Comparing texts about World War One using comparative topic sentences
I can write comparative topic sentences about two texts which focus on the same event - World War One.
Comparing texts about World War One using comparative topic sentences
I can write comparative topic sentences about two texts which focus on the same event - World War One.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Comparing one text to another can often help you evaluate it more clearly.
- You can compare what each writer chose to write about, and how they chose to write about it.
- The opening line of comparative paragraphs could start with a topic sentence which states the paragraph's main idea.
- The next sentences of a comparative paragraph could focus on the differences between the two texts you wish to compare.
Keywords
Evaluate - to consider something carefully and make a judgement about it
Form - in literature, the type of text a writer uses; short story, memoir, poem are all examples
First person - the narrator is a person in the story, using pronouns like 'I', 'we', 'me'
Third person - the narrator is not a person in the story, using pronouns like 'she', 'he', 'they'
Method - the tools a writer uses to create their work; structure, form and language are perhaps the most significant examples.
Common misconception
You can't compare different text types to each other. For example, a short story to a memoir.
By comparing different forms, we can often come to understand why a writer chose a particular text type more deeply - what this particular text type allowed them to do or convey to the reader.
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Comparing texts about World War One using comparative topic sentences, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Comparing texts about World War One using comparative topic sentences, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 english lessons from the Literary perspectives from the First World War unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Pupils who wish to compare Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line' to another text need a copy of the 2014 edition of 'Stories of WW1' edited by Tony Bradman. Other texts are found in additional materials.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
the type of text a writer uses
the words a writer has chosen
how a text is put together e.g. its beginning, middle and end
designed to be read in one sitting, written in prose
designed to be read in one sitting, written in stanzas
an account based on someone's memories
a written message (often) from one person to another
selected moment from a text
'Mental Cases'
'The Fly'
'Testament of Youth'
'Propping Up The Line'
best remembered for poetry about realities of trench warfare
the master of the short story, experimental in plot and characters
lost a fiancé, two close friends and her brother in WW1
inspired by the experiences of their grandfather