Foxlight Teaching Resources v2 - Notes for Teachers: Theme-Based Classroom Activities

Aug 27, 2026

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Teaching resources for ages 8+ focused on the novel’s themes of wildlife, nature, family, home, love, storytelling, and sisterhood. Provides a subject checklist spanning literacy, PSHE/RSE, art and design, geography, and science, alongside structured classroom or library activities for each theme. Includes discussion questions, book cover prompts, key vocabulary, and an extract-based writing and descriptive language focus (e.g., expanded noun phrases), plus further activity ideas to deepen comprehension and empathy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time22 min

AccessFree to download

Theme 1 – The Wildlands

Activities and objectives

Theme 2 – Fen and Rey

Activities and objectives

Theme 3 – A Disagreement

Activities and objectives

Theme 4 – Family and Belonging

Activities and objectives

Further activity ideas

Book cover prompts

Key vocabulary

Extract 1 (pages 16–17)

Discussion questions

The view from the window

Activity: Visit the wildlands!

AGES 8+ NOTES FOR TEACHERS Explore Themes of: ✔ Wildlife ✔ Nature ✔ Family ✔ Home ✔ Love ✔ Storytelling ✔ Sisterhood Subject Checklist: ✔ Literacy ✔ PSHE/RSE ✔ Art and Design ✔ Geography ✔ Science The activities included here are suitable for the classroom or library sessions. ABOUT THE BOOK From the author of October, October, winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal, comes a heartbreaking and heart-warming story about sisterhood, found family and accepting love in the most unusual and unknown places. Fen and Rey were found curled up small and tight in the fiery fur of the foxes at the very edge of the wildlands. Fen is loud and fierce and free. She feels a connection to foxes and a calling from the wild that she’s desperate to return to. Rey is quiet and shy and an expert on nature. She reads about the birds, feeds the lands and nurtures the world around her. They are twin sisters. Different and the same. Separate and connected. They will always have eachother, even if they don’t have a mother and don’t know their beginning. But they do want answers. Answers to who their mother is and where she might be. What their story is and how it began. So when a fox appears late one night at the house, Fen and Rey see it as a sign – it’s here to lead them to their truth, find their real family and fill the missing piece they have felt since they were born. But the wildlands are exactly that: wild. They are wicked and cruel and brutal and this journey will be harder and more life-changing than either Fen or Rey ever imagined … CONTENTS: Theme 1 – The Wildlands Activities: Draw a scene from the text; write a description of a wild place. Objectives: Use descriptive language, including explanded noun phrases, to describe a setting. Theme 2 – Fen and Rey Activities: Create a Venn diagram describing the characters of Fen and Rey. Objectives: Compare the motivations, feelings and character traits of two characters. Theme 3 – A Disagreement Activities: Write a paragraph from the point of view of Rey. Objectives: Make inferences about a character’s thoughts, feelings and motivations based on their words and actions; empathise with a character. Theme 4 – Family and Belonging Activities: Discuss the theme of ‘family’ in the book; create a natural sculpture based on one of the themes of the book. Objectives: Understand that family is the people who love and care for you; begin to recognise and discuss the key themes of a text. Further Activity Ideas 2 Book Cover Prompts • What do you like about the front cover? • Looking at the front cover, what questions do you have about the book? • Can you make a prediction about what might happen in the story? Key Vocabulary Here are some words you will come across in the book. Can you find out what each word means? Marsh Mountain Valley................................................................................... Horizon Twilight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theme 1 – The Wildlands Extract 1 (pages 16–17) In this extract, Fen and Rey are in their bedroom in the Light House. e bedroom is in the tower, which sounds cool and actually is quite cool because we can see for miles and miles from our bright windows and the tower is how the house got its name. At its very top is a huge lamp that glows and spreads a soft still golden light out into the dark nights like a beam searching for ships and guiding them home and keeping them safe from the snarled teeth of jagged rocks. Tonight the bedroom is cold but not cold enough to see my breath and there is no frost spangled on the windowpane so we’ll be cosy in bed especially if we keep our socks on. I sit on the lumpy mattress and look through the window glass to the wild world outside. I am always drawn to the wildlands. ere is something in their forevernes

FAQs

What themes do these teaching notes focus on?

They explore wildlife, nature, family, home, love, storytelling, and sisterhood, with activities mapped to each theme.

What learning objectives are included for Theme 1?

Students practice descriptive language, including expanded noun phrases, through tasks such as drawing a scene and writing a description of a wild place.

How do the activities use the extract from the book?

The extract is used for discussion questions and a writing task, including understanding setting details and identifying language that supports a scene drawing.

Aug 27, 2026

Upload by Quinn