NOUGHTS AND CROSSES
Teacher’s Pack
By
Frances Gregory
CONTENTS
Introduction
3
Overview for Scheme of Work
4
Navigator
Lesson Plans, WS
Assessment
5–6
7–45
46
Acknowledgements:
We are grateful for permission to include the following copyright material in these resources
Malorie Blackman: extract of interview quoted on Laura Atkins website, used by permission of Malorie
Blackman.
We have tried to trace and contact all copyright holders before publication. If notified, the publishers will be
pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Illustrations:
Steve Evans Design and Illustration
INTRODUCTION
English teachers don’t need to be told the
enormous value and pleasure of reading whole
texts as class readers. Little compares with that
feeling when a class are truly engaged in the
reading of a really good book. Those moments
stay with you forever – indeed, they fuel the
desire to find another such book to repeat the
experience, again and again. Fortunately,
contemporary writers of fiction for young adults
continue to offer us fresh opportunities to enjoy
literature with our students.
Oxford Rollercoasters is a series that offers
teachers the opportunity of studying first-class
novels – recently written for teenagers – as
whole-class readers with Year 7, 8 and 9
students.
Lesson Plans are accompanied by full, varied
and practical Worksheets and OHTs, and
drama activities are common within the teaching
schemes. The worksheets and OHTs are
customizable to meet the needs of a particular
teacher and class.
For every novel there are suggested guided
reading sessions as well as the opportunity to
develop further specific group teaching. Class,
shared and independent reading are also fully
supported in the Lesson Plans.
The practice of keeping some form of Reading
Journal during the study of the novel is
encouraged in many of the schemes, and there
are several attractive models for such recordkeeping across the teaching materials.
Focus on assessment of reading
Oxford Rollercoasters includes titles with varied
themes, challenging subject matter and
engaging plots – for example, Noughts and
Crosses takes a very contemporary slant on
racism, Firestarter features a modern-day
compulsive arsonist, while Fire, Bed and Bone is
set during the Peasants’ Revolt. Each novel is
accompanied by innovative and engaging
teaching materials, specifically designed to help
students access the texts and to support
learning as required by the National Curriculum.
Rollercoasters is firmly based on the reading
objectives in the Framework, and draws on
approaches to reading fiction recommended by
the English strand of the Secondary National
Strategy. The series is written by practising
teachers and consultants, and, while
concentrating on the explicit teaching of reading
skills, also draws on approaches to literature
through drama and media. Theories behind both
assessment for learning and thinking skills are
also embedded in the materials.
Time-saving resources
For each Rollercoasters novel there is a set of
Lesson Plans, specifying particular objectives,
assessment focuses and learning outcomes.
These are accompanied by a compact
Overview (see page 4) which summarizes the
scheme at a glance, including the necessary
resources for each lesson.
The Navigator offers a clear plot summary,
linked to relevant chapters, to help speedy
location of particular parts of the novel.
Every set of Lesson Plans ends with its own
student Reading Assessment Progress Sheet,
which the teacher can then use to identify areas
for development for each student.
Reading Guide
Each of the novels has its own student Reading
Guide, which contains a rich variety of material
to help to engage students in their study of the
novel. Each one features unique author’s craft
material, giving students a great insight into the
writing, editing and publishing process.
Ideas for wider reading and for the extension of
independent reading are also provided in the
Pathways section at the end of the Reading
Guide.
Website support
The Rollercoasters website provides access to
the free on-line teacher’s resources, sample
chapters of the novels and further author
information.
Oxford Rollercoasters provides first-class
teaching resources for first-class contemporary
fiction. The series is designed to engage the
widest possible range of students in reading for
pleasure, and we feel confident that it will
contribute to those memorable experiences of
reading together in the secondary classroom.
Frances Gregory
Series editor
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3
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Overview
OVERVIEW FOR SCHEME OF WORK
Lesson
(Book chapter)
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
Reading AFs
Framework
objectives
Rollercoasters
resources
1

Use contextual clues to anticipate
the content, theme and viewpoint
of a novel
Use textual clues to infer
character and relationships
AF3: Inference and
deduction
AF6: Writer’s purposes
AF7: Social and
historical context
Y9: R6, R11
WS: 1a, 1b
RG: p. 4
Identify and evaluate narrative
viewpoint
Determine the key points about
social relations in the world of this
novel
AF2: Locating evidence
AF4: Structure
Y9: R1, R6
WS: 2a
RG: p. 5
Identify discrimination implicit in
language
Identify some of the novel’s major
themes
AF3: Inference and
deduction
AF5: Use of language
Y9: R12, R16,
SpL12
WS: 3a, 3b
RG: pp. 6–8
Identify how far and in what ways
a writer draws on history to inform
fictional events
Begin to develop judgements on
writers’ and readers’ sympathies
AF2: Locating evidence
AF6: Writer’s purposes
AF7: Social and
historical context
Y9: R1, R2, R6
WS: 4a
RG: pp. 9, 11
Trace how a writer uses
characters to structure a plot
Identify the turning points in the
developing plot and patterns in
words to link to the concept of
tragedy
AF4: Structure
AF5: Use of language
Y9: R12
WS: 5a, 5b
Identify how a writer builds
narrative tension
Evaluate how far a writer’s
viewpoint is evident in a fictional
text
AF4: Structure
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R4, R12
WS: 6a
RG: p. 10
Establishing contexts
(Prologue)

Viewpoint
Pages 19–59
(1–6)

Language and theme
Pages 59–120
(7–25)

Theme and reader
response
Pages 121–149
(26–31)

Structure
Pages 149–182
(32–42)

Narrative tension
Pages 185–233
(43–57)

7
Genre and plot
Pages 233–257
(58–64)

Identify how a writer manipulates
genre and plot to maintain reader
engagement
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R12
WS: 7a
8
Reader response
Pages 261–286
(65–74)

Identify the dramatic potential of a
court scene in fiction
Exploit dramatic potential of
language for media reporting
AF5: Use of language
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R9, R14, Wr11
WS: 7a, 8a, 8b
Writer’s craft
Pages 289–304
(75–78)

Explore how a writer’s choices
(viewpoint, structure, language)
affect a reader’s response
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R12, SpL12
WS: 9a, 9b
10 Comparison
Pages 305–331
(79–88)

Recognize the nature of tragedy
AF4: Structure
AF5: Use of language
AF7: Social and
historical context
Y9: R7, R12
WS: 7a, 10a, 10b
RG: pp. 12–13
11 Writer’s craft
Pages 335–359
(89–94)

Select key character
developments
Analyse how a writer’s use of
language, structure and viewpoint
affect a reader’s response
AF2: Locating evidence
AF5: Use of language
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R12, Wr17
WS: 10b, 11a, 11b
12 Reader response
Pages 359–408
(95–107)

Begin to recognize how a writer
prompts a reader to anticipate the
ending of a novel
AF4: Structure
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R12
WS: 12a
13 Reader response
Pages 409–432
(108–115)

Confirm how a writer prepares a
reader for a novel’s conclusion
AF4: Structure
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R9, R18
WS: 13a
RG: pp. 12–13
14 Whole text
Pages 435–445
(116–end)

Develop their responses to and
judgements about a text through
exploratory talk
AF4: Structure
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R18, SpL9
OHT: 14a
RG: pp. 14–15
15 Evaluating the text

