Topic overviews are designed to save time. How many hours have you spent trawling the internet gathering resources for your next topic? Too many!
So, you’ve selected a Topic Overview- but what do you do next? Follow our guidance below to achieve a plan which is unique to your class.
- Look at your school’s long-term plan and the objectives you need to cover with this topic. Highlight these objectives on the Topic Overview.
- Identify the relevant English objectives you need to cover and the types of writing you need to include. Highlight these on page 2 of the Topic Overview.
- Look at the book suggestions on page 1 of the Topic Overview and select texts which you wish to use.
- Consider the time available to cover the topic- how many hours a week? How many weeks?
- Think about whether you might block some of the work- you might want to do DT all in one week.
- Now, look at the unhighlighted ideas on pages 2 & 3 on the Topic Overview- which of these would you like to include?
- Begin to formulate your plan. Using post-it notes are ideal to use at this stage. On each post-it note cross reference to a highlighted objective; use the post-it notes to map out each week’s work. Move them around until you are happy.
- Refer to the Questions to Investigate to give ideas for each session.
- Choose a hook for your Topic.
- Record your plan as required by your school.
And you are ready to go!
Enjoy your topic!
