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The right of Gavin Knight to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him inaccordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1998.
The original edition of You Don’t Know Me is published in the USA by Frances Foster Books,Farrar, Straus and Giroux
First published in Great Britain by Viking 2001Published by Puffin Books 2002
Sources and acknowledgements
We are grateful to all copyright holders whose material appears in this booklet. However in someinstances we have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material and we would
appreciate any information that would enable us to do so.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restrictedcopying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London, W1T 4LP
ISBN 0 582 84492 4
First published 2004
YOU DON’T KNOW ME
9 780582 844926
ISBN 0-582-84492-4
Introduction
2
AimThis resource provides materials to support the teachingof framework objectives through the reading of YouDon’t Know Me. Reading can be a shared, socialactivity and it is important that pupils are given theopportunity to talk and write about their reading.Emphasis is placed on the promotion and developmentof independent reading, as pupils are asked to reflecton the reading strategies they use and encouraged totry out new ones. Many of the activities encouragepupils to build a bridge between their reading andwriting. In particular, pupils are encouraged to developthe skills that readers in Year 9 need if they are to meetthe reading and writing demands made of them.
The lesson outlineThe lesson outline provides a structure for teaching ‘at aglance’. It is intended to provide a framework and canbe adjusted to suit your circumstances. The structureenables you to cover a longer text, while maintainingpace. Objectives are taught explicitly and are clearlyplaced within the context of the book and the lessonstructure. There will be issues about coverage, but it ismore important that pupils are able to explore theirreading through talk and other interactive approaches,rather than sitting passively as the whole book is read tothem, or worse, being asked to ‘read around the class’.
Approaches for progressing through the book include:
• pupils or teacher recap previous chapters that maynot have been read
• jigsaw reading (groups are given a section or chapterto read and then the group reports back)
• use of prepared summaries or diagrammaticrepresentations of the plot
• reading at home, if appropriate.
It is also important to allow pupils to control their ownreading. If they want to read on, let them; re-readingchapters and revisiting prior reading may highlightthings that were missed before.
Resources
This unit does not require extensive resources butideally they should be prepared in advance. Groupactivities could be photocopied onto coloured card andlaminated, so that pupils have their own copies forreference. The main resources you will need are: copiesof the text, highlighter and marker pens, ‘Post-it’ notes,sugar paper, reading journals, copies of extracts on OHTand paper for annotation.
Reading journals
While some pupils will eagerly share their impressionsabout texts they have read, others feel less comfortablein class discussions, and will keep their thoughts tothemselves. In an effort to encourage all pupils to thinkmore about what they read and share theirobservations and opinions confidently, some teachers
use reading journals to great advantage. Readingjournals provide pupils with the opportunity to reflect,speculate and express their immediate responses totheir reading. They can be an essential tool in trackinghow pupils are responding to the text. Whilstopportunities for using reading journals are nothighlighted in this resource, it may be worthwhileincorporating the use of reading journals into yourteaching of You Don’t Know Me. For example, pupilscould be asked to reflect every lesson on the readingstrategies that they have used, and make a brief noteabout them, including reference to the text.
Pupils can make a wide variety of entries in a readingjournal, including:
• noting responses
• questions arising
• mind mapping and other graphic representations(tension graphs, timelines)
• jotting down words and phrases that need clarifying,or that they could ‘steal’ for their own writing
• keeping track of the plot.
Most pupils will need support if they are to write withclarity and understanding, even if they are just makingnotes. For example, if pupils are asked to delve intocharacters’ motivations and choices, this kind ofresponse will need to be modelled for them. You canalso provide key words and phrases to prompt criticalresponses from pupils, for example:
‘I wonder what this means …’ ‘This bit reminds me of …’‘If it was me, I would …’‘I was surprised when …’
Assessing the reading journal
It is important that pupils regard the journal as part of acontinuing dialogue with the teacher and with eachother, rather than work that is to be marked. However,there are three stages that reflect critical thinking andreading and these could be used as a teacher checklistfor assessment:
1 A literal encounter with the text – the pupil’sresponses are superficial and tend towards recount.
2 Analysis and interpretation – the pupil’s responses aremore reflective, for example empathy with a characteris reflected in the journal.
3 Synthesis and evaluation – the pupil is able to makelinks within and beyond the text.
It is important to remember that more challengingcontent on its own does not always improve pupils’critical thinking. Equipping pupils with the rightvocabulary and the methods by which they canappraise their learning and progress is a critical part ofthe process. Using a layout such as the one suggestedon page 3 will support pupils when they are developingtheir critical engagement with the text they are reading.Some activities are listed, but these are just suggestions.
