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Year 7

Reading 'The Twisted Tree': exploring the opening

I can make predictions about a new text and understand how a character is introduced.

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Year 7

Reading 'The Twisted Tree': exploring the opening

I can make predictions about a new text and understand how a character is introduced.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The cover, blurb and dedication of a book can give you important details about the themes.
  2. The novel is dedicated to Odin, who is a Norse god and an inspiration to poets.
  3. A protagonist refers to the main character of a story.
  4. Martha is blind in one eye because of an accident.
  5. Martha can feel other people’s emotions and thoughts through their clothing.

Keywords

  • Hubbub - a busy, noisy situation

  • Patronising - treat in a way that is apparently kind, but shows superiority

  • Jaunty - lively, cheerful or self-confident manner

  • Unfurled - spread out something which was rolled up

  • Disfigured - to spoil the appearance of something

Common misconception

The front cover is just for 'show' and a way to identify a book.

The images and font on a front cover can give you lots of clues about themes and genre.


To help you plan your year 7 english lesson on: Reading 'The Twisted Tree': exploring the opening, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

When reading the text, try different independent reading strategies. For example, 'control the game'. Select students at random to read, jumping from pupil to pupil after a couple of sentences.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You will need access to the text: 'The Twisted Tree' by Rachel Burge, published by Hot Key Books, 2019.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying
  • Depiction or discussion of mental health issues
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these would you not expect to find on a novel's front cover?
title of the book
author's name
publisher's logo
art work
Correct answer: detailed plot summary
Q2.
What is a character?
a type of plot
a main theme
Correct answer: a person created by an author
Q3.
What does it mean to predict?
state the exact meaning of something
recall historical data on a particular event
Correct answer: make an educated guess based on available evidence
Q4.
What is a book's blurb?
Correct answer: A summary of the book's plot and main themes.
A list of awards the book has won.
The author's biography.
A detailed analysis of the characters.
Q5.
'The Twisted Tree' is a novel. What is a novel?
a work of non-fiction that tells a story about life and the world
a short, rhythmic work involving rhyme
Correct answer: a narrative work of fiction that tells a story
a literary work written for the theatre that uses dialogue
Q6.
What do we mean by 'the writer's intentions'?
the writer's thoughts and feelings towards the reader
the writer's life and their experiences
Correct answer: what the writer aimed to do when they wrote the text
the career ambitions a writer has - what they intend to do next

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the name of the main character in 'The Twisted Tree'?
Correct Answer: Martha
Q2.
In Chapter 1 of 'The Twisted Tree', Martha is boarding a plane. Where is she going?
Sweden
Correct answer: Norway
Finland
Denmark
Q3.
Exploring the blurb, front cover and dedication of a book can give you clues about the text. This reading skill is called ...
summary.
Correct answer: prediction.
analysis.
fluency.
Q4.
What is a protagonist?
Correct answer: the main character
the villain
the setting
a supporting character
Q5.
'The Twisted Tree' has been described as a thriller, a mystery and horror. This refers to the of the text.
author
Correct answer: genre
publisher
theme
Q6.
'The Twisted Tree' is written from Martha's perspective using the pronoun "I". This is an example of ...
Correct answer: first person.
second person.
third person.