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Year 6

Developing understanding of 'The Girl of Ink and Stars' through rich discussions

I can discuss the main ideas of ‘The Girl of Ink and Stars’.

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Year 6

Developing understanding of 'The Girl of Ink and Stars' through rich discussions

I can discuss the main ideas of ‘The Girl of Ink and Stars’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. ‘The Girl of Ink and Stars’ is a novel, which blends the genres of myth and magical realism.
  2. The text has strong links to location and navigation; maps are a central part of the narrative.
  3. In 'The Girl of Ink and Stars', the themes of sacrifice, friendship and redemption are explored.
  4. Different readers may interpret a text in different ways.

Keywords

  • Myth - A myth is a traditional tale explaining a culture's beliefs, customs, involving gods and supernatural creatures.

  • Magical realism - Magical realism is a genre of text, blending magical elements into realistic settings.

  • Theme - A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that characters' traits and behaviours remain fixed within a narrative.

Discuss that several characters evolve emotionally over the narrative. Governor Adori begins the text very commanding, authoritative and selfish - he ends up redeeming himself by giving his daughter and Isabella time to escape.


To help you plan your year 6 english lesson on: Developing understanding of 'The Girl of Ink and Stars' through rich discussions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils must have read the text in advance of this lesson. Although the text does not specify a specific time in which it is set, it can be useful for pupils to discuss traditional forms of navigation and map reading. Cartography is a key theme of the text.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You need a copy of the 2016 Chicken House edition of ‘The Girl of Ink and Stars’, written by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Helen Crawford-White, for this lesson.

content-guidance

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
A central protagonist can be described as ...
the setting in which the action takes place.
Correct answer: the main character driving the story.
the events of the story.
Q2.
A myth is a ...
text featuring articles, images and information on diverse topics.
Correct answer: traditional tale often explaining natural phenomena with supernatural elements.
text which presents real events, information or knowledge.
Q3.
Which of the following sentences show a character being brave?
She stayed silent when witnessing wrongdoing.
Correct answer: She spoke out against injustice with her voice quivering.
Correct answer: She defended her beliefs, despite facing criticism.
He ran away from a challenging situation.
He avoided trying something new due to fear.
Q4.
Which of the following texts are likely to contain myths and legends?
Correct answer: Myth Atlas
Cloudbusting
Correct answer: A Journey Through Greek Myths
When Stars are Scattered
Q5.
If someone believes in fate, they might say which of the following?
'Nothing matters; it's all random.'
Correct answer: 'It's all meant to be.'
'There's no grand plan; we create our destiny.'
Correct answer: 'My life's already written.'
Correct answer: 'Things happen for a reason.'
Q6.
Cartography is ...
Correct answer: the study and creation of maps.
the study of animals.
the study of myths and legends.
Q4 image 1 Myth Atlas, Thiago de Moraes, Alison Green Books Q4 image 2 Cloud Busting, Malorie Blackman, Helen van Vliet, Yearling Q4 image 3 Reproduced with kind permission of Flying Eye Books Ltd © Marchella Ward and Sander Berg 2020 Q4 image 4 When Stars are Scattered, Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed, Faber & Faber

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the following keywords to their definitions.
Correct Answer:myth,a text explaining a culture's beliefs involving supernatural elements
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a text explaining a culture's beliefs involving supernatural elements

Correct Answer:magical realism,a genre of text, blending magical elements into realistic settings
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a genre of text, blending magical elements into realistic settings

Correct Answer:theme,a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story
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a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story

Q2.
Who is the author of 'The Girl of Ink and Stars'?
Correct Answer: Kiran Millwood Hargrave, kiran millwood hargrave, Kiran millwood hargrave
Q3.
True or false? Isabella brings treasured objects with her on the journey.
Correct Answer: True, true
Q4.
In which of the following ways is Arinta similar to Isabella?
They are both selfish and mean.
Correct answer: They are both brave and adventurous.
Correct answer: They both go on a quest.
They both stay in their hometown.
Q5.
Put these events from the first half of the text in the correct order.
1 - Lupe lights fireworks for her birthday.
2 - Cata is murdered.
3 - The governor’s ship has been burnt down and his animals are drowned.
4 - Isabella joins the Governor.
Q6.
Put these events from the second half of the text in the correct order.
1 - Pablo and Isabella go swimming in the sea.
2 - The governor’s search party are ambushed by dog demons.
3 - Lupe and Isabella find a crystal cave.
4 - Lupe pulls out the sword and Yote is vanquished.