachingfromtext.com
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support this year and to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a restful New Year.
Nicola and Davina