English lesson plan · 8th grade (Year 9 in England) · 45 minutes
Foreshadowing, flashback, cliffhanger and red herring
Reading Comprehension
CCSS RL.8.3CCSS RL.8.5CCSS RL.8.6England: KS3 Reading (narrative techniques)England: GCSE English Language Paper 1 Q3
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Foreshadowing, flashback, cliffhanger and red herring.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Tone and mood; Text structure (cause–effect, compare, problem–solution)
Leads to: Structural features in fiction (GCSE); Narrative techniques: unreliable narrator, in medias res, frame narrative…
Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Tone and mood; Text structure (cause–effect, compare, problem–solution)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- The corridor stretched into darkness. Somewhere, water dripped. A door, which had been closed a moment ago, now stood half open. What is the mood? (calm and sleepy / tense and eerie / cheerful and bright / funny and silly) → tense and eeriePrompt: What feeling do the word choices create?
- Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every volunteer who gave up their weekends. You made this possible. What is the writer's tone? (bitter / grateful / mocking / bored) → gratefulPrompt: What feeling do the word choices create?
- Sunlight spilled across the meadow, bees hummed lazily among the clover, and somewhere a child was laughing. What is the mood? (gloomy / peaceful and happy / threatening / angry) → peaceful and happyPrompt: What feeling do the word choices create?
Hook · 5 min
- Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
- Share the objective: Foreshadowing, flashback, cliffhanger and red herring. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Which narrative technique matches this description? An ending to a chapter or episode that leaves the reader in suspense.
- Step 1: Writers control time and suspense with techniques such as foreshadowing, flashback, cliffhangers and red herrings.
- Step 2: cliffhanger: An ending to a chapter or episode that leaves the reader in suspense.
- Step 3: So the answer is: cliffhanger
- Answer: cliffhanger
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Which narrative technique matches this description? An ending to a chapter or episode that leaves the reader in suspense. (flashback / red herring / foreshadowing / cliffhanger) → cliffhangerPrompt: Does the technique look forward, look back, stop at a tense moment, or mislead?
- Which narrative technique is used here? She turned the key, the door swung open — and someone was already inside. END OF CHAPTER 4. (red herring / cliffhanger / foreshadowing / flashback) → cliffhangerPrompt: Does the moment hint at the future, return to the past, end on a question, or point to the wrong suspect?
You do: independent practice · 10 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Which narrative technique is used here? She turned the key, the door swung open — and someone was already inside. END OF CHAPTER 4. (foreshadowing / red herring / flashback / cliffhanger) → cliffhangerPrompt: Does the moment hint at the future, return to the past, end on a question, or point to the wrong suspect?
- Which narrative technique matches this description? A scene that jumps back to events that happened before the main story. (red herring / foreshadowing / flashback / cliffhanger) → flashbackPrompt: Does the technique look forward, look back, stop at a tense moment, or mislead?
Watch out for
- Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
- Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Tone and mood.
- Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Structural features in fiction (GCSE); Narrative techniques: unreliable narrator, in medias res, frame narrative….
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-8.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder