Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← English
EnglishReading widely and the literary heritage25 min★ difficulty

Building a reading diet

Strong readers don't stick to one shelf — they mix genres, eras and forms so their brains meet all kinds of language.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Reading: Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage

Key learning points

  • • Fiction and non-fiction
  • • Whole books and plays
  • • The literary heritage

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 13 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

fictionnon-fictionenglishliteraryheritage

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 13 · Discover8%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 13

Watch first

Building a reading diet

An English teaching video on this topic from CrashCourse. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 13

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Fiction and non-fiction

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 13

Learn

Fiction and non-fiction

A detective novel teaches you tension and structure; a biography of an astronaut teaches you how real events are shaped into narrative. Reading both widens the tools you can borrow for your own writing, from cliffhangers to precise factual detail.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 13

Learn

Whole books and plays

Plays like 'An Inspector Calls' are written to be performed, so stage directions and dialogue carry meaning that prose would spell out differently. Reading a whole novel, not just extracts, lets you track how characters and themes develop over time.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 13

Quick check

Why is reading a whole novel valuable, not just an extract?

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 13

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 13

Quick check

What makes a play different to read from a novel?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 13

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · The literary heritage

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 13

Learn

The literary heritage

Texts like Dickens's novels or Romantic poetry shaped the language and ideas still used today. Reading them shows where phrases such as 'Scrooge' or 'a Frankenstein's monster' come from, and connects modern writing to a long tradition.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 13

Quick check

Where does the phrase 'a Frankenstein's monster' come from?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 13

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

12

Mastery quiz

Part 12 of 13

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Building a reading diet

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Why is reading a whole novel valuable, not just an extract?

  2. 2. What makes a play different to read from a novel?

  3. 3. Where does the phrase 'a Frankenstein's monster' come from?

13

Lesson round-up

Part 13 of 13

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

The last bus

The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.

She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.

Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.

Original extract written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
  2. How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
  3. Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.

  • Reading response

    Reading

    Read the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.

    250–350 words

  • Reading log

    Reading

    Note the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.

    20 minutes' reading

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 13 · Watch & discover

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    Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage

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