Beyond the Story Shelf logo with illustrated books labelled History, Memory, Education and Creativity, and the strapline From inference to story, via imagination.

Bring real lives, real sources and real history into your classroom.

Front cover of The Things They Left Behind Teacher's Companion by Claire Greensit
The Things They Left Behind: Teacher’s Companion

The Teacher’s Companion Edition brings together the unabridged versions of Tommy’s, Walter’s and Ken’s stories, alongside lesson plans, teaching ideas and QR links to archive materials and supporting classroom resources.

Beyond the Story Shelf pedagogy

The book introduces Beyond the Story Shelf’s approach to teaching: begin with the story, then use the people, objects, documents and questions within it to support learning across the curriculum.

Claire makes creative curriculum links where they arise naturally — from History and English to Mathematics, Geography, PSHE and beyond — without forcing subjects into a story where there is no meaningful connection.

Start with a compelling real story, then follow where the learning leads.

Inside the Teacher’s Companion

  • the unabridged stories of Tommy, Walter and Ken;
  • complete lesson plans;
  • archive sources and guidance on how to use them;
  • printable teaching resources and activity sheets;
  • discussion ideas and writing prompts;
  • curriculum links where they fit naturally;
  • differentiated activities;
  • QR links to archive materials and downloadable classroom resources;
  • ideas for workshops, assemblies and wider projects.

From story to source

The companion is designed to help children move from enjoying a story to asking historical questions: What do we know? Which source tells us that? Can another source support it? What can we infer? And where does the evidence stop?

Tommy, Walter and Ken each offer a different route into historical enquiry — memory, corroboration, contemporary diary evidence and surviving artefacts — while also opening up wider learning across the curriculum.

For teachers and home educators

The Teacher’s Companion is designed for teachers and home educators using the Young Readers series, whether teaching one story on its own or exploring all three together.

School workshops and online author sessions can also be linked to the books, archive material and classroom resources.

Coming soon from Beyond the Story Shelf.