We the People: Debating the Living Constitution | Year 7 English Unit | 15 Complete Lessons + Resources + Mark Scheme

A 3-week, fully resourced primary literacy unit based on We the People: Debating the Living Constitution by D. O’Higgins. KS3 Fiction. National-Curriculum-aligned grammar, WT/ARE/GD differentiation, and ready to teach.

What’s inside

This complete English unit gives you everything for three weeks of high-quality teaching, designed to match the standard of leading primary schemes.

• 15 lesson PowerPoints — illustrated cover slides, success criteria, vocabulary previews, modelled writing, “big questions” (Bloom’s-laddered), differentiation tiers, plenary, and reflection.
• 15 differentiated resource sheets — Working Towards, Age-Related Expectations, and Greater Depth, with sentence frames, word banks, and writing frames.
• Complete teacher unit plan — unit overview, key themes, model texts, full session-by-session plans, key questions, assessment focus, and vocabulary focus.
• Child-friendly mark scheme — “I can…” success criteria for the final writing piece, ready for self- and peer-assessment.
• 3 weekly exit tickets — 5 multiple-choice questions per week, with teacher answer keys.

Final writing outcome

A structured argumentative essay presenting and defending a position on a current constitutional debate, using evidence, counterargument, and formal academic register.

Grammar features (Year 7 NC-aligned)

• Semicolons to link independent clauses and balance contrasting arguments.
• Formal subordinating conjunctions and conditional clauses for nuanced argumentation.

Themes explored

Constitutional rights and responsibilities, Civic debate and democratic participation, Interpretation and living constitutionalism.

Key vocabulary

Amendment, constitutional, sovereignty, precedent, jurisdiction, deliberation, ratification, jurisprudence.

Format & compatibility

• Editable PowerPoint (.pptx) and Word (.docx) files.
• UK English spelling.
• One printer-friendly A4 page per resource sheet.
• Compatible with Literacy Tree, Write Stuff, and Power of Reading planning approaches.

Year groups & key stage

• Year 7 (KS3).
• 15 sessions over 3 weeks (≈45–60 minutes per lesson).

Tags

KS3, Year 7, English, fiction, D. O’Higgins, reading and writing, complete unit, differentiated, NC-aligned, lesson plans, resources, we the people: debating the living constitution