Judge how appropriate Noughts
and Crosses has been for class
reading
Use informative and persuasive
language to promote a novel or
give reasons for not promoting it
AF4: Structure
AF6: Writer’s purposes
Y9: R18, Wr13
WS: 15a, 15b, 15c,
15d
RG: pp. 15–16
2
3
4
5
6
9
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
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4
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Navigator
NAVIGATOR
Plot outline
Prologue
Meggie McGregor (a nought) and her employer, Jasmine Hadley (a Cross), watch their children,
Callum and Sephy, play together. When Kamal Hadley unexpectedly comes home, Meggie does not
realize that Jasmine needs her to tell a lie to cover for her. Telling the truth loses Meggie her job and
her family must suffer.
THE SPLIT
Pages 185–257
BREAKDOWN
Pages 117–182
THE TURNING
& THE PICNIC
Pages 91–114
CALLUM AND SEPHY
Pages 19–88
Section/ Chapter
Chapters 1–2
Three years later, Callum and Sephy are still friends, though social divisions threaten their
relationship. Callum – a nought – is about to start at Heathcroft High – the Cross school that Sephy
attends. Callum’s family have mixed feelings about his new school. His brother Jude, full of hatred
for Crosses, does not want him there. His Mum is doubtful, but his Dad is keen. His sister Lynette –
a disturbed young woman – lives in a world of her own.
Chapter 3
Sephy overhears her dad talking with a blond-haired nought man who has a pony tail. She is
shocked to overhear their anti-nought views, but pretends to have heard nothing.
Chapters
4–7
Callum prepares for his first day at Heathcroft High School, but it turns out to be disastrous. There are
riots outside the school trying to stop the noughts from entering. Sephy tries to stand up for them but
offends everyone, especially Callum, when she tells the rioters they are behaving like ‘blankers’.
Chapters
8–10
On the television news Kamal Hadley threatens death to the Liberation Militia (the noughts’
liberation group) and the riots at Heathcroft are reported. Callum and Sephy realize that the
Hadleys and the McGregors are on two sides of the political fence.
Chapters
11–15
At Heathcroft, Sephy tries to remain friends with Callum but they soon see how difficult this will be.
Callum is treated with contempt by the teachers and Sephy is beaten up by other Cross girls.
Friendship between a nought and a Cross is not acceptable.
Chapters
16–24
Callum is turned away from the Hadley house when he tries to visit Sephy – but, against the odds,
their relationship survives in secret. Together, on the beach, they try to reconcile their differences.
But while Sephy happily recalls a previous summer picnic, Callum remembers being accused of
having stolen the first-class train ticket that Sephy has purchased for him. Though he resents the
Crosses and a world that divides people, he cannot hate Sephy.
Chapters
25–26
Sephy, too, realizes the social division between her and Callum, but wants to remain friends. When
Callum arrives home, there is a family row – Jude is fighting with Lynette. The result is that Callum
learns the truth of Lynette’s past: she had a Cross boyfriend and they were both badly beaten up as
a result. Her instability and confusion about her identity have followed. Callum realizes the hatred
and fear that rules relationships in his society.
Chapters
27–33
Sephy plans to invite Callum to her birthday party. He suspects her motives. In a school history
lesson, Callum tries to promote past nought heroes, but Mr Jason excludes Callum, rejecting his
views. Another teacher, Mrs Paxton, tells Callum that Jason is half-nought. Sephy is worried when
she overhears her parents talking of divorce. She decides not to invite Callum to her party. Callum’s
sister Lynette expresses extreme pessimism when she talks with him, but he does not want to
accept her view of life. Meanwhile, Sephy gains some comfort from her sister, Minnie, who is more
worldly wise than the naïve Sephy.
Chapters
34–42
Callum tries to defend himself when he gains low marks for his work with Mr Jason. Callum reveals
that he knows Jason is half-nought, and Jason is furious. At home, Jude’s anger is mounting. Lynette
goes out for a walk and later police arrive to announce she has died in a traffic accident. Meanwhile
Jasmine Hadley takes an overdose and is rushed off to hospital. Callum finds that Lynette has left him
a letter – he is devastated and hardened by the burden she has left him. Sephy’s mother recovers,
and Sephy decides to attend Lynette’s funeral. She is not wanted, and her presence brings the
relationship between the two families to crisis point. When Sephy and Callum meet on the beach, long
shadows fall ominously across them and their future.
Chapters
43–50
Sephy’s mum, still in hospital, asks her daughters not to make the mistakes she has, but continues
to drink. Jude and Ryan McGregor admit they are part of the Liberation Militia. Callum arranges to
meet Sephy in the Dundale Shopping Centre, but senses the worst when Jude tries to stop him
going there. Nevertheless, he manages to reach Sephy and take her to safety before a bomb
explodes. When Callum arrives back home, the bomb is on the news. Meggie is so furious that she
breaks one of her fingers slapping Ryan. Callum and Jude take Meggie to the hospital.
Chapters
51–56
Meanwhile Sephy starts to drink, like her mother. At the hospital, Callum and Jude’s details are taken
to be stored on the database – they are assured they will be wiped off when Meggie’s fingers are
treated. She insists that Ryan leave the family home and Jude chooses to go with him. When Callum
meets Sephy, he realizes she has been drinking and tries to make her see how foolish she is being.
The couple embrace – their love is still secure, despite circumstances. That night, the police raid
Callum’s home and he is arrested.
Chapters
57–64
While Sephy alternates between wanting to go to boarding school and thinking of Callum, Callum is
interviewed by the police. Ryan is charged with the bombing and Meggie and Callum seek legal
support from Adam Stanhope. However, Ryan confesses to save Jude, and his case looks
hopeless until a top Cross lawyer, Kelani Adams, takes on the case – Callum thinks Sephy must be
paying for her. Kamal Hadley comes home for the trial. Callum is suspended from Heathcroft High.
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5
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Navigator
As Sephy plans to go to boarding school, Ryan’s trial begins. Sephy is called as a witness and her
meeting with Callum near Dundale is questioned. Ryan has pleaded not guilty and the trial goes
well with Kelani Adams’s fine work. The section ends on a cliff-hanger – what is the final verdict?
Chapters
75–81
Sephy is taken, without realizing it, to Ryan’s execution. She is disgusted but a last-minute stay of
execution is issued. All but Ryan think there is a chance to get him out of prison. Callum, desperate
to see Sephy, climbs to her balcony and into her room – they spend the night together. Though
they do not make love, Callum does whisper that he loves Sephy as she sleeps beside him.
Chapters
82–88
News breaks that Ryan McGregor has been electrocuted, escaping from prison. Callum, by
chance, meets Jude and is encouraged to join the LM. At the same time, Sephy decides that if
Callum wants to run away with her she will go. Otherwise, she will go to Chivers boarding school.
She writes him a letter asking him to make his choice. When the letter is first delivered, Callum is
too busy preparing for his joining of the LM. By the time he reads it and reaches her house, Sephy
has, with huge regret and distress, left for Chivers.
Chapters
89–103
Some years pass. Sephy copes well with school and Callum becomes a sergeant with the LM. All is
well until Jude turns up as his lieutenant. A plot is hatched to kidnap none other than Sephy Hadley
and Callum is used as decoy. He writes to her and asks her to meet him on their beach. She is
taken hostage and ransom money is sought from Kamal to fund LM activities. Callum tries hard to
be cold towards Sephy. At first he succeeds but they are fatally attracted to each other and they
make love when left alone. Jude arrives to say that they have all been betrayed, and finds them
together. Jude thinks that Callum has raped Sephy and realizes the awful consequences. In the
confusion, Sephy runs out and Callum secretly helps her to escape. Before they part, Sephy warns
Callum against Andrew Dorn – the man with the blond pony tail.
Chapters
104–113
Kamal Hadley appears on television to talk about the kidnapping. Callum tells the cell his
suspicions of Andrew Dorn. The LM cell agree to go their own ways to avoid capture. Meanwhile,
Sephy finds that she is pregnant. Callum finds out about the pregnancy and risks all to see her,
while Sephy’s parents plan for her to have an abortion. Callum and Sephy meet in her rose garden
– but Callum is captured and arrested. Kamal Hadley guesses that Callum is the father and wants
to believe he must have raped Sephy.
Chapters
114–115
Kamal Hadley offers Callum his life if he’ll agree to admitting rape and thus enabling Sephy to have
an abortion. He asks Sephy to choose between Callum’s death and an abortion for her baby.
Chapters
116–117
The choice is made and Callum is hanged. As he dies he hears Sephy calling out that she loves
him, just as she hoped he would.
LOSING MY
RELIGION
Pages 435 to
the end
THE HOSTAGE
Pages 335–392
THE WAY IT IS
Pages 289–331
THE TRIAL
Pages 261–286
Chapters
65–74
THE
CONFESSION
Pages 395–421
Plot outline
DECISIONS
Pages 425–432
Section/ Chapter
Noughts and Crosses
Epilogue
Sephy gives birth to Callie Rose.
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6
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 1
LESSON 1
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R6, R11
AF3, AF6, AF7
Focus: The Prologue – establishing contexts
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Use contextual clues to anticipate the
content, theme and viewpoint of a novel
 Use textual clues to infer character and
relationships
Starter
Display or write up the words ‘Noughts and
Crosses’. Ask the class what these words might
suggest when used as the title for a novel. Take
feedback.
Distribute the novel, asking students to look only
at the front cover. What does the cover,
particularly the colour and design, add to their
thoughts? Draw out ideas on contrast and
conflict. Tell students that some editions of the
novel include a quotation from Benjamin
Zephaniah about the novel. He calls it
‘intelligent, emotional and imaginatively wicked’.
Question his inclusion and tell them that he is a
British-born West Indian writer who has written
extensively on racial issues. Ask students what
this knowledge adds to their speculation about
the cover.
Move swiftly on to look at other external features
of the book, and draw out any further available
contextual features.
Ask students to make predictions about the sort
of story they are going to be reading and what
themes it might include. Take brief feedback.
Introduction
Distribute the Reading Guide and ask students
to turn to page 4. Work through this page,
addressing the questions, focusing on how a
writer’s context and perspective might influence
her choices in writing, and addressing other
questions that may arise.
b)
the evidence for thinking that relationships
are going to deteriorate.
Begin by prompting inferences, e.g. Why is it
rare for Jasmine Hadley to giggle? Why does
Meggie McGregor call Jasmine Hadley ‘Mrs
Hadley’ while Jasmine calls her ‘Meggie’? Why
is Meggie worried that Sephy and Callum’s
friendship might not last? ‘No barriers. No
boundaries. Not yet anyway’ (p. 9). Why must
Meggie ‘keep her mouth well and truly shut’ (pp.
9–10)? Why does she want a virus to wipe out
every single Cross? When Kamal Hadley slaps
Jasmine, what does that suggest about him?
Why is Meggie patching Jude’s school trousers?
Why is she so keen on his education?
Who are the Crosses? Who are the noughts?
Development
Ask the students to work in pairs to collate the
evidence, using WS1a (copied onto an A3
sheet) to chart what they have learned of
characters and their relationships. If necessary,
complete some points together to support
students. You may choose to work with a small
group of lower-attaining students on this task to
ensure their understanding at this early stage in
the study. Use WS1b to support the guided
work.
Plenary
Either allow the guided group to lead feedback
to the whole class, or draw key points together
with the whole class contributing.
Ask students what sort of society is being
represented. How far is it like or unlike their own,
and in what respects, e.g. social and class
divisions, problems in relationships within
families and between friends? But noughts and
Crosses are unfamiliar names for social
groupings. What do students think the names
represent?
Briefly consider these two questions before
setting homework: Where are the reader’s
sympathies at this stage, and why? How might
these relate to the writer’s viewpoint?
Homework
Advise the class that writers do not always do
exactly what we might expect. Read the opening
Prologue of the novel, asking the class to note:
a) the clues that reveal character and
relationships between the characters whom
we meet in this section
What will happen to Callum and Sephy? Ask
students to make two or three predictions and
justify those choices with reasons based on the
opening Prologue.
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7
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 1
Worksheet 1a
Characters and relationships
Noughts
Ryan
McGregor
Meggie
McGregor
Jude
McGregor
Crosses
Callum
McGregor
Lynette
McGregor
Kamal
Hadley
Jasmine
Hadley
Minerva
Hadley
Sephy
Hadley
1
Decide on suitable words to write on each of the characters to describe briefly what you learn about them in the Prologue, including a brief explanation as
to why you think this and a page reference as evidence. For example, Kamal is a powerful bully – he slaps his wife (p. 12).
2
Draw connecting lines between the characters and write down the most important quotations and page references from the text that show the nature of
their relationship:
a) ACROSS families, e.g. a line joins Sephy and Callum, with the words ‘They were good friends playing together’ (p. 9), ‘their pure joy in each other’ (p. 13).
b) BETWEEN family members, e.g. Kamal and Jasmine Hadley: ‘Kamal Hadley gave his wife a look of such contempt and loathing’ (p. 12). Keep the
quotations brief and to the point.
3
Find two quotations that provide the reader with the evidence for thinking that relationships are going to deteriorate further.
a) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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8
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 1
Worksheet 1b
Guided work
Introduction
Remind students that they are only drawing on the Prologue, which they have just read.
Strategy checks

Check that students understand how they should complete the first part of the task. Check
that they understand that they are making inferences (using what the text suggests to
make judgements about character and relationships).

