Developing an understanding of 'The Unforgotten Coat' through rich discussions
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can discuss the main ideas of ‘The Unforgotten Coat’.
Key learning points
- The text is told from the perspective of Julie; she reflects on her time in Year 6 when Chingis joined her class.
- Chingis is a young boy who, along with his brother Nergui, immigrates from Mongolia to Liverpool.
- The text explores the rich history of Chingis’ home country, its landscape and nomadic culture.
- A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story; identifying themes within a text involves inference.
- Julie begins to understand the challenges that Chingis and his family face in trying to remain in the country.
Keywords
Novella - a fictional narrative that is longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel
Nomad - a member of a community or tribe that has no permanent settlement
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story
Immigration - the act of moving to a foreign country with the intention of living there permanently
Common misconception
Pupils may not realise that there are multiple answers to open-ended or personal reflection questions.
Encourage pupils to refer to the text as they discuss the questions. If a pupils' perspective can be justified by evidence in the text, it is a valid response.
Teacher tip
Pupils must have read the text in advance of this lesson. Pupils could use the text as a springboard to exploring charities that support refugee and migrant families. Non-fiction resources about refugees and migrants could be placed in the class book area.
Equipment
You need a copy of the 2012 Walker Books edition of ‘The Unforgotten Coat’, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce with photographs by Carl Hunter and Clare Heney, for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who is the author of 'The Unforgotten Coat'?
Q2.Which of the following are forms of literature?
Q3.True or False? Fiction texts only report factual information based on real events.
Q4.Based on their titles, which of the following texts are likely to be poetry collections?
Q5.What is a suitable definition of a theme?
Q6.Which of the following are genres of text?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.True or False? 'The Unforgotten Coat' is a fictional text.
Q2.Which settings are described in the text?
Q3.Sequence the following events from the text into chronological order.
Q4.Match the keywords to their definitions.
a text that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel
a member of a community or tribe that has no permanent settlement
the act of moving to a foreign country, permanently
Q5.Which of the following themes can be identified in 'The Unforgotten Coat'?
Q6.Match the theme to how it is conveyed in the text.
Chingis and his family are deported.
Chingis uses photographs of Bootle to remind him of his home country.
Julie is happy to help Chingis and Nergui settle into school
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Developing an understanding of 'The Unforgotten Coat' through rich discussions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Developing an understanding of 'The Unforgotten Coat' through rich discussions, 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 Unforgotten Coat': book club unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.