This unit was prepared for a Year 7 English class and is centred around the study of a novel, Redwall, written by Brian Jacques. The 415-page novel is a science fantasy adventure about a group of woodland animals who defend their medieval abbey against the onslaught of Cluny's horde with the help of the legendary tapestry of Martin the Warrior.

It is a contractual unit based on Bloom's taxonomy and it allows students to select activities from a wide range while maintaining the integrity of the Junior English Syllabus as prescribed by the NSW Department of School Education. The class had three 80-minute English periods per week and the unit was designed to run over ten weeks, or an average term.

 

Objectives

• To ensure that all students cover work which would satisfy the demands of the Junior English Syllabus in the areas of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing and, at the same time, be exposed to secondary English literature concepts such as characterisation, setting and theme.

• To encourage independent research and critical thinking by allowing the more able to choose tasks which require higher level skills, while allowing other students to choose tasks which require less demanding skills.

• To build self esteem in students by having a range of activities in which all can have success; to display the end products in a large classroom display; to receive feedback from the students as part of the overall unit evaluation.

 

Content

Knowledge/Comprehension [worth five marks each]

1. Describe, in about five lines each, the character of any two characters in the book.

2. Write an account of the Summer of the Late Rose Feast which was held in the Abbey.

3. Describe, in about five lines each, the various settings used in the novel.

4. Name the different animal groups used by the author and write about one sentence on the characteristics of each group, eg warlike, peaceful, hard-working.

5. Describe and draw Asmodeus. What is his role in the story?

6. Make up your own true or false quiz about the book, using about 15 questions.

7. Recount one story from the book which shows just how evil Cluny really was.

8. Find some interesting facts about one or more of the following: castles; medieval armour; medieval weapons; abbeys.

9. Tell the events of the Battle for Redwall Abbey as Brother Mortimer may have written them. You can make your writing look like an old manuscript.

 

Application [worth ten marks each]

1. The rhyme of the tapestry was in the form of a riddle which had to be solved. Make up a similar riddle to explain the location of some other form of treasure hidden in the Abbey.

2. Draw a detailed plan of Redwall Abbey using evidence from the book.

3. Make a model of the Abbey.

4. Make a cartoon strip of any incident in the book.

5. Using the illustration at the front of the book as a guide, plus ideas from your reading, draw a map which looks as though it comes from medieval times and which shows the area surrounding Redwall Abbey. Mark in the characters' places of residence and where important events happened.

6. Create a piece of tapestry similar to the piece which Cluny stole from the Abbey.

7. Make a working model of a siege weapon OR of Martin the Warrior's sword and shield, based on the description in the book.

8. Make a stained glass window (not life size!) which may have come from Redwall Abbey.

 

Analysis [worth fifteen marks each]

1. Explain how the characters of Cluny and Mathias change as the story unfolds. Use quotations from the book to illustrate your answer.

2. Explain how the author matches the settings of events with the mood of the event. You may illustrate your answer.

3. Compare any two characters in the book.

4. Design a questionnaire to gauge other people's response to the book. Interview other class members, using your questionnaire. Present your findings in a report.

5. Imagine you were a court-appointed psychologist for Cluny. Write a psychological report which could be put before a court to explain the kind of character Cluny was and what his motives were in his attack on the Abbey.

 

Synthesis [worth twenty marks each]

1. Write a television commercial, using storyboard and script, to sell this book.

2. Compose a 'Ballad of Redwall Abbey' which tells in lyrics the story of the defeat of Cluny. First read some other ballads, such as 'The Man from Snowy River' or 'The Highwayman', to get the idea of how a ballad is composed.

3. Design and/or make a weapon which a member of Cluny's horde could have used to attack the Abbey. Demonstrate how it works.

4. Write a conversation between the aged Mathias and the grown-up Matimeo. Imagine Mathias is close to death and before he dies he needs to explain to Matimeo the significance of the tapestry of Martin the Warrior and its legend.

5. Imagine that the book has been made into a video. Design the video cover, giving a synopsis of the plot, illustrations, credits, rating, etc.

 

Evaluation [worth twenty-five marks each]

1. Imagine you were one of a panel of judges for the Children's Book of the Year Award. Prepare and deliver a speech which tells why the book Redwall by Brian Jacques should (or, should not) be considered for the award.

2. If you could rename all the main characters in the book, what names would you give them? Choose at least six characters. For each character suggest another name and write at least 50 words explaining why you chose that name.

3. If you could substitute different species of animals for some that appear in the book, what would they be, and why? Choose at least three different groups and explain why you would use a different species, in about 50 words each.

4. With a small group of about three or four, recreate a courtroom trial in which Sela the fox is accused of treason by the inhabitants of the Abbey.

5. Prepare a speech in which you defend or attack the use of animals instead of humans in a story such as this. Support your argument with examples from the book.

 

Contract

I, , agree that I will complete the requirements of this unit to the best of my ability by completing the following tasks:

• I will read the novel, Redwall, by Brian Jacques during the two-week school vacation and be ready to start the activities on Day One of next term.

• I will select activities which total at least one hundred marks. I may, however, do additional work and this will count towards my term total.

• I will do at least one activity from each coloured card.

• I will submit work for marking as I complete each task.

• I will evaluate the unit at the end of the work and comment upon what I learned, what I enjoyed doing, and how I think the tasks might be improved.

• I understand that this work is for completion in class time and that any additional work undertaken at home must be negotiated with my teacher.

• The final date for submission of work for marking is 3 June and I will carefully balance my workload so that I can meet this deadline.

 

My signature

 

Date

 

Outcomes

I was very pleased with the students' enthusiasm and response to both the novel and the activities. Many students went on to read sequels to this book and some poorer readers admitted they had never before read a book with so many pages, but they could not put this one down.

Throughout the unit the class literally 'buzzed' with enthusiastic students who were utterly entranced by the notion of castles, abbeys and siege warfare, and evaluation sheets from students gave very positive feedback about the idea of having a range of varied activities to select from. The unit did become an enrichment unit because students were allowed (in fact, encouraged) to go beyond the basic 100 marks and to score as many as they possibly could.

I would certainly use this novel with future mixed ability Year 7 classes, provided there were at least a few top achievers in the group. I would make very little change to the activities included as these were appealing to the students and maintained their interest.

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This page updated: 23 January 2006 Webmaker: Howard Smith. hsmith4@une.edu.au