Gathering evidence about characters and their relationships
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the relationships between characters in the text and provide evidence to support these descriptions.
Key learning points
- 'A Kind of Spark' is a novel set in Scotland and written by Elle McNicoll, who is autistic herself.
- Addie, the main protagonist, is autistic, but this does not define her exclusively.
- The book is written in the first person from Addie's perspective.
- When we read, we make inferences about characters based on evidence in the text.
- At the start of the book, Addie has a close relationship with her sister Keedie - but not with her sister Nina.
Keywords
First person - the point of view where the narrator of the story is the ‘I’ character, providing a personal account of events or experiences
Evidence - the information from a text that can support or justify our reasoning
Inference - a conclusion drawn from information and evidence in a text.
Common misconception
Pupils may think all autistic people will be similar to Addie in the book or that all autistic people will experience the world in the same way.
Explain that autistic experiences are diverse and that Addie's experiences are not universal. The book is written by an autistic writer, who drew on her own experiences when writing the book. No autistic person 'represents' all autistic people.
Teacher tip
You may wish to show pupils interviews with the author to add context to the personal nature of the book. You will need to read on up to the end of Chapter 3 before the next lesson - you can decide how best to do this.
Equipment
You need a copy of the 2020 Knights Of edition of ‘A Kind of Spark’ written by Elle McNicoll, illustrated by Kay Wilson, for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these pronouns are used to show a first person perspective?
Q2.Which sentence is written in the first person?
Q3.What can we infer from the following sentence? 'The boy stood up with grit on his bloody knees and tears streaming down his face.'
Q4.What can we infer from the following sentence? 'There was a knock on the door and the girl froze, looking pale.'
Q5.Which of the following might be pieces of evidence an author uses to show us that a character is angry?
Q6.Who is the 'protagonist' of a story?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match these words to their meanings.
made small
loud, confusing noise
stroke
absorbed in
Q2.Match these words to their meanings.
talking to a professional about your feelings
reddish-brown
telling-off
without thinking
Q3.Are these statements true or false? Select the true ones.
Q4.Which of the characters below does Addie have positive relationships with so far?
Q5.Which of the following are true of Keedie?
Q6.Which of the following locations is Addie most comfortable in?
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Gathering evidence about characters and their relationships, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Gathering evidence about characters and their relationships, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the 'A Kind of Spark': reading unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.