3
Literal• Date of entry
• Pages/chapter
• Prior knowledge:– What happened in the last
chapter?– What do you know about …?– Use of KWL grids.
• Sequence key events: – How might the story
continue?– What are the clues?
• Brief summary:– main points– only important/new facts– plot development.
Synthesis and evaluation• Readers make connections
between the text and:– themselves – other texts – other things they know.
• Elements of narrative stylereflected in own writing.
• How have responses developedduring reading?
• How are the elements of thetext a synthesis? (Explorethrough mind-mapping.)
How often should pupils write in their journals?
Less is more! Writing in journals several times a week will soon become tedious and pupils will find that they havenothing new to add. It is much better to ask for fewer responses, and ones that require deeper engagement, sothat pupils are writing for themselves and not for the teacher.
Before,during or after
During orafterreading
Afterreading
Overview of objectivesThe notion of literacy being embedded in objectives involves much more than thebasic acquisition of skills. The objectives selected here focus on enabling pupils toread as readers in order to deepen their understanding and appreciation, and to readas writers so that they can identify typical features and explore how writers gainimpact. This is the point at which the bridge between reading and writing is made –when the pupil has the ability to step outside the body of a text and look at it as awriter. Whilst the majority of objectives selected reflect the development of reading,this does not imply that they should be approached in isolation or taught in areductive way. The objectives listed below encompass the ability to recognise,understand and manipulate the conventions of language and develop the pupils’ability to use language imaginatively and flexibly, in the narrative context. Objectives(and pupils) benefit from being explicitly taught and from being identified anddeployed in context. Other objectives can also be taught (through starter activities),but it is up to the teacher to decide where the priority lies and to adapt the resourcematerials according to the needs of the pupils.
4
Year 9
W7 Layers of meaning
Reading
R1 Information retrievalR6 Authorial perspectiveR7 Compare textsR9 Compare writers from different timesR11 Author’s standpointR12 Rhetorical devicesR13 Evaluate own readingR18 Prose text
Writing
Wr6 Creativity in non-literary textsWr7 ‘Infotainment’Wr12 Effective presentation of informationWr13 Influence audienceWr16 Balanced analysisWr17 Cite textual evidence
Speaking and listening
S&L2 Standard EnglishS&L5 Compare points of view S&L7 Identify the underlying issues S&L8 Evaluate own contributionsS&L10 Group organisationS&L11 Evaluate own drama skillsS&L12 Drama techniques
In an international competition called ‘If you were me’, children wrote to celebrities and offeredto step into their shoes and trade places for a day. Letters from around the globe werereceived. Many gave vivid and moving accounts of daily life for children struggling againstpoverty and exploitation. Kamal’s letter below, concerning a life swap with David Beckham, was‘highly commended’ by the judging panel.
Irony: a subtle way of poking fun at something or somebody; a way of speaking in whichthe words used carry the opposite of their normal meaning.
Dramatic irony: a device in a play or book where a character says something that has onemeaning for that person but also a deeper one, visible only to the audience or reader.
Dear David Beckham
I have your picture on my wall. You look so happy with your blond hair
and big smile. I wish that I could play for Manchester United, drive fast
cars, and be like you.
I am in the football trade too. Sometimes I find myself surrounded by
lots of balls and wish that I could boot them away, like you.
I get up every day as soon as the sun rises. I know that somewhere you
will be running along a riverbank, jumping, stretching up to the sun,
and getting your body ready for battles with other great players.
I cannot run outside and play with my friends. I have to work from
dawn until the sun sets. I stitch together panels for the balls you like
to kick. It is hard.
I am ten years old and have never had a holiday. I have never seen a
proper football match but everyone says that you are the best.
Every week my father gets paid some money for all my work. It is not a
lot but we need it. My sister, who is eight, has now joined me at work, so
I am no longer lonely.
I wish that I could be like you.
Do you wish that you could be like me?
Think of me the next time you take a penalty.
May your spirit soar through the air, like the ball, and give me the
1 Re-read Kamal’s letter on Worksheet 2.1. Discuss with a partner the contrasting life styles ofKamal and David Beckham. Focus on the following areas:
• health
• wealth
• work
• happiness.
2 Re-read the definitions of irony and dramatic irony on Worksheet 2.1. Is Kamal’s letter opento any kind of ironic interpretation? Discuss your ideas with your partners.
3 Re-read the letter once more and highlight any phrases that might be ironic. Share yourthoughts with another pair when you are ready.