Check that they know the sort of points to include by repeating earlier suggestions: Why
does Meggie McGregor call Jasmine Hadley ‘Mrs Hadley’ while Jasmine calls her
‘Meggie’? Why is Meggie worried that Sephy and Callum’s friendship might not last? (p. 9:
‘No barriers. No boundaries. Not yet anyway’).

Ask one student to suggest another point about character to see whether the task is
understood.

Ask another student to suggest another point about relationships to see whether the task
is understood.
Independent reading
Ask students to work in pairs and support them as they work on character and relationships.
Return to the text
Share some completed points, giving students the opportunity to talk through their thinking as they
report back and extend all students’ completion of the task. Then ask them for two points that suggest
that relationships are going to deteriorate further, and ask them to write down the relevant quotations.
Review
Ask the group how confident they feel about making inferences having completed this task. Check
what they understand by inference and ask how useful they think this strategy will be in reading this
novel.
If you wish, you may prepare the group for feeding back to the rest of the class.
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9
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 2
LESSON 2
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R1, R6
AF2, AF4
Focus: Pages 19–59 Viewpoint
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Identify and evaluate narrative viewpoint
 Determine the key points about social
relations in the world of this novel
Starter
Collect students’ predictions from homework,
ensuring reasons for ideas are fully explained
and explored. Can they predict anything about
the other characters? Will Kamal Hadley
change? What might happen to Jude when he is
forced out of education?
Introduction
Read from page 19 to 33 with the class,
identifying the first-person narrative. While
reading, analyse the effect of this choice of
narrative viewpoint. Draw out the contradiction
that we see things from Sephy’s viewpoint but
are also drawn to question her perspective.
Also draw out what else the chapter teaches us
about social relationships in the Noughts and
Crosses world. Model selecting key quotations,
e.g. the inferior position of the noughts,
recognized in Callum’s comment on education
(p. 25): ‘Until a few years ago… educated up to
the age of fourteen’. There seems to be ‘a huge,
great wall between’ them (p. 27). Sephy thinks
nothing can come between them (p. 28). Draw
attention to the description of Sephy’s home on
pp. 30 and 32. What does this tell us about the
Hadley family and what does it add to our ideas
about social relations?
Development
Read the opening of Chapter 2 (up to ‘Mum and
Dad wouldn’t part with it’ (p. 34). What happens
to Sephy’s first-person narrative and why has
the writer chosen to make this change? How
does the content of this opening link to the last
chapter? Draw out the contrasts between the
nought underclass lifestyle and that of the ruling
Crosses. But question whether the Hadley family
or the McGregor family are the happiest, and
what their reasons might be for this happiness.
Distribute the Reading Guide and read page 5
with the class. (The third and fourth bullet points
can be used as a focus for their homework
reading.) Then, focus on Callum’s opening
description of his home and ask students to
complete WS2a to make that point clearly.
Complete the chapter, drawing out differences
between Callum’s and Sephy’s homes and
families, and their attitudes. Pause to ask the
class how they feel about Jude – the writer says
that he ‘teased maliciously’ (p. 40). Why is he
doing this? Is he jealous?
Plenary
Drawing on what has been learned about Sephy
and Callum’s very different backgrounds, ask for
a volunteer to role-play Callum. The rest of the
class must ask Callum questions about his home
and family, and about Sephy’s home and family.
Make sure that Callum’s optimism about
education is included in his responses. You may
wish to model asking questions of or answering
as Callum before students do so. At suitable
points, refer the class back to the text to clarify
feelings and ideas.
Then repeat the process with Sephy. Draw out
the tension that lies at the heart of their
relationship and, indeed, their whole society.
In conclusion, evaluate Malorie Blackman’s
choice of the double narrative. Draw out the fact
that the double narrative emphasizes the
difference in perspective of Callum and Sephy,
to attract attention to the damaging social divide.
Homework
Read to page 59, focusing on how Callum and
Sephy both feel, a) before he arrives at
Heathcroft High, and b) when he and the other
noughts arrive. Why is it hard for Sephy to
understand Callum’s feelings when she uses the
word ‘blanker’ to condemn her fellow students?
Also ask students to notice their responses to
Kamal Hadley – how do they feel about this man
and why?
They should prepare to feed back on all points
for the next lesson.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 2
Worksheet 2a
Family life
Sephy’s home
and family life
Quotations giving facts
Quotations about feelings
‘My parents’ country house. Seven
bedrooms and five reception rooms
for four people’ (p. 30)
‘What a waste… four lonely peas
rolling about in a can’ page 30
‘It rose like an all-seeing giant above
us’ (p. 30)
‘I pretended I didn’t see Callum flinch
at the sight of it’ (p. 30)
‘She [Minerva] loved our house as
much as I hated it… To me it was like
a bad museum – all cold floors and
marble pillars and carved stonework
which glossy magazines loved to
photograph but which no-one with half
a gram of sense would ever want to
live in’ (p. 32)
‘I preferred the laughter of his house to
the dignified silence of my own’ (p. 30)
Callum’s home
and family life –
note key points
‘I live in a…
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 3
LESSON 3
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R12, R16, SpL12
AF3, AF5
Focus: Pages 59–120 Language and theme
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Identify discrimination implicit in language
 Identify some of the novel’s major themes
Development
Using either independent or guided reading,
cover from page 59 onwards (more will be read
for homework – the plenary can be based on
however much the class has tackled in the time
available).
Students should be thinking about:
a) The forces that might drive Sephy and
Callum apart (these can be people as well
as ideas). For example, hatred or fear or
tyrants like Kamal.
b) The forces that will keep them together.
Starter
If this point has not already arisen, check the
class have realized what colour noughts and
Crosses are. Does this surprise them?
Use WS3a to support this reading and
description of forces. If you are also guiding a
group, WS3b will support the session.
Take responses on the homework reading,
allowing students to respond to the riots and
Sephy’s foolish actions.
Plenary
Emphasize that before that fatal first day:
a) Callum was determined – look again at the
end of page 41
b) Sephy was optimistic: ‘It was going to be
wonderful’ (p. 43).
Choose two students to represent Callum and
Sephy. Then, select students to represent
people or forces that may separate Callum and
Sephy (Kamal Hadley, Jude, the Liberation
Militia, prejudice, hatred and so on). Ask
students representing the destructive forces to
stand between Sephy and Callum, displaying
cards that label their threat. What forces will
keep them together? (Love, loyalty.) Select
students to represent these positive forces, too.
Recall Kamal Hadley’s attitudes and his
mysterious visitor. Do we trust Kamal? How
does Sephy feel about him, and what does this
suggest about her character at this point in the
story?
On the fatal day, why does the word ‘blanker’
cause so much offence?
Introduction
Distribute the Reading Guide and work through
pages 6 to 7, either as a class or as a paired
activity. Draw attention to the way language
contains prejudices that are difficult to set aside.
Can their relationship survive? What threatens
that relationship?
The students playing Sephy and Callum must
decide which of the forces is most destructive of
their friendship and indeed if any will separate
them. The whole class can choose to agree or
disagree, provided they give reasons. The class,
as a whole, must agree on the most destructive
of the forces and the strongest force that will
keep them together.
Homework
Continue to page 8 in the Reading Guide,
drawing attention to the relationships between
historical events and Malorie Blackman’s novel.
Ask the class what is the most significant choice
Malorie Blackman has made in writing her novel
(the black/white reversal). Then read her letter at
the beginning of the Reading Guide to further
clarify thinking.
Ask students to read to page 120, continuing to
focus on what might destroy the relationship
between Sephy and Callum, or what will hold
them together. They must continue to use WS3a
to focus and record their observations.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 3
Worksheet 3a
Sephy and Callum
What forces might separate Sephy
and Callum?
They belong to different social
groups: ‘If only Callum wasn’t a
nought’
What forces will keep Sephy and Callum
together?
Page as
evidence
P. 33
Callum believes in education – he will
improve himself and become more
like Sephy through education: ‘I could
make something of myself’
Page as
evidence
P. 41
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
Page as
evidence
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 3
Worksheet 3b
Guided work
Introduction to text
Tell students which pages you expect them to read in the lesson, and tell them that they will be using
the same focus for homework reading.
Strategy checks
Check that all students understand that they will be selecting what they think are forces that will drive
Sephy and Callum apart. Show them the examples on Worksheet 3a. Ask them to suggest other
forces (including characters) that may force the pair to separate from their reading of the novel so far.
Model how to add this point to their copy of Worksheet 3a. Do the same for a force that they think will
keep them together. Depending on the nature of the group, model one or more other examples before
the independent reading. Point out to them that it is unlikely that the force will be named as such –
they must do a little inferring as they did in Lesson 1. Tell them that if they find the same thing twice,
they can note the page reference. If they keep finding this same thing, it will be important.
Independent reading
Set the group to read, working with one student or more to assist reading if suitable.
Return to the text
Ask the group to share their points and agree the best ideas, ready to share with the whole class.
Review
Ask students if they now feel confident to continue with the task for homework (as far as page 120).
How well have they inferred and picked out key forces that will destroy or secure Sephy and Callum’s
friendship? This is a big chunk of reading, so if the group are slow readers, you may wish to
compromise and give them a shorter amount to read.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 4
LESSON 4
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R1, R2, R6
AF2, AF6, AF7
Focus: Pages 121–149 Theme and reader
response
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Identify how far and in what ways a writer
draws on history to inform fictional events
 Begin to develop judgements on writers’ and
readers’ sympathies
Starter
Recap homework reading, using the Navigator
to support summary if required.
Check that students noticed:
 The section headings. Question these
headings; for example, what is the
significance of the heading The Turning,
when the previous heading was Callum and
Sephy?
 How does the double narrative contribute to
the reader’s sense of the two different views
of the world in the section The Picnic?
Re-question the class – what is the major force
that threatens the friends? (e.g. racial
conflict/inequality)
Introduction
Distribute the Reading Guide and turn to p. 9 on
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X – the different
approaches to civil rights. Consider the question
about using violence to oppose racial
discrimination.
What approaches to civil rights (fighting for the
equality of all people in a society) have been
evident in Noughts and Crosses so far? Allow
pairs a few minutes to think about some points
before collecting ideas for a list on the board,
