Engaging with the plot of 'The Journey'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can read ‘The Journey’ and summarise the key events.
Key learning points
- ‘The Journey’ is a children’s picture book.
- The story is about two girls and their mother who are fleeing their war-torn country to find a safe place to live.
- The girls face many obstacles and challenges along their perilous journey as they cross unwelcoming borders.
- The story ends with them getting closer to a safe home where they hope to arrive soon.
- Summarising the key events in a story helps us to build our understanding of the text and the meaning behind it.
Keywords
Refugee - a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, violence or natural disaster
Flee - to run away from a place or situation of danger
Border - a geographical line separating two countries
Summarise - to pull out the key events and ideas from a text
Common misconception
Pupils might be confused by the difference between a refugee and a migrant.
Explain that a refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, violence or natural disaster. A migrant moves from one place to another usually to find work or better living conditions.
Teacher tip
Read the author's notes at the back of the book to enhance the pupils' understanding of the book's context through the author's own words.
Equipment
You will need a copy of the 2016 Flying Eye Books edition of ‘The Journey’ by Francesa Sanna for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is an author?
Q2.What is a character?
Q3.What is an illustration?
Q4.What is a narrative?
Q5.What is a setting?
Q6.Complete this sentence: The person who draws the pictures in a book is called the ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who is the author of ‘The Journey’?
Q2.Who is the illustrator of 'The Journey'?
Q3.Who are the main characters in 'The Journey'?
Q4.True or false? 'The girl, her sister and mother tried to stay in their country.'
Q5.True or false? 'Summarising means describing each event from a text in detail.'
Q6.Why do the girls and their mother feel hopeful when they are on the train?
To help you plan your 3 English lesson on: Engaging with the plot of 'The Journey', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 English lesson on: Engaging with the plot of 'The Journey', 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 'The Journey': diary writing unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.