Lesson Plans
For all teachery types!
Bring the magic of Roald Dahl stories to life in your classroom with our lesson plans, spanning the full curriculum. Created to align with Key Stage 1 and 2 learning objectives, our free lesson plans are designed to add a touch of Roald Dahl magic to the curriculum, from English, Maths and STEM to Art, PSHE and Geography.
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Overcoming Challenges to Make a Difference
Analyse challenges that Matilda, Miss Honey and Bruce face in the story and identify qualities required to overcome these and achieve goals.
What is a Role Model?
Analyse the insults that Matilda receives in the story and develop empathy skills through reading. Discuss the importance of role models
Moving Things with Your Mind
Learn how to use the power of science and forces to move different objects, inspired by Matilda’s unique powers. Understand diagrams and recording results.
Mr Wormwood's Inventions
Learning from Mr Wormwood’s mistakes, come up with your own future-proof inventions.
A Colony of Newts!
Learn the key facts about newts and describe its features, before exploring a local green space and observing observations.
An Extraordinary Bookworm!
Understand the value of reading and appreciate a variety of books and genres. Use mean and median to record the number of books read.
The Cleverest of Characters
Build a picture of a character using descriptive language and identify how clever names can support the creation of characters.
Into the Inventing Room
Apply for a job as a sweet inventor in Wonka's chocolate factory, using descriptive and persuasive language to market your invention.
A Bunch of Beastly Children
Looking at the character of Violet Beauregarde, identify ‘good’ and ‘poor’ behaviours and learn strategies to manage challenges.
Sent by Television
Express opinions in a class debate about television, considering both sides of an argument and respecting the opinions of others.
Understanding the Experiences of Others
Look at the experiences of Charlie Bucket compared to Veruca Salt, write from different perspectives and learn to empathise with others.
Charlie's Chocolate Factory
Write a newspaper article based on Charlie’s story, learning about the features of the genre to edit and improve work.
Creating Characters
Be inspired by the story of The BFG to devise an exciting plot and create interesting characters.
Wondercrump Words
Want to invent your own Gobblefunk? In this lesson plan use creative vocabulary and descriptions just like the BFG.
The BFG and the Giants
Read about the giants to discuss and understand what bullying is. Learn about similes and metaphors to enhance character description.
Exploring Dream Country
How do our dreams make us feel? Reflect on personal aspirations and goals and create your very own dream jar.
My Rights
Explore organisational devices for non-fiction writing, while exploring and discussing human rights with your class.
Jabelling Dialogue
Learn about self confidence, believing in yourself and having the ability to overcome challenges. Role-play a conversation between characters.
Disgusting Dispositions
Evaluate characters in The Twits and understand how good and bad characters are described. Have a go yourself!
Nasty Tricks
Write your own chapter using The Twits’ tricks as inspiration, thinking carefully about structure and exaggeration in your writing.
Sticky Situations
Step into the role of the children who get caught in Mr Twit’s tree, developing an authentic first person voice in a role.
Roly-Poly Rhyming
Read the Roly-Poly Bird’s rhymes, identifying rhyming couplets in his speech. Have a go at writing your own.
Mischievous Monkeys
Write a set of instructions for Muggle-Wump and his family to take their revenge on the Twits, using the features of the text type.
Upside-Down Endings
Write an ending for the final chapter of The Twits, using speech marks, commas, synonyms and more.
Secret Witches
Learn about taking sensible precautions with strangers we meet in person and online. Understanding how to report concerns about online content.
How to Spot a Witch
Write and perform your own public safety announcements, using appropriate intonation, volume and movement so that the meaning is clear.
A Witchy Collage
Draw and collage the Grand High Witch with craft materials. Use a thesaurus to find synonyms to describe the gruesome leader.
Repulsive Rhyming
Plan, write and perform a poem inspired by the Grand High Witches’ rhymes, using appropriate form and vocabulary.
The Recipe
The recipe for Formula 86 is a complicated one! Solve the maths problems to find out what the witches need to make the potion.
The Heart of a Mouse
Looking at the relationship of the boy and his Grandma, think about someone who is special to you and celebrate their qualities.
Creepy-Crawly Habitats
Go on a bug hunt, learning about bugs and habitats. Gather data and make careful observations using scientific language.
Fantastic Friction
Experiment with a peach and other fruits to understand how friction is created. Record your findings using simple scientific language.
Marvellous Minibeasts
Understand how living things are classified into broad groups based on similarities and differences, before designing your very own superbug.
Unlikely Friends
Much like James and the giant bugs, learn to respect the differences and opinions of others to develop positive relationships.
Peachy Storytelling
Learn to write an effective and creative story introduction inspired by the opening of James and the Giant Peach.
Giant Geography
Study a world map to identify where the peach travels on its journey, and recreate the journey through music.
Fox's Locations
Thinking about the world of Mr Fox, plan, make and evaluate a three-dimensional model of a story layout.
Playful Playwrights
Create a short play script about what happens to Mr Fox and his friends after the story ends, and create cardboard masks for the characters.
Adventurous Animals
Learn about anthropomorphism and experiment with giving animals ‘voices’ in a story. Make animal masks to match your characters.
Exciting Emotions
Explore emotion in descriptive speaking and writing, inspired by the story of Fantastic Mr Fox. Use colour to convey emotion in artwork.
An Ingenious Invention
Design and make your very own Boggis, Bunce and Bean digging machine, using pulleys and levers to operate your tractor.
The Game of Persuasion
Design and make a dilemma board game inspired by Badger, adding electronic features such as a battery light and buzzer.
Counting with Croc
Develop counting skills by numbering Croc’s terrifying teeth and counting the animals hiding around the classroom.
Colourful Creatures
Learn to identify colours by recreating Roly-Poly Bird’s multi-coloured tail feathers. Create your very own colour wheel.
Craft with Croc
Feel and describe different textures of materials, before using them to collage characters from the story.
Learning Letters
The Enormous Crocodile has eaten the whole alphabet! Work together as a class to recover every letter.
Homes and Habitats
Go on a nature walk to learn about habitats, and use your findings to create a picture of The Enormous Crocodile’s jungle.
Tasty Tiddlers
Teach the Enormous Crocodile about a balanced diet (rather than eating children), and host your very own picnic.
Observing Opposites
Learn about opposites through the story of The Enormous Crocodile.