e.g. Callum’s belief that education matters most
(p. 41), Jude’s leaning towards violence (p. 67,
Jude says: ‘Long Live the Liberation Militia’).
Development
Ask the class to read from pages 121–149 (or as
far as they can in the time), either independently
or in groups. They should be focused on the
different attitudes to inequality. How many
different views are represented in this section?
For example, Jude has strong feelings about
inequality which he expresses in violence; his
Dad feels the hatred but does not act (Jude
calls him a ‘spineless wonder’, p. 123); Meggie
admires Alex Luther’s ‘peaceful methods’
(p. 130).
Plenary
In what respects has Malorie Blackman drawn
on the history of the struggle for racial equality in
Noughts and Crosses? What do the class think
made her include the chapter on the history
lesson? What point is this episode making about
history?
Tell the class that Malorie Blackman has been
criticized for not representing peaceful protest
with sufficient strength. What do they think? Why
did she do that, do they think?
Ask individuals in the class to say with which
characters their sympathies lie. Ask them to
justify those sympathies by referring to the text.
Where do they think Malorie Blackman’s
sympathies lie, and why? Refer students to the
Reading Guide and read Malorie Blackman’s
comment on page 11 where she claims her
sympathies lie with Callum, a white boy.
Homework
Ask students to choose a research topic on
black history to be completed for Lesson 6 in a
form that is readable by their peers. WS4a
supports the tasks. The work will be displayed
and discussed in Lesson 6.
Students should also ensure they have finished
reading to page 149 before the next lesson.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 4
Worksheet 4a
Research task
For every task, use either books and/or the Internet for your research. In collating your findings, select
suitable images to be used to display with your writing. You are expected to write around 500 of your
own words to answer your research questions (don’t just print out materials from websites).
Task 1
In Chapter 30, Callum is forced to accept a Cross view of history. On page 446 of Noughts and
Crosses, Malorie Blackman has more to say on this topic. Find out about two or more of the historical
figures mentioned in that chapter (Garrett Morgan, Charles Drew, Daniel Hale Williams, Matthew
Henson, Elijah McCoy). What does your answer prove about the way history is written?
Task 2
Martin Luther King advocated non-violent resistance to unjust laws in America. Why was he so against
violence? Find out about his campaign to gain equality in the southern states of America. Why was he
shot dead? Does Malorie Blackman have anyone like Martin Luther King in her story?
Task 3
Malcolm X believed that the end justified the means, so he believed violence was a necessary part of
the fight for equality. Find out what Malcolm X did to fight for equality. Why did he call himself Malcolm
X? Why was he shot dead? Does Malorie Blackman have anyone like Malcolm X in her story?
Task 4
Malorie Blackman mentions the Stephen Lawrence case as an inspiration for writing Noughts and
Crosses. Find out who Stephen Lawrence was and why his case caused so much publicity in England
only a few years ago. Why do you think his case inspired Malorie Blackman to write her novel?
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 5
LESSON 5
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R12
AF4, AF5
Focus: Pages 149–182 Structure
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Trace how a writer uses characters to
structure a plot
 Identify the turning points in the developing
plot and patterns in words to link to the
concept of tragedy
Starter
Read from page 149–151.
Ask the class which they would choose – being
someone, or making a difference? Why would
they choose that option? Allow several students
to express their views and explore their
reasoning.
Introduction
Continue to read with the class to page 160,
focusing on the fortunes of the two families and
the parallels between them, modelling the use of
WS5a. The worksheet is designed to allow
students to see how the fortunes of the two
families compare, an important structural device
in this section. Pause while reading to note down
the parallels and think about the similarities and
differences between the main characters. For
example, is Lynny anything like Minnie? Has
Jasmine Hadley anything in common with
Lynny?
Tasks while reading:
 Continue to look for parallels between the two
families (using WS5a).
 This section of the novel is called
‘Breakdown’. What is the ‘breakdown’ in this
section for Callum’s family?
 Why does Sephy decide to attend Lynny’s
funeral, and what are the consequences?
 What hints are there in these chapters that
worse is to follow?
Plenary
Take feedback on the reading.
Note, in passing, a key plot point – a man with a
pony-tail is with Callum’s father on page 175.
Have we met him before? Where and when?
What is he doing?
Why has Malorie Blackman drawn these
parallels between the two families? What does
she achieve by doing so?
Continue with a discussion on the concept of
tragedy – the idea that some people are ill-fated
and that they cannot succeed, even though they
promised to be special. Lynny’s comment to
Callum suggests this.
What are the hints that worse may follow?
 ‘My ineffectual days are over’ (p. 179)
 ‘Something in his voice scared me. Scared
the living daylights out of me’ (p. 180)
 ‘… pave my way faster to hell’ (p. 180)
 ‘… and the shadows lengthen’ (p. 182).
Homework
Point out to the class the ominous comment
Lynny makes to Callum: ‘The higher you climb,
the further you have to fall’ (p. 153). Suggest
that such a comment implies worse is to follow.
Mention that such an attitude is pessimistic and
could be called a tragic view of life.
On page 181 Sephy says: ‘This is growing up,
isn’t it?’. Identify at least three things that have
happened from pages 144 to 181 to make her
say this.
WS5b supports this task, and it can be
customized to allow for different student needs.
Development
Ask students to continue reading independently
from page 160 to page 182 (end of Chapter 42).
Complete for homework if some students need
more time.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 5
Worksheet 5a
Parallels
Record your evidence of parallels between the two families using the table below.
Chapter
The McGregor family
The Hadley family
32 and 33
Lynny asks ‘Can I come in?’ when Callum
is in his bedroom. He replies ‘’Course.’
They talk. Lynny is pessimistic about the
future.
Sephy asks ‘Minnie, can I come in?’ when
Minnie is in her room. She replies ‘If you
must.’ They talk. Minnie is pessimistic
about the future.
36
Lynny goes for a walk.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 5
Worksheet 5b
Growing up
In Chapter 31, Sephy overhears her parents arguing, and is dismayed to hear that her father is
seeking a separation. Not only that, but she also hears him talk about his son and his possible future
wife. Sephy feels her world is crumbling because she feels can no longer rely upon either of her
parents for support. She realizes that this might be what is meant by ‘growing up’.
Identify three more things that happen between pages 144 and 181 that change things and make
Sephy or Callum realize that growing up brings change and challenge, possibly even heartache.
Give reasons for your choice of points.
1.
2.
3.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 6
LESSON 6
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R4, R12
AF4, AF6
Focus: Pages 185–233 Narrative tension
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Identify how a writer builds narrative tension
 Evaluate how far a writer’s viewpoint is
evident in a fictional text
Starter
Arrange the class so that they can read each
other’s research tasks from Lesson 4 homework.
Briefly, as they are reading, check their
homework responses from Lesson 5 and survey
what sources proved most valuable to them in
their research. Take the opportunity to evaluate
how well they are using research sources.
Development
Continue reading to page 207. Dwell on the
description of the atrocity on page 203 – how
does Malorie Blackman want the reader to feel?
She uses powerful images of violence and
strong words to describe it: ‘carnage’, ‘atrocity’,
‘cowardly, barbaric act of terrorism’ (p. 203),
innocent people wounded – a woman, a child (p.
203). Yet, are these her choices? Or one of her
characters’? Or someone else’s? Why have
these words been used? How can we describe
them and the effect they have upon us?
Tell students that you are going to be in the hotseat as Meggie. They must ask about your
feelings when you see the news of the bomb.
Then ask a student to be hot-seated as Jude.
Prompt the student to consider how different his
view will be from Meggie’s. In questioning him,
draw out Jude’s fanaticism and ask students
what has made him so violent and extreme.
Complete this section of the lesson by reading
page 10 of the Reading Guide together. Ask
students if they have changed their minds about
social or racial inequality at all, since beginning
their study of this novel. Take some brief
feedback.
Plenary
Introduction
Finally, reiterate the point that Malorie
Blackman’s ominous hints make readers
anticipate worse events. We want to find out if
we have predicted correctly – a clever device to
keep us reading.
Display Ryan McGregor’s words from page 179,
‘My ineffectual days are over’. Ask students what
he means by this.
Before beginning reading, ask students what we
know already about the Liberation Militia in
Noughts and Crosses. What might Ryan and/or
Jude do if they join the LM?
Read pages 185 to 201 swiftly with the whole
class. Prompt students to respond to the tension
that the writer is building in this section with her
ominous hints (adults make mistakes, p. 187,
Jude’s membership of the LM, p. 190, reference
to ‘a noose’ p. 191, Jude’s response to the
mention of the shopping centre, p. 197). Draw
their attention to the lightness of tone when
Callum agrees to meet with Sephy and when
Sephy is shopping with her mother. This
lightness acts as a contrast just before the crisis.
Can the bombing be justified, ever? Does
Malorie Blackman have a view to be detected?
Reconsider what she says in the Reading Guide
on page 4, and what is included on pages 6, 7, 8
and 9. Reflect on these ideas, briefly.
Homework
Ask students to read independently from pages
208 to 233 and to complete WS6a, which guides
them through these chapters and follows
through the focus of the lesson on ominous
hints.
Ask students to predict the consequences of the
bombing. How is this plot development engaging
the reader?
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 6
Worksheet 6a
Reading chapters 51 to 57
How does Sephy cope with change in these chapters?
What happens to Callum’s family and why?
How do Sephy and Callum feel about one another in these chapters?
What in particular happens to Callum at the end of Chapter 56?
Why does Sephy decide she wants to go to boarding school?
What ominous hints or narrative hooks do you notice?
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 7
LESSON 7
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R12
AF6
Focus: Pages 233–257 Genre and plot
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
 Identify how a writer manipulates genre
and plot to maintain reader engagement
Development
Ask students to work in groups, reading from
page 246 to page 257 focused on how Malorie
Blackman maintains reader interest. For
example, suggesting that Ryan McGregor will
hang, introducing Kelani Adams (who is paying
for her?), bringing back Kamal Hadley for one of
his rare appearances for the trial (do we like him
any more this time?).
Plenary
Starter
Share ideas on how Malorie Blackman maintains
the reader’s interest.
Briefly, review the homework task, following
through the omens and exploring possible future
events. You may wish to have a review of events
so far for the benefit of the slower readers or
students who have missed a lesson. The
Navigator can be used for this task. Looking at
the section headings is a useful way of reviewing
the overall direction of events. A quick quiz to
recall major events could be used.
Return to considering the plot so far (using
WS7a for support; if suitable, WS7a can be
made into a card-sort activity). How have we
arrived at this trial with Ryan under threat of
execution by hanging? Where did all this begin?
Who is responsible for all this? Encourage
students to see how human choices have
consequences.
