Chrysalis is a new and exciting textbook that comprehensively covers the entire three-year English Junior Cycle course.

This highly engaging textbook learns from the experience of the Junior Cycle over the past few years. As you know, the new course has been through a full cycle and this has given teachers a much better sense of what is involved and how it is best approached. Textbooks for Junior Cycle English need to learn from this experience; they need to take account of the exams and the assessments that have occurred; and they must adjust to facilitate new teaching practices.

Chrysalis does all of this – and more.

The Chrysalis package includes a student textbook accompanied by a substantial portfolio book; there are also online resources and a Teacher’s Resource Book.

Key features of the student textbook include:

• Distinct focus on consolidating knowledge, developing understanding and honing skills.
• Chapters containing carefully curated thematic material. These themes include Growing Up; Celebrations; Challenges and Adventure; Conflict; Journeys; Borders; and more.
• Genre-specific course work fully covered: Poetry; Drama; Fiction; and Film.
• Language, grammar and punctuation chapters.
• Each chapter addresses the three key strands in the JC English specification: Oral, Reading and Writing.
• Dedicated chapter on exam skills, CBAs and the Written Assessment Task.
• Learning Intentions are written in student-friendly language and positioned at the beginning of each chapter.
• Opportunities for students to participate in self- and peer-assessment.
• Group work and collaborative learning activities are carefully scaffold and embedded into the text to build student confidence, creativity and class participation.
• Engaging material includes non-literary texts, multimodal texts, visual texts, speeches and a collection of poetry, media, drama, fiction and film texts.
• Relevant and inviting questions, discussion points and creative exercises with each text.
• Comprehensive Glossary containing explanations of important terms.

The Teacher’s Resource Book is a key part of the Chrysalis programme. Particularly useful features of this book are:

• Detailed Learning Outcomes for each chapter of the student textbook.
• Blank template scheme-of-work guide for each term and year to enhanced support teacher planning.
• Sample assessment sheets for formative and summative assessment.
• Bank of exam-style questions for revision purposes.

A free eBook is available with this textbook.