4 As you read You Don’t Know Me watch out for examples of irony. For example, in Chapter1, when ‘the man who is not my father’ says ‘I’ll really take care of you John’ he isthreatening him rather than reassuring him. Are any of the following quotations, taken fromChapter 1, intended to be ironic?
a) ‘I am in the middle of a hurricane.’
b) ‘Your eyes are closed and you couldn’t care less.’
c) ‘When he hits me he doesn’t curl his fingers up into a fist because that would leave amark.’
d) ‘You think I’m happy with this life. Hah, Hah!’
e) ‘You don’t know me at all.’
5 Think about your own lifestyle. Working with your partner, decide which famous celebrityyou would both like to life swap with. Working together, draft a four-paragraph letter tothat person, suggesting why you chose them and what they might learn about life bybecoming you for a day. Try to use irony within your writing!
Irony
Pupil worksheet 3.1Lesson 3
17
This film review was written in order to entice the reader into the cinema. Its purpose was todraw an audience for the film.
1 After the shared reading with your teacher and your class, fill out the grid (below) whichfocuses on the conventions of film review writing.
2 Choose one of the famous tales below and, in a group of four, write a similar two-paragraph review for a new (and imaginary) Hollywood blockbuster due for general releaseinto cinemas next week.
• Puss in Boots
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin
• The Ugly Duckling
• Jack and Jill
• Rapunzel
Make sure that you remember the conventions of film review writing as you will need themagain for the final activity, once you have finished reading You Don’t Know Me.
VAN HELSING
Action, Fantasy, Horror: stars Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh
Deep in the mountains of Carpathia lies the mysterious and mythic land of Transylvania – a worldwhere evil is ever-present, where danger rises as the sun sets, and where the monsters that inhabitman’s deepest nightmares take form.
Into this world, brought to life and played out on massive sets and sweeping locations, comes VanHelsing (Hugh Jackman), the legendary monster hunter born in the pages of Bram Stoker‘s Dracula.In his ongoing battle to rid the world of its fiendish creatures, Van Helsing, on the order of a secretsociety, travels to Transylvania to bring down the lethally seductive, enigmatically powerful CountDracula (Richard Roxburgh) and joins forces with the fearless Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), outto rid her family of a generations-old curse by defeating the vampire and a host of other monsters.
Rhetorical devices Example from extract
Overblown, highly exaggerated phrases suggesting great importance
You don’t know me. Just for example, you think I’m upstairs in my room doingmy homework. Wrong. I’m not in my room. I’m not doingmy homework. And even if I were up in my room Iwouldn’t be doing my homework, so you’d still be wrong. And it’s not really my room. It’s your room because it’syour house. I just happen to live there right now. And it’snot really my homework, because my math teacher, Mrs.Moonface, assigned it and she’s going to check it, so it’sher homework.Her name’s not Mrs. Moonface, by the way. It’s reallyMrs. Garlic Breath. No it’s not. It’s really Mrs. Gabriel, butI just call her Mrs. Garlic Breath, except for the timeswhen I call her Mrs. Moonface.
Confused? Deal with it.
You don’t know me at all. You don’t know the first thingabout me. You don’t know where I’m writing this from.You don’t know what I look like. You have no power overme.
Taunting orchallenging tone.Who is beingteased, thereader or the‘you’ of the tale?Use of pronoun isambiguous
Weak pun overownership ofhomeworkunderlinesnarrator’ssensitivity overbelongings
Use of pronounsas weaponsagain. Moonfaceor Garlic Breath.It’s as if he’ssaying I’ll call myteachers what Ilike. Just you tryand stop me!
Second sentencebeginning with‘And’ – is hedeliberatelyflauntingconventions ofgrammar?
Short sentencesserve as insultsand challenge toreader. A miniparagraphpacked withvenom
Fifth use ofpronoun ‘you’ inthis paragraphdrives a fingerinto our chests.The final line: youdon’t scare me,you’re powerless,I’m completelyindependent andwill show nodeference to you
Single wordsentence servesto underline ourstupidity –narrator isgloating
Work in groups of three. You are going to analyse and discuss Chapters 4 – 6 with reference tothe rhetorical devices used.
1 Decide who will be A, B or C. Person A will work on Chapter 4, B on Chapter 5 and C onChapter 6.
2 Skim read your chapter once more, noting down in the checklist below any examples ofeffective use of the rhetorical devices listed.
3 Before you report back to the others in your group, consider the following:
• What mood is John in within your chapter?
• Does this change as your chapter progresses?
• What evidence can you provide from the text to prove your point?
• In your opinion, has the use of the rhetorical devices you have found helped to makethis a more interesting piece of writing? How?
4a) When everyone is ready, share your findings. Try to make sure that each time you make apoint you explain it clearly and give supporting evidence from the text.
b) Make brief notes on what is said and be prepared to expand upon your own ideas, ifrequested by others.
Work in groups of 4–6. You are going to speculate on what might happen next.
1 What can you infer and deduce about the likely success of John’s date at the schoolbasketball match? Brainstorm a list of possibilities.
2 Agree upon one scenario as the focus for your work. On a sheet of rice paper create a moredetailed plotline, using the familiar narrative frame below:
Set the scene
Introduce a problem
Complication
Crisis
Adjustment
Resolution
3 Role play: improvise an important moment from your new plotline, in order to explore yourideas more fully.
4 Reflect upon the performance: what did it teach you that you hadn’t realised before? Doyou need to make any adjustments to your plotline in light of this?
5 Freeze-frame: select a key moment from your scenario and create a still picture recreating it.Be ready to show this in the plenary.
6 One member of each group should now act as envoy and move to another group to explainwhat you have achieved.
Plot summary: Chapters 7–9
In these chapters we are given an insight into the ‘torture island’ inside John’s head as hemusters up the courage to ask Glory Hallelujah out on a date. After furtively passing her anote in his anti-math class, he is surprised to see her eat it. In school the next day sheaccepts his invitation; John grows in stature and confidence, so much so that he even daresto point out a calculation error made by his anti-math teacher.
Extract AFather lay on the floor, by the window of a small, darkenedroom, dressed in white, and looking terribly long. His feetwere bare and his toes were strangely splayed out. Hisgentle fingers, now peacefully resting on his chest, werealso distorted, and the black disks of copper coins firmlysealed his once shining eyes. His kind face had darkenedand its nastily bared teeth frightened me.Mother, half naked in a red skirt, was kneeling beside him,combing his long soft hair down from the forehead to thenape of his neck with the black comb I loved to use as asaw for the melon rinds. She kept muttering something in ahoarse, deep voice. Her grey eyes were swollen andseemed to be dissolving in a flood of tears.
Extract from My Childhood by Maxim Gorky
Immediate use ofpronounannouncesproximity tosubject (physicaland emotional)
‘gentle, peaceful,rest…’ The lovefor his father isclear, but is hedead? Is it aeulogy?
Black disks sealup shining life ofeyes, links todarkness of facein next line.Symboliccontrasts of lightand dark
Unprepared,vulnerable
Hoarse fromwailing andlamenting?
Ashen-colouredeyes, – is thecoldness of deathbeingemphasised?
Use of adverbialsprovidesinformationabout geographyof room anddeliberatelydelays readerawarenessconcerning theman’s physicalcondition
Following a shared reading of Extract A from My Childhood by Maxim Gorky, model activereading, underlining and annotating the text. Ask pupils to annotate Extract B from MyChildhood. Follow this with a paired reading of Extract C from You Don’t Know Me.
Pupil task
Ask pupils to discuss whether all three extracts are similar or different in terms of narrativevoice, situation, tone, language features and the effect on the reader.
Extract BOn the floor, under the window, in a small, shuttered room,lay my father, dressed in a long white garment I had neverseen him in before. His feet were bare and the toes werestrangely distended, while the fingers of his hands, restingon his breast, were curled in. The blackened disks of twocopper coins covered his eyes, shutting out theiraccustomed, cheerful gleam. All the light had gone out ofhis still face. But what scared me was the snarl his openmouth showed with the teeth bared.Beside him, on her knees, was my mother, in anundergarment. She was combing his long, fine hair backfrom his forehead to the nape of his neck. The comb shewas using was the one with which I scraped edible shardsfrom watermelon rinds. As she combed away, she talked tohim without stopping, until it seemed that they mustfinally flood her eyes out of their sockets.
Extract from My Childhood by Maxim Gorky
Extract CAt the bottom of the sock drawer is a knitted bootie. It isheavy – crunchy to the touch. I open it… and see moremoney than I have ever seen before. The man who is notmy father has an impressive stash. Clearly, he does notbelieve in banks. Or maybe he is planning to start his ownbank. There are many twenties. There are fifties. I evenglimpse several crisp hundred-dollar bills.I take only one twenty. I start to replace the bootie … andthen I feel something beneath it. Something small and hardthat clearly does not belong in a sock drawer.It is wrapped in a blue towel. I know I have no businesslooking at it, but there is a very good reason why I amcurious. Whatever it is, it must be even more valuable thanmoney, since the man who is not my father has buried it atthe very bottom of his sock drawer, beneath his secretmoney stash.I need to find out what is more valuable than money.I carefully lift the blue towel out of the drawer. It isunexpectedly heavy. I unwrap it. Metal glints. I feel myselfshiver.It is a gun. To be accurate, it is a pistol.