Then ask students in which genre they would
place the text so far, checking first that they are
confident with the term. Explore some options:
love story, family story, school story, thriller?
Challenge suggestions and agree the genre. At
some stage it will be appropriate to mention that
Malorie Blackman calls the book ‘a story of love’.
Students may, after their collecting of omens,
want to call the story a tragedy. It is important
not to discount any generic titles at this stage.
Homework
Ask students to consider the novel so far for
themselves. Can they plot the key events that
have led to Ryan McGregor’s confession of the
Dundale bombing? They can choose to
represent this as a flow chart, a storyboard, a list
of bullet points – whatever suits their learning
style.
WS7a offers sample plot events and can be
adapted to meet different learning needs.
Introduction
Read pages 233 to 246. Ask the class to focus
on the genre to which they think this section
belongs. When reading Chapter 60, begin to
consider why Malorie Blackman has introduced
this sort of plot detail at this stage. Is it like a
detective story – what do they expect of this
genre? Or a police drama – what about that
genre? Prompt the class to draw on what they
already know about detective/police/law drama.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 7
Worksheet 7a
Plot kernels
Jasmine Hadley dismisses her long-standing employee Meggie McGregor when Meggie fails to
provide her with an alibi at a time when Kamal Hadley suspects his wife of being unfaithful. As a
result, Jude McGregor has to leave school because his mother’s loss of work causes family
hardship.
Lynette McGregor has a Cross boyfriend but the relationship ends in tragedy and Lynette has
mental health problems.
Callum goes to Heathcroft High School, but the prejudice against noughts is hard to bear.
Lynette McGregor commits suicide.
Ryan and Jude McGregor secretly join the Liberation Militia.
Sephy tells Callum she is going shopping at the Dundale Shopping Centre.
Callum announces he is going to the Dundale Shopping Centre and Jude tries to stop him. Callum
finds Sephy in the café and takes her to safety just before a bomb, planted by the Liberation Militia,
goes off.
The scene of the bomb explosion is shown on TV and Meggie McGregor is furious with Ryan and
Jude – she injures her hand in her fury and has to go to hospital, accompanied by her sons.
When Meggie’s hand is treated in the hospital, Jude and Callum’s fingerprints are taken – they ask
for the prints to be destroyed.
Jude and Ryan McGregor leave the McGregors’ home at Meggie’s request.
The McGregor house is raided and Callum is arrested.
Ryan McGregor confesses to the bomb blast to save Jude – he is formally charged with political
terrorism and seven counts of murder.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 8
LESSON 8
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R9, R14, Wr11
AF5, AF6
Focus: Pages 261–286 Reader response
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Identify the dramatic potential of a court
scene in fiction
 Exploit dramatic potential of language for
media reporting
Starter
Ask the class if they can recall any TV and film
trials. Suggest some recent TV cases they may
remember and explore why these make good
drama. If possible, show students a short section
from a court case drama/film. To Kill A
Mockingbird (in the novel, chapters 16–21)
would be a pertinent example and could afford
some valuable comparisons with Noughts and
Crosses. If appropriate, you could suggest
students read To Kill A Mockingbird to compare
its treatment of race issues with their current
novel.
Draw out the key characteristics of a trial that
appeal to an audience/reader, e.g. the tension of
not knowing the result, the ups and downs of the
questioning, the revelations from some
witnesses, the unexpected twists in the
evidence, the skill of the barristers, the delight in
seeing an unpleasant witness being crossexamined, the satisfaction as the truth emerges
or horror when it fails to do so, the shifts in
sympathy occasioned by events.
Introduction
Suggest that some of these features will be seen
in Ryan McGregor’s trial. Ask students what they
think the verdict will be, and why.
Read pages 261–286. Read the first chapter
swiftly. Then ask students to read the parts of
key characters in the court case as dramatically
as possible. If suitable, students could be seated
to make the classroom look like a courtroom with
everyone taking on a role in the court during the
dramatic readings, which continue to page 286
(with some lapses). The teacher should take the
role of narrator and read the sections that are
not set in the courtroom. Pause to allow
responses that may arise during the reading.
When the reading is complete, ask the class if
they consider this a dramatically successful part
of the novel – and why, or why not. Has Malorie
Blackman used the classic courtroom drama to
good effect? Take feedback.
Development
Tell students that they are now going to write up
the news item about the McGregor case for an
evening TV news slot in the Noughts and
Crosses society. Their report must last for 60
seconds and must obey the golden rules of
news reports: it must include the who, what,
where, when, why and how of the case. Refer
back to the reporting of the bombing (p. 202) as
a model and/or use WS8a to support the task,
providing some starting points and suggestions.
Students must remember that Crosses dominate
the media, and this fact will give their report its
slant. Their report must aim to be dramatic and
emotive (influencing the reader’s feelings), as
the report of the bombing did.
You may choose to work with a guided group for
this task, using WS8b to support the students’
writing. Looking again at the report of the
bombing, and exploring the emotive language
used in describing it, will be helpful.
Plenary
If appropriate, read out the students’ initial
attempts at their news report and draw out
strong features from which others can learn.
Ask the class what they think will be the verdict
of the trial and why. Are there any bad omens
(e.g. page 284 – Callum’s dream of being shut in
a box)?
Recap on the previous homework task, retracing
the plot details that led the McGregor family to
this ‘trial of the century’. The WS7a card sort
could be used here as an alternative way of
checking the homework task.
Homework
Ask students to complete and perfect their TV
news stories for assessment in a week’s time.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 8
Worksheet 8a
TV news story
Write up the news item about the McGregor case for an evening TV news slot in the Noughts and
Crosses society. It must last for 60 seconds and must obey the golden rules of news reports to include
the who, what, where, when, why and how of the case. Remember that Crosses dominate the
media, and that will give your report its slant.
Remember to use emotive words as Malorie Blackman did when she reported the bombing as seen on
television. (See pages 202 to 204.) You can draw on the detail of his charge, given on page 246, as
well as events included in the novel during the trial from pages 264–286.
You must write in the third person and concentrate on a) the facts, b) feelings, with a bias towards the
ruling Cross class.
You could begin:
The trial of Ryan McGregor, accused of the terrorist bombing at Dundale
Shopping Centre, continued today. McGregor has pleaded not guilty and we are
currently awaiting the verdict…
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 8
Worksheet 8b
Guided work
For the guided group on the TV report of the trial
Introduction
Check through the task on Worksheet 8a.
Strategy checks
Recall the events in the court case and decide what would be reported. Collect the who, what, when,
where, why and how of the case, drawing on the text (pages 246, 264–86).
Check the style of the TV report of the bombing given on pages 202–204.
Remind students of their time limit, working out roughly how much they will need to write by timing 60
seconds as they read some text at about the right speed for the news.
Independent writing
Model writing an opening phrase based on the facts collected, then support students to suit their
needs as they work independently or, if you prefer, in pairs, on the writing.
Return to the text
Ask individuals to read out their reports, check the timing and check for the vital details.
Review
What have the students learned about writing a news report? What are the important things to
remember when time is short?
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26
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 9
LESSON 9
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R12, SpL12
AF6
Focus: Pages 289–304 Writer’s craft
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
 Explore how a writer’s choices (viewpoint,
structure, language) affect a reader’s
response
Starter
How have we already seen the ways a writer
can affect a reader’s thoughts and feelings?
Refer to students’ TV report and the one in the
text describing the bombing, with its emotive
language. How does Malorie Blackman seek to
affect the reader’s responses at the end of the
previous chapter: ‘And I heard the verdict that
time…’ (p. 286).
Point out that the next section is called ‘The Way
It Is’ – does this suggest what the verdict was?
How are we expecting the next chapter to start?
Introduction
Begin reading from page 289. Model the use of
WS9a to record responses to the next chapter
as you read, dwelling on Sephy’s innocence and
childishness. Stop at the point where they have
reached the prison and Sephy is feeling hot (top
of page 292).
Students should then read pages 292 to 304 in
groups. Ask them to continue to use WS9a to
note the writer’s choices and their responses.
Either prearrange for a student or two to give
feedback, or take students through the task
yourself.
Development
Ask the class why they think Malorie Blackman
chose to write this part of the novel as she did.
(To shock? To disgust? To increase sympathy
for Ryan and increase hatred of Kamal Hadley?)
Direct one student to play each of these
characters:
 Callum
 Ryan
 Meggie
 the prison officer
 Kelani Adams.
They are going to act out the very end of
Chapter 78. Ask other individual students to
sculpt each character into position for this final
scene, just before Ryan walks away from
everyone, from ‘Ryan, you’re nor going to do
anything stupid, are you?’ (p. 304).
When the class are content with the ‘stage’
picture, ask students to voice the innermost
thoughts of Ryan, Meggie and the officer at this
moment, in turn. Students may disagree with
one another; find a point of agreement about
each character.
Then ask one student where they, as a reader,
would place themselves in the scene, showing
whom they feel closest to in sympathy. Other
students can agree or disagree, giving reasons.
Then ask a student to be the writer and place
himself or herself in the same moment. Listen to
agreements or disagreements until consensus is
reached.
Plenary
How successful is Malorie Blackman in directing
reader response in this section? How has she
achieved this? Explain that the homework task
will ask them to look in some detail at how
Malorie Blackman uses language to develop her
readers’ response. Explain the homework task in
the detail appropriate to the class, offering
further examples if necessary, or limiting their
comments to three points, for example.
Homework
Ask students to look closely at WS9b (a short
extract from the novel and a task). They should
make a first analysis of how Malorie Blackman’s
choices of language, structure and viewpoint
affect reader response in this extract.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 9
Worksheet 9a
The writer’s choices and your response
Page
What the writer does
What effect this has on the reader
Page 289
Begins the chapter with Sephy on a
swing – childish, carefree, innocent. She
sulks when her Dad tells her off and is
only thinking of herself.
I begin to suspect the worst, though I am
not certain. I know more than Sephy.
Page 291
Mentions the prison and makes Sephy ask
questions.
Now I am sure something nasty will
happen.
Page 292
Makes Sephy focus on herself – ‘my dress
was beginning to stick to me ...’
I know she’s being naïve.
Page 292
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 9
Worksheet 9b
Language, structure and viewpoint
How do Malorie Blackman’s choices of language, structure and viewpoint
affect reader response in this extract? Add your own comments to those
already provided as a model.
Things to look for:

