A fully sequenced, Rosenshine-informed 25-lesson KS3 scheme of work on Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, designed for Year 9 or confident Year 8. Five Gamma-ready lesson decks plus five richly detailed companion Word documents, all ready to teach.

What’s Included

• Lessons 1 to 5: Russell and his biography, Liverpool and Thatcherism, Mrs Johnstone and the opening, Mickey, Edward, and the Narrator as a dramatic device
• Lessons 6 to 10: The blood brothers oath and dramatic irony, class and contrasting education, Linda and the love triangle, the end of childhood, structured discussion and play review
• Lessons 11 to 15: Russell’s dramatic craft (Narrator techniques and irony in depth), setting, symbol and stagecraft, analytical paragraph for drama, assessment preparation, mid-unit analytical assessment
• Lessons 16 to 20: Mickey’s decline (unemployment, prison, mental health), the final scene and Russell’s argument, writing to argue (who is responsible?), creative writing in a character’s voice, context and Russell’s purpose
• Lessons 21 to 25: Theme synthesis, grammar and vocabulary focus, writing to discuss (tragedy or political drama?), final assessment preparation, final assessment and reflection

Five companion Word documents:

• Medium Term Plan (landscape): full 25-lesson table with objectives, sequenced activities, outcomes and strand codes
• Knowledge Organiser (portrait): story in brief, seven characters, six themes, six dramatic methods, five context points, twelve key vocabulary terms, analytical paragraph shape and sentence stems
• Retrieval Practice Grids (portrait): three full grids (A, B, C) with six questions each and a complete answer key
• Stretch and Challenge Pack (portrait): six conceptual questions, a worked greater-depth escalation, wider reading recommendations and four extended tasks
• Assessment and Mark Guidance (portrait): four KS3 progress descriptors, the analysis-vs-retelling lever, an annotated model paragraph with teacher annotations, a weak-vs-strong comparison, nine success criteria and feedback guidance

Bonus Features

• Every lesson follows the Rosenshine eight-stage structure throughout
• Four distinct writing tasks: analytical assessment (Lessons 15 and 25), persuasive letter on who or what is responsible for the tragedy (Lesson 18), creative writing in a character’s voice (Lesson 19), and discursive piece on whether Blood Brothers is a tragedy or a political drama (Lesson 23)
• Song lyrics are not reproduced (in copyright): the scheme analyses the function and dramatic effect of the songs rather than their content, with clear guidance for teachers and pupils
• Sensitive content handled with care: poverty, mental health and depression (Lesson 16 addressed explicitly and with sensitivity), family separation, and the deaths of both main characters