Exploring Oliver Twist

Overview

This 40-minute session engages Year 7 students with moderate learning difficulties in exploring a scene from Oliver Twist through creative, low-pressure activities that develop key skills in speaking, listening, and comprehension, aligned with the National Curriculum for England (2014) for English. The lesson avoids traditional roleplay, addressing student reluctance, yet fulfils the learning objective by encouraging expression, empathy, and interaction in accessible ways.

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National Curriculum Links

English Key Stage 3 – Years 7-9

• Spoken Language:
  • Listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers
  • Ask relevant questions to extend understanding and knowledge
  • Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
  • Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates
• Reading - comprehension:
  • Understand a range of texts including classic fiction, identifying narrative sequence and character motivation
• Writing – composition:
  • Plan, draft, and evaluate by discussing writing and use spoken language to rehearse sentences

This lesson specifically targets spoken language development with an emphasis on voice, actions, and dialogue without formal acting.

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Learning Objective (LO)

• To explore and present a scene from Oliver Twist by using voice, movement, and dialogue in creative ways, without formal roleplay.

Success Criteria

• I can express my character’s feelings and actions using voice and simple gestures.
• I can use my own words or the character’s words to show their thoughts.
• I can listen carefully to others and respond respectfully.

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Resources

• Excerpt of a key scene from Oliver Twist (simplified text, printed or on screen)
• Character emotion cards with simple words and pictures (e.g., happy, sad, scared)
• Large paper and coloured markers
• Headphones with audio recording/playback device (tablet or phone)
• Worksheets with sentence starters
• Whiteboard and pens

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Lesson Structure

1. Welcome and Warm-up (5 minutes)

• Sit in a circle.
• Teacher introduces Oliver Twist briefly and explains the scene to be explored.
• Quick vocal warm-up—students try humming different emotions suggested by teacher (happy hum, sad hum).
• Purpose: familiarise with using voice expressively and build confidence.

2. Scene Setting and Character Exploration (10 minutes)

• Teacher reads the chosen Oliver Twist scene aloud slowly, with pauses.
• Show character emotion cards; discuss feelings each might have in the scene.
• Each student picks one emotion card and shares a personal experience or memory related to that feeling to connect emotionally.
• Purpose: build empathy and link emotions to characters without acting.

3. Creative Expression Using Voice and Movement, No Acting (15 minutes)

• Activity 1: Voice Soundscapes
  • Teacher explains that together students will create sounds and short phrases to represent the scene’s mood and characters, like a sound story rather than acting.
  • Students choose or create simple words, sounds, or one-line phrases their character might say. Examples provided on worksheet.
  • Students also choose a simple movement or gesture to show the feeling (e.g., shaking hands for fear, smiling face for happiness), done sitting or standing as comfortable.
  • In small groups or pairs, students arrange their sounds, words, and movements in sequence to retell the scene collaboratively.
  • Teacher records audio of the group performance for playback.

4. Listening and Responding (5 minutes)

• Play back the recorded soundscape to the whole class.
• Students listen carefully, then each shares which character or feeling they recognised and how it was shown.
• Encourage supportive feedback.

5. Reflection and Plenary (5 minutes)

• Teacher leads reflective discussion using prompt questions:
  • How did you show your character’s feelings without acting?
  • Was it easier to use sounds and words rather than traditional acting?
  • How did listening to others help you understand the scene?
• Students complete a short sentence starter worksheet (e.g., "I showed my character’s feeling by…", "I listened carefully when…").
• Positive reinforcement and clear praise about trying something new.

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Assessment and Differentiation

Formative Assessment:

• Observe student participation in voice and movement activities.
• Note ability to link emotions to characters and use language expressively.
• Use reflective worksheet responses to assess understanding of communication and listening skills.

Differentiation:

• Provide sentence starters and word banks for less confident students.
• Allow choice of gesture complexity and volume of spoken words (from sounds to full phrases).
• Use visual supports and emotion cards to scaffold understanding.
• Paired work for peer support.

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Extension and Homework (Optional)

• Create a simple comic strip or storyboard of the scene, focusing on emotions and dialogue bubbles reflecting character speech and feelings.
• Practice "voice and mood" at home: choose a favourite character from any story and record a soundscape of their feelings.

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Teacher Notes

• Emphasise the safe, no-pressure environment—there is no “acting” exam; it’s about creative expression and exploring feelings.
• Use gentle encouragement and highlight strengths in all contributions.
• Adapt pacing flexibly for the group’s mood and attention spans.

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By embracing creativity without the expectation of acting, this lesson respects the needs of students with moderate learning difficulties while fully covering the National Curriculum’s spoken language and reading comprehension components. It nurtures confidence and expression through innovative “soundscape” storytelling aligned with the core LO and success criteria.