How Sephy’s particular viewpoint and feelings about what she sees make
the reader feel.

The order of thoughts and events that shape reader response.

Word choices and expressions that affect the reader.
Sephy
makes a
brave but
pointless
stand – the
reader feels
some
sympathy
‘Nothing is going to make me sit here and watch
this. I’m leaving,’ I turned on my heels, trying to
push past the other dignitaries in my row.
Mother stood up, spun me around and slapped
my face. ‘Now sit down and don’t say another word.’
Cheek smarting, eyes stinging, I sat down.
Some eyes were watching me. I didn’t care about
that. More eyes were watching the scaffold. Well,
maybe I couldn’t leave but they couldn’t force me to
watch. They couldn’t force me to raise my head.
And if they did, they couldn’t force me to open my
eyes. And if they did, they couldn’t force me to see.
But I couldn’t keep my gaze lowered… Slowly, I
raised my head, my eyes drawn to the sight, my
heart disgusted by it. Angry with myself, I turned
away, only to find myself looking straight at Callum.
He wasn’t watching his dad either. He was looking
at me – and wishing me and every other Cross as
dead as dead could be. I’d seen that look on other’s
faces – noughts looking at Crosses, Crosses
looking at noughts. But I’d never seen it on Callum’s
face before.
And I knew in that moment that now I’d never
stop seeing it. Flinching, I turned. Back to the
scaffold. A choice of views. Hatred or hatred. They
were putting a black hood over Callum’s dad’s head
now. The prison clock began to strike the hour.
When it struck six, it’d all be over.
The verbs
‘spun’ and
‘slapped’
suggest
violence,
and shock
the reader
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 10
LESSON 10
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R7, R12
AF4, AF5, AF7
Focus: Pages 305–331 Comparison
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
 Recognize the nature of tragedy
Starter
Briefly review the previous homework task,
asking how straightforward they found the task
and taking in the student work for comment.
Time could be spent sharing some examples of
the work before moving on to the next task.
pairs to review the plot so far, thinking of the bad
choices, and then share these.
Ask the class what clues we already have that
things will deteriorate. Field some suggestions
from students. Advise students to be alert to the
choices that will follow and what they might lead
to. Sample some of their current predictions.
Development
Ask students to read independently or in groups
to page 331. They must note what they think are
the tragic clues and bad choices, using WS10a
to record the page references and their reason
for choosing it. Some suggestions are given on
the worksheet.
Plenary
Distribute the Reading Guide. Turn to pages 12–
13 to consider parallels between Romeo and
Juliet and Noughts and Crosses. Work through
the tasks as set in the guide but working from
what they currently know of the plot. Ask
students if they think Noughts and Crosses will
end so tragically. If so, why do they think this? If
not, again, what are their reasons for this belief?
Introduction
Read from pages 305 to 316. Ask the class if
this reminds them of the plot of Romeo and
Juliet – in which respects?
Then ask: can this happiness last? How do we
know it will not? Suggest the story is structured
like a tragedy – refer to page 13 in the Reading
Guide.
Ask students what bad choices Sephy and
Callum make. Give students a few minutes in
Discuss and agree key tragic clues and bad
choices.
Ask the class: if they know the story will end
unhappily, why read on?
Homework
Using the uncut version of WS7a as their
starting point and model, students should
continue to select key events of the plot from
where that sheet ends to their current page of
reading. WS10b provides suggestions for the
rest of the novel. This sheet could be adapted to
support students, if wished: adapt or cut it to
match students’ current stage of reading.
Students will also use this plot outline in a later
task.
Remind students also that their news report of
the trial is due for handing in for the next lesson.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 10
Worksheet 10a
Tragic clues and bad choices
On page 311 Sephy thinks of ‘all the million and one other well-meant but badly thought out things I’d
done in my life’. Can you find more such bad choices in the next eight chapters? Can you also find
some clues that bad things seem inevitable?
Record page references and/or quotations, and your reasons for your choices, as in the examples
below:
Page
Tragic clue or bad choice
Reason
321
Callum meets Jude and agrees to join the
Liberation Militia: ‘I’m in.’
Callum must realize that this will be fatal. It
has already killed his father.
322
Sephy relies on a letter delivered by
someone else to let Callum know she is
going to Chivers if he doesn’t confirm that
he will run away with her: ‘Please don’t let
me down.’
Relying on a messenger is risky. It might
not be Callum but the messenger who lets
her down.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 10
Worksheet 10b
More plot kernels
A high-profile trial of Ryan McGregor finds him guilty despite valiant defence by Kelani Adams
(who has been secretly paid for by Jasmine Hadley).
Sephy is made to attend Ryan’s hanging but he is reprieved at the last moment.
Callum secretly climbs up to Sephy’s bedroom and spends the night with her.
Ryan McGregor is electrocuted when he tries to escape from prison.
Callum meets Jude and is persuaded to join the Liberation Militia.
Sephy decides she will go to Chivers boarding school unless Callum prevents her. She sends him
a letter, telling him of her decision, but he fails to read it in time.
Three years pass as Sephy succeeds at Chivers boarding school and Callum becomes a sergeant
with the Liberation Militia.
Jude arrives as the new lieutenant for Callum’s LM cell.
Callum writes to Sephy, asking her to meet him, but Sephy becomes a victim of kidnapping.
Callum’s LM cell will use her to raise funds from her father for their cause.
At first Callum can cope with being cruel to Sephy but eventually the pair cannot deny their love for
one another and become lovers, though they are immediately frightened by what they have done,
knowing it will have consequences.
Jude and Callum’s LM cell is betrayed by Andrew Dorn, who has been a ‘mole’ for the Crosses for
years – Sephy tells Callum, thus enabling them to avoid capture.
Sephy – with Callum’s help – escapes from her kidnappers.
Sephy finds that she is pregnant.
Callum finds out about the pregnancy.
Sephy wants to keep her baby but her parents want her to have an abortion.
Callum risks visiting Sephy in her rose garden but he is arrested.
Kamal Hadley offers Callum the choice between his own life and the life of his baby. Sephy is also
offered a choice – either she has an abortion or Callum will hang.
Callum is hanged. Sephy gives birth to Callie Rose.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 11
LESSON 11
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R12, Wr17
AF2, AF5, AF6
Focus: Pages 335–359 Writer’s craft
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Select key character developments
 Analyse how a writer’s use of language,
structure and viewpoint affect a reader’s
response
Starter
Hand back student work on language analysis
from Lesson 9 homework, drawing out key
points for learning. If possible and appropriate,
display a good example of work. Take in the
news reports on the trial (Lesson 8 homework).
These can be displayed later.
Ask students to pair review their plot event lists
and briefly agree essential points, using WS10b
(adapted as necessary) if appropriate.
Examine the title of the next section – ask the
class to consider who the hostage will be and
ask for reasons to justify any views.
Introduction
Tell the class that the next section of the novel
takes place three years later. What
developments in the two main characters might
they predict? Will age have changed them?
Give the class 15 minutes to read independently
up to page 349, noting the key character
developments and experiences of Sephy and
Callum. For example, Sephy appears confident
after a liberal education. She has joined an
educated dissident group, ‘Crosses fighting for
change in the system’ (p. 336). It gives her ‘my
reason for doing well’ (p. 336). She is going to
be a lawyer and feels she has ‘direction to my
life’ (p. 338). Callum works his way up the LM
ranks and at 19 is a sergeant in a well-respected
cell codenamed Stiletto (p. 344). He has become
vengeful and cold; ‘the Callum Ryan McGregor
who loved to sit on the beach and watch the sun
go down didn’t exist any more’ (p. 339). He has
a reputation as ‘the first one into danger and the
last one out’ (p. 343).
When the reading has been completed and the
character developments noted, ask the class:
Why is the reunion with Jude dangerous to
Callum and everyone else in the cell? Do they
detect any changes in the character of Jude?
Why does Callum want to see Sephy?
Development
Share the reading of chapters 92, 93 and 94,
focusing on how the writer’s choices of structure,
language and viewpoint affect readers’
responses, using WS11a for class recording. For
example in Chapter 92, Blackman uses dialogue
and Callum’s viewpoint to suggest the threat to
safety that Jude presents. She describes
Callum’s hostility to Jude with phrases like ‘My
brother could go rivet himself’. The reader sees
Callum resisting Jude’s bullying while the others
present fall for his ‘big man’ act.
Take some time to read the section, drawing out
such detail, especially of the actual kidnapping.
Plenary
Tell the class that for homework, they will be
writing an analysis of how the writer’s use of
language, structure and viewpoint affect the
reader’s response in Chapter 93. Remind them
that they partially completed such a task
previously and explain what such work will
require this time. If you wish to differentiate the
homework, limit the number of points required,
or ask some students to tackle only one aspect
of the task, or provide some students with
particular points you would like them to explain.
Model for the class how to write a full comment
on viewpoint or structure or language, by
selecting a point from Chapter 93. Use WS11b
as an example if suitable. This sheet can also be
used to support the homework task.
Homework
Students should write an analysis of how the
writer’s use of language, structure and viewpoint
affect the reader’s responses in Chapter 93.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 11
Worksheet 11a
Analysing language, structure and viewpoint
Aspect to consider
Quotation and page reference
Exploration/comment
How the particular
viewpoint and
feelings make the
reader feel
The setting of events
The order of
