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.
- We must act now. Every day we wait, another species disappears forever. This is not a problem for tomorrow. What is the writer's tone? (humorous / relaxed / uncertain / urgent) → urgentPrompt: What feeling do the word choices create?
- Oh, wonderful. Another meeting about meetings. I can hardly contain my excitement. What is the speaker's tone? (sincere and excited / sarcastic / frightened / sorrowful) → sarcasticPrompt: 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? A misleading clue that points readers towards the wrong answer. (flashback / foreshadowing / cliffhanger / red herring) → red herringPrompt: Does the technique look forward, look back, stop at a tense moment, or mislead?
- Which narrative technique is used here? The phone lit up with a message from an unknown number: I know what you did. (Episode ends.) (red herring / flashback / foreshadowing / cliffhanger) → 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 matches this description? A misleading clue that points readers towards the wrong answer. (flashback / red herring / cliffhanger / foreshadowing) → red herringPrompt: Does the technique look forward, look back, stop at a tense moment, or mislead?
- Which narrative technique is used here? Standing on the stage, Leo suddenly remembered the first time he played the piano, aged six, his feet dangling above the pedals. (cliffhanger / flashback / red herring / foreshadowing) → flashbackPrompt: Does the moment hint at the future, return to the past, end on a question, or point to the wrong suspect?
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