Scheme of work (unit overview) resource for Year 8 English: The Tempest. Explore colonisation and betrayal in Shakespeare. National Curriculum aligned.
.
What’s Included
.

• The Great Storm: Analysis of stage directions and dialogue in Act 1, Scene 1 focusing on the subversion of social hierarchy.
• Servant vs Slave: Comparative evaluation of Ariel’s songs and Caliban’s curses to explore power dynamics and freedom.
• Mid-Unit Assessment: Formal timed response task examining the relationship between Prospero and Caliban using Tier 3 vocabulary.
• Magic and Spectacle: Exploration of the Harpy scene and the ‘Vanishing Banquet’ as a symbol of guilt and dramatic function.
• Abjuration & Freedom: Close reading of Prospero’s final soliloquy and the significance of breaking his staff for resolution.

.
How to Use It
.

1. During the lesson, Display: The Great Storm. Analyse how the Boatswain challenges aristocrats to establish the theme of subversion.
2. Before writing, Use: Servant vs Slave. Compare linguistic differences between spirits to provide evidence for a PEEL paragraph on Caliban’s victimhood.
3. As a plenary, Run: Abjuration & Freedom. Evaluate Prospero’s final soliloquy to determine if the ending provides a true resolution for all characters.

.
Curriculum Coverage
.

• KS3 National Curriculum — English (Year 8): Appreciate the depth of Shakespearean language by comparing the linguistic differences between Ariel’s songs and Caliban’s curses.
• KS3 National Curriculum — English (Year 8): Develop substantive knowledge of 17th-century dramatic structure and disciplinary skills in PEEL-based literary analysis.

.
File Includes
.
PDF file included.
.
Full Pedagogical Rationale, FAQs, and Editable File Available at:
.