thoughts and events
that shape reader
response
Word choices and
expressions that
affect the reader
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 11
Worksheet 11b
Comment
Malorie Blackman chooses to present the initial kidnap from Sephy’s point of view, so Sephy (though
not the reader) is relaxed, not suspecting anything and happily anticipating meeting Callum: ‘I couldn’t
remember when I’d felt more at peace’. The reader either feels sympathy for Sephy because he/she
knows Sephy has been tricked, or possibly enjoys anticipating her inevitable capture.
The setting for this key event is Sephy and Caluum’s old meeting place, the beach. The reader is
doubly critical of Callum for allowing this event to occur on such hallowed ground. The choice of
setting allows Malorie Blackman to dwell on Sephy’s innocence as Sephy kicks up ‘the water lapping
over my feet and ankles’ and revels in ‘the moonlit water’. Sephy clearly feels she is in a potentially
romantic scene. The reader knows otherwise.
The writer also chooses to create suspense by emphasizing the time lapse: ‘I glanced at my watch…’,
followed by the sudden appearance of what looks to Sephy a very grown-up Callum. The language
used to describe Callum suggests Sephy’s admiration of him: ‘He’d definitely sprouted muscles…’. But
the reader already knows these muscles will be used against her. It is ‘a brief, icy-cold kiss on the lips’
that alerts Sephy to the truth.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 12
LESSON 12
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R12
AF4, AF6
Focus: Pages 359–408 Reader response
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
 Begin to recognize how a writer prompts a
reader to anticipate the ending of a novel
Starter
Peer review the homework analysis, identifying
and sharing successful features. Take in
students’ work for more detailed review.
Introduction
Read pages 359 to 380 with the class. Ask
students to focus on Callum’s internal conflict.
This is a large amount of reading but it is a tense
and emotional part of the text. What would be
Callum’s best choice right now, and why?
After the reading (or if suitable, at stages during
the reading), allow students time to discuss the
question in pairs, and to note down what they
think he ought to do and what they think he
wants to do before the next task. They must also
discuss in their pairs how he must be feeling.
Before starting the next activity, ask students
how much sympathy they have for Callum at this
time.
Development
Ask one student (at a time) to play Callum.
Organize a conscience corridor for Callum, with
other students ranked on two sides of Callum,
expressing alternative choices and feelings – on
one side, students will be telling him what he
ought to do, on the other, they will be tempting
him to do what he really wants to do. Callum
must listen to everyone’s suggestions and then
make a choice. Try this with more than one
student. Students can develop and change what
they say as his ‘conscience’ each time if they
wish.
Follow this by asking the class to compose
questions for Callum about his feelings at this
difficult time. Hot-seat one of the Callums, to
develop the interpretation of his feelings and the
reader’s sympathies for his predicament.
Plenary
Ask a student to sculpt another student (as
Callum) into a likely pose for the last line of
Chapter 100. Ask individuals in the class to
position themselves to represent their degree of
sympathy for Callum. Then ask another student
to place themselves as the writer. What do we
learn from the distance between the two?
Ask the class to predict – what will Callum do?
Homework
Ask students to follow the instructions on
WS12a. They should read pages 380–386,
pause and answer the questions. Then continue
reading to confirm predictions.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 12
Worksheet 12a
Predictions
Read pages 380– 386.
1 What previous plot details and patterns have been developed that might help the reader to
predict what happens in Chapter 101?
 The first kiss in the first chapter
 The first real embrace when Sephy has been drinking
 The balcony scene and Callum’s night in Sephy’s bedroom
 The recognition by both parties that they have grown and developed since they last met; those
developments are attractive
 Callum’s wish that someone should ‘Get me out of here, before I do something I’ll regret’ (p. 380)
2 Predict the consequences:
 in the short term
 in the long term.
3 Read to page 408 to confirm your predictions.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 13
LESSON 13
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R9, R18
AF4, AF6
Focus: Pages 409–432 Reader response
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
 Confirm how a writer prepares a reader for a
novel’s conclusion
Spend some time with the class as a whole
considering the role of Kamal Hadley in the plot.
He is a dark and threatening character
throughout. Does he do anything good? Can we
admire him in any way? Do Sephy’s feelings for
him change over the whole novel? Is he just the
villain? What does he represent? Is there
anyone else in the novel who possesses his
amount of calculating nastiness? Is he too much
of a cardboard cut-out of a villain? Ask students
to reflect on his character and role in the novel
for a few minutes.
Starter
Take feedback from the previous homework
(WS12a) sharing plot patterns and predictions.
Take feedback.
Plenary
Briefly return to the Reading Guide, pages 12–
13, on the tragic structure. Has the plot
continued to follow the tragic structure? How far
does the plot resemble Romeo and Juliet? In
what ways is it different?
What are the possible endings for this novel?
What is likely to be most satisfying, given the
themes and the nature of the novel? Remind
students of the tragic overtones throughout –
what factors might lead us to suspect the worst?
Introduction
Use the plot structure that has been agreed to
begin to plot the emotional highs and lows of the
novel. Suggest that this could have two plot lines
– one for Sephy and one for Callum. How might
they match each other? WS13a offers one such
graph, for Sephy, but it will be important to
negotiate the precise feeling of the class about
this graph. If you wish, use the Navigator to
support this task, using the highest and lowest
points in the main sections of the novel as points
for recording the emotional intensity. The
happiest moments will be 10 and the worst
moments 0.
Read pages 409–432 swiftly, but allowing
comments to arise where appropriate. Ask the
class to focus on either Sephy or Callum and be
prepared to explain their actions and reactions in
this part of the novel.
Development
There may only be a short time for this
discussion once the reading is completed, and
enough time must be allowed for the plenary.
In groups of four (all four must have focused on
Sephy in their reading), students should explore
the dilemma faced by Sephy. Which would they
choose and why? In groups of four also, those
who have focused on Callum must consider:
What would Callum want?
How do both sets of students respond to Kamal
Hadley’s attitude at this point in the plot?
Homework
Students must plot their own emotional graph for
the main events in the novel, explaining how
their graph will help them to predict the novel’s
ending. You may choose to give some students
one character’s emotional highs and lows only to
plot. For more able students, you might wish to
ask them to consider the differences between
Sephy’s and Callum’s graphs.
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 13
Worksheet 13a
Plot graph
Emotional graph of the major plot events for Sephy – key moments only
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 14
LESSON 14
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R18, SpL9
AF4, AF6
Focus: Pages 435–445 Whole text
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
 Develop their responses to and judgements
about a text through exploratory talk
Starter
Very briefly, explore ideas from homework
through peer discussion. The likely conclusion is
that events take a downward slope in this novel
with the occasional, short-lived moment of
happiness.
Read the very end of novel (pages 435–445)
with the class (though it is likely they will have
read this for themselves by now).
Introduction
Give students a few minutes to talk in pairs
about their responses to the end of the novel if
that seems appropriate. Some students may be
shocked by the ending and need time to reflect
before discussing their ideas with the whole
class. Some may not wish to talk about it.
If students seem ready to respond orally, take
immediate responses and allow the ideas to
develop freely. If they seem reluctant to respond
at this point, use OHT14a to open up some
ideas. Or this sheet can be used when suitable
for the class.
Allow the discussion to reach some satisfying
agreements about the ending.
Development
Distribute the Reading Guide. In groups or pairs,
students should read pages 14 and the top of
page 15, and address the stimulus questions.
They can also look back at page 11 or the
writer’s letter and reconsider her views on
racism.
Share further responses as appropriate.
Students may also wish to phrase questions
about the novel they would still like answered.
If time is available, the class could be directed to
the Noughts and Crosses website
http://www.malorieblackman.co.uk/noughtsandcr
osses/noughtsandcrosses/ to find answers to
their questions and survey wider views of the
novel.
Plenary
Explain to students that when a novel is written,
it is sent to editors who comment on what they
like and more particularly, what they might want
changed or cut. Ask students to imagine that
they are an editor. What three positive
comments would they make about the novel to
its writer? What two things might they challenge
and why? Give students a few minutes in pairs
and then fours to generate ideas.
Share a few ideas, drawing on all the positive
suggestions and then offering suggestions for
possible editing, e.g. cutting certain sections or
changing the ending.
Homework
What three positive comments would they make
about the novel to its writer? What two things
might they challenge and why?
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40
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 14
OHT 14a
The ending
Malorie Blackman said the following in an interview:
It was funny because I was writing it and I wasn't sure how it was going
to end, and I felt, Oh no! It was like it wasn't my story any more. It wasn't
my story from about chapter two, it was just like these people were
talking through me. It sounds bizarre when I say that, but it really did feel
like that. It was like these people were talking through me and I was
trying to get it down. At the end I got so close to Callum, I thought Oh my
