New
New
Year 2

Character, setting and plot in 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'

I can explore the story through discussing the characters, setting and plot.

New
New
Year 2

Character, setting and plot in 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'

I can explore the story through discussing the characters, setting and plot.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. ‘The Planet in a Pickle Jar’ is told through narrative writing and illustrations and it includes magical elements.
  2. The grandchildren are characters and the narrators of the story which means it is told from their perspective.
  3. At the beginning, the illustrations show a different story to the one being told by the narrators.
  4. The story contains multiple settings and it moves quickly between them.
  5. The plot follows the grandchildren as they uncover their grandma’s desire to protect the world’s wonders.

Keywords

  • Character - a person or an animal in a story

  • Setting - where the story takes place

  • Plot - what happens in the story

  • Perspective - a character's point of view

Common misconception

Children may not understand important vocabulary within the story, e.g. "preserve" or why pickling items in a jar is a way to protect them.

Offering a simple explanation of the word "preserve" will support the children's understanding. Vocabulary and the meaning behind word choices will be explored in greater detail in the next lesson in the unit.

Begin the lesson by reading the blurb and showing the children the illustration on the blurb. Ask them to predict which animals they will encounter in the story based on the clues they can see and why they think they are in the grandma's house.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of the 2023 Flying Eye Books edition of ‘The Planet in a Pickle Jar’ written and illustrated by Martin Stanev for this lesson.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? I can find out everything I need to know in a story through the words that are written.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q2.
Who is the author of 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'?
Mark Stanev
Martin Stanley
Correct answer: Martin Stanev
Q3.
What is a narrator?
the main character in a story
the person who wrote the story
Correct answer: the person who is telling the story
Q4.
What is a setting in a story?
a person or an animal in a story
Correct answer: where the story takes place
what happens in the story
Q5.
True or false? A story always only has one setting.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q6.
What is a plot in a story?
where the story takes place
Correct answer: what happens in the story
a person or animal in a story

6 Questions

Q1.
Who are the main characters in the story?
Correct answer: the grandma
the animals
Correct answer: the grandchildren
Martin Stanev
Q2.
Which settings do we see explored through the illustrations within the story?
Correct answer: the grandma's home
snowy mountains
Correct answer: the ocean
Correct answer: an animal sanctuary
Correct answer: the desert
Q3.
True or false? The illustrations show the same story as the narrative writing in the book.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q4.
How did the grandma captivate her grandchildren?
by telling stories about magical creatures
by letting them play whatever they wanted
Correct answer: by explaining how the world's natural wonders are being damaged
Q5.
True or false? The grandma only protects the world's natural wonders in her jars.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q6.
How did the grandchildren's perspective of their Grandma change throughout the story?
They realised that she was an unkind person
Correct answer: They realised that she was far more interesting than they had thought
They realised that she was even more boring than they had thought