Exploring the characters and key themes in 'The Journey'
I can understand the key themes and the characters’ emotions in ‘The Journey’.
Exploring the characters and key themes in 'The Journey'
I can understand the key themes and the characters’ emotions in ‘The Journey’.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- A theme is a big idea, topic or message that appears in a story.
- Themes in a story are used to convey deeper meaning and messages to the reader.
- ‘The Journey’ explores the following themes: war and conflict, resilience, hope and displacement.
- The girl’s emotions change throughout the narrative.
- Expressing thoughts and emotions is a key part of writing a diary entry.
Keywords
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that appears in a story
Character - a person, being, thing or animal in a story
Emotions - strong feelings that result from a person’s circumstances, mood, or relationship with others
Perspective - a person’s point of view
Empathy - the ability to understand other people’s feelings and points of view
Common misconception
Pupils might find it hard to understand the girl's comparison to the migrating birds at the end of the story.
The girl is comparing the birds' journey to her family's journey. The birds are also migrating to another country, but the difference is that the birds didn't have any difficulty crossing borders. Explore this comparison with pupils in detail.
To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Exploring the characters and key themes in 'The Journey', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Exploring the characters and key themes in '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 secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
violent dispute between states or nations
the forced removal of a person from their home or country
holding on to the belief that there will be a positive outcome
adapting to and withstanding difficulties