god, at my keyboard, and it was so bizarre. It had never happened to me
before. In Pig-heart Boy at the end Cameron's Nan dies and I kind of felt
if you are dealing with the issue of someone facing their own mortality
then it'd be a bit false for no one to die. And at the end of that I kind of
got a lump in my throat when she did. But this one I was in tears.
I originally finished it when Sephy says, 'Please God, please let him have
heard me. Please. If you're up there somewhere.' And Annie said, could
we have something a bit positive at the end? And I thought I didn't want
to add another chapter. So I thought, OK, a birth announcement saying
that she’s had this child, that she's given it Callum's surname, and you
know she's had the baby. I think that was actually a good thing, because
it would have been so, so downbeat. But again, that for me was the
middle of the story.
http://www.lauraatkins.com/noughts.html
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41
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 15
LESSON 15
Lesson objectives
Yr 9: R18, Wr13
AF4, AF6
Focus: Evaluating the text
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
 Judge how appropriate Noughts and
Crosses has been for class reading
 Use informative and persuasive language to
promote a novel or give reasons for not
promoting it
Starter
How are books chosen for schools? Sample
some student responses to this question. Then,
distribute WS15a and ask students to rate
Noughts and Crosses according to these criteria.
This task can be differentiated as follows:
 The most able can decide their own criteria
and then compare them with the list before
completing.
 The criteria can be limited for the less able, or
the task could be guided to varying degrees.
Introduction
Tell students that they are going to complete a
writing task that will help them to evaluate
Noughts and Crosses as a whole. They will
eventually be delivering their writing as a speech
to a senior teacher. The idea is that the English
department wants to purchase another set of
Noughts and Crosses because the teachers
think it meets so many of the criteria.
Students should:
Write a convincing, persuasive promotion of
Nought and Crosses lasting no more than
three minutes, suitable for an audience of
teachers (WS15b supports this task).
Should there be some dissenters in the class,
they might like to be different and to write a
persuasive argument to convince the same
audience that Noughts and Crosses is not a
suitable text for a class reader. This would be a
useful choice for higher-attaining students and
would add value to the eventual presentations,
but it is not essential.
Model identifying the sort of informative and
persuasive writing to employ, as appropriate to
the group’s needs, using WS15b as a guide.
Development
Allow students to plan and write up their
promotions. To differentiate the task, students
could work in pairs on planning. WS15c offers
some prompts for writing, if needed. Allow a
short time to ensure students have understood
and started on the task, but they will not have
finished it.
If there is time, allow some peer review of writing
in progress and identify strong features and
points for improvement.
Arrange for the completion of this written task
and, if appropriate, for presentation of the most
effective examples to a senior teacher at a
convenient date.
Plenary
Conclusions – ask the class what they think they
have learned, in particular, from reading this
novel. Take some feedback. Then ask students
to complete the self-evaluation (WS15d).
As students finish the self-assessment sheet,
they can read through the Pathways page in the
Reading Guide.
Homework
Students should write up their promotional
materials for possible presentation in future.
Page 15 in the Reading Guide offers further
support for this task.
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42
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 15
Worksheet 15a
Criteria for choosing a class novel
Which of the following do you consider makes Noughts and Crosses a good choice?
What other reasons would you suggest for choosing Noughts and Crosses?
Criteria
This is true of Noughts and
Crosses (grade from 0 to 5; 5
is highest grade)
The themes and the subject matter are suitable for the age group
The content is unlikely to cause offence to any particular pupil
group
The reading demands will suit most of the class, offer some
challenges, and be within the reach of all readers with support
The language and style will engage all readers
It is rich enough to engage readers of different abilities, sexes,
cultures and interests
It allows the teacher to address particular and appropriate reading
strategies
It goes beyond previous reading experiences
It has an appeal for the age group and is topical
It will lead students to other texts by the same author or on a
similar theme
It will still feel like a good novel in five years’ time
It lends itself to reading aloud and being shared as a class or group
text
It contains enough starting points for discussion
The themes and characters are strongly presented and developed
It has been written since 2000
Which are the three most significant criteria that make Noughts and Crosses a good choice for class
reading?
1
2
3
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43
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 15
Worksheet 15b
Promoting Holes by Louis Sachar
Polite
opening
Thank you very much for agreeing to listen to me. As you know,
the English department would like to purchase some new novels
for years 8 and 9 to read in class next year. There is one novel in
particular that I think is vital for year 8. That novel is Holes by
Louis Sachar.
Naming the
novel and
writer
Reasons draw
on criteria
from WS15a
My reasons for selecting this novel are many. I will mention just a
few.
First and best
reason
Most importantly, it is a wonderful story – a teenage boy, Stanley
Yelnats, finds himself in Camp Green Lake in the middle of an
American desert. He has been wrongfully punished for a crime
that he didn’t commit. He finds himself condemned to hard labour,
digging holes in the sun-baked desert with a bunch of disaffected
but fascinatingly diverse adolescents. But in the camp, his life
(and that of his whole family) is utterly transformed. The history of
his family and that of his friend Zero become strangely connected.
The warden of the camp, it appears, has good reason for making
her prisoners dig holes – Green Lake has a history too and
Stanley is destined to find its secrets – all readers are hooked
from the start.
Adverbs used
to stress
interesting
qualities
Not revealing a
key factor
Another key
factor
That alone does not mean it is a good choice for class study. The
story stimulates all sorts of discussions on topical issues that
interest the class – crime, punishment and injustice being the
most obvious. The characters in the camp also appeal to year 8 –
they are portrayed as lively and varied teenagers – and they also
represent a range of different ethnic groups, which is valuable.
Apart from them, there are some amazing characters from the
past – a wonderful old lady called Madame Zeroni, who has the
power to foretell the future, and a tough American teacher, called
Kissing Kate Barlow. Venomous lizards and life-saving onions
also feature.
Selection of
key points of
interest
Curiositystirring detail
Academic
appeal – hard
work!
The novel is excellent to read aloud. It presents challenges
because it makes the reader work hard to make connections
between the different strands in the plot, but this structure also
makes for a satisfying read.
Many modern novels for teenagers end unhappily and can give
teenagers an over-pessimistic view of life. Holes does the
opposite. Stanley is rewarded for being honest and loyal to his
friends and for committing himself to a difficult cause. In this novel
the bad are punished and the good end happily. It is a great book
and worth the study.
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Giving
reason for
meeting
Indicating
that I am
being
selective
A few key
plot details
but not all
‘All’ and
‘hooked’ are
positive
recommendations
Adjectives to
appeal to
listener and
make
characters
sound
fascinating
Each paragraph
tackles a new
reason for
recommending
Moral
appeal – will
influence for
good
Concluding
positive
comment
44
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 15
Worksheet 15c
Writing persuasively and informatively
Sentence starters and ideas
Firstly, this novel is …
Most importantly, this novel is ……
Another reason why this is a good choice is …….
The characters are
The issues are
fascinating
unique
wonderful
amazing
sympathetic
topical
current
relevant to today
crucial
because…
I recommend this novel because…
It is suitable for year ____ because…
It will be good value for money because…
This novel made me feel ____ because…
This novel teaches that… so…
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45
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Noughts and Crosses
Lesson 15
Worksheet 15d
WS15d Self-assessment sheet
AF
Assessment focus
You practised this when:
AF2
Understand, describe, select
or retrieve information,
events or ideas from texts
and use quotation and
reference to text

you noted ways in which Noughts and
Crosses were treated in their society
AF3
Deduce, infer or interpret
information, events or ideas
from texts

you worked out what was suggested about
certain characters and their relationships in
the Prologue
AF4
Identify and comment on the
structure and organization of
texts, including grammatical
and presentational features
at text level

you looked at how characters’ lives ran in
parallel
you predicted how the plot would develop
you thought about narrative tension
you thought about how the novel would
end
Explain and comment on
writers’ uses of language,
including grammatical and
literary features at word and
sentence level

Identify and comment on
writers’ purposes and
viewpoints, and the overall
effect of the text on the
reader

AF5
AF6







AF7
Relate texts to their social,
cultural and historical
contexts and literary
traditions


I do this
well
I can do
this
sometimes
I need to
practise
this
you analysed the TV news report on the
bombing
you explored and then analysed Malorie
Blackman’s choices about viewpoint and
language
you thought about Malorie Blackman’s
viewpoint
you placed the writer beside the characters
in drama exercises
you placed the reader beside the
characters in drama exercises
you thought about your response to events,
characters and endings
you thought about black history, Malorie
Blackman’s context and your own society
you considered the novel beside Romeo
and Juliet and as a tragedy
Teacher comment
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46