Themes covered:Family, parenting, animals and nature, magic and supernatural events, tolerance, facing fears

a b c Rees, Jasper (25 March 2006). "A nightmare theatrical debut – Times Online". The Times. London . Retrieved 6 February 2010. This is a 4 week unit of work that is based around Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Wolves in the Walls’ book. This is a challenging text, as it covers the issue of nightmares but it really engages the boys in my class. Neil Gaiman has a fantastic story telling ability (he also wrote Coraline). The end piece is designed to be a descriptive nightmare where the child experienced it learns what to do in their life after they wake up. This unit of work is targeted best at Year 4 - 6 pupils. I have included all the resources you need to start teaching this tomorrow. Below are all the learning objectives and resources included for the unit:The metaphysical question of what reality is also playing a big role in this book, as the reader begins to wonder whether what Lucy’s parents say is more believable than what her brother or Lucy says is true. Lucy believes that there are wolves in the walls, while her parents dismiss the noises as simply indicating the presence of mice or rats. When Lucy confronts her parents about the sounds, they scare her by repeating the saying, “If the wolves come out of the walls, then it’s all over.” This ethical issue is one that all children can connect with. Every child has experienced an adult threatening a child not to do something by reminding them of the bad things that will happen as a result. Many of the popular sayings can be viewed in this light, and it is important for children to begin questioning the validity of such statements simply because something is asserted as the truth does not make it any less of a belief. Through connecting the use of the saying, “If the wolves come out of the walls, then it’s all over” with how Lucy’s parents interacted with her concern about the wolves, a discussion about how we know what we claim to know and the manner in which we blindly accept them as unquestionable truths or facts can easily occur.

Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Acticitives can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book. Does the saying, “if the wolves come out of the wall, then it’s all over” help Lucy and her family?When Lucy decides not to tell her parents about the elephants, an important ethical element arises. By not telling her parents, is Lucy, in a sense lying to them? The concept of lies really intrigues children, since they face making daily decisions based on what is “right” and “wrong” for themselves and others. The philosopher Kant believed that it was a person’s moral obligation and duty never to lie. In contrast, many other philosophers take the position that this obligation, to tell the truth, can be overridden in certain situations. For example, if someone’s life is endangered by a murder that is searching for a man, it seems valid for a person to lie to the murder about the location of the man being hunted. This action could be justified by means of the utilitarian principle concerning morality: that an action is considered “right” if and only if it promotes the greatest happiness. By using the book, the controversial topic of white lies, half-lies, and the withholding of important information can be discussed with children, as they can begin to analyze and weigh the outcomes of such actions. Identify the audience for and purpose of writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models

Hello Rover, the WAGOLL is in a file named 'WAGOLL Display'. I have colour coded all the success criteria to make it obvious to the children. I hope that helps and you enjoy teaching this unit. Hide replies What about the golden rule? Wouldn’t you always want to be told everything and to be told the truth?All the elements are there, an odd little book with the perfect amount of scary and funny, but there was just something missing. It felt too familiar.