This book has as its main character Bradley Chalkers, a 'bad' boy who is always in trouble. In this story, we are allowed to see into Bradley's head and heart, which offers children ways to discuss issues of friendship, bullying and the links between self-esteem, behaviour and learning. Many children can relate to these questions and will welcome the chance to talk about them through their discussions of the novel.

The character of Bradley strongly engages children, and even reluctant readers and writers are drawn to enjoy the novel through activities such as writing in role. Writing an ongoing diary for Bradley, emailing and letter writing form the main writing outcomes for this unit.

The novel's setting is a school in the US so there are opportunities to talk about similarities and differences between Bradley's school and schools in the UK. The pace of the novel, its humour, twists and turns support children who are gaining confidence as readers, helping them to empathise with characters and to infer feelings, thoughts and motivations over the course of the narrative.

Phase 1 (three to four days)
Phase 1 of the unit (sessions 1-4) focuses on detailed discussions about the main character of the novel, Bradley Chalkers, and includes keeping notes in class and individual reading journals. There is hotseating of the character Bradley, beginning of diary written in role as Bradley, and also some discussion of the setting and language of the text, which is set in a school in the US.

Phase 2 (five to six days)
Phase 2 of the unit (Sessions 5-10) follows the development of Bradley's character against the unfolding themes and issues in the novel, which include friendships, bullying, the differences between inside and outside feelings, and the possibilities for change. Writing emails, lists, drama and role-play form the main activities of this section.

Phase 3 (four days)
Phase 3 of the unit (sessions 11-15) involves script writing and performing, writing in role and report writing as the novel reaches its conclusion.

Reading aloud continues during and between sessions. Sessions are for guidance only and the length of these will depend on the way they are interpreted and developed by the teacher, together with the amount of time allowed for drama, discussion and writing.

Guided reading

Although the unit is designed for use with the whole class, teachers could also select aspects of it to use with guided reading groups. Alternatively, class sessions could be followed up during guided reading sessions with a closer look at particular sections of the text - looking, for example, at the language or what has been revealed about plot or character. The grouping for guided reading needs to be linked to assessment and children's curricular targets, to ensure maximum impact on children's reading.

All children will benefit from regular opportunities for small-group reading, discussion and writing with a teacher or teaching assistant.

Guided writing

As the focus of these units is explicitly to support the development of reading, specific links to guided writing are not exemplified in these notes. It is important that guided writing sessions are planned during this sequence and draw on the reading children are undertaking in order to develop their writing skills.