We're Going on a Lion Hunt

Take your class on an unforgettable adventure through the African savannah with this exciting six-lesson English scheme, inspired by 'We’re Going on a Lion Hunt' by David Axtell. As they follow the characters on their lion hunt, children will explore African landscapes, encounter a variety of wild animals — each with its own unique tail — and develop their narrative skills along the way. Packed with drama, storytelling, and creative activities, this scheme helps pupils bring the story to life while building confidence in speaking, listening, and writing.

This fully downloadable scheme includes detailed lesson plans, engaging slideshow presentations, and all the printable resources you need to dive straight into this amazing African narrative topic.

You may also like our Awesome Africa Topic Bundle with ready-to-teach themed schemes of work for Geography, Art and English. 

Exploring the Story

Bring the adventure of We’re Going on a Lion Hunt to life in your classroom with this fully resourced narrative lesson. Through drama, discussion, and creative writing, your class will explore the story's themes and characters while developing key language and inference skills. Pupils will describe how the characters feel at each stage of the hunt, create expressive freeze frames, and either perform scenes from the story or craft vivid written descriptions of the characters' experiences.

Everything you need is included — a detailed lesson plan, an engaging slideshow presentation, and printable resources — so you can deliver the lesson with confidence and ease.

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Onomatopoeia

In this lively second lesson, your class will dive into the wonderful world of onomatopoeia! Children will brainstorm a variety of sound words and use them to bring African animals to life through vivid, descriptive sentences.

Using engaging images of African wildlife, pupils will experiment with onomatopoeic words to describe what they see and hear, helping them to develop their vocabulary and creative writing skills.

This fully downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, an eye-catching slideshow, and ready-to-use printable resources — everything you need for a fun and effective lesson.

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Writing Descriptive Sentences

In this third lesson of the six-lesson narrative scheme for Year 2, your class will develop their descriptive writing skills by creating sentences packed with detail and imagination. Children will use adjectives, adverbs, and onomatopoeia to bring their writing to life.

They will also have the opportunity to edit and improve both their own work and example texts, helping them to become more confident and reflective writers.

This fully downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, an engaging slideshow presentation, and all the printable resources you’ll need to deliver the lesson with ease.

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Planning a Story

In this lesson, your class will learn how to structure a story using a simple but powerful five-part story plan: beginning, build-up, problem, resolution, and ending. Together, they will explore familiar stories broken into these five key sections to deepen their understanding of story structure.

Pupils will then apply what they've learned by completing partially filled story plans, carefully considering what would make the most logical and engaging additions. This activity will help them develop their planning, sequencing, and creative thinking skills, ready for their own storytelling.

This fully downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, a clear and engaging slideshow presentation, and printable teaching resources — ready to use straight away.

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Writing a Story

In this penultimate lesson, your class will put their story-planning skills into action by writing their own narratives based on five-part story plans. Using the structure they have developed, pupils will confidently craft stories with a clear beginning, build-up, problem, resolution, and ending.

They will be encouraged to make thoughtful vocabulary choices, using descriptive language to bring their characters and events to life. By the end of the lesson, your children will have created imaginative, well-structured stories they can be proud of.

This fully downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, an engaging slideshow presentation, and all the printable teaching resources you’ll need.

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Editing Stories

In this final lesson of the six-part narrative writing scheme, your class will take on the important role of editor! Pupils will work together to edit and improve an example story, before applying the same critical thinking to refine their own writing.

They will be encouraged to reflect carefully on their sentence structure, vocabulary choices, and overall storytelling, helping them to produce polished and confident final drafts.

This fully downloadable lesson includes a comprehensive lesson plan, an engaging slideshow presentation, and all the printable resources you’ll need to deliver the session with ease.

View Lesson 6