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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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New
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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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Share activities with pupils
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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.

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.
Teacher tip

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

  • Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime

Supervision

Adult supervision required

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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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

a text explaining a culture's beliefs involving supernatural elements

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

a genre of text, blending magical elements into realistic settings

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

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.