Extract from You Don’t Know Me (Chapter 11: pages 100–101)
by David Klass
An ‘en dash’ –what does it dohere?
Where do youthink he’s earnedall this money?
What effect doesthe sentencelength have?
Limitedvocabulary?Sounds like a veryyoung child. Whyis this appropriatehere?
What is John thinking as the events of the evening unravel?
What is the author thinking?
Are John and the author thinking the same?
What makes this section so shocking?
What have you noticed about the shift in tone and its effect on us as readers?
1 Work in groups of four. You are going to analyse and discuss Chapter 15 with reference tothe authorial and narrative voice used. Make notes on the following questions forhomework and be prepared to share your ideas in the next lesson. Record your thoughts inthe spaces provided.
1 Work in groups of six. Each group is going to improvise three different scenarios. For eachscenario work with a different partner. These scenarios take place in Chapter 16 at the timewhen John, alone and scared in the back of the van, prays to God for help.
Scenario 1
Under a piece of sacking John discovers the mobile phone belonging to the man who is not my father. In the memory he finds his mum’s mobile number. Very quietly he calls herup and tries to explain what is happening.
Scenario 2
The mobile memory also gives a number for Mona, the ex-wife of the man who is not myfather. John decides to call her up and find out what he can about this man he hates somuch.
Scenario 3
Mona gives John some information he thinks he might be able to use in order to blackmailhis future step dad. He decides to bring it up in conversation over breakfast the next day.
2 To get better at improvisation, you need to think about what you can already do well andwhat you need to improve. You need to reflect on the quality of your own work and thework of others.
When you give feedback on each other’s improvisations, your comments should be positiveand specific. You should comment on:
• movement
• gesture
• use of voice
• believability of the person in the role
• contribution to success of group’s performance.
3a) Pick out at least three strengths and praise the performers for them.
b) Outline one aspect for future development. Give guidance on how the performers mightimprove this area in the future.
4 Think about your own performance. What were you pleased with?
5 In the light of your friend’s comments and your own thoughts, can you identify one targetthat you might set yourself so that next time you are asked to work in this way you canachieve even more? Discuss your evaluation with your teacher and write it down before youforget it!
One of the signs of a really good writer is how believable the minor characters are. In Chapters20–21 we meet Gustav Kachooski, Mr Kessler, and the Principal, Dr Whitefield. They areprobably minor characters because they haven’t featured prominently until now.
1 Work in pairs. Discuss the character of Gustav Kachooski. Record your ideas in the grid.
1 Working with a partner and without referring to the novel, try to fill out the grids. Thenrefer to the novel again in order to add further details, including evidence and quotations.
2 Form groups of six and compare your grids and impressions. Based upon your work today,and discussions with others in the group, do you agree that David Klass is a gifted writerwhose work is worthy of study in schools?
3 Elect a spokesperson who will share your group’s views on this question in the plenary.Remember to cite evidence from the text as proof for each point you make.
‘Teachers need control in the classroom. Banning the use of the cane was a mistake.If pupils are properly punished for offences in school they will learn better.Corporal punishment should be brought back immediately.’
1 Use the space provided in the boxes to record ideas for your mini-debate. Some ideas have been provided to get you started.
Group A (In favour)
• Poor discipline means that teachers areleaving the classroom. They find the jobtoo stressful, dealing with endlessconfrontation.
• Employers complain that school leavers are not up to the jobs they take up.
• Rowdy behaviour by one child affects thelife chances of everyone else in theclassroom.
Group B (Against)
• Beating people is barbaric anddegrading.
• It is a form of physical abuse that leavesscars inside and out.
• It is against the law and ignores ourhuman rights.
1 Hubris is a Greek word. It means that when life seems great and everything is going right, that’s when you’re most likely to take a fall. Explore the impact of the ending. Do you agreethat having enjoyed the dance, John let his defences down?
2 Make notes on the following questions for homework and be prepared to share your ideas in the next lesson. Record your thoughts in the spaces provided.
Do you think that there was anything John could have done to avoid the assault?
Had he provoked his assailant in any way?
Why didn’t he speak up earlier and tell somebody what was going on?
What do you think he should have done?
When John says ‘You don’t know me’ is he talking to everyone around him, to us as readers,or was it really his mother that he was trying to communicate with?
Sometimes stories finish with a happy ending and a moral. Do you think that this is the casein You Don’t Know Me? What did John have to say about his life in the future?